Section 2: Interpretation and Overview of the Bible

Transcription

1 Section 2: Interpretation and Overview of the Bible

2 You have been given the opportunity to visit your ancestor s s homeland.. How will you prepare for this journey?

3 A. We must prepare for our journey through the Bible. 1. Background information regarding: a. history, b. culture and c. religious practices. 2. How the Bible is organized.

4 B. Ta Biblia 1. Greek for The Books 2. What does this title tell us about the Bible? a. collection of many books b. like a library c. different types/genres of books (history, prophecy, prayer, gospel, letters, proverbs, etc)

5 3. Books grouped into 2 categories: a. Old Testament How many books? 46 b. New Testament How many books? books in a Catholic Bible.

6 4. Testament? a. means covenant b. Old covenant: PROMISE made with the Chosen People; chosen to reveal God to the world, followed Torah/Law. c. New covenant: open to all who believe Jesus is God s Son, emphasis is on living one s faith in acts of charity and service, not simply following Laws.

7 C. Compare the size of the OT and 1. Which is larger? a. OT NT 2. Why? a. OT covers much longer period of time (19th-2nd century B.C.) b. NT from 6 B.C A.D.

8 Scripture Searches Find -Gen. 9:1 -Deut. 34: Ps.27:7 -Ecc. 3:1-8 -Phil. 2:6-11 -Gen. 2:4b

9 D. System of Dating 1. B.C.-A.D. a. Before Christ- Anno Domini (Year of our Lord) b. Preferred system in this course 2. B.C.E.- C.E. a. Before the Common Era- Common Era b. Some see this as inclusive- includes all people regardless of their religion

10 E. Language of the Bible 1. OT- Mostly Hebrew, 7 books (in the Catholic OT) in Greek. 2. NT- koine (common) Greek

11 F. 3-fold 3 Division in Jewish Bible 1. T orah- Law a. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy 2. N eviim-prophets 3. K tuvim-writings 4. TaNaK- acronym for the Jewish Bible

12 G. 4-fold 4 Division in a Catholic OT 1. Pentateuch/Torah 2. Historical Books 3. Wisdom Books 4. Prophetic Books 5. See page 81

13 H. Protestants and Catholics disagree on the # of OT books. 1. Catholics take their canon (official list) from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible). 2. The Septuagint was written during 3rd- 2nd centuries B.C. for the Greek-speaking Jews. a. 7 books were added to this translation which originated in the Greek.

14 3. Catholics have 7 more books in their OT than the Jews have in their Bible. 4. When the rabbis set the Jewish canon (in 90 A.D.), they did not include these 7 books that were written in Greek. (39 books only) 5. At the time of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther decided to include only the books in the Hebrew (Jewish) Bible. So Protestants have 39 in their OT. 6. Catholics believe these books to be inspired, but recognize that all Christians do not.

15 7. So they (Catholics) refer to these 7 books as deuterocanonical,, meaning 2nd canon. 8. Protestants place these 7 books in the back of their Bible, in the Apocrypha, meaning hidden or withdrawn from common use.

16 I. The 7 Deuterocanonical books are: 1 and 2 Maccabees Baruch Judith Tobit Sirach Wisdom

17 K. How do we read the OT? 1. Critical readinga. not negative term b. not picking out faults 2. Carefully analyzing the text within its historical and literary context (situation or setting). 3. Exegesis: interpretation a. Greek verb- to lead out of. b. By asking?s of the text, we will draw out the meaning intended by the author.

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