Humanities

Need help on these questions please, I have no Idea about the bible. This for a religion class. (Due in 12 hours.) Thanks!

Assignment Week 1

Read “Reading the Bible in the Academy.” It can be located on Blackboard, in the Course Documents, in the Folder entitled “Reading the Bible.”

1.How does reading the Bible in the academy differ from reading it in church?

When reading the “Bible” Academically, we tend to focus on what we do not know. When we read the “Bible” in Church, we tend to focus more on what we do know. Ultimately the academic study was, as you say, a helpful tool, but certainly not one that would be sustaining for any kind of spiritual life or relationship with God.

2.What “myth” supports academic reading?

3.Describe the image of the Bible assumed and the purpose of historical criticism, literary criticism, and political criticism.

Read “New Testament Backgrounds and Early Christian History” in the Course Documents in the folder on “New Testament Backgrounds.”

1.What does it mean to say that the Hebrew Bible is a document of exile?

2.What are rituals of separation?

3.What is theodicy? How does the sin-theodicy contribute to monotheism?

4.How does apocalyptic change sin-theodicy?

5.How did various Jewish groups respond to life among the empires in the 2^nd Temple period?

6.Describe the historical Jesus. What kind of Jew was he? What did he teach? What did he do?

7.What is the Greek contribution to the world of the Roman Empire and Christianity? (Think culture, religion, and philosophy)

8.Describe the pyramid of power and clients and patrons in agrarian empires.

Rel 202: Assignment Week 2b

Read Acts 1-12; James; and “Jewish Christianity” in the folder “Comments on Selected NT Texts” in Course Documents on Blackboard.

1.Who was the leader of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem?

2.Who are the Ebionites? Marcion?

3.Why is Baur’s position rejected today?

4.What does Eisenman say about early Christianity?

5.What are the major themes of Acts 1-12?

6.Why does the book of James seem non-Christian? Why does it seem Christian?

7.What makes the book of James seem like Jewish wisdom?

8.What scholarly theories might the nature of the book of James support?

Read “A Reconstruction and Translation of Q, available in the “Additional Early Christian Texts” folder on Blackboard and “The Teaching of Jesus,” available in the “Comments on Selected NT Texts” folder in Course Documents on Blackboard.

1.Explain the Two-Source Hypothesis.

2.Define Q.

3.What two types of teaching does it include?

4.Define apocalyptic.

5.Define counter-cultural wisdom.

6.Define the Gospel of Thomas.

7.What type of teaching does it include?

8.How does this compare to Q?

Rel 202: Assignment 3b: Revelation

Read: the Book of Revelation, and “Reading Revelation” (in Course Documents, Comments on Selected NT Texts Folder).

1.What is apocalyptic(ism)?

2.How does Revelation “fit” into the history of Israel? Think exile and natural religion desires.

3.How does Revelation’s theodicy differ from that of the Former Prophets, of Deuteronomy, the Latter Prophets, or of the HB generally?

4.What is the creation through conflict myth? Compare Revelation to this myth.

5.Explain the Chinese-box structure of Revelation.

6.What does Revelation have to do with worship? Explain the structure of Revelation in terms of worship.

7.What is a theophany? Explain the structure of Revelation in terms of theophany. Why is Rev 4-5 the key passage here?

8.What is a holy war? Discuss Revelation’s message in terms of holy war.

9.Describe the Jesus of the book of Revelation.

10.What is (potentially) wrong with Revelation ethically?

11.Compare futurist and historicist readings of Revelation. Which is most popular? Why?

12.In the context of apocalyptic generally, what is distinctive about Rev. 5?

SYLLABUS:

Religion 202:New Testament Survey

Description of Rel 202: We will examine the NT as a product of Jewish and Hellenistic culture, as the foundational myth of Christianity, as literature, as a text of liberation/oppression, and as a presence in contemporary culture. You will learn about the varied cultures of the NT and the distinctiveness of various NT books and religion. Most significantly, you will learn various academic strategies—ptc., historical, literary, and political—for reading the NT.

Textbooks: A Bible. The Revised Standard or New Revised Standard Versions are the best available, but they are not required. Further, biblical translations are widely available on the internet. See, for example, http://ntgateway.com/ . Other reading for the course is available on Blackboard under Course Documents.

Tentative Schedule:

Date Topic and Assignment

Unit 1: Introduction, Backgrounds, “Judaism,” and “Christianity”

Week 1 (1-8) Assignment 1: Reading the Bible Academically and NT Backgrounds

Week 2 (1-15) Assignment 2b: Jewish Christianity: James and the Teaching of Jesus

Week 3 (1-22) Assignment 3b: Apocalyptic (Revelation)eligion 202:New Testament Survey.

Additional Assistance

a. Ntgateway.com is a wonderful website with a wealth of information including Bible translations, synopses, and so forth.

b. Bible dictionaries (e.g., The Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary), one-volume commentaries on the Bible (e.g., Peake’s; Jerome; Interpreter’s; and Abingdon), NT introductions (e.g., by Barr; Duling and Perrin; Koester; Raymond Brown), and histories of early Christianity (available in the library) may prove helpful to you if you wish more information on issues. The web sites, ntgateway.com and earlychristianwritings.com also have a wealth of information.

c. When reading a NT book (particularly if you feel these documents somewhat strange or unfamiliar), you may find it helpful to approach the book with certain general questions: 1) Write a one-sentence summary of the book; 2) Identify the major sections of the book; 3) Identify key words/phrases; 4) Identify the important characters; 5) Identify what is at issue (i.e., conflict, plot); 6) Describe the work’s image of Jesus; and 7) Describe the work’s moral vision (i.e., what does it expect of Xns)?

d. The following areas are important issues in the interpretation of the NT:

i. Literary: genre, narrator, plot, character, atmosphere, implied/ideal/resisting readers.

ii. Historical:

(a) Judaism: history, faith, practice, disputes, sects, diaspora, Mishnah, Rabbinic Judaism, Philo

(b) Roman empire: imperialism, resistance, honor and shame, patronage, Pax Romana

(c) Hellenism: alienation, oracles and magic, mystery religions, Gnosticism, philosophy (Cynics, Stoics, Platonists), language, culture, the city.

(d) Early Christianity: the historical Jesus, the Synoptic Problem, oral traditions, Paul, missionaries, Jewish and Gentile Christianity, institutionalization, Marcion, Gnostics, the Great Church, canon, Eusebius, Constantine, Nicea, Augustine.

iii. Theological: faith and reason, history and fiction, authority and scripture, hermeneutic, unity and diversity, historical Jesus and cosmic Christ, canon.