Questions

Session 1

  1. What is the technical term for the culture introduced by Alexander the Great?
  2. Where and when did Alexander win his decisive battle against the Persian King?
  3. List at least three important characteristics of this culture
  4. Why and how did these cultural changes affect Judaism?
  5. List at least three areas of conflict between this culture and traditional Judean ethics based on the Law of Moses?

  6. List the three parts of the Gospel titles in the manuscripts of the New Testament.
  7. What are the first four Greek words Mt 1:1?
  8. Who is Matthew according to the first Gospel? Whose voice are we hearing?
  9. What is a "Midrash"?

Session 2

  1. What is the narrative perspective of Matthew? Through whose eyes are we seeing the action? Give three examples to demonstrate this perspective.
  2. According to Matthew: Where do Joseph and Mary live, when Jesus is conceived?
  3. Name at least two difficulties with the genealogy of Jesus as it is presented in Matthew.
  4. What is the difficulty with Mt 2:23: There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
  5. Which questions first readers may have had, does the birth narrative Mt 1-2 answer? List at least two.

Session 3

  1. According to the myth, how many scholars translated the Septuagint?
  2. How is the term "Septuagint" often abbreviated in scholarly literature?
  3. How is the text of the Septuagint transmitted to us (Manuscript evidence)?
  4. Name at least three differences between the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint.
  5. List at least three reasons why the study of the Septuagint is relevant to New Testament studies.

  6. Assuming the theory is correct that Matthew knew and edited Mark, list at least three typical editorial changes Matthew makes.
  7. How do oracles in antiquity usually work?

Session 4

  1. List the four volumes of the New Testament in the order of their popularity (measured in the number of surviving copies).
  2. What is the literary character of the Canon Muratori?
  3. In which year did Athanasius write his famous Easter Letter concerning the canon of the Christian Bible?
  4. What kind of evidence has replaced the study of Canon Lists and the study of quotations in Early Christian writers in order to describe the form of the Christian Bible in the second and third century?

  5. According to Matthew, which event triggers Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaum?
  6. Comparing the beatitudes in Luke and Matthew, list at least three differences or communalities.


Session 5 (Questions for quiz 2 begin here)

  1. When did Rabbi Judah ha Nasi live?
  2. What is his most important achievement?
  3. Name at least three parallels between the redaction of the Mishnah and the redaction of the Four-Gospel-Book.

  4. Draw a chart of the Two-Source-Theory.
  5. In Matthew 10:5-8 Jesus charges the disciples he sends out (sending out = apostello, the person sent = apostolos) with four instructions. List them.
  6. Which of the four charges does Paul fulfill?
  7. Assuming Matthew takes poetic license formulating the "Great Commission" Mt 28:16-20 at the end of the Gospel (a theory that cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt), how did the author proceed?

Sessions 6

  1. List at least three editions of Jewish scriptures, which competed with the Christian Old Testament during the second century.
  2. Which letters of Paul were missing in Marcion's edition?
  3. What kind of material did Papias of Hierapolis collect?

  1. What are the first words of the Gospel according to Mark?
  2. Some interpreters point out that the Gospel of Mark uses the narrative perspective of Peter. We are told the story as if seeing the events through Peter's eyes. Give three examples to support such a theory.

Session 7

  1. How do papyrologists distinguish between "documentary" and "literary" papyri?
  2. Is the New Testament a document or literature?
  3. What is the function of autographic subscriptions if found in published letters.

  4. Assuming that the New Testament is a literary unit inviting readers to add information about persons given in different writings: Who is Mark in the New Testament according to Acts, 1Peter, Colossians, 2Timothy, Philemon?

Session 8

  1. The emerging Catholic Church displays three essential characteristics. Name them.
  2. Name three Christian movements competing with the emerging Catholic Church in the second century.
  3. What is the New Testament basis for the Easter Controversy of the second century?

  4. Who does Jesus call as his first disciple in the Gospel according to Mark?
  5. What do interpreters of Mark refer to with the term "Messianic Secret"?

Session 9

  1. How are books copied in antiquity?
  2. How do publishers maintain their copyright in antiquity?
  3. One of the gospels may give the name of its publisher. Which gospel and what name?

  4. What is the last sentence of the Gospel According to Mark?
  5. Who is Luke in the New Testament?
  6. How does Luke 1:1-3 explain the "Synoptic Problem" (literal agreements and discrepancies between Mt, Mk, and Lk) to readers of the New Testament?

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