Here are the questions I use as a warm-up for Bible studies \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
In what language was the New Testament written?<\/strong> What is the likely exception to this?<\/strong> Which books appear first in the New Testament?<\/strong> Why are these books placed first in the canon?<\/strong> Why do they appear in this order?<\/strong> Which Gospels are attributed to Apostles?<\/strong> What is the structure of Matthew’s Gospel?<\/strong> (a) Prologue<\/p>\n (i) Genealogy of Jesus<\/p>\n (ii) Infancy Narratives<\/p>\n (b) Five “Books” which are probably intended to parallel of the five books of Moses (Genesis-Deuteronomy). Each book as the following structure:<\/p>\n (i) Narrative, describing the deeds of Jesus<\/p>\n (ii) Discourse, describing the extended words of Jesus<\/p>\n (c) Epilogue<\/p>\n (i)\u00a0The Passion<\/p>\n (ii) The Resurrection<\/p>\n Who is Matthew’s target audience?<\/strong> With whom is Mark associated?<\/strong> What is Mark\u2019s other name?<\/strong> What is the structure of Mark?<\/strong> (a) Galilean\u00a0Ministry<\/p>\n (b) The journey south, or in Greek, hodos (\u1f41\u03b4\u03cc\u03c2)<\/a><\/p>\n (c) The events in Jerusalem<\/p>\n What are some literary features of Mark?\u00a0<\/strong> With whom is Luke associated?<\/strong> What is Luke\u2019s profession?<\/strong> No questions…yet!<\/p>\n What comes after the Gospels?<\/strong> By whom is it written?<\/strong> To what genre does it belong?<\/strong> What is the main points taught by\u00a0the Acts of the Apostles?<\/strong> (a) The Church continues the mission of Jesus.<\/p>\n (b) The unity of the mission of Paul and Peter. There are numerous parallels between the acts and deeds of these two apostles. The first part of Acts focuses on Peter, the latter on Paul.<\/p>\n Between what years do the events described in Acts of the Apostles take place?<\/strong> What books appear in the Bible after Acts of the Apostles?<\/strong> How are these epistles arranged?<\/strong> What are the names of the cities\/communities to which Paul writes?<\/strong> No questions…yet.<\/p>\n No questions…yet.<\/p>\n No questions…yet.<\/p>\n No questions…yet.<\/p>\n When was Ephesians written?<\/strong> What is significant about the destination of this epistle?<\/strong> What was Paul\u2019s relationship with Ephesian Church?<\/strong> What does Paul write about in Ephesians?<\/strong> The Ephesians were mostly newly baptized Pagans and, because of this, some have referred to Ephesians as mystagogical catechesis.<\/p>\n Paul spends quite some time talking about \u201cmystery\u201d. This relates to Jesus\u2019 sacrifice on the cross which draws man, both Jew and Gentile, back into relationship with God. This relationship is communicated through the Church, which has Christ as her head.<\/p>\n From where did Paul write the epistle to the Philippians?<\/strong> What city was he in most likely at the time?<\/strong> Why did Paul write his letter to the Philippians?<\/strong> Who probably delivered this letter for Paul?<\/strong> What are the main themes of the letter to the Philippians?<\/strong> What Christian hymn does Paul quote in the letter in Chapter 2?<\/strong> What was Paul\u2019s situation when writing Colossians?<\/strong> Had Paul ever been to Colossae?<\/strong> So why did Paul write to the Colossians?<\/strong> What were the heresies with which the Colossians struggled?<\/strong> Who are the opponents in Colossae?<\/strong> How do we describe the way in which Jesus is described?<\/strong> What is the main theme behind the letters to the Thessalonians?<\/strong> What claim-to-fame do the Thessalonian letter have?<\/strong> What appears after Thessalonians?<\/strong> Who was Timothy?<\/strong> What background information do you know about Timothy?<\/strong> Who was Titus?<\/strong> Who was Philemon?<\/strong> Where did Philemon most likely live?<\/strong> What is the context of the letter?<\/strong> What was the name of Philemon\u2019s slave?<\/strong> What is the meaning of the slave\u2019s name?<\/strong> What does Paul ask of Philemon?<\/strong> What book appears after Philemon?<\/strong> Why does Hebrews appear here?<\/strong> What literary genre is Hebrews?<\/strong> What is the main theme of the book?<\/strong> What did St. Thomas Aquinas think about the authorship of this epistle?<\/strong> What appears after Hebrews? What category of books do we call these?<\/strong> Who most likely wrote James\u2019 epistle?<\/strong> How would you summarize James\u2019 epistle?<\/strong> No questions…yet<\/p>\n No questions…yet<\/p>\n No questions…yet<\/p>\n To whom is this letter addressed?<\/strong> What is the main content of this letter?<\/strong> Who is the antichrist?<\/strong> To whom is this letter addressed?<\/strong> What is the main content of the letter?<\/strong> Who wrote Jude?<\/strong> When was Jude written?<\/strong> With what other New Testament book is does Jude have a literary relationship?<\/strong> What are themes of Jude?<\/strong> 1. Warning against false teachers Jude gives lots of examples to drive home his points. From where does Jude draw these examples?<\/strong> 1. Old Testament stories (a)\u00a0The Assumption of Moses 3. Apostolic Teaching<\/p>\n What is the final book of the Bible?<\/strong> What is its literary genre?<\/strong> What are the two main senses of Scripture according to the Catechism?<\/strong> 1. Literal<\/strong> 2.\u00a0Spiritual<\/strong> How do we break down the spiritual senses?<\/strong> 1.\u00a0Allegorical<\/strong> 2.\u00a0Moral\/Tropological<\/strong> 3.\u00a0Anagogical<\/strong> Here are the questions I use as a warm-up for Bible studies \ud83d\ude42 General In what language was the New Testament written? (Koine) Greek What is the likely exception to this? The Gospel According to Mathew. The Early Church Fathers say that it was originally written in Aramaic and soon translated into Greek. The Gospels Which books appear first in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":49870,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-56979","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56979"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57498,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56979\/revisions\/57498"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(Koine) Greek<\/p>\n
\nThe Gospel According to Mathew. The Early Church Fathers say that it was originally written in Aramaic and soon translated into Greek.<\/p>\nThe Gospels<\/h2>\n
\nThe four Gospels.<\/p>\n
\nThese books appear at the beginning of the New Testament because they contain the teaching, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and therefore hold pride of place in the New Testament.<\/p>\n
\nThey are arranged in the order of composition as believed by Early Church Fathers.<\/p>\n
\nMatthew and John<\/p>\nMatthew<\/h3>\n
\nIt is structured as follows:<\/p>\n
\nJews. This is demonstrated by Matthew’s extensive quoting of the Old Testament and lack of explanation concerning the Jewish traditions which other Gospels (such as Luke) explain.<\/p>\nMark<\/h3>\n
\nHe was companion of Paul and later Peter. It is said that Mark\u2019s Gospel is the preaching of Peter in Rome.<\/p>\n
\nMark is also called John (Acts 12:12<\/a>). We was the cause of some friction between Paul and Barnabas.<\/p>\n
\nMark is divided up into three geographical parts:<\/p>\n
\nHe uses the word “way”,hodos (\u1f41\u03b4\u03cc\u03c2)<\/a>, regularly. He also uses the word “immediately” extremely often, generating a fast-paced narrative.<\/p>\nLuke<\/h3>\n
\nHe was a companion of Paul.<\/p>\n
\nPhysician<\/p>\nJohn<\/h3>\n
Acts of the Apostles<\/h2>\n
\nActs of the Apostles<\/p>\n
\nLuke, the author of the Gospel which bears his name.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cActs\u201d is a genre of books in the ancient world<\/a> that described people\u2019s great deeds. This book describes the history of the Early Church.<\/p>\n
\nThere are two main points:<\/p>\n
\nProbably between about AD 30 and AD 60<\/p>\nPaul’s\u00a0Letters to Communities<\/h2>\n
\nThe 9 epistles sent by St. Paul\u00a0to different Christian communities.<\/p>\n
\nThey are arranged roughly in order of length, from the longest to the shortest.<\/p>\n
\nRomans (City of Rome)
\n1 & 2 Corinthians\u00a0(City of Corinth)
\nGalatians (The region of Galatia)
\nEphesians (City of Ephesus)
\nPhilippians (City of Philippi)
\nColossians (City of Colossae)
\n1 & 2 Thessalonians\u00a0(City of Thessalonica)<\/p>\nRomans<\/h3>\n
1 Corinthians<\/h3>\n
2 Corinthians<\/h3>\n
Galatians<\/h3>\n
Ephesians<\/h3>\n
\nThis letter is one of the \u201ccaptivity epistles\u201d and therefore was probably written during Paul\u2019s Roman captivity in the early 60s.<\/p>\n
\nMention of Ephesus in verse 1 is not found in the earliest manuscripts. It is therefore possible that this was a circular letter written to a number of congregations, one of which was Ephesus.<\/p>\n
\nChristianity was present\u00a0in Ephesus prior to Paul\u2019s arrival. Paul used Ephesus as his base of operations for several years.<\/p>\n
\nPaul devotes most of the document to putting forth a vision of God\u2019s redemptive work, brought about through Christ and manifested in the Church.<\/p>\nPhilippians<\/h3>\n
\nHe wrote it from prison (or while under house arrest).<\/p>\n
\nRome.<\/p>\n
\nPaul\u2019s primary purpose in writing this letter was to thank the Philippians for the \u201cgift\u201d they sent him (probably money), which they sent to him upon hearing of his\u00a0incarceration.<\/p>\n
\nA man by the name of \u201cEpaphroditus\u201d. This man was the emissary from the Philippian congregation. He was quite sick and near death during his time with Paul.<\/p>\n
\nJoy, regardless of the circumstances, through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\nHe quotes the song known as \u201cThe Carmen Christi\u201d (Latin for \u201chymn of Christ\u201d): \u201cThough he was in the form of God\u2026\u201d<\/p>\nColossians<\/h3>\n
\nThe evidence seems to point to the same situation as the other captivity epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians). He is in Rome under house arrest in approximately AD 62.<\/p>\n
\nNo, but he had stayed in nearby Ephesus for three years.<\/p>\n
\nIt appears that through his ministry, a Colossian native called \u201cEpaphras\u201d\u00a0had been converted and took the gospel to Colossae and founded the Church there.It seems Epaphras visited Paul in Rome, asking him to write to this nascent congregation to speak to\u00a0the various heresies attacking the Church in Colossae.<\/p>\n
\nThey appear to be several, but they included issues surrounding circumcision, asceticism, the person of Christ, secret knowledge and human wisdom.<\/p>\n
\nThis very much depends on how one interprets the heresies described, but scholars suggest either Jews, Pagans or early Gnostics.<\/p>\n
\nWe call it \u201cHigh Christology\u201d, since Jesus is described as \u201cthe image of the invisible God\u201d, \u201cthe firstborn of all Creation\u201d etc.<\/p>\nThessalonians<\/h3>\n
\nChrist\u2019s Second Coming.<\/p>\n
\nIt was most likely the first piece of the New Testament to ever be written.<\/p>\n
\nThe four letters from St. Paul to individuals: Timothy (x2), Titus and Philemon. The first three of these (and sometimes all four) are commonly known as the \u201cPastoral Epistles\u201d.<\/p>\nThe Pastoral Epistles<\/h2>\n
Timothy<\/h3>\n
\nTimothy was a constant companion of Paul, recruited during Paul\u2019s 2nd missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3<\/a>). He also traveled with Paul on the subsequent 3rd missionary journey.<\/p>\n
\nHe was from Asia Minor with a Christian Jewish mother (“Eunice”) and a Greek (probably Pagan) father (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15<\/a>). Timothy was the co-sender of six of Paul\u2019s letters (2nd Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, as well as this letter). Tradition asserts that Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus and was martyred there as an old man.<\/p>\nTitus<\/h3>\n
\nTitus was a companion of Paul. He was a Gentile Christian who traveled with Paul and Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem and with Paul on his 3rd missionary journey.<\/p>\nPhilemon<\/h3>\n
\nPhilemon was man of Paul\u2019s acquaintance. Paul was possibly instrumental in his conversion to the Faith (Philemon 1:19<\/a>) and Philemon was possibly involved in some ministerial capacity (Philemon 1:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nThe letter doesn\u2019t indicate the exact location of Philemon and his family, but it is assumed that they were residents of Colossae or a neighbouring city in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This assumption is based upon the common belief that the slave mentioned in this letter, Onesimus, is the same man delivering the Letter to the Colossians (Colossians 4:7-9<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nPaul is sending back to Philemon his slave Onesimus. Additionally, Paul thinks that his captivity will soon be at an end, so he tells Philemon to prepare for his arrival (Philemon 1:22<\/a>).<\/p>\n
\nOnesimus<\/p>\n
\nHis name means \u201cUseful\u201d or \u201cBenefit\u201d. St. Paul makes a couple of puns on his name in the letter.<\/p>\n
\nPaul requests that Philemon to forgive his runaway slave Onesimus (Philemon 1:9,17<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\nThe book of Hebrews.<\/p>\nHebrews<\/h3>\n
\nIt appears at the end of the collection of Paul\u2019s work (the \u201cPauline Corpus\u201d) because of the dispute in the Early Church as to whether or not Paul was its author. Additionally, one would not really call it an epistle.<\/p>\n
\nIt is a sermon.<\/p>\n
\nIt explains Jesus in terms of the Old Covenant priesthood and sacrificial system.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cCatholic tradition holds that Luke redacted the final version of the anonymous epistle to the Hebrews on Paul\u2019s behalf, a view endorsed by none other than Saint Thomas Aquinas.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Source<\/a><\/p>\nThe Catholic Epistles<\/h2>\n
\nThe Catholic Epistles (7 books): James, Peter (x2), John (x3) and Jude . These are letters written by Church leaders other than the Apostle Paul.<\/p>\nJames<\/h3>\n
\nJames of Jerusalem (\u201cJames the Just\u201d). He was Jesus\u2019 kinsman (see\u00a0Mark 6:3<\/a>), resurrection witness (see 1 Corinthians 15:7<\/a>) and \u201cpillar of the church\u201d (see\u00a0Galatians 2:9<\/a>).\u00a0Tradition tells us that he was Bishop of Jerusalem and Martyred in\u00a0AD 62 (Stoned, clubbed or thrown from the Temple)<\/p>\n
\nFaith without works is dead. This motif appears throughout. James speaks about practical Christian living and the life of faith.<\/p>\n1 Peter<\/h3>\n
2 Peter<\/h3>\n
1 John<\/h3>\n
2 John<\/h3>\n
\nIt is addressed to “the elect lady and her children”<\/span>. Although this could have possibly been an actual person, it is more likely that John is speaking of a neighbouring Church is sisterly, feminine terms.<\/p>\n
\nJohn is writing to a sister church. He encourages them and warns them of the antichrist<\/p>\n
\nAccording to John, anyone who “will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh”<\/span>.<\/p>\n3 John<\/h3>\n
\nIt is addressed to “the beloved Gaius”.<\/span>\u00a0He is most likely in the leadership of the one of the local congregations.<\/p>\n
\nA man named “Diotrephes” is exalting himself, refusing to accept John’s authority, refusing welcome to those John sends and excommunicating anyone who does so.<\/p>\nJude<\/h3>\n
\nJude, the brother of James (probably the bishop of Jerusalem) and kinsmen of Jesus.<\/p>\n
\nProbably sometime in the 50s or 60s<\/p>\n
\nSecond Peter<\/p>\n
\nThere are two main themes:<\/p>\n
\n2. Exhortations to hold fast to the faith.<\/p>\n
\nThey come\u00a0from three sources:<\/p>\n
\n2. Stories found in non-canonicals works:<\/p>\n
\n(b)\u00a01 Enoch and Jubilees<\/p>\nRevelation<\/h3>\n
\nThe Book of Revelation<\/p>\n
\nIt is an Apocalyptic Book<\/p>\nScriptural Interpretation<\/h3>\n
\nThe two senses are:<\/p>\n
\nWhat the author was trying to communicate<\/p>\n
\nA deeper sense which goes beyond the events described.<\/p>\n
\nThe Spiritual sense can be broken down into three sub-types:<\/p>\n
\nHow we see things of the New Covenant in the text: Jesus, Mary, the Eucharist, the Church etc.<\/p>\n
\nHow then shall we live? What lesson is to be learnt from this event?<\/p>\n
\nHow does this text point to the final things? Heaven, Hell, Judgement, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"