New Testament Study Guide Introduction

Homework #1 Read the story of the Resurrection in St John’s Gospel, chapters 20 and 21. Write an essay answering the following questions: a. Why is the resurrection story crucial to the story of Jesus? b. How does the story of the resurrection affect the faith of a Christian person?

Homework #2: The crucifixion presents a Christian dilemma. Why would a Christian want to remember the death of Jesus? Explain whether or not you think Jesus had to die to accomplish God’s purpose or fulfill God’s plan?

Read one of the four Gospels of the crucifixion. Be ready to answer the following questions: 1. Who are the most important persons in the story? 2. What are the most important parts of the story? 3. What are the important symbols in the story?

The story of the Crucifixion can lead to the following questions. a. Is God good, indifferent, friendly, or malicious? b. How does God respond to the death of Jesus? c. How does God respond to our suffering? To our death? d. Should we trust God? Should Jesus have trusted God? e. What does the story teach us about our relationship with God?

Jesus the mystery: Getting to know Jesus. Read Philippians 2:6-12 and Isaiah 53:11-12. 1. Why would a person want Jesus to be a part of her/his life? 2. How can a person have a relationship with Jesus? 3. Why do we say that Jesus is present to us in a spiritual sense. 4. How can Jesus empower our lives? Homework #3: Write an essay: In what ways is Jesus important to people in modern society?

The Incarnation: 1. What does the word incarnation mean? 2. Why does the Gospel insist that God became flesh instead of saying that God became man?

3. Why did God become a man? ( are there four important reasons) ?

Names and titles for Jesus: 1. What does the name Jeshua (Jesus) mean in Hebrew? 2. In what ways is the name Jesus connected to the traditions of the Old Testament? 3. Why did Christians call Jesus “The Christ”? 4. What are the three official offices of Jesus? 5. Why do Christians call Jesus the Son of God? 6. Why do Christians call Jesus “the Lord”?

The Structure of the Christian Scriptures 1. What are the four basic parts of the New Testament? 2. What is the canon of the New Testament? 3. What criteria did the early Christians use did include a writing in the canon of the New Testament? 4. Why were many writings from the early Christian era not accepted as inspired writings.

The formation of the Gospels: 1. In what ways are the Gospels connected to the public ministry of Jesus? 2. Explain the three parts of the oral tradition: Kerygma, didache, liturgia. 3. Why would it be inaccurate to call the Gospels a biography of Jesus? 4. Why do scholars believe that there was a delay in the writing of the Gospels? 5. Why did the early Christians decide to write the Gospels? 6. Remember: we need to explain the difference between the literal and the spiritual sense of the Gospels. The Writing of the Gospels 1. When were the Gospels written? 2. Who were the authors of the Gospels? 3. In what sense were the authors of the Gospels also editors? 4. Each Gospel was written for a community. Identify the intended audience of each Gospel. 5. In what ways are the Synoptic Gospels related to each other? 6. In what ways do the three Synoptic Gospels differ from one another. 7. What is Q and how did it influence the writing of the Gospels?

Four Ways to Follow Jesus 1. Why did Mark write his gospel? 2. Why does Mark identify Jesus as the Suffering Servant? 3. In what ways is the Suffering Servant related to our salvation? 4. How does a disciple respond to the model of the Suffering Servant? 5. Why did Matthew write his gospel? 6. Why did Matthew write the gospel to resemble the Torah? 7. How does Matthew’s image of Jesus the teacher help us understand our relationship with Jesus? 8. How should disciples respond to Jesus the teacher? 9. Why does Luke identify Jesus as the healing prophet? 10. How should a disciple respond to Jesus the healer? 11. Why does John identify Jesus as the loving friend? 12. How should a disciple respond to the friendship of Jesus?