Why Study Ethics?

(Originally written January 31, 2006)

Book Notes

Moral Choices: Preface Ch. 1

Publishers Preface

Ethics and morality are increasingly difficult to teach in the 21st century.

Chapter 1

Why Study Ethics?

If there were no consequences would a person want to be moral? "Plato concluded that being moral was inherently valuable, apart form any additional benefits it produced or harm that it enabled a person to avoid" (11).

"One of the principal reasons for being moral is that it is central to most concepts of human fulfillment. For the Christian, being moral is critical to a life that seeks to honor God" (11).

Being moral is inherently good because it is part of the foundation of a person's ability to success.

It is unlikely that a civilization could continue without moral values like fairness, justice, truthfulness and compassion.

Ethics are important because they give direction to people and societies.

Today there is a breakdown in morality among young people and students.

Moral questions are at the root of all of life's most important issues.

Morality is concerned with the questions of right and wrong; the ability to discern between them and justify the choice.

Moral choices are faced every day

Ethics provide the basis on which to make moral choices.

"The basis on which you make moral choices is often as important as the choices themselves" (12).

Big topics of debate stem from the fundamental differences opinion on where ultimate moral authority comes from. Some believe it is a man made institution while others hold that moral authority stems from a higher power.

Society has a sense of bewilderment over some moral issues.

Many of these are due to technology's advancement outpacing society's ability to determine the moral parameters of them.

More people are taking an interest in Ethics today than ever for a number of reasons:
1) Technology's creation of issues
2) Declining morals in society
3) The lack of business ethics and scandals
4) The failure of value-neutral education. "Some even suggest that such value neutrality is impossible" (13).

Rae believes that morality comes from the character of God.

God provides these morality laws:
1) In the Bible (special revelation)
2) Out of the Bible (general revelation)

Morality refers to the actual content of right and wrong, whereas ethics is the process of determining what is right and wrong.

4 Categories of ethics:
1) Descriptive ethics - sociological discipline that attempts to describe the morals of society
2) Normative ethics - discipline that attempts to produce moral norms or rules. Basically it prescribes moral behavior
3) Metaethics - discipline that investigates the meaning of moral language. Also considers the justification of ethical theories and judgments
4) Aretaic ethics - category of ethics that focuses on the virtues produced in people, not the morality of specific acts.

Making a moral judgment involves four considerations:
1) The action itself
2) The motive behind the action
3) The consequence of the action
4) The character of who performs the action

Character - the tendency of a person to act in a predictable way over time

Two types of Ethical systems:
1) Action-oriented systems
2) Virtue-based systems

Under these two major divisions there are three subcategories
1) Deontological systems
2) Teleological systems
3) Relativism

Deontological systems - are systems based on principles in which actions, or character, or intentions are inherently right or wrong. Three types:
1) Divine command theory
2) Natural Law
3) Ethical rationalism

Teleological systems (ends justify the means) - are systems based on the end result produced by an action. If the action produces more beneficial consequences than harmful ones then it is moral. If not, then it is immoral. The primary form of teleological ethics is utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism holds that the action that produces the greatest good for the greatest numbers is the moral action.

Ethical egoism - another form of teleological ethics which maintains that the moral act is whatever is in a person's own best interest.

Relativism is an ethical system in which right and wrong are not absolute and unchanging but they are relative to one's culture or one's own personal preferences.

Social and Person Ethics: "The nature of Morality

Definition of ethics:
1) Individual character, including what it means to be a good person
2) The social rules that govern and limit our conduct, especially morality.

Definition of morality: the ultimate rules concerning right and wrong

Morality refers to what is right and wrong, good and bad; ethics is the study and assessment of those standards.

Moral standards are different than other standards because they concern behavior that is of serious consequence to human welfare.

Moral standards take priority over other standards. We take moral standards, judgments as more conclusive when put up against non-moral standards.

Moral standards' soundness depends on the adequacy of the reasons that justify them.

Unlike other standards, moral standards are not decided by an authoritative body.

Etiquette - The norms of correct conduct in polite society.

In etiquette the terms, "good, wrong, right and bad" are judgments, not ethics.

The terms legal and moral are not interchangeable.
1) An action can be illegal, but morally right
2) An action that is legal can be immoral.

Professional codes are ethical codes within a given field or profession.

These codes are not an end all scope of morality and some of the ethics of that code are not moral standards. Some of the ethics of the code are not necessarily morally right.

Our moral principles come from many different sources: upbringing, our surrounding people, behavior, explicit and implicit standards of our culture, our own experiences and our critical reflection on those experiences all shape what we see as moral.

The philosophical goal of finding the origin of morals is to see if a moral standard can stand up to critical tests.

Some say morals are synonymous with religion while others argue for the doctrine of ethical relativism.

All religions provide its believers with certain moral instructions, values and commitments.

Religion involves not only formal systems of worship, but also prescriptions for social relationships.

An example of this is the Golden Rule, which is found in all the great religions of the world:
Hinduism - "Good people proceed while considering that what is best for others is best for themselves" (Hitopadehsa)
Judaism - "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Leviticus)
Christianity - Matthew 7:12, What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others
Confucianism: Analects 15:23
Islam - "No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Traditions)

Although these religious ideals are very inspiring, they are difficult to translate into precise policy instructions.

Religious bodies occasionally articulate positions on more specific political, educational, economic and medical issues. These help mold public opinion on matters as diverse as abortion, euthanasia, nuclear weapons and national defense.

"Morality needn't rest on religion" (8)

Many people believe that morality must be based on religion for two reasons:
1) Without religion people would have no incentive to be moral
2) Only religion can provide moral guidance
3) Morality is based on the commands of God

Often people act morally simply because they are accustomed to acting that way or because it is in their character to act so.

"We are often motivated to do what is morally right out of concern for others or just because it is right" (8) [Untrue, humanity is very selfish by nature]

Other reasons for acting or living morally good lives include:
1) approval of peers
2) the need to appease our conscience
3) drive to avoid punishment

"Atheist generally live lives as moral and upright as those of believers" [Sad but true]

The moral instruction of the world's great religions are general and imprecise.

The divine command theory states that if something is wrong it is only wrong because God commands us not to do it. (Most philosophers and theologians reject this view)

It is impossible to justify a moral principle by only appealing to religion.

Ethical relativism does not hold that religion supplies moral principles. They are supplied by what a particular society believes.

This creates an atmosphere that allows for something to be right in one place and wrong in another.

There is no moral absolute outside of cultural context in ethical relativism.

There is no and can be no non-ethnocentric standard by which to judge actions in ethical relativism.

Ethical relativism undermines any moral criticism of other societies as long as their actions conform to their own standards.

There is no such thing as ethical progress in ethical relativism. Morality changes, but it does not get better or worse.

It is impossible for people to criticize principles or practices accepted in their own society in ethical relativism. All that can happen is people can be criticized for not living up to the moral standards of their society.

Ethical relativism makes reformers of society immoral persons for calling out injustices.

The more ethical relativism is examined, the more obvious it becomes that it is flawed.

Accepting and practicing on a moral principle involves consideration of a desire to follow that principle for its own sake, the likelihood of feeling guilty of not following it, and a tendency to evaluate the conduct of others according to that principle.

It would be difficult to believe that a person held a moral principle if they continue to violate that principle with no ill effects on their conscience.

Conscience is a complex psychological development of people internalizing moral values that were instilled in them as young children.

The problem with conscience is it is not always morally right.

Sometimes doing what is morally right and doing what is in your base interest come into conflict.

"Morality serves to restrain our purely self-interested desires so we can all live together" (12).

Normally following our own moral principles is in our best interest, however if following moral principles is motivated by expecting a payoff is not really moral.

Deciding to follow your self-interest or deciding to follow your moral principles when they come into conflict depend on the strength of those entities.

The paradox of hedonism is that people who always follow their own self-interest principles tend to live less happy and less fulfilling lives.

Notes on 1 John and Revelation

(Originally written January 25, 2006)

Roles of God in Salvation

Father = Election
Son = Redemption/forgiveness of sins
Holy Spirit = Secures the believers' future inheritance, blessings = glorified bodies

What can we learn from I John 1:1-4
- we can have fellowship with believers and with God and Jesus
- letter is about the word of life eternal
-note emphasis on sensory perception of the word

1 John 1:5-10 Belief and Practice must be wedded

vv. 5-10 concern what will be true orthodox beliefs

vv. 6, 8, & 10 are directed against the teaching of the heretics

Confession steps
1) call it sin
2) call it forgiven
3) call on God for help

Heretics
- claimed to walk with God but did not
- claimed they had no sin to be cleansed

Why was I John written?
- To expose false teachers who are leading true believers astray (2:26)
- To give true Christians assurance of their salvation

Non-Biblical Gnostic dualism led to five errors:
1) human body is evil, soul is good
2) salvation is escape from body
3) Denied Christ's true humanity in two ways:
-Docetism: Christ only appeared to have a body
-Cerenthianism: the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left before he died
4) Asceticism
5) Licentiousness

What is the sin that leads to Death in 1 John 5:16
1) Either referring to physical death that is caused by sin (Old Testament and I Corinthians 11). God ending a life so as the man is brought home rather than damned to hell.
2) A person who stayed in the community but then were heretics and left the community of believers.

Introduction to Revelation

Apokalypsis (Greek) means the uncovering, laying bare, Metaphorically it means a revealing

Revelation = Prophetic Apocalyptic Literature

-Apocalyptic Literature - starts in post-exilic Jewish writing
-Contains dreams, spiritual realm, savior from despair

Prophetic Apocalyptic - incorporates Apocalyptic literature with prophecy of Israel

Symbolic language has real implication

Revelation is a prophetic red book.

Unholy Trinity
Satan - Red Dragon
Antichrist - The Beast
False Prophet - The other beast

Four Interpretive Approaches to the Book of Revelation (or Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)

1) Idealist approach (NIV Study Bible likes this)
-Theological poem depicting between good and evil
-No events will actually happen
-Expressions of basic principles of how God acts

Weaknesses of Idealist approach
-Continues the allegorical approach
-No historical fulfillment

2) Preterist Approach
-Contents are factual/historical
-Everything in it except visions in Chapters 21 and 22 was fulfilled by the time John wrote

Weaknesses of Preterist approach
-the decisive victory never happened
-view cannot fit all the events of Revelation chapters 2-19 into the year AD 64-70 or AD 64-96.

3) Historicist Approach
- Revelation chapters 2-19/20 is a forecast of the course of history down to present day
- Revelation sketches the history of Western Europe from the Popes to Charlemagne to Napoleon to Hitler

Problems with the historicist approach
-Totally subjective
-No significance to first century readers

4) The Futurist Approach
-Major emphasis is on the future final victory of God over evil
-Many believe that from 4:1 on is future
-Letter to 7 churches are something held to represent the predominant types of churches in successive stages of church history
-John being taken up into heaven is symbolic of rapture

Major Weakness
- Most of the book was irrelevant for those whom it was addressed
- Little comfort to the original readers who would have to wait for 7 ages of the Church for Christ to return

Revelation 3:14-22

Church at Laodicea: Self-Satisfied Church

Hot/Cold/Lukewarm: Popular view vs. Correct view

Hot: Believer (popular) Medicinal (correct)
Cold: Unbeliever (popular) Refreshing (correct)
Lukewarm: Indifferent (popular) Miserable (correct)

Laodicea had to import water from other places:
1) was a hot spring that by the time the water got there it was lukewarm
2) was a cold water source [Colosse] but by the time it got to Laodicea it was lukewarm.
The water was no longer medicinal or refreshing, it was miserable.
(John knew his readers!)

Perceived Anti-Christs: George III, Napoleon, Reagan, Roman Popes, Mussolini, Hussein, Hitler, Gorbachev

Central passage for the Millennium: Revelation 20:4-6

Christ speaks of two ages
1) Present age
2) Age to come

Views on Millennialism:

1) Amillennialism: there will be no millennium
- The saints are reigning with Christ now in heaven
- Eternity begins at the second coming
- Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled spiritually in the Church

2) Postmillennialism: Jesus returns after the millennium to reign with the saints
- Satan is bound now
- World won to Christ through the preaching of the Gospel and will experience a "wonderful" period of peace
- Church prepares the world for the second coming of Christ

3) Premillennialism: Christ returns to earth before the millennium
-Millenium is a time when God fulfills the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants with Israel
-Church shares in new covenant promises, but God is not finished with Israel yet.

Premillennialists debate the Rapture

Pre-tribulation Rapture/Seven Year Tribulation (Chapters 6-19)/Post-tribulation rapture

Catholic Epistles, Pastoral Epistles, The Epistles of John

(Originally written January 24, 2006 in Book 20)

The first three Catholic Epistles:
1 Peter
2 Peter
Jude

1 Peter: Salvation & Suffering

What it means to live for God in a world without God.

"For Western Christians at the close of the 20th Century this brief tract written within a culture not yet Christian becomes a relevant textbook on Christian living in a culture no longer Christian".

1 Peter

I. Problem of Authorship
-What difference does it make whether the Apostle Peter wrote this letter or someone else wrote it and ascribed it to Peter?
-Peter is a highly esteemed apostle
-Peter was an eye witness
-Peter's words in 1 Peter & Acts

II. Who was I Peter written to?
-Gentiles

III. Setting of Peter's Readers
-ridicule for their beliefs
-honor and shame
-walking in Jesus' steps

2. II Peter

-Parallels Jude
-II Peter 1:20-21 Source of Scripture
- A response to rationalistic and hedonistic denials of God
-Paul's letter as Scripture

3. Jude: Danger! False Teachers!

-Parallels 2 Peter
-Jude was probably written after II Peter

Pastoral Epistles

Called Pastoral because they were written to young pastors

Contents: Introduction to Timothy and Titus about:
1) Errors of false teachers
2) Conduct and teaching as pastors/teachers
3) Church order and behavior in worship
4) Pastor's relationship to other groups in the Church
5) Qualifications for Church leaders

Authorship: critical scholarship considered non-Pauline
-a pseudonymous writer in the second century
-used Paul's authority
-to combat a rising Gnostic influence
-or could think of them as pious forgeries

Paul's authorship attacked on four grounds
1) Historical arguments
-don't fit into chronology in Acts (written after Paul was released in the end of Acts)
2) Stylistic arguments
-Author uses different style and words than Paul's (Paul was older, could have given secretaries more freedom)
3) Ecclesiastical arguments
-Church structure and church order is too developed for first century church (ignores fact that church in Acts is already highly developed)
4) Theological arguments:
-Heresy is a developed Gnosticism of the second century so it is therefore, post-Paul (Gnostic heresy existed very early on)

1st Timothy Highlights

1:18-20 Timothy's character and Paul's admonition

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
- New covenant stipulation
- Will Hymenaeus and Philters be in heaven?
2 Timothy is written 5 years after and it seems unlikely.

2:11-15
- Role of women in the church is one of the hottest topics in evangelicalism today

Authorship of Hebrews
-Philip?
-Apollos?
-Priscilla?
-Barnabas?

Hebrews was the oldest complete early Christian sermon that has been preserved.

Written to professing Jewish Christians in danger of apostasy (going back to Judaism)

The Epistles of John

Intro to I John

Test of fellowship
-Am I a carnal or a spirit directed believer?
-Assumes all John's readers are believers

Tests of Life View

-Am I spiritually alive or spiritually dead?
-Assumes some readers are not Christian

The Colossian Heresy

(Originally written January 23, 2006 in Book 20)

Paul's Prison Epistles

Acts: Paul was imprisoned twice:
1) Caesarea
2) Rome - house arrest some say Paul was imprisoned also in Ephesus

Philemon: Plea for a runaway slave

Philemon was a wealthy Christian slave owner who lived in Colossae (100 miles East of Ephesus)

The church met in Philemon's home (Philemon 1:2)

Onesimus was a profitable slave who stole money from Philemon and ran off to rome.

The name Onesimus means profitable and useful.

He ran into Paul and converted under Paul's ministry in Rome.

Philemon is an excellent example of how the gospel will undermine unjust social structures in the world. (Galatians 3:28)

Colossians: Christ as the head of the church

(Colossians is parallel to Ephesians)

Situation: an un-bliblical philosophy distorting Christian faith
Purpose: Paul writes to refute the Colossian heresy
What did it consist of?

Colossians Heresy:
-Ceremonialism: held to strict rules about food and drink, religious festivals and circumcision
Colossians 2:16-17, 2:11, 3:11
-Asceticism: "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch", Colossians 2:21, 2:23
-Angel worship, Colossians 2:18
-Deprecation of Christ, Paul has to stress the supremacy of Christ, Colossians 1:15-20, 2:2-3,9
-Secret knowledge: Gnostics boasted of this, Colossians 2:2-3, 18
-Reliance on human wisdom and tradition, Colossians 2:4,8
-The heresy is a mix of extreme Judaism and early gnosticism

Acts 28: Colossians/Ephesians
Church = Universal Church vs. Local churches (house churches)


Themes:
1. Complete adequacy of Christ over against emptiness of mere human philosophy.
2. Practical implications of supremacy of Christ for every day living.

Structures:

Chapters 1-2: Doctrine, Christ is "the head"
Chapters 3-4: Practical, Follow Christ, "the head"

Philippians

A friendly missionary thank you letter

-Church at Philippi - Paul panted it on his second missionary journey
-Lydia, a wealthy God-fearing gentile
-slave girl with a spirit of divination
-Paul and Silas were stripped and flogged and imprisoned, where they sung songs all night
-Paul's Roman citizenship vindicated him
-Church met in Lydia's house

Perhaps Paul's favorite church.
-Regularly assisted Paul financially

Dominant Emotional tone: Joy
-The word Joy appears 16 times in various forms

What prompted Paul to write: Philippians had sent Epaphroditus with their gift to Paul

Being filled with the Spirit

1) Understand God's will
-Devotional
2) Be filled with the Spirit (v.18)
-a decision of the will (not something forced on you)
-controlled and empowered
3) Step out and obey

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 & Early Church in Rome

(Originally written January 20, 2006 in book 20)

1 Corinthians 15:3-5

1) Christ died for our sins
2) He was buried
3) He was raised on the third day
4) He was seen by Cephas and the 12

Romans

Who planted the church in Rome?
-Apostle Peter was the founder and first bishop of the Roman Church with a ministry lasting about 25 years.
-Jewish residents of Rome were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
-Christian's from Paul's missionary churches in the east.

Indicative (it is) and Imperative (it ought to be) in Paul's theology: What God has done for us and what God expects from Christians

Paul's Missionary Journeys and 1 Corinthians Notes

(Originally written January 19, 2006)

Pg. 472-505

-Paul's Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 50) starts with the split between Paul and Barnabas. Paul takes Silas and goes north to Galatia. Barnabas takes John Mark and goes to Cyprus.
-Paul strengthens the churches in Syria and Ciliciaby by giving encouragement and teaching and by giving a copy of the letter from the Jerusalem council.
-Paul picks up Timothy in Lystra

-Paul had Timothy circumcised because his mother was Jewish (Father was Greek). Timothy was a believer before he met Paul, but Paul had Timothy circumcised so that he would not offend Jewish believers (because his mother was Jewish also) which gave him access to the Synagogue. 

-Paul next goes to Troas because the Holy Spirit forbids him to go to Asia (Ephesus) or to Bithynia. 

-While in Troas, Paul receives a vision to go to Macedonia. Paul relays the vision to his companions and they leave for Macedonia immediately (God's will for us??)

-The first church in Europe was probably in Rome, but going into Macedonia was a big step in Christianity's expansion into Europe.

Chapter 23

-Neapolis was the first city they went to. From Nepalis they went to Philippi.

-Philippi had no synagogue because it probably expelled the Jews after Rome did in A.D. 49

-Paul found a group of women praying on the Sabbath. He ministered to Lydia who accepted Christ. Lydia invited Paul and his companions to stay with her and her family. This was the start of the church in Philippi

-One day Paul cast a demon out of a slave girl, who then lost her ability as a fortune teller. Her master then took Paul for a trial because the girl was very profitable as a fortune teller.

-As a result of the trial Paul was beaten and imprisoned.

-During their night in prison an earthquake shook the prison, unlocking all the doors. To avoid trial the guard planned to kill himself. Paul convinced him not to and shared with him the good news. He became a Christian. Paul and Silas was freed in the morning.

-The next big stop was Thessalonica. In Thessalonica Paul preached in the Synagogue and many believed. Out of jealousy, Jewish leaders who did not believe in Jesus started a riot. They took Jason, whom Paul was staying with and brought him to court. They were told to post bond and were released. Later that night Paul was encouraged to leave, so he did.

-Paul then went to Berea. The Jews in Berea checked the facts of Jesus through the Old Testament and many were saved.

-The angry Jews of Thessalonica came to Berea to start riots and stop Paul. Paul left, but Silas remained.

-Paul and Timothy sailed for Athens. Timothy stayed in Athens teaching. Silas was in Berea and Paul returned to Thessalonica to encourage believers.

- In Athens Paul debated with Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Many Athenians laughed at the idea of the resurrection but some believed. Paul left Athens to go to Corinth.

-Corinth had a population of 500,000. Paul met Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth and he worked with them as tent makers for several months. While in Corinth, Paul waited for updates from Silas and Timothy.

-Paul's first letter to Thessalonians was one of faith, hope and love. He was encouraging them to stay hopeful despite persecution.

-Paul said they are to avoid sexual immorality and to love one another.

-Paul encourages them that those who died would take part in God's kingdom to come.

-A couple of month's after the first letter Paul wrote a second one to the Thessalonians.

-This letter was to assure them that the day of the Lord had not come and when it did come it would be unmistakeable. 

-It also praises them for growing in love and faith and encouraged them to keep hope despite the continuing persecution.

-Paul ended his letter with some prayer requests and some admonitions.

-Paul signs the letter (wrote it) by himself because forgeries were starting to confuse people.

-Paul "shakes out his clothes" in protest to the unbelieving Jews. This marks a shift in policy to ministering primarily to Gentiles.

-Paul remained in Corinth for a year and a half.

-Paul left Corinth to return to Antioch and give an update. While going through Ephesus he was asked to stay. He declined so that he could return to Antioch, but did leave Priscilla and Aquila to minister there. 

-In Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila teach Apollos the resurrection of Jesus because he was already teaching about Jesus' life. Apollos then went to Greece as a missionary.

-Paul traveled to Antioch probably alone. His companions were probably still scattered teaching the good news: Luke in Philippi, Timothy and Silas in Corinth, and Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus.

Chapter 24
-Paul stayed in Antioch through the winter then headed back out to the churches he planted. (AD 53).
-When Paul returned to Ephesus he met a group of men who knew of John the Baptist (probably by Apollos before he knew all of Jesus' story). Paul preached to them about the Holy Spirit and they believed.
-Paul spoke and taught in the synagogues of Ephesus for three months and drove a wedge between the Jews. Some believed and some did not. Then Paul taught the Gentiles in Ephesus. This lasted over two years.
-Some Jews were trying to use the name of Jesus in an exorcism. The demon possessed man claimed to know of Jesus and Paul but not them. The demon possessed man then beat the exorcists and the name of Jesus was seen as powerful in that region because of it.
-In Ephesus the silversmiths started a riot because Paul had converted many idol worshippers and they were losing business because no one was buying dos anymore. The riot dispersed and Paul eventually left Ephesus.

-While in Ephesus Paul wrote four letters to Corinth (We have 2).
-First Corinthians was correcting them on instructions he gave in his first letter.
-First Corinthians deals with issues that the modern church still struggles with.

Review of Wednesday

Paul first visited Corinth on the Second Missionary Journey (Acts 18:1-18).

4 Letters to Corinth/3 Visits
1st is lost
2nd is First Corinthians (from Ephesus)
3rd is lost - a "sorrowful letter"
4th is Second Corinthians (from Macedonia)

Wrote Romans from Corinth

Sources for Paul in 1 Corinthians
-Chloe's household
-Three individuals
-Letter from Church at Corinth with questions for Paul

Two root problems at Corinth
1) An over-enthusiastic view of the Spirit
-abuse of flashy gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14)
2) An over-realized eschatology:
-felt the future was present (1 Corinthians 4:8-10)

4 Kinds of People
- Natural Person
- Baby Christians (Natural persons who receive salvation)
- Willful Carnal Christians (Baby Christians who experience no growth)
-Spiritual Christians (Baby Christians who grow)

Carnal Christians have legalism, jealousy, guilt, aimlessness, fear, ignorance of spiritual heritage, disobedience, unbelief, poor prayer life, no desire for Bible Study

Church discipline/Restoration

The goal of Church discipline is always restoration.

What sins warrant this act?
-incest
-idle men
-the divisive

"Church discipline is needed when a given sin carries with it the serious possibility of corrupting the whole congregation"

Two extremes to avoid:
1) Becoming legalistic about forbidding all kinds of morally neutral practices
2) Refusing to engage in Church discipline because no one is perfect

I Corinthians 6:1-1: Lawsuits

What kind of cases are in view?
-trivial crimes
-ordinary matters along the lines of civil cases

Key question: will the gospel be promoted by contemplated litigation?

Paul used the courts to spread the Gospel throughout Acts.

Single vs. Marriage

Philosophical dualism background:
"matter" is evil (body)
"spirit" is good (soul)

Libertine/antinomian - "everything is permissible"
ascetic - no sex whatsoever

Do not deprive one another of sexual relations except for:
1) Total agreement
2) Limited time
3) devotion and prayer
(But after that, have at it!)

1 Corinthians 7:6: "this I say by way of concession, not command"

What does Paul allow?
1) Marital relations
2) Temporary abstinence

The ascetic view was pushed on the church by force.

The gift of celibacy comes from the gift of self-control.

What were Paul's reasons for staying single:
1) "The present distress"
2) "The shortening of the time"
3) "To promote what is seemly and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord"

When do spiritual gifts come to you:
1) When you become a Christian
2) More dynamic - when you need it
3) Pray for it, desire it (1 Corinthians 12:31, 14:1, 14:39)

Tongues - Ecstatic utterances or known foreign Languages?
-Both

What purpose do tongues have?
-The charismatic praise of God

Guidelines for tongues?
-two or three at the most should speak in Church with an interpreter. No interpreter, no tongues

I Corinthians Overview

(Originally written January 18, 2006)

I Corinthians Overview

I Corinthians: Christian Hot Potatoes

Natural Person
Spiritual Person (2:15)
Carnal Person (3:1) Carnal Christian

Is there salvation after death? (I Corinthians 5:5)

I Corinthians 6: Lawsuits

Marriage & Singleness

Outline

1:1-9 Introduction
1:10-4:21 Division in the Church
5:1-6:20 Disorders in the Church
- Discipline
- Lawsuits
- Fornication
7:1-15 Difficulties in the Church
- marriage and singleness
- liberty
- worship
- spiritual gifts
- resurrection
7:16 Directions to the Church

Divisions in the Church
- Doctrinal lines
- Intellectual lines
- Socioeconomic lines
- Disciplines of study and research

3 Groups of people in the Church today:
1) 2:14 Natural Man
-Person without God's spirit living in their life.
-Doesn't welcome things of God's spirit
-God's spirit things are foolishness to the natural man
-Can't experientially know God's spirit
2) 2:15 Spiritual Man (Christian)
3) 3:1-2a Carnal Infant (The worldly baby Christian)
4) Worldly/Carnal willful Christians

I Thessalonians overview

(Originally written on January 18, 2006 in Book 20)

I Thessalonians

1:1 Greetings from Paul, Silas and Timothy

1:2-10 Paul thanks them for their faith. He says their faith is a model to all of Macedonia.

2:1-16 Paul reassures the Thessalonians that their ministry was not a failure because the Thessalonians accepted the word of God. Paul thanked them for being imitators of the churches in Judea which are followers of Christ.

2:17-3:5 Paul states he has been desperately waiting to return but has been prevented. When Paul could not bear not to know how they were doing he sent Timothy to find out and to minister to the Thessalonians.

3:6-13 Timothy has returned to Paul and gave him a good report of how the Thessalonians were doing. Paul encourages them to keep loving each other and loving God.

4:1-12 Paul tells the Thessalonians to live a pure life to please God. He tells them to refrain from sexual immorality like the non-Christians indulge in. Then he tells them to continue to love each others as brothers and to do so even more.

4:13-5:11 Paul comforts the Thessalonians who fear that the believers who have died will not rise when Jesus comes. He assures them that all who believe will spend eternity with Jesus.

5:12-28 Paul instructs them to do good to each other, encourage and respect one another and avoid evil and to continue to love God.

I Corinthians 12-14

Spiritual gifts come from God. Given as the spirit determine and are given for the common good.

13-14

-Tongues are languages of man, but also a language of angels/prayer languages
-Tongues are what only God understands
-Tongues edify self
-Tongues should only be spoken if an interpretation can happen
-Prophecy is used to strengthen, encourage and comfort man
-Prophecy edifies church
-Prophecy is for believers
-Two or three should speak in tongues (one at a time) with an interpreter
-All should prophesy
-Two or three should prophesy, but if a revelation comes to a man, that man should speak up
-Everything should be done in an orderly way because God is a God of order and peace

Highlights of Acts, James, Calvinism vs. Arminianism & Galatians

(Originally written on January 17, 2006 in Book 20)

Highlights in the Book of Acts

Acts 2 - Birth of the Church

Church = New Testament People of God
Israel = Old Testament People of God

Acts 6 - Prototypes of Deacons/Elders

The 12 - Prototypes of elders/bishops

Functions of the Elders/Bishops
1) Teaching the word
2) Prayer

The Seven = The prototypes of deacons/deaconesses

Acts 8 - Persecuted church scatters
Acts 9 - Paul's conversion
Acts 10 - Gospel to the Gentiles
Acts 12 - James is Martyred
Acts 14 - 1st Missionary Journey
Acts 15 - The Jerusalem Council
-Must Gentile Christians keep the Law in order to be saved as the Judaizers insist?
Acts 15:39-18:22 - 2nd Missionary Journey
Acts 18:23-21:27 - 3rd Missionary Journey
Acts 21:27-23:32 - Imprisoned in Jerusalem
Acts 23:33-26:32 - Imprisoned in Caesera
Acts 27-28 - Voyage to Rome
Acts 28:16-30 - Roman imprisonment

The Book of James:

Author: James, brother of Jesus (oldest)
- Did not believe in Jesus
- Jesus appeared to him post resurrection
- Very religious Jew
Galatians 2:12/Acts 21:17-26

Recipients:
-Jewish believers who scattered after Stephen's death
-Only epistle strictly written to a Jewish audience

Date:
- Earliest Christian document
- Josephus records James' martyrdom in AD 62
- Makes no reference to Judaizing controversy (AD 49)
- Approximately written AD 46-47

Focus of James: The practical outworking of Christianity in a righteous lifestyle

Emphases
1) Patience in the face of suffering
2) How the rich treat the poor
3) Judgment and judging

James & Paul on role of works in salvation:
- Both James & Paul affirm good deeds and are against bad deeds
- Both use the Greek word "erga" (works) but use it differently

James 2:14-26 has a particular kind of works in view
- Good deeds like acts of charity, generosity, impartiality, control of tongue, etc
- His opponents were claiming orthodoxy without action

Paul opposes "works" as in works of the Law
- Stops people from attempting to obtain salvation through the Law, which is impossible

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

Total Depravity vs. Free will/human ability
Unconditional Election vs. Conditional election
Limited Atonement vs. Unlimited Atonement
Irresistible Grace vs. Resistible grace
Perseverance of the Saints vs. Can fall from grace

Calvinism justifies Unconditional Depravity by Romans 3:10, Jeremiah 17:9, Ephesians 4:18 and Ecclesiastes 7:20. We are unable to save ourselves and will never choose Christ on our own.

Arminianism justifies free will/human ability by John 1:9 and Titus 2:11

Calvinism justifies unconditional election by Romans 8:29-30, Romans 9:11-18, Acts 13:48. Foreknew = Forechosen. God chooses man, man does not choose God.

Arminianism justifies conditional election via Romans 8:29. Foreknew = Foresaw. God foresaw who would choose Him.

Calvinism justifies limited atonement with John 10:10, John 10:15, John 17:2, John 17:6, John 17:9. Christ only died for the elect.

Arminianism justifies unlimited atonement with 1 John 2:2, 1 Timothy 4:10, 2 Peter 2:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:19. Christ died for all men.

Calvinism justifies irresistible grace with Romans 9:19-21. Nobody can resist God's will.

Arminianism justifies resistible grace with 1 John 2:2, 1 Timothy 4:10, 2 Peter 2:1, 2 Corinthians 5:19. God can be resisted.

Calvinism justifies Perseverance of the saints with Philippians 2:12-13, John 10:27-30, Romans 8:38-39. Salvation is secure.

Arminianism justifies can fall from grace with Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:26-31, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Romans 8:38-39, Romans 11:22. Salvation can be lost.

Introduction to Galatians

Dualism: Body doesn't matter, do whatever. Soul is what counts.

Two Extremes of dualism:
Antinomianism - over indulgence
Asceticism - no pleasure at all, minimalism

If Paul was concerned about distortions of the gospel, we should too.

Problem behind letter to Galatians.

Jewish Christian teachers infiltrated the Galatian churches with a message that endangered the Gospel message. They were Judaizers.

Judaizers sought to complete Paul's gospel in two ways.
1) by requiring circumcision
2) by enforcing Jewish food laws

Notes on Acts 13

(Originally written January 16, 2006)

Reading: Acts 13-28

13:1-3
Saul and Barnabas receive a calling from God and the brothers in Antioch send them off

13:4-12
Saul and Barnabas go to Cyprus and when they arrive in Salamis they proclaimed the word of God

When is someone baptized by the Holy Spirit?

(Originally written on January 13, 2006 in Book 20)

General Epistels/Catholic Epistles

- James
- 1 & 2 Peter
- Hebrews
- Jude
- 1, 2, 3 John

Paul

Acts 28 - 1st Roman Arrest (House Arrest)

Prison Epistles
- Ephesians
- Colossians
- Philemon
- Philippians

Pastoral Epistles
- 1 Timothy
- Titus
- 1 & 2 Peter

2nd Imprisonment: Dungeon
- 2 Timothy

Acts 1-11: Focus on Peter's mission to the Jews

Acts 12-28: Focus on Paul's mission to the Gentiles

Resurrection (40 Days) -> Ascension (Acts 1)

Pentecost (Acts 2)

Acts 2: Birth of the Church

What are tongues signs of?
- Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 19 - The Holy Spirit

Impending Judgment

A sign that functions to the disadvantage of believers

Tongues are a prayer language used in private devotions

When is someone baptized by the Holy Spirit?

1) Reformed Christianity
- At the moment someone believes the gospel
- Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 8:9
- Acts is transitional and some experiences are unique (especially Acts 8 & 19)

2) Pentecostalism
- When you speak in tongues
- The Acts phenomena is normative (especially Acts 8 & 19)

Pentecost

Fulfillment of Joel 2:28-29

2 Separate groups received the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:
-120 (apostles and close followers, already believers)
-3,000 (converts from all over the world)
-All Jews

Acts 10:
Cornelius and the Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit

Notes on the Introduction to Acts

(Originally written January 12, 2006 in Book 20)

Matthew - Jewish Audience
Mark - Roman Audience

Rabbinic Debate: Shammai vs. Hillel

Shammai - Deuteronomy 24:1 Divorce for adultery
Hillel - Deuteronomy 24:1 Divorce for any cause

Jesus replies with Genesis 1:27 & 2:24

Crucifixion of Jesus

Saturday - Anointment of Jesus by Mary
Sunday - Triumphal entry
Monday - Curses the fig tree (again) and changes the Temple
Tuesday - See the fig tree withered, Jesus argues with religious leaders, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives and tells the disciples of the signs of the End
Wednesday - inactive
Thursday: Last Supper in Mark's mother's house. Jesus arrested and taken to the Sanhedrin

5 Precautions taken in case that Jesus would not rise from the Dead
1) Prepared in accordance with Jewish burial customs
2) Placed in a new tomb "cut out of the rock"
3) A "Big Stone", "Extremely large" was rolled in front of the tomb's entrance
4) Roman Guard was place in front of the tomb (probably four men)
5) Seal of Rome placed on the entrance of the tomb

Introduction to Acts

Acts 1:8 gives the outline of the Book of Acts

I. The Witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7
II. The Witness in All Judea and Samaria 6:8-9:21
III. The Witness to the Ends of the Earth 9:32-28:31
-Antioch (Syria) * Antioch is the missionary church 9:32-12:24
-Asia Minor 12:25-16:5
-Aegean (Greece) 16:16-19:20
-Rome 19:21-28:31

"Progress Report" Refrains in Acts
6:7, 9:31, 12:24, 19:20, 20:31

Acts 8-12

8:1-3 The Church is being persecuted in Jerusalem and the members scattered. Stephen was buried while Saul tries to destroy the church.

8:4-8 Wherever the scattered members went they preached. Philip went to Samaria and cast out demons, healed and taught. There was great joy in the city.

8:9-25 Philip is preaching in Samaria when a sorcerer believed and is baptized. Peter and John came out to Samaria to bring them the Holy Spirit. The sorcerer offers to pay Peter and John to teach him the power. They rebuke him for his wicked and sinful heart, trying to buy God's grace.

8:26-40 Philip goes down to the road and hears an Ethiopian reading from Isaiah. Philip explained what the passage means to the man. Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch and then he is taken away by the Spirit.

Jesus' highlight reel

(Originally written January 11, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Reading Notes

The Promise & the Blessing

John 1:1-11:57
Matthew 1:1-20:28

The New Testament is not a biography of Jesus' life and career; it is a highlight reel.

-John the Baptist was born to a priest named Zechariah and his barren wife, Elizabeth.
-John the Baptist was a Nazarite.
-After Gabriel informed Zechariah & Elizabeth of the baby to be born to them, Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would give birth. Joseph decided to quietly divorce her but an angel told him not to.
-Jesus is born. The Magi visit him. Joseph, Mary and Jesus flee to Egypt and return. Jesus grows up and at age 12 disappears only to be found teaching in the Temple. This is all that is written of Jesus' childhood.
-John's ministry led people to ask if John was the Messiah. He said, "no" and eventually baptized Jesus around A.D. 29.
-After being baptized Jesus left for the Wilderness and was tempted while he fasted for 40 days. Jesus resisted by quoting Scripture.
-After coming from the Wilderness Jesus calls his first disciples: Andrew, Simon (Peter), Philip and Nathaniel
-These four and Jesus go to the wedding in Cana where Jesus performs is first miracle.
-Jesus cleanses the Temple during his first recorded Passover.
-After cleansing the Temple Jesus stays and teaches a while, then goes to Samaria (woman at the well)
-Next Jesus heals the boy from a distance

The first portion of Jesus' career starts to show what he is about with two key incidents:
1) Jesus heals the Leper: this shows Jesus' power to heal and make a person "clean"
2) Jesus heals the paralytic: this shows Jesus has the power to forgive sins

Jesus' miracles were purposeful to validate his claim to being the Messiah.

Structure of Matthew's Gospel

Teaching about the Kingdom of God

"The Kingdom of heaven is near" - Matthew 4:17/Mark 1:15
"The Kingdom of God has come to you" - Matthew 12:28/Luke 11:20
"Thy Kingdom Come" - Matthew 6:10

Two Meanings of "Kingdom" in Jesus' teachings
1) Reign or rule (primary meaning)
2) Realm or territory over with one rules

Matthew 1-28:20
John 1-21:25
Acts 1-7

After the feeding of the 5,000 some disciples began to leave Jesus for political, material and theological reasons.

Chapter 19 Review Questions

1) Jesus refused to give a sign to the praises because the only sign they would see was that of the prophet Jonah
2) The Mount of Transfiguration was where Jesus was transformed in to his Glorious self and talked with Moses & Elijah. It was significant because Peter, James and John saw him in his glory.
3) Jesus came to the festival of Succoth later to avoid drawing a crowd, but appeared publicly to teach.
4) Jesus waited so that he could raise Lazarus from the dead.
5) We determine the date of the crucifixion by determining it happened after the last supper (passover) and by the customs of starting days at sunrise or sunset based on the culture
6) The triumphal entry was Christ riding into Jerusalem on the donkey with crowds laying palms at his feet saying, "Hosanna"
7) The Last Week of Christ
- Jesus' entourage arrived in Bethany on Friday
-Jesus eats with Lazarus, Mary and Martha where Mary pours perfume on his feet (Saturday)
-Sunday was the Triumphal entry (Palm Sunday)
-Monday: Jesus curses the fig tree
-Tuesday: Jesus goes into Jerusalem and confronts the religious leaders
-Wednesday: Prayer & Meditation
-Thursday: Last Supper
-Friday: Trial and Crucifixion
8) The last night of Jesus' life was prayer at Gethsemane where he was betrayed by Judas, arrested and tried.
9) Jesus' trials were mockeries for many reasons. First, he was brought to Ananias who had no authority to interrogate Jesus. Second, he was tried in Caiaphas's palace instead of the council champers. Third, the testimony was contradictory. Lastly, the death penalty was given which they had no authority to do.
10) We know Jesus was really dead because the Centurion in charge of the execution proclaimed him dead and they stabbed him with a spear to ensure of his death
11) The evidence that Jesus had risen from the dead was:
-That he appeared to Mary
-That he appeared to Cleopas and another
-Jesus appears to the disciples in a locked room. Then he appeared to the disciples and this Thomas believed
12) Jesus appeared to numerous people and taught his disciples more

Chapter 20 Review Questions
1) The last question the disciples asked Jesus about the kingdom was, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?"
2) The events of Pentecost were: the disciples were praying when a strong wind came over the house. A tongue of fire came in to the room, split and hung over their heads. They spoke different languages to the men who came to listen. They spoke all the listener's native languages.
3) The Jews who accepted the Messiah were the early Church and preached in his name boldly, healed and performed signs. This frightened the Jewish leadership and they ordered the church to stop.
4) Some of the problems of the early Church were human problems:
-Ananias & Sapphira lied about the money they were giving and were struck dead for it
- The 12 were oppressed by the Sadducees and thrown in jail
- They were distracted by secondary issues like the Hebraic widows receiving more attention than the Hellenistic ones
5) Stephen was stoned for arguing with a group of men from the synagogue of freedmen. They couldn't defeat him in argument so they took him to court with false witnesses.
6) Saul was searching for the leaders of "The Way" (The Church) to stop their heresy. On the road to Damascus he encountered a bright light (Jesus) and he asked Saul why he was persecuting him. Saul was blinded for three days. He reflected inwardly. Ananias was called by God to restore Paul's sight. When Saul was unblinded he got up and was baptized as a believer.

Structure of Matthew

(Originally written January 10, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Matthew

Structure: Narrative & Teaching

Ch. 1-4 is Narrative
Ch. 5-7 is Teaching
Ch. 8-9:34 is Narrative
Ch. 9:35-10:42 is Teaching
Ch. 11-12 is Narrative
Ch. 13:1-52 is Teaching
Ch. 13:53-17 is Narrative
Ch. 18 is Teaching
Ch. 19-23 is Narrative
Ch. 24-25 is Teaching
Ch. 26-28 is Narrative

5 Women in Matthew's Genealogy
1) Tamar
2) Rahab
3) Ruth
4) Bathsheba
5) Mary

Why were these women placed in the Genealogy?
1) All were sinners?
2) All were foreigners/Gentiles?
3) Something extraordinary about these women's relationship with their husbands? (Dr. Heth's choice)

Matthew 1:1

1) Son of David/Davidic Covenant:
-House
-Kingdom
-Throne

2) Son of Abraham/Abrahamic Covenant:
- All nations blessed through Abraham

John 8:41 indicates that the Jews knew Jesus was a bastard (illegitimate)

Introduction to the Gospel of John

(Originally written January 10, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Intro to the Gospel of John (Ch. 1-4)

-92% of John is unique.
-Very distinct portrait of Jesus
-Only gospel to record "the Early Judean ministry"

John 1:19 - 4:45
Matthew 4:11-12
Mark 1:13-14
Luke 4:113-14

-No genealogy in John
-No sermon on the Mount

Miracle count:
-Matthew: 20
-Mark: 18
-Luke: 20
-John: 8

Number of Parables:
-Matthew: 16
-Mark: 5
-Luke: 20
-John: 0

The style of speech is very different than the synoptic gospels

John 5:24 - Salvation is a present rather than future reality.

What kind of faith pleases God?
John 4:43-54
Galileans - sign based faith. Sign based faith is not true faith.
The faith of the royal official is true faith:
1) Believed at face value (verse 50b)
2) Believed totally (verse 53b)

Quick notes on Sources for the Synoptic Gospels

(Originally written January 9, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Three Stages of Composition of Luke

1) Eyewitnesses who handed down the words of Jesus
2) The many who had already written accounts of Jesus and the early church
3) Luke himself, who carefully investigated and composed his own orderly account

Study Guide

Two Unique Births
- John the Baptist
- Jesus

Requirements of the Messiah
1) The Genealogical strand from the descendants of Abraham, tribe of Judah, line of David
2) The Prophetic strand: be born in Bethlehem, mother would be a virgin, and would flee to Egypt and be called back by God
3) Physical Evidence: he would have to perform certain acts

Primary Proof of Jesus as the Messiah
- The resurrection

The Synoptic Problem: Why are there so many similarities, yet differences in the three synoptic Gospels?

Marcan Priority: Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source
Matthean Priority: Mark and Luke used Matthew as a source
Q-Source: A Source that Matthew and Luke used alongside of Mark
- Problems with the Q-Source: It no longer exists and doesn't explain for when Matthew and Luke differ
Two-Source Theory: Matthew & Luke used Mark and the Q-Source to write their gospels
Four-Source Theory:
-Matthew and Luke used Mark and the Q-Source
-Matthew used an M-source as well
-Luke used an L-source as well

M-Source vs. L-Source
M-Source is material unique to Matthew
L-Source is material unique to Matthew

Importance of 2 Peter 3:15-16: Peter calls Paul's letters scripture in this passage

Quick outline of Mark

(Originally written January 6, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Mark 1:1 - 9:50

1:1-8 John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus: "After me will come one more powerful than I, ... I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with he Holy Spirit"

1:9-13 Jesus is baptized by John, then sent to the desert by God where he is tempted by Satan.

1:14-20 Jesus gathers his first four disciples, Simon, Andrew, James and John (the fishermen)

1:21-28 Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath when a demon possessed man confronted him. Jesus cast the demons out of the man and all the people wondered what this new teaching and authority was.

1:29-34 Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law and word spread about Jesus' healing powers. Many people brought the sick and demon possessed to Jesus to be healed. Jesus healed them and cast the demons out but would not let the demons speak, for they knew who he was.

1:35-39 Jesus went to pray one morning. His disciples went looking for him and then they left to go to other villages to preach.

1:40-45 Jesus heals a man with leprosy and informs him not to tell anyone. The man disobeys and tells everyone. Jesus can now no longer enter any town without a mob rushing him. He stays outside the cities, but crowds still flock to him.

2:1-12 When Jesus returned to Capernaum a crowd so large gathered that no one else could get inside. Four men ripped a hole in the roof and lowered the paralytic in to see Jesus. Jesus said to the man, "your sins are forgiven". Some teachers began to wonder and accuse Jesus of blasphemy in their heads. Jesus knew this and asked the men, "is it easier to forgive someone's sins or to heal him of his injuries?" To prove that he was the Christ he ordered the man to rise up and walk home. Everyone was amazed by this and praised God.

2:13-17 Jesus eats dinner with the tax collectors and "sinners". The Pharisees ask his disciples why he eats with those people and Jesus replies, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners"

2:18-22 Jesus is asked why his disciples are not fasting. Jesus answers they will fast after he has filled them with what they need to be sustained.

2:23-28 Jesus and his disciples pick some grain to eat on the Sabbath. The Pharisees ask why Jesus allows his disciples to break the law and Jesus replies that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

3:1-6 Jesus asks the men in the synagogue if it is right to do good or evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill; but, no one answers. Jesus then heals a man with a gimp hand and the Pharisees seek to kill Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.

3:7-12 People from all over the area came to see Jesus after they heard of the miracles. Demons bowed at his feet and said, "You are the son of God" but Jesus told them not to say who he was.

3:13-19 Jesus appoints twelve apostles who will preach and drive out demons: Simon (Peter), James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas

3:20-30 Jesus is accused of being possessed by Satan and driving out demons in the name of Satan. Jesus replies with, "How can Satan drive out Satan? A house divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan opposes himself his time is over".

4:1-20 Jesus tells the parable of the Sower. A farmer throws seeds and some land on the path where the birds ate them. Some fell not the rocks where they grew but withered in the sun. Some fell on the thorns where they grew but were choked. Other seeds fell on good soil where they grew and produced a crop. Jesus asked if the people understood. The people didn't understand so Jesus explained it. The seeds on the path are like the people who hear the word but Satan takes it away. The seeds on the rocks are those who hear and accept but fall away at the first sign of persecution. The seeds that fell in the thorns are those who hear the word but it is choked away by worldly things. The seeds that fall in the good soil and produce fruit are those that hear the word and accept it and produce a crop of believers.

4:21-25 Jesus asks if a lamp is hidden, no of course not! It's put on a stand. He says what is hidden will be disclosed. He says you will be judged as harshly and more as you judge others. And says those who have will be given more (the saved) and those without will have more taken away (the lost).

4:26-29 The parable of the growing seed is what the kingdom of God is like. Seeds continue to sprout up without him knowing how. And when the grain is ripe it will be harvested.

4:30-34 The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds but produces the largest of all garden plants. Jesus also explains all the parables he taught to his disciples.

4:35-41 Jesus is asleep in the boat when a massive storm comes over the sea. The disciples woke Jesus and he calmed the sea. The disciples were amazed at His power.

5:1-20 Jesus comes on man who was possessed by a legion of demons. The demons beg Jesus not to torture them or banish them from the area. They beg to be released to a flock of pigs nearby. Jesus lets them and they enter the pigs and cause them all to drown. The town came out to see what had happened and asked Jesus to leave. The formerly demon-possessed man begged to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him to stay with his family and tell how the Lord has been good to him.

5:21-43 Jesus after crossing the lake was approached by a synagogue leader begging Jesus to come heal his dying daughter. On the way a woman who had been bleeding touched Jesus garment and was healed.

6:1-6 Jesus spoke in his hometown and was not accepted. He was appalled by their lack of faith.

6:7-13 Jesus sent the 12 out to preach and cast out demons.

6:14-29 John the Baptist is beheaded by Herod.

6:30-44 Jesus feeds the 5,000.

6:45-56 Jesus walks on the water out to the 12 in the middle of the lake.

7:1-23 Jesus is approached by the Pharisees about why his disciples don't follow the Jewish traditions. jesus calls the men hypocrites for holding to Jewish traditions but ignoring God's law. Jesus then declares it is not the external world that makes a man unclean, but it is man's hearth that makes him unclean.

7:24-30 Jesus enters a house secretly but is found by a Greek woman. This woman begs Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus replies, "first let the children eat... for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs". The woman replies, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs". Jesus states that because of the woman's faith her daughter is freed of the demon.

7:31-37 Jesus heals a deaf and mute man. He commands the people not to talk about it but they are amazed and talk about it.

8:1-13 Jesus feeds 4,000 men with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. He then rebukes the Pharisees for asking for a miracle.

8:14-21 Jesus warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. The disciples take this literally and Jesus rebukes them

8:22-26 Jesus heals a blind man and orders him not to go into the village.

8:27-30 Jesus asks Peter who he thinks he is. Peter replies to Jesus, "you are the Christ". Jesus warns him not to tell anyone.

8:31-9:1 Jesus predicts his death and resurrection. Jesus rebukes Peter for rebuking him.

9:2-13 Jesus, Peter, John and James go up a mountain where Jesus is transfigured and talks with Moses and Elijah.

9:14-32 Jesus drives a demon out of a boy that his disciples could not. Jesus again predicts his death and resurrection. The disciples were afraid.

9:33-37 Jesus asks the twelve what they were arguing about. The twelve were arguing over who is the greatest disciple. Jesus says the greatest is the least. Those who serve will be great.

9:38-41 Jesus tells his disciples whoever is not against him is for him.

9:42-50 Jesus tells them if your hand causes you to sin it is better to cut it off than go to hell. Then Jesus tells the twelve to be salt.

10:1-12 Jesus condemns divorce.

10:13-16 Jesus rebukes his disciples for not letting the little children come to him.

10:17-31 Jesus tells a young rich man for him to enter heaven he must sell all his possessions, give it to the poor and follow him. The man did not.

10:32-34 Jesus again predicts his death to the twelve.

10:35-45 James and John ask to sit next to Jesus in glory. The other disciples are upset at this and Jesus tells them that to be great they must become a servant.

10:46-52 Jesus heals a blind man who begs for his sight, "By your faith you are healed".

11:1-11 Jesus has his disciples go and get him  colt and he rides into Jerusalem while a crowd sings, "hosanna"

11:12-19 Jesus, hungry, walks to a fig tree in the distance. When there is no fruit Jesus says, "may no one eat fruit from you again". Then Jesus goes to the Temple and drives out all the merchandisers and money lenders. The leaders looked for a way to kill him. Then Jesus and the twelve left the city.

11:20-25 The fig tree Jesus cursed withered and died. Jesus tells his disciples that what you ask for in prayer if you have faith will happen and he tells them to forgive others.

11:27-33 The leaders of the temple ask Jesus who give him his authority. Jesus answered with a question: did John the Baptist baptize from heaven or from men? The Pharisees decided not to tell him their answer, so Jesus did not answer their question.

12:1-12 Jesus spoke the Parable of the Tenants to the people

12:13-17 Jesus says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's

12:18-27 Jesus tells them there will be no marriage in the resurrection, people will be as angels

12:28-34 Jesus says the Greatest commandment - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second greatest - Love your neighbor as yourself.

12:35-39 Jesus warns the people of the teachers of the law's hypocrisy.

12:41-44 The poor widow gave her offering and it was greater than the wealthiest person's gift.

13:1-31 Jesus predicts the end times and tells them what will happen before it comes.

13:32-37 Jesus tells the disciples no one knows the hour when the Son of Man will return except the father.

14:1-11 A woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus and Jesus says it will prepare him for his burial. Judas went to the chief priests to betray Jesus for pay.

14:12-26 Jesus predicts his betrayal, then has the passover dinner.

14:27-31 Jesus predicts Peter's denials.

14:32-42 Jesus prays at Gethsemane where his disciples fall asleep. jesus asks for the cup to be taken away, "but not my will, but thine be done".

14:43-52 Jesus is arrested in Gethsemane, when Judas kisses him.

14:53-65 Jesus is brought to trial and declares He is the Son of Man an the Messiah.

14:66-72 Peter denies Jesus three times, just as predicted

15:1-15 Jesus appears before Pilate. Barabbas is released and Jesus is condemned to be crucified.

15:16-20 Jesus has a purple robe put on him, a crown of thorns on his head and is mocked

15:21-32 Jesus is crucified, they cast lots for his clothes and mock him

15:33-41 Jesus dies. The curtain splits in the temple. The centurions who saw Jesus die proclaimed Jesus must be the Son of God.

15:42-47 Joseph of Arimethea asks for the body of Christ. He laid the body in the tomb and wrapped it.

16:1-8 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James went to the tomb to find Jesus was gone and an angel told him that He had risen.

This is where most early manuscripts end. But later ones contain 16:9-20. 

16:9-20 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and to two others but no one believes them. Jesus appears to the eleven and charges them to preach throughout the world. 

Class Notes on the Critical Study of the Gospels

(Originally written January 6, 2006 in Notebook 20)

The Critical Study of the Gospels
- Where do scholars begin?

First Question: What are our primary sources and how reliable are they?

Source Criticism

Matthew - Eyewitnesses
Mark - records Peter's eyewitness
Luke - a non-eyewitness who did research of eyewitnesses

The Synoptic Problem

Why are there so many differences in the Gospels?

Two source Hypothesis (Marcan Priority)

Q-Source (written 50 AD) served as a source for Matthew & Luke
Mark (written 65 AD) served as a source for Matthew & Luke

The Griesbach Hypothesis (Matthean Priority)

Matthew was written before Luke, both were written before Mark.
There is no need for a Q-Source

4-Source Hypothesis (Marcan Priority)

M (AD 60-65)
MK (AD 65)
Q (AD 50)
L (AD 60)

There was also a porto-luke

5 Sources for the sayings of Jesus:
1) Gospel of Mark
- written in primitive Greek
- least sophisticated regarding context
- forms basis for other two Synoptic Gospels

2) "Q" Source
- sayings common to Matthew and Luke
- Questionable if this was ever a written source
- Could have found fixed form in oral tradition

3) "M" Source (material unique to Matthew)

4) "L" Source (material unique to Luke)

5) The Gospel of John

- Jesus (A.D. 29-33)
- Oral transmission of tradition (AD 30-100)
- Luke (AD 62)
- Theophilus (Gentile believer AD 62)

Form Criticism asks: How are the words of Jesus passed on by word of mouth before they were written?

I've never been this bored before
Never looked at the clock more
Never tallied up the score
Never thought this could be such a bore

Book notes on the Gospels

(Originally written January 6, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Bible Study: Mark Ch. 1-10

The Promise and The Blessing Pg. 373-383

There were two important births in the New Testament: John the Baptist and Jesus.

400 years after the Old Testament the Jews were oppressed by the Romans but hopeful of the coming Messiah.

Anyone professing to be the Messiah would have to meet three criteria:
1) Genealogical requirement
- be a descendent of Abraham
- be from the tribe of Judah
- be from the line of David

2) Prophetic Strand
- Must be born in Bethlehem
- Mother must be a virgin
- He must flee to Egypt and be called back by God

3) Physical evidences
- his public actions, i.e. healing the sick

The gospels are not a biography of Jesus' life

What is a gospel?
- The word, 'gospel', comes from the Greek word for "good news"
- A gospel is a document that proclaims that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and gives evidence to demonstrate that claim

The primary proof that Jesus was the Messiah is His resurrection

Why are the four gospels so similar and yet at the same time different?
- Marcan priority: Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source
- Matthean priority: Mark and Luke used Matthew as a source

Today it is widely held that Mark is the oldest Gospel. The reason for this belief of Mark being the oldest for:
- The dating of the books (65 A.D.)
- Mark is the shortest Gospel and any gospel written after the first would not omit events
- Matthew and Luke contain things like genealogies and the Sermon on the Mont which are not found in Mark

There is called the two-source theory, meaning Matthew and Luke used Mark and another source for their gospels

The second source is the Q-source.
- Problems with the Q-source is that we have no evidence of it and it does not account for differences in Matthew and Luke

There is a four source theory that uses four sources for Matthew & Luke
1) Mark
2) Q-Source
3) M-Source
4) L-Source

Unfortunately these theories reduce Matthew and Luke to mere copies or redactors (research writers)

The early church began with a few convictions:
1) Eye witness accounts of the resurrection
2) a belief that Jesus would return soon
3) there was a need to spread their beliefs to as many folks as possible

The eye witness accounts were given as oral tradition

Jesus used the oral tradition and his followers would have heard the same message preached at every town they visited.

As well as oral tradition, events in Jesus' life that were important were recorded in the Gospels
- the story of feeding the 5,000 is the only one to be in all four Gospels
- Other events were included in each of the gospels according to the writer's personal interests

The spread of the gospel began on the day of Pentecost. Eye witness accounts were given for years. New Christians memorized these accounts and spread the news throughout the world. This lasted 20-25 years.

The Gospels began to be written after James, the brother of Jesus was executed. The apostles were seeing that they too could be killed.

Then Paul sets out on his missionary visits and starts writing letters. These letters were being collected as the gospels were being written.

Matthew remained in Judea 15 years after James' death (45 A.D.) then traveled east to Syria and Persia. It is stated Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew or Aramaic and it was copied in Greek later.

Luke followed Matthew in the late 50's A.D.

Mark wrote Peter's account around 64 A.D. either just before or just after Peter's death.

John wrote his book in 90 A.D. when the Church was in the third generation and no other eye witness accounts were left.

John's book contains less events but more explanation and is more theological than the other gospels.

Notes on the Canon, Textual Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible

(Originally written January 5, 2006 in Notebook 20)

The Canon & Transmission of the New Testament text

Definition of Canon - originally meant measuring reed

Metaphorical meaning - standard

Applied to the New Testament - refers to those books accepted by the Church as the standard with governs our beliefs.

The Precanonical Period

- Oral tradition (25 years worth)
(The passion narrative was probably memorized)

- Early Christian Preaching:
1) No New Testament books at this time
2) Early Church had the Septuagint

- Logica = Sayings (A collection of Christ's sayings compiled by Matthew)
- Perhaps like the "Q" Source, namely the 250 or so verses common to Matt and Luke, not in others

- Testimonia = Collection of Old Testament Passages

- Agrapha
- Literally means "unwritten"
- they are the unwritten things that Jesus said
- unwritten means not in the Gospel
- An example of this is Acts 20:35

- Direct revelation from God through the prophets (Acts 11:27-28, Acts 13:1, I Corinthians 11:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12-14)

The collection of individual documents

- New Testament authors regarded their messages as authoritative (I Corinthians 7:40, I Corinthians 14:37, 2 Peter 3:1-2, Revelation 22:18-19)
- Internal testimony: the documents were to be read in the public gatherings of the churches (Revelation 1:3, Galatians 1:1-2, I Thessalonians 5:27, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Colossians 4:16)
- Internal testimony: at least two writers cite other New Testament works as "Scripture" (1 Timothy 5:18, 2 Peter 3:15-16)

The influence of that lead to their collection
- Apostles start to die
- A body of truth was needed for teaching new convents
- Influential heretics arise like Marcion of Sinope: Marcion limited the canon to Paul's letters and Luke's gospel. He was anti-semitic and disregarded other books as Old Testament and of the God of wrath.

Formation of the Canon

- The idea: God superintended the collection of the documents via through his spirit in the churches

Tests of canonicity:
1) Apostolic origin (of an apostle or associate)
2) Apostolic doctrine (first oral, then written)
3) Acceptance by the churches

- Canon confirmed the third council of Carthage

Conclusion
- The Holy Spirit superintended the writing, collection and recognition of the canon
- None of the books were accepted by the church because of ecclesiastical compulsion
- Canon wasn't determined by a council or by individuals' judgments. It was the Spirit guidance.
- Church did not determine the canon, it only recognized it

Textual criticism - the study of the copies of any written composition of which the original autograph is unknown

Foundations of Exposition

-Exposition
- Systematic Theology
- Biblical Theology
- Exegesis
- Hermeneutics

How the Bible came to Us

Thoughts in God's mind --> revelation --> Human author's minds --> Inspiration --> Original Manuscripts of the Bible (Collection of 66 Books) --> Textual Criticism --> Modern Greek and Hebrew Bibles -> Translation --> Modern English Versions --> Illumination and Interpretation --> Thoughts in our minds --> Application --> Change in our lives --> Communication --> to others

The Holy Spirit does not help you to interpret the Bible. It prompts you to act on the Biblical passages you read.

Revelation is the wisdom that cannot be known through human methods, it must be revealed by God

Hermeneutics is the science that teaches us the principles, laws and methods of interpretation.

Differing hermeneutical principles and procedures yield different results and is responsible for varying Christian doctrines.

Evangelicals use the grammatical-historical method of interpretation.

Grammatical - considers the meanings of the words in the text

Historical - considers the meaning of the text within historical contexts

Validation - validating your interpretation

Grammatical-historical method seeks to establish the meaning and the intention of the text as it would have been understood by the original readers.

Competent exegesis must be done in the original languages

Interpret literally

Literal - the natural or usual construction and implication of a writing or expression; following the ordinary and apparent sense of words, not allegorical or metaphorical

There are three elements to every word:
1) Symbol - the actual letters
2) Sense - the meaning attached to the symbol (mediator, intercessor, helper)
3) Referent: the actual thing being related to

Interpret the Bible Contextually

Interpret in accordance with the genre of literature

Understand there are figures of speech: metaphors, similes, overstatements, hyperbole, pun, paradox, irony, parables, fables, myths, riddles

Revelation is accommodated.
Revelation is progressive.

Book Notes on the Biblical Canon & Interpretation

(Originally written January 5, 2006 in Notebook 20)

Book Notes

The Promise and The Blessing
Michael Harbin

- There are many ways of studying the Bible, this book will approach it from its historical context
- This book will help us to understand the books of the Bible as the original readers would have
- There are two basic approaches to understanding the Bible
1) The Traditional View
2) The Modern View
- The traditional view is a more conservative view and has been the widely accepted view until recent times
- The traditional view accepts the Bible on face-value and believes it to be historically accurate
- The Modern View is a more liberal view of the Bible that assumes it to be mythical until there is corroborating evidence
-The Modern view began to gain ground in the 1800's especially after Julius Wellhaven produced a theory that the Pentateuch was written much later than previously assumed
- Willhausen's theory (The Documentary Hypothesis) argues that God is limited and could not (or at least would not) perform miracles, or interfere with he space-time history
- The Traditional View holds that God will on occasion and has intervened in the time-space history
- Miracles cannot be proved or disproved by scientific research. Science can show us what is normal and by nature miracles are unnatural. This makes them out of the scope of science
- Archaeology constantly shatters the modern view's beliefs and presuppositions
- Archeology does not prove the Bible
- Archeology has limitations and problems
- One problem is that of historical loss. This occurs when items are destroyed either by disaster, humans or time
- Another problem is that of limited excavation. This occurs when archeologists cannot excavate areas because of politics, weather, funding or other restrictions
- Another problem is that of non-written sources. This problem occurs when we find artifacts that aren't written ones, like tools or pottery. These items sometimes cannot be figured out what exactly they were used for and that sometimes we can only deduce small amounts of information from them
- Another problem is that of dating. This is when artifacts are attempted to be dated. There is no exact way of being 100% accurate all of the time
- Another problem is the problem of history. Sometimes people in history were not thought of as important until after the fact.
- History is defined as "the recording of eyewitness accounts in written form"
- History begins with writing, so any culture without writing is prehistoric by nature
- History began no earlier than 3200-3100 B.C. in Sumer at the mouth of the Tigris-Euphrates rivers.
- All writing began as pictographs:
Mesopotamia: Cuneiform
Egypt: Hieroglyphics
- All writing began as financial records
- Originally God intended to speak to Israel himself the books of Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus but after God spoke the 10 commandments to them they were frightened and asked Moses to tell them what God said
- Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus became the first canon (and probably Job)
- The canon is a group of writings regarded as authentic and used in the Bible
- The canon as we have it today gradually developed
- The Old Testament was written in Hebrew (except for three passages in Aramaic)
- The Old Testament was translated into their everyday languages after the exile to Babylon
- The most important Greek translation is the Septuagint
- The Early New Testament books fell into two basic categories:
1) Eyewitness accounts of the Messiah (the Gospels)
2) Letters from key witnesses to believers (the Epistles)
- Numbers and Deuteronomy were added to the Old Testament Canon 40 years after the original canon
- To be in the canon a book must be inspired by God. It must have two roles of the Holy Spirit:
1) Inspiring the writer
2) Verifying the inspiration to the community
- Christianity began with the assumption that the Jewish canon was authoritative
- The concept of the Messiah comes from the Jewish canon
- The New Testament was primarily written to groups of God's people throughout the Roman Empire

Review Questions

1) The traditional view of how the Bible was written is that it was written as a historically accurate account of events
2) The traditional view accepts the Bible at "face-value" and believes in its miraculous events
2) The Modern view looks at the Bible with skepticism and does not accept it until other evidence is produced to verify it.
3) The canon is the books believed to be inspired and authoritative. It's important because it makes up the Bible
4) The epistles were written before the Gospels because the apostles felt that a written account of Jesus as the Messiah was not needed because Christ's return was just around the corner.
5) It took so long for a New Testament canon to be agreed on because there were so many letters to be found and decided on.
6) The significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that it gave use written documentation of the Bible 1,000 years older than our previous oldest copies. With that we could compare the accuracy of the copying process.

Political, Historical and Cultural Context of the OT & NT

(Originally written January 4, 2006 in Notebook 20)

The Promise and The Blessing pg. 349-371

- 400 years in between the Old Testament and New Testament changes occurred in the Jewish culture. The Jews served under Persia an Greece then gained independence only to lose it again to Rome.
- The Apocrypha, Mishnah and the Pseudepigrapha were written
- Three bridges will be used to move from the end of the Old Testament to the New Testament over the 400 years of silence:

1) Literary Bridge
- just because there is a silent 400 years between the Old and New Testaments does not mean the Jews stopped writing
-The books written in this period are divided into three groups:
1) Apocrypha
2) Mishnah
3) Pseudepigrapha
- Apocrypha means, plural, "hidden" or "secret"
- The Apocrypha was not considered canonical by the Jews of the early church. However, the Catholics included it in their Bible
- The Apocrypha included a wide variety of books
- The Mishnah dealt with the Old Testament Law
- The Mishnah was a commentary on the Torah and a record of debate and conclusion among Jewish leaders
- The Gemorah was the completion of the Oral tradition and a commentary on the Mishnah
- The Mishnah and Gemorah together form the Talmud
- Modern Judaism is more based on the Talmud then the Torah
- The Tarsumin & Midrashim were translations written for Jews that did not read Hebrew, they were written in Aramaic and Greek
- The Pseudepigrapha includes many different types of works
- Pseudepigrapha is Greek for "written under a false name"
- These books mark a trend from the Israelites moving away from idolatry to being overly legalistic

2) Religious Bridge
- the major groups were the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenses
- These were also political affiliations
- After Ezra and Nehemiah the Jews split into traditionalists and accommodationists
- The traditionalists wanted to get back to their roots, the accommodationists wanted to set up a new culture
- Traditionalists - Hebraists; Accommodationists - Hellenists

The Hebraists:
- Lived in Babylon Or Palestine
- Followers of Ezra and Nehemiah
- Maccabean Revolutionists
- From the oral tradition

The Hellenists:
- Widespread
- Accepted other cultures as well

-The Sadducees were Hellenists
- Sadducees believed in free will, argued agains any resurrection, believed that the soul died with the body and did not believe in Angels or Demons
- The Sadducees were aristocratic

-The Pharisees were Hebraists
- The Pharisees believed in free will, but thought God was ultimately in control
- The Pharisees believed in resurrection, angels and demons and fought for the equality of all human beings
- The Pharisees were middle-class citizens

- The Essenes were much more conservative than the Pharisees
- The Essenes were a minority party and spread out thinly, thus their influence and significance in the New Testament is non-existence

- Scribes are either Pharisees or Sadducees that copied, read and interpreted the Law.
- The Zealots were the extreme nationalists that were determined to rid Judea of all foreign rule

3) The Political Bridge

Persian Rule then Greek Rule then Freedom, then Roman rule

-The Persians ruled the Jews at the end of the Old Testament
- Greece fought off the Persian advances and then were involved in a civil war
- Eventually Philip of Macedonia conquered all of Greece
- His son, Alexander then took over and captured Persia
- Alexander then died and four generals became the rulers of four divided lands
- The four eventually became two, the Kingdom of Egypt and the Syrian Kingdom
- Egypt fell to Rome in 30 B.C. Syria fell in 64-63 B.C.
- The Maccabees gained their independence from the Syrian Empire over a period of time
- They fought many bloody battles and aligned themselves with Rome against Syria
- Rome was originally a republic but Julius Caesar eventually became dictator for life
- After Julius Caesar was killed a civil war took place an Caesar's adopted son Octavian (Augustus) became the ruler
- Augustus ruled over a generally peaceful empire, the only serious problem was Judea.
- In 6 A.D. Rome took control of Judea
- In 70 A.D. Rome destroyed the Temple
- In 135 A.D. Rome exiled all of the Jews in Judea

Review Questions

1) The Old Testament ended with Malachi because none of the books written after were considered to be Canonical or as authoritative as the books in the Hebrew Scriptures
2) The Apocrypha was a collection of books written by Jewish authors between the Old Testament and New Testament times. They are viewed as less authoritative as the included Scriptures.
3) The Mishnah is a commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures and included debates of interpretation and the results of the debates. It is different than the Talmud because the Talmud contains the Mishnah as well as the Gemara. The Talmud is important because it is what modern Judaism bases its religion on.
4) The Pseudepigrapha are books that were written under false names. These books were written both prior to the New Testament and through the first century A.D. and beyond.
5) The Sadducees developed by trying to fit their religious beliefs into the cultural surroundings they were in.
6) The Pharisees developed out of a strong opposition to the Sadducees.
7) The Essenes were a strict, traditionalist sect of the Jews. They were important in that they practiced a strict way of the Law, but were a small minority and spread thin enough not to make an impact on the New Testament.
8) The scribes were the men who copied, read and interpreted the Law for the Jews. They were vital in the formation of Jewish doctrine and law.
9) Alexander's father, Philip, conquered and united much of Greece. After Philip was killed Alexander set out to conquer the world. He conquered the Persian Empire and his empire stretched from Egypt to India. Alexander's troops eventually revolted in India because they were tired of fighting. Alexander eventually died after a huge amount of eating and drinking.
10) After Alexander's death the kingdom was divided into four separate kingdoms.
11) The Ptolemies and the Seleucids were the rulers of Egypt and Syrian empires, respectively. They fought each other until they were both conquered by the Romans.
12) The Maccabees are a rebellious family that fought the Syrian Empire. They eventually gained freedom for Judea.
13) Herod became King of Judea by fleeing to Rome and convincing the Romans to name him King of Judea. They did and he returned to Judea with the Roman Empire.
14) Rome made Judea a part of the empire by revoking its independence and status in 6 A.D.

Jesus was counter-cutlrual, he disregarded some Jewish cultural customs.

The Samaritans came from the leftover Jews in the Northern Kingdom after the Assyrians exiled the majority of the Jews that intermarried with the local gentiles.

Key Dates in the Old Testament History
722 B.C. - Israel taken captive by Assyria
587 B.C. - Judah taken captive by Babylonia
539 B.C. - Persia defeats Babylon, ending Jewish captivity

Persia, 539 - 332 B.C.

Persia deposed Babylon; which, under Cyrus the Great, allowed the Jews to return Home.

Greece or Hellenistic Period, 333 - 63 B.C.

Greece deposed Persia; which, spread Hellenism and a common language throughout the world.

After Alexander the Great died the Empire was split into four kingdoms, two of which are important to New Testament History

1) The Ptolemaic (Egypt) 323 - 198 BC
- Ptolemy Philadelphus translated the Old Testament into the common language of Greek, which was called the Septuagint

2) The Seleucid Empire (198-143 B.C.)
- Antiochus IV, the prototype for the Anti-Christ in the 1st century A.D. Jews. He killed the Jews, destroyed the Torah, denied the Jews the rites of circumcision of their children and eventually desecrated the Temple of the Lord by sacrificing to Zeus on the altar.

The Hasmonean or Maccabean Period (143-63 B.C.)

Matthathias and the Maccabean revolt in 167 B.C. Judas Maccabaeus (The Hammer) and his men cleansed and rededicated the temple in 163 B.C. and waited for a prophet to come to fully restore it.

The Roman Period (63 B.C. on)

The Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) and the Roman road system aided in the spread of the gospel through the world.

Herod the Great, King of Judea 37 - 4 B.C.
- Ordered the slaughter of the innocents
Archelaus, tetrarch of Judea and Samaria, 4 B.C. - 6 A.D.
- Joseph and Mary fled from him
Herod Philip, tetrarch, 4 B.C. - 34 A.D.
Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, 4 B.C. - A.D. 39
- had John the Baptist beheaded
- was ruler when Jesus was killed

Herod Agrippa I, King of Judea 37 - 44 A.D.
- Had James, the half-brother of Jesus killed

Herod Agrippa II, king of Judea

Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70)

The Apocrypha
- Tobit
- Judith
- Additions to Esther
- Wisdom of Solomon
- Ecclesiasticus
- Baruch
- Letters of Jeremiah
- Prayer of Azariah
- The Song of the 3 Jews
- Bel and the Dragon
- I & II Maccabees
- I & II Esdras
- Prayer of Manasseh

Jewish Religious Parties

The Sadducees
- Influenced by power & wealth
- Aristocratic class

Sadducees References in the New Testament: Matthew 22:23, Acts 4:1, Acts 5:17

The Pharisees
- Legalistic
- Rules and Regulations, but little joy

Pharisees References in the New Testament: Matthew 11:9, Mark 2:16, Luke 15:1-2, Luke 19:7. Matthew 5:43-48, Mark 11:25, Luke 19:10, Luke 21:20-24

The Pharisees vs. Jesus

-The Pharisees Separated from unholy sinners, Jesus associated with them
-The Pharisees believed the Messiah would gather and sanctify his people, no evil or unrighteousness allowed; Jesus came to seek and save the Lost
- The Pharisees believed in victory for Israel and Jerusalem based on violent exclusion of the Gentiles; Jesus preached forgiveness to the enemy and the destruction of Jerusalem by the gentiles.

The Essenes
- Abdicated responsibility to confront the culture, as they retreated to the desert where they died, oblivious of the Teacher of Righteousness they sought

Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls
- The Oldest of the Old Testament Documents was the Masoretic Text (A.D. 900).
- The Dead Sea Scrolls come from 150 B.C. - A.D. 68
- We can now check the accuracy of our copying technicians and how accurate the Masoretic Text was

The Scribes
- Teachers of the Law
- Neither a religious sect or political party (but most were Pharisees)

The Zealots
- Revolutionaries dedicated to overthrowing Roman power
- Refused to pay taxes, were not loyal to Caesar, led the Jewish Revolt that led to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Judaism's response to Hellenism
- Wealthy Jews caved into Hellenism
- Poorer Jews reacted bitterly to Hellenism
- Early Hasmoneans reacted violently
- The Hasideans reacted passively
- The Pharisees expressed a separation by strict adherence to the law of the covenant
- The Essenes withdrew from society and into the desert

Proselytes (Gentiles who worship God and got circumcised) and God Fearers (Gentiles who worshipped God, but didn't snip)

- Syncretism: the combo of different forms of practice and belief
- Pagans were synchronistic
- Jews and Christians were exclusivistic