Week 1 What Is the Bible Handout
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The Gospel of Matthew Week 1: What Is the Bible? What is the Bible? ❖ Old Testament or Hebrew Bible: 39 books, creation of the world through Israel’s return from exile; contains Pentateuch, wisdom writings including Psalms and Proverbs, histories, prophets; written in Hebrew ❖ New Testament: 27 books, life of Jesus through first two centuries of Christianity; contains gospels, Acts of the Apostles, letters, Revelation; written in Greek ❖ Apocrypha: additions to the Old Testament, written after Old Testament times; mostly written in Greek; no consensus within Christianity on whether the Apocrypha are in the Bible or not, Anglicanism regards 15 books as authoritative for teaching but not for doctrine ❖ Bible has to be translated, which is an interpretive act; Erasmus on baptism: in the water or with the water? ❖ Most common translation in the Episcopal Church is the New Revised Standard Version ❖ If you buy a Bible, choose a study Bible with explanatory essays and footnotes that includes the Apocrypha; New Oxford Annotated Bible and Harper Collins Study Bible are both New Revised Standard Version, also Common English Study Bible What is the Bible from a faith perspective? ❖ BCP Catechism, 853: “The Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and history….The New Testament consists of books written by the people of the New Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to set forth the life and teachings of Jesus and to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom for all people….We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.” ❖ BCP ordination liturgy, declaration by the ordinand, declaration by ordinand, 526: “I solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation…” ❖ Discussion: what is the Bible to you? if someone asked you, how would you answer? How do Episcopalians/Anglicans read the Bible? ❖ One of the three sources of authority for Anglicans, with reason and tradition ❖ Bible must be interpreted (using reason to explore history, context, etc.) in conversation with other interpreters (looking to tradition) with the guidance of the Holy Spirit ❖ Context matters; look at entire witness of Bible, not at an isolated verse 1 ❖ Bill Countryman, Interpreting the Truth: three-way conversation between reader, biblical text, other readers Gospels ❖ “Good news,” a gospel tells stories about Jesus that make theological claims about Jesus; genre is distinct from biography ❖ Gospels developed from oral traditions that were written down decades after Jesus’ earthly life ❖ 4 canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John ❖ At least 17 extra-canonical gospels Synoptic gospels vs. John ❖ Mark usually dated c. 68-73, Matthew probably c. 80-90, Luke c. 85 ❖ Large sections of Matthew and Luke run parallel to Mark, hence term synoptic (from Greek “seeing together”); where Matthew and Luke differ from Mark, they often run parallel to each other ❖ Four-source theory: Matthew and Luke used Mark, hypothetical sayings gospel Q (from German Quelle, “source”), source unique to Matthew, source unique to Luke ❖ Many passages common to Matthew, Mark, and Luke have no parallels in John; most of John has no parallel in the other three ❖ John possibly the latest of four gospels in the canon, c. 85-95; composed independently of the synoptic tradition, possibly using a Sayings Gospel and a Signs Gospel Synoptics John Jesus’ ministry lasts 1 year Jesus’ ministry lasts 3 years Jesus rarely talks about himself Jesus talks about himself a lot Teaches in parables Teaches in long discourses Teaches about the Kingdom of God Teaches about himself, “I am” 2 Synoptics John Special concern for the poor and Says little about the poor and oppressed oppressed Incident in the temple at the end of Incident in the temple at the start of Jesus’ ministry Jesus’ ministry Last Supper focuses on the meal Last Supper focuses on footwashing ❖ Common elements in both synoptics and John: incident in the Temple; multiplication of loaves and fishes; Last Supper; Jesus’ death by crucifixion; resurrection Notes ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3.