A.
Elwell & Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament (Identify):
Ch.
1: three Jewish divisions of the OT; Antiochus Epiphanes; four divisions of
the NT; inspiration; canon; Athanasius’ Easter Letter (367 AD); canonization
of the NT (Council of Carthage AD 397); papyrus; uncials; lectionaries;
gospel; rabbinic; 2 Maccabees;
Ch.
2: Galilee; Nazareth; Caesarea Philippi; Jesuralem; Bethlehem; Jerico;
Samaria; Judea; Hasidim; Hasmoneans; Judas Maccabeus; Herod the Great;
Archelaus; Herod Antipas; Masada; Titus; dectruction of Jerusalem (AD 70);
Second Temple Judaism; Pharisees; Sadducees; Mishnah; Talmud; Essenes;
Zealots; apocalyptic; pseudepigrapha; Samaritans; Apocrypha (Deuterocanonical
books); Septuagint (LXX); Vulgate; Josephus;
Ch.
3: kerygma; Justin Martyr; Gospels; reasons for trustworthiness of Gospels
Ch.
4 (Matthew): Antioch (Syrian); Caesarea Philippi (Peter’s confession of
Jesus’ as the Messiah); place of authorship; Magi;
Ch.
5: (Mark)—read only the discussion of the “messianic
secret” in the section entitled “Be Silent!” (pp. 94-95).
Ch.
6 (Luke): Theophilus;
Marcion; date; authorship; infancy narratives; role of women; ministry
of Holy Spirit; which apostle was a traveling companion of Paul?
Ch.
7 (John): Synoptic; Christology (John 1:1ff.); Gnosticism; who was the only
apostle not martyred?
Ch.
8: Jesus’ birthplace; magi; flight into Egypt; Galilean ministry; Parean
& Judean minisry; Passion (Last Supper; trial; crucifixion); Resurrection
& Ascension;
Ch.
9: “Kingdom of God”; parable; allegory; proverbial sayings; “Son of
Man”; Nicene Creed; “second coming” (parousia); intertestimental;
apostasy;
Ch.
10: Historical criticism; Enlightenment assumptions; F.C. Baur; hermeneutics;
canonical criticism; literary criticism; Neo-Kantianism; redaction criticism;
source criticism; textual criticism; exegesis; form criticism; genre;
Ch.
11: St. Augustine on primacy of Matthw; harmony of the Gospels; Marcan
Hypothesis; H.J. Holtzmann (1863)—“Q” (Quelle); Synoptic Problem;
J.J. Griesbach; Form Criticism; pericopae; Sitz im Leben (original life
setting); Rudolf Bultmann; reader-response theories; rhetorical criticism;
deconstructionism;
Ch.
12: D.F. Strauss; Albert Schweitzer; Rudolf Bultmann (demythologizing); Adolf
von Harnack; Jesus Seminar;
B.
Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith:
Ch.
17: What is the point of creeds? Distinguish
the two dimensions of faith, and what makes the objective dimension so
important? Why are intellectualism and anti-intellectualism both to be
avoided? What is the probable
origin of the Apostles’ Creed? Describe
(though Kreeft doesn’t mention this) the heresy to which the Apostles’
Creed was written as a response.
Ch.
18: What are the twin mysteries defined in the Athanasian Creed?
What is a “mystery,” in this theological sense?
What is the orthodox definition of the “Trinity” (See chs. 19-20,
esp. pp. 132-135)?
What is the “hypostatic union” and what is the orthodox definition
of it? What
rationale does Kreeft offer for his speculation that Socrates might be in
heaven?
Ch.
19: How does “theocentric” thinking differ from “naturalism,”
“paganism,” and “pantheism”?
In what sense, according to Kreeft, is the medieval mind far more
realistic than the modern mind?
Trinity:
Why is the concept of “trinity” not logically self-contradictory in the
orthodox formulation of the doctrine?
What, according to Kreeft, is the source of the doctrine of the
Trinity? Why
is the human mind active in knowing things lesser than itself, but both active
and passive in knowing another human being?
What bearing does this have on the possibility of knowing God?
Why can’t we define the Trinity as three beings in one person?
How does the possibility of love and social relationality depend on a
triune God?
Father:
Why does Kreeft say that God’s fatherhood is not metaphorical, but human
fatherhood is?
Why is masculine “God-talk” not chauvinism, according to Kreeft?
What three aspects of God’s fatherhood does Kreeft distinguish (p.
125)? How
are authority and love united in the Trinity?
What is Kreeft’s answer to Freud’s objection?
Omnipotence:
How are power and love (or goodness) related in our understanding of God?
According to Kierkegaard, what displays God’s power even more clearly
than His creation of the world out of nothing?
Creation:
What difference does the doctrine of creation out of nothing make?
Why, according to Kreeft, did modern science develop in the West and
not some other part of the world?
Ch.
20: What does Pascal claim we know through knowledge of Jesus Christ?
Why? Why is Christianity
“Christocentric” in a way no other religion is centered on its founder?
What does the term “Christ” mean?
What is the double origin of Jesus?
Why is the tragedy of Christ’s capital punishment celebrated by
Christians as a victory? What is
the Resurrection’s significance? What
about the Ascension? What does
Kreeft mean when he writes: “Many of the so-called dead are part of the
living, and many of the so-called living are spiritually dead”?
In what ways did Christ claim divinity?
What has two natures in one person and is one of three persons with one
nature? How does orthodox
Christianity reconcile the “subordinationist” and “equality” passages
in the NT? In what sense was
Jesus subordinate to and equal to God the Father?
What rationale does Kreeft offer for his declaration that the “modern
family can be saved by the dogma of the Trinity”?
Ch.
21: In what way does Kreeft say that God is “outside,” “beside,” and
“inside” us? What are the
gifts conferred by the reception of the Holy Spirit (ideally in confirmation)?
Ch.
22: What is the meaning of the Greek term ekklesia from which the word
“Church” derives? How is the
Church itself an object of faith?
In what sense is it divine, when it is comprised of fallible mortals?
In what sense is Church our “mother”?
Define and illustrate the “four marks of the Church” (one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic). What is
the lesson to be learned from Boccaccio’s story of the Jewish merchant named
Abraham, according to Kreeft?
Ch.
23: How can unending life be either hell or heaven?
How does salvation “work,” according to Kreeft?
What does “incorporation” into Christ and the Church mean? How does everlasting life, in Christian orthodoxy, differ
from annihilation, angelism, pantheism, ghosts, or reincarnation?
Ch.
24: Why could St. Francis speak affectionately of “Sister Death”?
What three “earmuffs” (obstacles) prevent us from a proper
understanding of death? Why must
death by “enemy” before it can be a friend?
Ch.
25: Why is forgiveness “costly”? (Why is the Last Judgment necessary?)
Why does modernity have difficulty understanding why Christ had to die?
What is inadequate about seeing salvation in terms of imitating Christ?
What role is played by our modern attitude toward (1) metaphysics, (2)
judgment, and (3) monism?
Ch.
26: What did St. Augustine say? What
is it’s significance? Why does
talk of dissatisfaction with life get a good hearing, while talk of heaven
brings sneers? Why is worldliness
“escapist”? Why does Kreeft
say that the Church’s religious education been an inexcusable disaster? What is heaven’s “entrance ticket”?
Ch.
27: Why did Bertrand Russell believe Jesus was not a good moral teacher?
Why do Christians believe in hell?
Why is fear of hell not a “base motive”?
Why does hell follow from the doctrines of heaven and free will?
In what way does Kreeft suggest that heaven and hell could be the very
same objective place? What parallel is drawn between implicit/explict
faith and implicit/explicit rebellion?
C.
Bible:
I. From The
Gospels ~
Matthew:
1-7: What colorful figures are listed in Jesus’ genealogy?
What word does Matthew (Mt.) 1:23 borrow from the Septuagint in quoting
Isaiah 7:14? Who was John the
Baptist? How was Jesus tempted by
the devil in ch. 4? Which
chapters form the “Sermon on the Mount”?
What are the “Beatitudes” and where are they found?
What is Jesus’ attitude toward the Law of Moses? (Mt. 5:17-19)
How does Jesus’ teaching differ from Moses’? (Mt. 5:21-30)
What was Jesus’ view of divorce? (Mt. 5: 31-32)
What attitude did Jesus enjoin towards our enemies? (Mt. 5:43-44) Toward judgment? (Mt. 7:1-2)
Where is the Lord’s Prayer (the “Our Father”) found?
Who does Jesus say shall enter the kingdom of heaven? (Mt. 7:21)
Matthew:
16-19: What was Peter’s famous confession at Caesarea Philippi?
What was Jesus’ reply? What
play on words did Jesus employ in his
reply? What promise did
Jesus make regarding the Church? What
example of the “messianic secret” is found in Mt. 16:20?
What happened in Jesus’ “transfiguration”? (Mt. 17)
How many times did Jesus tell Peter to forgive others? (Mt. 18)
What is Jesus’ teaching on divorce and remarriage? (Mt. 19:3-12)
How did Jesus answer rich young ruler [note: we have a painting of him
in the main entrance of the Rhyne Building] who asked him “What must I do,
to have eternal life?” (Mt. 19:17-22)
Matthew
25-28: Explain the parable of the wise and foolish maidens. (Mt.
25:1-13) The parable of the
talents. (Mt. 15:14-30) The story
of the last judgment. (Mt. 25:31-46) Explain
what happened during Jesus final hours, including the last supper, the events
in the Garden of Gethsemane, at Caiaphas’ palace (Mt. 26). Explain the roles of Peter, Judas, Pilate, Barabbas, Simon of
Cyrene, Joseph of Arimathea, and Mary Magdalene (Mt. 27).
What happened on the third day? (Mt.
28) What is the “Great Commission,” and when did Jesus issue it?
Luke
1-2: To whom does Luke address his Gospel?
Who is he? Why was
Zechariah struck dumb (unable to speak)?
Who is his wife? His son?
How does the angel, Gabriel, greet Mary? What does he announce to her?
What is her answer? What
are the words of Elizabeth when her cousin, Mary, comes to visit her?
What passages in Luke is the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) based upon?
Summarize what is happening in the three ancient hymns of the Church
found in Luke—the Magnificat (the Canticle or Song of Mary in Lk.
1:46-55), Benedictus (the Song of Zechariah in Lk. 1:67-79), and Nunc
Dimittis (the Song of Simeon in Lk. 2:29-32).
Who was Anna? What
happened to Jesus in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old?
(Lk. 2:41-51)
John
1: What is John’s Christology?
(Jn. 1:1-18) What did John the Baptist say when he saw Jesus? (Jn. 1:29
& 36) How is this
significant?
John
6: What was extraordinary about how the five thousand were fed?
How does Jesus relate himself to “manna” and “bread from
heaven”? (Jn. 6:31-40) When the
Jews complain about Jesus words, how does he respond? (Jn. 6:52-58)
When his disciples complain, how does he respond? (Jn. 6:60-69)
John
14-17: Finish this verse: “I am the way . . .” (Jn. 14:6)
When Philip asks Jesus to “show us the Father,” how does Jesus
respond? (Jn. 14: 8-11) Finish
this verse: “If you love me . . .” (Jn. 14:15).
Whom does Jesus promise to send his apostles after He is gone? (Jn.
14:16-17, & 25) What metaphor
does Jesus use in Jn. 15:1-11? What
point is Jesus making? What is
the greatest love a person can have? (Jn. 15:13)
What is Jesus doing in Jn. 17? For
whom is Jesus especially concerned? (Jn. 17:9, 15-19)
What is Jesus’ focus in Jn. 17:22-23?
John
18-21: How was Jesus arrested? (Jn 18:1-14) How did Jesus respond to
Caiaphas? (Jn 18:15-23) How did Pilate respond to Jesus and the crowd of
Jews? (Jn 18:28-19:22) Describe Jesus' crucifixion, last words, and
burial. (Jn 19:23-42) Describe the responses to news of Jesus'
resurrection by Mary Magdalene, Peter, John and Thomas. (Jn 20:1-31)
What does Jesus ask Peter three times, and why? (Jn 21:15-17; cf. Jn 18
25-27) How does Jesus predict the manner of Peter's death? (Jn 21:
18-19)
II. From the Book of Acts ~
Acts 1-2: To whom is the Book of Acts addressed?
What event is recounted in Acts 1:9?
What happened to Judas? (Acts 1:15-20)
What did Peter and the Apostles do to choose a successor? (Acts
1:20-26) What occurred at
Pentecost? (Acts 2:1-13) What happened when Peter preached on Pentecost? (Acts 2)