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The Bible

The Bible. Timeline (approximate). BCE. 950 Solomon builds Yahweh’s Temple in Jerusalem 922 Israel splits into rival kingdoms of Judah (south) and Israel (north) 850-750 Homer is active poet in Greece

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The Bible

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  1. The Bible

  2. Timeline (approximate) BCE • 950 Solomon builds Yahweh’s Temple in Jerusalem • 922 Israel splits into rival kingdoms of Judah (south) and Israel (north) • 850-750 Homer is active poet in Greece • 587 The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar destroy Jerusalem • 587-538 Jewish priests begin the final process of compiling Torah • 563-483 In India, Siddhartha Gautama experiences mystical enlightenment, becoming the Buddha

  3. Timeline (approximate) BCE • 551-579 Confucius enunciates a religious philosophy in China • 336-323 Alexander the Great conquers most of the known world, bringing Greek culture and ideas to the ancient Near East CE • 27-30 Jesus of Nazareth preaches Torah reforms and is executed by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate • 66-70 The first narrative of Jesus’ life, the Gospel of Mark, is written

  4. Timeline (approximate) CE • 70 Roman armies destroy Jerusalem and its Temple • 80-90 The gospels of Matthew and Luke are written • 570-632 The Prophet Mohammed dictates the Qur’an and founds Islam

  5. Biblical Analysis Historical Criticism • Is this event likely to have occurred in the way the author presents it? • What is the writer’s bias or agenda and how does it affect what he reports? • Investigates authorship, date and place of composition

  6. Historical Analysis continued Form Criticism • Recognizes that in addition to oral and documentary sources, longer accounts are made up of smaller units of narration: folk tales, genealogies, anecdotes, war hymns, battle stories and formulas for priestly rituals • Form criticism would look up the stories behind the stories (i.e. the oral narrative that became the written)

  7. Literary Criticism • Literary criticism examines the literary genres in the text and any unifying theme. It explores the figurative language (poetry) of the story telling • For instance, the Pentateuch could be seen as illustrating God’s promises and the delayed fulfillment of these promises • Narratives illustrating how Yahweh’s covenant brings national success while disobedience results in national annihilation • How form connects to story-telling: 21 of the New Testament’s 27 books take the form of letters ; how the celebration of sexual love in the Song of Solomon differs from the content in other narratives

  8. Key Terms • Biblelittle books • PentateuchFive scrolls / first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible/Torah (also Tanak) • Torah “Law” or “Teaching” • Religion linking back or binding • Elohim plural for “gods” or “divine powers” • Yahweh The 4 consonants comprising the sacred name of Israel’s God (YHWH). Revealed to Moses at the Burning Bush. Might translate to “he is to be” • Transcendent That which goes beyond human knowledge. This may be the only way to “think” about “God”—an idea beyond language

  9. Key Terms for New Testament • Synoptic Problem (“seen together”) This refers to scholarly attempts to unravel the literary dependence or connection among the three Gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. • Q Document (German Quelle meaning (source”)a document thought to have been written around 50 and 70 B.C.E. Because it does not survive,scholars reconstruct its contents from passages that Matthew and Luke have in common but did not derive from Mark (see attached) • Gospel Good news • Exegesis Critical interpretation of the Bible

  10. Terms Contiued • Gnosticism/Gnostic Gospels Gnosticism was a movement in early Christianity which taught that salvation was gained though special knowledge (gnosis) revealed through a spiritual savior (presumably Jesus). Answers to questions are found within, not without. This was one reason the belief system became heretical. The gospels themselves are writings from around 2nd century about Jesus (Gospel of Mary, Thomas, Judas, among others). Question: how does content from Gnostic texts change meaning of Bible (Old and New Test.)? • Apocrypha means “hidden books” and refers to non canonical literature that parallel or supplement New Testament canon. There is much debate as to the importance of these texts (read intro from Oxford Annotated for more)

  11. Apocalypse “Unveiling” of unseen realities • Eschatological Dealing with final events (see Revelation) • Matt, Mark and Luke • All 3 begin with Jesus’ baptism in the river Jordan, followed by descriptions of his tours through villages of Galilee, where he heals sick, teaches and debates Torah. Jesus only makes one trip to Jerusalem in these three, but in John Jesus is going back and forth between Galilee and Jerusalem. • In the synoptics Jesus teaches mostly in parables (fictional narratives comparing God’s kingdom to an object or action) or aphorisms (quotable statements that question conventional wisdom). In John, Jesus teaches using long, philosophical discourses about his divine nature, not the kingdom of God. Parable example Luke 6: 39-42. John example 8:34-42

  12. Biblical Roles of God God as Divine Sovereign Yahweh, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands he maintains his kindness, forgives faults…yet he lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father’s fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generations (Exodus 34:5-7)

  13. Biblical Roles of God God as Warrior Israelite poets sang of Yahweh’s prowess on the battlefield, praising him as Yahweh Sabaoth. This translates to “cosmic general” or “commander of invisible armies”. Note the armies he unleashes against Israel’s Canaanite enemies (Joshua 5:13-15)

  14. Biblical Roles of God God as King / Lord of History Yahweh invisibly reigning over Israel as (heaven’s) king Genesis through Kings 2 present Yahweh as the Lord of history—the all-powerful director of human events. This differs from a god or gods meddling in human affairs

  15. Genesis (roughly) 3 Part Division • Primeval history (chapters 1-11) shows the Deity manifesting a profound ambivalence toward his flawed human creation • Ancestral Stories (chapters 12-36) God/human relations improve as the narrative focuses on a series of promises God makes to specific groups—story telling becomes more complex? • The story of Joseph (chapters 37-50) God makes Abraham’s descendents a source of universal blessing. Genesis concludes with the chosen people settled in Egypt, far from their promised homeland

  16. The Sacrifice of Isaac Caravaggio 1600 The artist thrusts the action to the front of the picture frame. Abraham is intercepted in the act of slitting his son's throat by an angel who with his right hand prevents the murder and with his left points to the substitute victim. Light directs the viewer to scan the scene from left to right as it picks out the angel's shoulder and left hand, the quizzical face of Abraham, the right shoulder and terrified face of Isaac and finally the docile ram. A continuous movement links the back of the angel's neck to Isaac's profile; and angel and boy have a family likeness. From Web Gallery of Art

  17. Michelangelo The Fall from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

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