Overview
Format: Typed double-spaced. Your response should be at least a 450-word essay. Cite all works quoted and paraphrased. Refer to the essay writing guidelines for further guidance.
Choose any ONE -- from the selections below.
The Apocrypha – Utilizing the readings (Oxford Study Bible), and lecture, discuss why the ‘outside’ books should be known and studied by both scholars and nonprofessional students of the Bible. What factors do you see at work that has forced these works out of mainstream study? What is so threatening about another Gospel that was written by a contemporary of Christ, or even on of the original disciples?
Inter-textual: The New Testament has a complex inter-textual relationship with the Old. On the one hand, it seeks to replace the Old with the new covenant; on the other hand, it depends upon the Old for its own authenticity, since it sees Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Similarly, although the New Testament primarily uses different literary forms from the Old (gospels and letters) it also uses many literary elements from the Old, both borrowed and quoted such as: parables, Hebrew poetic forms, miraculous births, genealogies, apocalyptic imagery, didactic history, angelic visitations, meetings at wells, prophecy, and law or teachings. Thus, this choice is essentially: Discuss how the authors use the concepts reflected in the examples below to incorporate literary elements of the Old Testament (as reference above), and in what ways does their use of the literary elements reflect their theological relationship with the Old Testament? For example, Matthew quotes heavily from the prophets throughout, and in 5:17-20 he quotes Jesus as supporting observance of Jewish law. Luke, on the other hand, argues that the old law is not relevant, yet his gospel is perhaps the closest of the four to the Old Testament in terms of style and the use of certain kinds of stories. Why? How does the theological relationship inform the literary connection?
3) Social Justice: "Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire…Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." (James 5: 1-4). Although much of the focus of the New Testament is on the divinity of Jesus and the coming Resurrection, it also contains a great deal of ethical teaching and criticism of social injustice.(Assignment) In what literary ways does the New Testament dramatize this part of the message? What metaphors, parables, stories, and imagery does it use? Which authors choose to focus on these elements?
5). The Book of Revelations: Most scholars agree that the author of The Book of Revelations was experiencing the events of 70-89 AD as the time he wrote the book. This is not the traditional format but something unique. First, Why does John use language that only certain people or groups would understand? AND How does John propel the reader from vision to vision utilizing the theme of ‘sevens’? Today we call that ‘Chinese Boxes’ where one opens up a box to discover another box. How does this literary tool create a sense of urgency for the ancient reader, in whose mind we must travel to understand this text? In your assessment, how does this sense of urgency lead many of the early Church to believe that Christ was returning soon? (Soon is relative here).
- Hints for success:
Address ALL aspects of the assignment, (what does the instructor ask you to do)?