Short answer – 4 Parts (60%; 1 hour). (Note: For all parts of this exam,use only texts we have read for class. Use the assigned Bible text if you use quotes in your answer). Any answers copied from the Internet or other sources besides our class textbooks will not be counted.

  1. For the following names, identify a work it appears in or relates to and discuss its significance in that work in 1-3 sentences (I will choose 6) (3 points each)
  1. Q gospel
  2. Rahab
  3. Paul and the Gentiles
  4. “The Satan”
  5. Sheol and Gehenna
  6. Damascus
  7. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
  8. Elijah’s return
  9. Son of Man
  10. Jepthah’s daughter
  11. Michael and Gabriel
  12. Qoheleth
  13. Dionysius
  14. Judas Iscariot
  15. Marcion
  16. Mithras
  17. Lilith
  18. Tobit’s blindness and cure
  19. Book of signs/ Book of glory
  1. For the following terms, define it and give an example in 1-3 sentences (I will choose 6.) (3 points each).
  1. Day of Yahweh
  2. Apocrypha
  3. Aramaic
  4. Eschaton, eschatological
  5. Documentary hypothesis
  6. Papyrus and Codex
  7. Faith and Works
  8. Pharisees
  9. Evolutionary level about Human
  10. Synoptic Gospels
  11. Gnosticism
  12. Acrostic
  13. Deuteronomistic history
  14. Author of Mark’s Gospel
  15. Demiurge
  16. Logos
  17. Messianic contenders
  18. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
  19. 3 types of 1st century Christians
  20. Qumran
  1. For the following quotations, identify the work, the situation, and the quote’s significance in 1-3 sentences.(I will choose 2) (3 points each)
  1. Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.
  2. When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down."
  3. In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
  4. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?
  5. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstonewhen the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
  6. The son of Annas the scholar, standing there with Jesus, took a willow branch and drained the water Jesus had collected. Jesus, however, saw what had happened and became angry, saying to him, "Damn you, you irreverent fool! What harm did the ponds of water do to you? From this moment you, too, will dry up like a tree, and you'll never produce leaves or root or bear fruit." In an instant the boy had completely withered away.
  7. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
  8. Then Tobias remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the fish’s liver and heart out of the bag where had had them and put them on the embers of the incense. The odor of the fish so repelled the demon that he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt.
  1. Answer the following questions in 1-3 sentences (I will choose 6). (3 points each)
  1. Discuss the many ways that God reveals himself in the book of Exodus.
  2. What are two factors that suggest the book of Ruth could have been aimed at a female audience?
  3. Explain how the story of Jonah illustrates the compassionate personality of Yahweh. Give specific examples.
  4. The Greco-Roman society fosters several “underground” or mystery religions. Discuss how parallels between one such movement and the first century “Pauline” Jesus movement.
  5. Identify and briefly the Sadducees and their view of Jesus.
  6. The themes of the prophets (Malachi and 2nd Isaiah) include apocalypse, punishment, purification, repentance, abuses of poor, and temple restoration. Briefly describe how one of these themes relates to one of these two prophecies.
  7. Name one of the Five Scrolls (read during festivals), and tell what festival it is read during, and why.
  8. Describe two differences between the Jewish and Pauline Jesus movements.
  9. Identify and explain reasons for two instances of the theme of preference for a younger son in Genesis.
  10. Describe two details about Jesus’s life that differ in Mark’s Gospel and John’s gospel.

Essay Section (2 parts).

You may use your book and notes for this section of the exam. However, you should not write the essays ahead of time. You can write on these sheets, but you should probably also use additional paper to answer these questions. Warning: Do not write your essay about works we have not read in this class. If you do, I will not count it.

Essay Part I. Choose one of the following (20%; 45 minutes)

  1. According to scholars, many books of the Hebrew Bible, including Genesis and Exodus, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Job, Lamentations, Daniel, Tobit, and many of the other prophets, were either composed or put in final form in the time of the Babylonian exile or after. Therefore, in some ways, the bible is an exploration of the meaning of homeland and homelessness. Because much of the New Testament was written by Jews well versed in the Hebrew Bible, it continues that saga. Pick two works from the Hebrew Bible, one from the Apocrypha, and one from the New Testament. Examine how the theme of home and homelessness is treated in each work. Be specific, citing examples from the text.
  2. The bible, a word that means “little books,” is an anthology of different voices that respond to different issues in a variety of ways. One of the issues we have seen covered frequently is the proper response to conquest and political persecutionand the right relationship of God’s chosen people to the rest of the world. Choose two works from the Hebrew Bible, one work from the Apocrypha, and one work from the New Testament that approach the same issue from different perspectives. Explain how each of these works treats the issue, and speculate on why it might have been included in the bible in the first place.

II. (20% (20%; 45 minutes)). Choose either A or B.

  1. We have discussed the historical issues surrounding the New Testament gospels at some length, as well as the different audiences for whom they were written. To what extent did the different audiences shape the writing of the gospels? On a separate piece of paper, write an essay in which you examine the impact of audience and any two other historical developments on the composition of Mark and John’s gospels and the growth of the Jesus movement. Be sure to discuss both gospels, noting the dates of composition and placing those dates in the context of other historical developments.

•Mystery religions

•Roman empire and its persecutions

•The teachings of Paul.

•Apocalyptic literature

•Non-canonical and Gnostic texts

•prophetic literature

•role of women

•conflict between Hebrews and gentiles