The Bible - answers to the assignments PDF

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What is the Bible? The Bible is a small library of book, all of which emerged from the history of the people of ancient Israel. The Bible has two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has 24 books (39 in the Christian count) written by different authors over thousands of years; the authors are called prophets, and it was through them that God spoke to its people to bring order and beauty around them. The Old Testament tells Israel´s birth as a nation, its history in the land, its exile and return to the land, and its eventual rebuilding around the city of Jerusalem. The New testament has 27 books that emerged out of the movement started by Jesus of Nazareth, and it was written all in Greek by Jewish authors named apostles, who were Jesus´ disciples. The New Testament is God´s answer to the promises made in the Old Testament, where God becomes human and tells Israel that the real power is serving others.

What is the unify story the Bible tells? The Bible is a large and complex book that has lots of history, poetry, and letters, and it also has a lot of different people over the years. It is a book that offers lots of variety and diversity and that tells a story that might seem fragmented, but it has a remarkable unity: the dominant type of literature is narrative (502 chapters, almost half of the Bible) and poetry (387 chapters), that allow the Bible to have a unified epic narrative that lead to Jesus, so if a person understands the way the Bible works, it is possible for him or her to read the Bible at any point and still know what it is going on the story. The unify story of the Bible introduces God and how God creates humanity with the potential to do good, by giving humanity choices, but after humanity fails several times to choose God over power, God finally makes the ultimate sacrificial love by become human, in Jesus of Nazareth, to teach people that the real power is serving others.

Reading Review Questions

1. Define the word “Canon” as it is used in the context of the New Testament The word “Canon” it is used to refer to writings as an aggregate, a list, or a collection of books that are normative for the Church. 2. From the very beginning of the church what books were widely known and referred to by the church fathers? The books that were known were the four Gospels, the Acts, the thirteen Letters of Paul, the First Letter of Peter, and the First Letter of John. A total of 21 books.

3. According to Justin Martyr, what books were being used in worship services along with the Old Testament? According to Martyr the four Gospels and the Letters of Paul were everywhere the basic units in the emerging canon of the New Testament. 4. How did opponents of Christianity (heretics) help to solidify and establish the canon? They help to solidify and establish the canon by using the books to reinterpret them and base their teachings upon the books. Then, it was Marcion who decided to supplement the books by creating a canon of his own, that for the Church to deal with the question of canon. 5. What do the writings of Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian show us about the development of the canon? The writings of these three people indicate that all of the 27 books but one (Second Letter of Peter) were known and accepted, and that there was a sense of agreement on most of the books that belong to the canon with an exception of seven books (the Letter to the Hebrews, the Letter of James, the Second Letter of Peter, the Second and Third Letters of John, the Letter of Jude, and Revelation). 6. Describe several of Origen’s contributions to establishing the New Testament Canon. The canon of the New Testament was established in three big stages of development. The first stage was when the Church did not argue that the writings of the apostolic fathers are witnesses to the books destined to become the New Testament canon. The books are being quoted, alluded to, and used in worships without any official acknowledgement. The second stage is when the Church was forced to become conscious of the New Testament writings, so the canon emerges. The question here is what are the limits of this canon? What books should the Church include and leave out? Finally, the third stage of the development of the canon, even though it starts without an established canon, it is the period of time where the antilegomena is taking its place, making the canon grow to be recognized almost everywhere, to finally being recognize as a canon of 27 books. 7. Briefly describe the process of development that the canon went through from the third century, when no official list of NT books was established, and the fourth century, when the 27 books of the New Testament was firmly established. During the third century there was not a unify idea of the canon, there were some people that acknowledge both the homologoumena and antilegomena books, and by the end of the century many more parts of the Church are using the antilegomena, but without any official action of the Church regarding the canon. During the fourth century, the historian Eusebius of Caesarea made a historical survey of the books and ended up with a canon of 27 books that had a place of authority in the Church. 8. What are the oldest manuscripts of the Bible available to us today?

The oldest manuscripts of the Bible are the Dead Sea Scrolls. 9. What order did Constantine give to encourage the spread of the Bible? Even with this order, why were most Christians still without a Bible of their own? Constantine ordered fifty complete copies of the Bible in Greek to use them in the new churches he was building, by using a complete Bible in one volume. Even thought there were some Bibles around, most Christians did not have one of their own because these volumes were too expensive to purchase, and they were also too difficult to carry around. People could have parts of the books, or a collection of books, but the complete Bible was only in churches or monasteries. 10. What breakthrough during the middle ages finally allow for widespread access to the Bible? The breakthrough that allowed the widespread access to the Bible was when the University of Paris developed the Paris Bible. This Bible was a one-volume Latin Bible that was written in tiny letters on thin parchment. Because it was smaller, it was possible for more people to have access to the Bible. 11. What is the Septuagint? Septuagint is the translation of the Bible by 72 Jewish scholars in Egypt. It means the work of the Seventy, and it is abbreviated as LXX. 12. Who was the first person to provide a good English translation of the Bible? What happened to him? The first person to provide a good English translation of the Bible was William Tyndale, but because of his work, he was persecuted in England by supporters of the pope and had to run away to Germany, but he was later on captured, strangled, and burned at the stake.

Law and Gospel Law is defined as the moral standards that God has set for humanity to live on earth; through the law, God is trying to show humanity its sins, but also God is trying to show the need of a savior that humanity has. In the Bible, Law, is found in any commands that tell people what to do or not to do, so it can be also identified as a thread of punishment. Easier to spot, whenever a person is doing the verbs, but God can also do law. Gospel on the other hand, means “good news”, and it is the way that God shows humanity how much God loves its people, and what God has done to show that love: God has given humanity a savior. In gospel, there are no strings attached, and it is God who runs the verbs.

It is important to distinguish between Law and Gospel because it will guide people´s interpretation of God´s word in the Bible, and it can also show people what parts of the Bible are teaching moments, or what parts are learning moments. In other words, people preach Law so that they can lead others to the Gospel. There are many passages in the Bible where God tries to remind people that they have chosen wrong, and that people should feel sorry for their sins, but there are also passages where God tries to remind its people they have been forgiven. An example of Law is Matthew 18:15-17: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.” It is identified as Law, because the action is run by a person (brother or sister), and it is intended to identify sins. On the other side we have Isaiah 44:22: “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”, where it is God who is speaking to the people, and it is God who is running the actions with the word “redeem”. But sometimes, there are passages that can be read as Law or Gospel, according to the person that it is reading it, depending on their heart´s needs. For example, Proverbs 5:21: “For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.” In this passage of the Bible a person might read it to and become afraid that God sees all of the sinful things he or she does, therefore the passage would be Law. And the other case, it is if a person reads is in a moment where he or she is feeling afraid, alone, or helpless, the person might feel that God is always there watching him or her, therefore the passage would be Gospel. In conclusion, Law and Gospel help people to have a better understanding of the Bible, and a better way to incorporate God´s message into their lives. Without a proper interpretation of the passages of the Bible, there is no way that a person can embrace the Bible´s teachings, that a person can learn and applied the Bible´s message, therefore it is not possible for a person to fully accept God in their lives. Week 2 Last week we talked about the word Gospel in class, and we saw how Gospel focuses on Christ´s work, and that it is applied to us by grace through our faith. One of the first times that the phrase “good news” is found in the Bible, is in Isaiah, when in his book, he mentions about the messenger coming to announce that even though the city was falling down, there were good news because God was still the King, and one day God would return to the city to set up his kingdom and bring peace to Jerusalem. Because of this good news, Jewish were waiting for a royal figure, the son of God, the Messiah, to come to Jerusalem to overthrow the romans and rule the Kingdom of God. Instead, the Gospel of Mark tells the story of a man named Jesus, who says he is the son of God and that he will become the Messiah, but only after he suffers and die. From the beginning, Jesus was carrying the good news of God, he was forgiving sins, performing miracles, he was also sharing the Old Testament story of God´s rescue mission, and instead of wanting to be recognized for all that he was doing, Jesus was telling people not to talk about the healings or miracles he was performing. One of the things that Jesus insisted on, was that he was the messenger of God´s good news, and that the Kingdom of God that everybody was expecting, was a kingdom of love, meekness, peace, a kingdom where the weakest ones rule, and where people are on earth to serve and love the poor, and also to love their enemy. This was not the idea of Kingdom that Jewish had in mind, and it is one of the main reasons the Jewish leaders feared

Jesus and the good news he was spreading, mainly because they were confused to understand Jesus’ words. In conclusion, the New Testament summarizes all of Jesus’ teachings where he proclaimed was the “good news” the Jewish were waiting for, but also tells the way that Jesus became the Messiah of Israel, the son of God that came to saves us all by showing sacrificial love, so we could keep announcing the good news to the rest of the world: we are all servants of God, and we are here on earth to serve in the Kingdom of love. Quiz 1. Regarding Jesus’ origins, is it TRUE or FALSE that He presented Himself to the Jordan River to John the Baptists? Answer: TRUE. Page 286 2. TRUE OR FALSE: Even though Jesus made no explicit claims and avoided being called with titles of honor, He acted with the authority of God Himself? Answer: TRUE. Page 290 3. TRUE OR FALSE: There is evidence in the Bible that Jesus never included non-Jews among the “sinners” to whom He was sent. Answer: FALSE. Page 291. Evidence points out that it was because he got the money changers out of the temple, and His pronouncements about the temple aroused the authorities to act against Him. 4. TRUE OR FALSE: When Jesus arrived at Jerusalem, He was arrested because He had auto proclaimed the Messiah, and people were believing He was the Son of God. Answer: FALSE. Page 293. 5. TRUE OF FALSE: According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus only showed Himself after the resurrection to the 11 disciples in a mountain in Galilee. Answer: FALSE. Page 294. According to Luke in the Book of Acts, the appearances of the risen Jesus went on over a period of 40 days in which He continued to instruct people about the kingdom of God. 6. What books from the Bible talk genealogically about Jesus? a. Mathew b. Luke c. Mark d. None of the options Answer: B. page 287

7. Where was Jesus Born? a. Nazareth b. Capernaum c. Jerusalem d. Bethlehem Answer: D. Page 286 8. Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? a. Because His family was from that city b. Because the Roman census made the Holy Family return to Bethlehem before Jesus´s birth c. Because God has told the Holy Family to travel there d. Because that was the city of the line of David Answer: B. Page 287 9. a. b. c. d.

Which Gospels tell the story of Mary´s miraculous conception? Mathew and Luke Mark and Luke Luke and Mathew Mathew, Mark and Luke

Answer: A. Page 287 10. How did the Gospels present Jesus like? a. Like the King of David´s line b. Like the truly Son of God c. Like a reluctant Messiah d. Like the Son of the Most High God Answer: B. Page 289 WEEK 3 Questions 1. Has the word Gospel always had the same meaning in the Bible? No. Initially the word meant “the reward given to the person who brought the good news”, but after Jesus arrived, Christians understood that He was Himself the Good news, so the word Gospel has a meaning that is related to Jesus. 2. What are the differences between other biography books and the biography in the Christian Gospels?

Even though there were many biography books about heroes, and even in the Old Testament there were biographies of the story of Joseph and/or David, these biographies were focus on the hero´s birth, life, and death with careful chronological reports, and considerable background material. Instead, the Gospels do not offer such detailed information about the life of Jesus. First, because it would have been impossible to have a day by day detailed account of Jesus´ life, but also, because the Gospel do not have purely historical purposes. They are historical books because they recorded facts, and account for Jesus’ words and deeds, but the interest and intend of the Gospels is to teach. 3. What is the teaching interest that the Gospels have? The basic interest of the teaching of the Gospels is religious, and it aims to confront people with Christ, it aims to preserve and strengthen their faith in Him, and to bring people into a disciple´s total obedience to Him. SHORT PAPER The most pointed error in the Bible, it is the one made by the four contradictions that the Gospels have regarding the resurrection of Jesus. Those four contradictions are found in Mathew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-11, Luke 24:1-12, and John 20:1-18. The most important aspect to consider when analyzing the contradictions is to realize that first, none of the four reports from the Gospels are complete, which means none of the writers had all the facts when writing the story of the resurrection; and second, that none of the Gospels claim to be an exhaustive narrative of the event, which means they all reported actual events, but none of the them say that those were the only events happening. The first contradiction is the one regarding the women visiting the tomb after the resurrection. Mathew says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb; Mark says that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome came to the tomb; Luke says that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James came to the tomb; while John only mentions Mary Magdalene. To address this contradiction, it is important to acknowledge that in all the reports Mary Magdalene was present, which means that the reports are only complementary to each other; even John acknowledges that Mary Magdalene was not alone at the tomb, when reporting the news to the disciples she said: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him” (Jn 20:2). John knows there were more people with Mary Magdalene, he just does not seem to worry to include their names on his Gospel. The second contradiction is regarding the time when the women came to the grave, and here we have Mark saying that it was “when the sun had risen” while John says that “was still dark”. The way to approach this contradiction is to think that they were probably talking about two different moments of the event. John was talking about the departure time, when it was probably still dark in the morning, that the women had to leave their houses to get to the tomb; while Mark, refers to the arrival time, that it was probably after the sunrise because it would have taken a while for the women to get to the tomb. The third contradiction is regarding the reference to the angels who appeared to the women and announced the resurrection of Jesus. Mathew and Mark say that one angel spoke to

the women, while John and Luke say two angels spoke to the women. The approach to this contradiction is to again, think that no one says that there was “only” one angel, and that it was probable that one angel did the action of giving the message while the other angel was just there, which does not make it false or contradictory, it is just the way that each writer decided to report the event. Finally, the last contradiction is regarding Jesus’ appearances on Easter morning: John says that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb after she returned from informing the disciples about the news; Mathew says that Jesus appeared to the women after they had been at the tomb, when they were on the way to the disciples; and finally Mark says that the women said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. The approach to this contradiction is to keep the big picture in mind, and it is probably to the fact that not all the Gospels are reporting all the events, because it is highly probable that Mary Magdalene was present, even if Mathew does not include her; also it could make sense that the women could have split paths, and while Mary Magdalene ran to tell the disciples, the other women ran to their houses, and Jesus appeared first to the women, and then to Mary Magdalene when she was on her way back to the tomb. Now, to confront the fact that the woman “said nothing”, that might just mean that they did not share the news with other than the disciples, but the command was to inform His disciples about the good news. In conclusion, even though there may be contradictions in the way the four writers tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, and that it might seem that the reports are fragmented and incomplete, it does not mean that the story is not true, because just like in any other situation of life, there may be different perspectives to tell a story, with different details or without some, but at the end, if the story is in its core the same, then the story must be true.

DISCUSSION THREAD I think it is interesting the way the Gospel of John is written, because it has a perfect lay out to prove the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and He is alive and real, and only though Him people can change their lives forever. But the most intriguing part for me is the way the author of the Gospel decides to use signs to support the claim of the book. In the book we can read about seven times that Jesus used the phrase “I am” whenever questioned about his identity, and those 7 t...