REL 443: The Gospel of John Quiz 1

TRS 311: The Gospel of John<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> = &nb= sp; Quiz 1 = &nb= sp; = September 24, 2008

1. Fr. Fitzmyer's Christological Catechism. Please outline his answer to one question.

= #1 “Do the gospel stories prese= nt an accurate factual account of the teaching and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth?= 221; =

= #2 "How much can we claim to know about the Jesus of history?"

2. The Historical Back= ground of the Exodus. Please answer one question.

= a. How do you think the changing poli= tical situations of the ancient Near East set the stage for the Exodus of Hebrews from <= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">Egypt? Your answer should include a discu= ssion of the rival civilizations in the Fertile Crescent during the third millenn= ium B.C.E.; reasons for the subsequent Amorite migrations that are reflected in= the stories of the patriarchs; when, how, and why there were periodic nomadic settlements in Egypt; and the rise of nationalism under Pharaohs Ahmose I a= nd Seti I.

= b. What historical value do you think= the story of the birth of Moses in Exod 1:15—2:10 has and why? = Of what Mesopotamian monarch was there a similar legend? What is the Egyptian meaning of Mo= ses' name? (Extra credit for writing it in hieroglyphics.)&n= bsp; What role does its supposed Hebrew etymology play in the story? Which do you think came first, the etymology or the story, and why?

= c. How is Moses' character portrayed = in the stories about his early years (Exod 2:11—3:22) and why? How= does the description of his mystical experience at Sinai/Horeb help to explain= the origin of Israel's worship of YHWH? What are two reasons why the sacred name of Israel’s God is not directly revealed to Moses in the story?

3. The Literary Tradit= ions of the Exodus and Covenant. Please answer one question.

= a. What are the main indications that= this part of the Bible is a fusion of three ancient literary traditions? What do we call them and what are = the times of composition and the main themes and literary characteristics of ea= ch tradition? When was the final editing of the text done and by whom? When LORD appears in yo= ur translation, what is in the original?

= b. Break down the following passage (= Exod 7:14-24) into its underlying traditions (y= ou may just mark verses and parts of verses J, E, P):

^{=
14Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he
refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go
to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the
river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned int=
o a
snake. ¹⁶Say to hi=
m,
'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, "Let my peop=
le
go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness." But until now you have not
listened.' ¹⁷Thus =
says
the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD." See, with the staff that is in my =
hand I
will strike the water that is in the Nile, and
it shall be turned to blood. =
¹⁸The
fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians
shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.'" ¹⁹The LORD said to Mose=
s,
"Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the wat=
ers
of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pool=
s of
water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood through=
out
the whole land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'&=
quot; ²⁰Moses and Aaron did j=
ust as
the LORD commanded. In the si=
ght of
Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in=
the
river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, ²¹a=
nd
the fish in the river died. T=
he river
stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood
throughout the whole land=

of Egypt. ²²But the magicians of =
Egypt
did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, an=
d he
would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. ²³Pharaoh turned and we=
nt
into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴And all the Egyptians=
had
to dig along the Nile for water to drink=
, for
they could not drink the water of the river.}

= c. What is the literary model for the= Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17)? Describe its format. Which phrases in Exodus 20 correspond to similar ones in the model? What is the basic structure of the= Ten Commandments and the original meaning of each one? (An A if you write them in Hebrew.)= Do you think it is valid to base our morality on them today when they meant something so different three millennia ago and our mo= ral consciousness has developed so far since then?

4. The Formation and N= ature of the Gospel Tradition. Plea= se answer one question.

= a. What were two main reasons why rec= ords of the life of Jesus were not written by the early Christian communities? What was the basic content of the primitive preaching about Jesus? Where do we find this? How were sayings of Jesus preserve= d and adapted? How do we know this?= Why were stories told about Jesus?= In what sense were the gospels wri= tten backwards?

= b. Pick one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, or Luke) and describe in detail its estimated time of compositi= on, presumed audience, literary sources, structure, main themes, and connection with the other two. What pict= ure of Jesus does the gospel you chose convey, as opposed to the others?

= c. In light of what you know about the composition of the gospels, what value do you think they have as historical sources? How do they differ from history or biography as we know it? How do you think they should be taught to children? How can the teachings of Jesus they reflect be applied to situations we face today?

BONUS: Class membership.

= 1. Who is the star quarterback of our undefeated football team?

2. Who is assistant to the chair of Media Studies?

3. Who is an outside hitter on our volleyball team?<= o:p>

4. Who serves as a cantor at the Basilica?

5. Who is a forward on our field hockey team and a g= uard in basketball?

6. Who are our two cross-country runners?=

7. Who is the president of our Student Theatre Compa= ny?