Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to study the bible?

To fully understand the bible when studying it from an academic perspective, it is good to be able to study it and look at it from different perspectives.  These different ideas of how to look at the bible are:

Historical criticism is the belief that all readers must treat the bible like a piece of literature.  The reader needs to take into account the historical situation.  The time period and what was occurring played a major role in they way the authors interpreted what God told them and that affected what they wrote in the scripture.  It also effected how the people in the stories acted and believed what they did. This criticism is important because as a well-rounded student, I need to be able to look at the bible from all different perspectives and all different points of view.

Literalism is the belief that the bible is the actual word of God.  The Bible is believed to not be an interpretation of the author.  Inerrancy is a movement by the Protestants in which power is taken from the church and placed on the bible.  God dictated the bible to the author and therefore the author did not make his own interpretation, or have the power to do so.  The interpretation must come from the scripture and not from the church or any other organization.  It is not for a group to tell an individual what the bible says, but for the individual to dissect the text and figure out what God is saying.  These are both important as we study the bible to know how certain groups of people feel and to not let outside opinions get in the way of researching the text. 

It is also important to know the history of the bible and how it was put together.  This will help to show the connection between the bible and the historical context occurring at that time period.  It also helps to show why ideas between books aren’t always consistent.

Canonization is the long process in which the books of the bible finally became accepted and considered as authority.  Different sections and books were considered standard at different times throughout history and it took a while for all books to be canonical.  This process is important to the studying of the bible because it helps with the understanding that the Bible was not easily accepted at first, but after a long period of time, communities started to use the bible to set the standard.

Also, when studying the bible, it is important as a reader that you can find the literary techniques that the author is using.  This strategy will help to show what ideas the author is emphasizing.

Parallelism is a literary technique in which repetition of ideas or parallel sentence structure is used to help show importance to a certain idea.  Three types of parallelism found in the bible are balancing, seconding, and extending.  Balancing is the technique in which the first and second lines say the same thing, but are worded differently as to balance each other.  Seconding is the technique in which a line is repeated exactly, to emphasize the importance.  Extending is a type of parallelism in which the structure of a sentence is repeated extensively, just with a different subject.  This type of parallelism is often used for climactic purposes.  As each new verse is introduced, the situation becomes more serious and important.

Stanzas are usually 2-3 lines, or a unit that is found in the poems within the bible.  A stanza has no set length, but is usually short.  The lines in a stanza usually are very closely related to each other, within the same theme or topic.  A stanza in a biblical poem is often used to paint an image for the reader.

How is the bible organized?

The bible is a collection of writings that have been put together into individual books and then into one bigger book.  The bible is a collection of scripture that is used by both the Jewish and Christian faiths, although their bibles differ slightly in what books are included.  The Jewish Bible is broken into the Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, and the Writings.  This collection is referred to as the Tanak, which is an acronym from their Hebrew names.  The Christian Bible has the same collection plus a few extra books, which they refer to as the Old Testament.  The Christian Bible also contains early scripture, which is called the New Testament.

What is the Pentateuch?

The Pentateuch is the first collection of books in the bible.  It is made up of the five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  The Pentateuch is a focus on the promise that God made to Abraham.  Genesis contains the creation stories and then the rest of the books are the building and establishing of a nation through God’s promise.  The Book of Deuteronomy is a focus on the covenant laws set forth by God for the people to follow.  In this book, there are many different types of laws.

A talion is a conditional law in which the reparations are the same as the actions.  If a person kills someone, their penalty would be the same as the crime done.  A talion is a very large punishment.  As the importance of an issue increases, so does the punishment.

An apodictic law is an unconditional command.  It is a command in which God is saying that the entire situation should be avoided.  Apodictic is another word for absolute or complete avoidance

A casuistic law is a conditional command.  God gives a casuistic command to tell his followers what needs to be done in a certain situation.  It is often an “if” statement.  

A covenant code is a collection of mostly casuistic laws.  The covenant code follows the Ten Commandments, showing them in more detail.

The Pentateuch is written by four sources.  These four sources differed in their view of God.  They also differed on their themes, emphasizing different ideas.  This hypothesis helps to establish historical context and understanding of why the first five books are pieced together the way they are. 

A documentary hypothesis is the hypothesis that the Pentateuch came from different sources and was pieced together.  The common documentary hypothesis for the Pentateuch is that it came from four different sources, The Yahwist, the Eloist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly writer. 

The Yahwist is considered the first of the sources written.  In this book, God is referred to as Yahweh.  The Yahwist, J writer, explains God in a much more personal approach.  The Yahwist sees God as having a close, hands on relationship.  There is more emotion and less formality in the narratives by the J writer.  The J writer’s main focus is God’s promise.  An example of this writing is the second creation story.  The J writer occurred during the Golden Age in the Southern Kingdom.

The Eloist writer refers to the divine power Elohim.  In the E writings, the deity is not directly involved in human lives like in the J writings.  Instead, the deity communicates through dreams.  The Eloist’s main point is acting ethically.  The E writings are assumed to be produced a century after the J writings, in the Northern Kingdom. 

The Deuteronomist is the author of Deuteronomy.  The Deuteronomist introduces conditional laws.  All of Deuteronomy is rules to try and keep an order by obeying the covenant code.  

The Priestly writer is a writer of the documentary hypothesis.  It has an interest in worship and law associated with the priesthood.  It is much more formal than the other writers.  The view of God from the priestly writer is more mysterious and majestic, and his everlasting power.  The first creation story in Genesis is an example of the Priestly writer.

The Pentateuch is mostly a collection of narratives.  Within any narrative, there are characters, places, and time periods.  This is also true with the Bible narratives.  When looking at the bible from an academic perspective, it is important to first be able to establish all of these before being able to focus on the development of the narrative.

The term Hebrew is a word that defines a group of people, often a feudal society.  They were considered to be raiders and outsiders.  It was not always considered a compliment.  A Hebrew person was a traveler, wanderer, crossing through unknown territory.  The term Hebrew is important because these people played an important role in the bible and it is important as a reader to know who these people are and where they come from.  There history effects their actions and beliefs.

Mount Sinai is the location at which the Exodus out of Egypt both started and began.  It is a place that is full of symbolism.  Mt. Sinai is where the manifestation of the Lord occurred. 

The Amarna Age was the time period in Egypt when people were looking for change.  The idea of monotheism was being thrown around, which is quite different from the Egyptian belief of multiple deities.  The Armana Age is also the setting in which the Exodus from Egypt took place.  The Armana Age was the perfect setting for an exodus because the Hebrew people were not happy with the way they were being treated.  If they had been happy with where they were at, they never would have followed Moses out of Egypt.

The Hebrew people, and all people at that time period had many varying beliefs.  The biggest struggle with God was the wanting of monotheism, which was very different from what they were used to. 

Ancestral religion is a religion in which there are very close ties between a deity of the ancestral clan and an ancestor.  Ancestors believed in a deity that journeyed with them.  The deity was related to them through a covenant, not the church like God was believed to be.  Ancestral religion was one of many religions that people were learning about when trying to find a way to worship God.  As a reader, it is important to learn about the different beliefs of the people in the time period of the bible.

What are the Former Prophets?

The former Prophets contain the books Joshua, Judges, 1-2 Samuel, and 1-2 Kings.  The Former Prophets is a continuation from the Pentateuch.  The Pentateuch leaves without the promise being fulfilled.  This section of writings also holds the idea that obedience of the Lord leads to a blessing, and disobedience will lead to a punishment.  The Former Prophets, along with Deuteronomy, help to make the Deuteronomistic history, written by the D source.  The Former Prophets also introduce the idea of a prophet, or a messenger of God, which is not seen in the Pentateuch.

The Former Prophets starts with Ahab’s descendants, which means a new time period.  Also, at the end of the Pentateuch, the new generation has not yet crossed over to the promise land.  This book is in a new territory, meaning different historical context.  In the Former Prophets, we also see a division between people.  They no longer are one group.  

The House of Omri is the dynasty, including Ahab, of kings that were in Northern Israel.  In the book of Kings, knowing the power and the importance of the House of Omri helps to show the importance of Elijah and Elisha. 

The Northern Kingdom was Israel, located in the flat lands, relying on agriculture.  It was much larger, stronger, and more populous in relation to the Southern Kingdom.  The Northern Kingdom was often found in many wars and failed as a nation because of Dynastic instability including the House of Omri.

The Southern Kingdom was Judah, located in mountain terrain.  It was much smaller and poorer than the Northern Kingdom.  The kings in the Southern Kingdom were interested in restoring the Davidic Kingdom and keeping royal stability.  Although they seemed worse off, their stability allowed them to survive the Northern Kingdom by a century and a half.

A prophet was a person who had a special relationship with God.  Often “chosen” by God, they were believed to have such gifts as healing and knowing the word of God.  They often spoke to the people as God’s messenger.  Elijah, Elisha, and Amos were all prophets.

The Philistines were a group of people that appeared in Canaan during the twelfth century B.C.E.  They were the “sea people”, and were rulers of the Philistine plain.  The Philistines had much advancement in technology, weapons, location and transportation.  This was very bad for the Israelites, who were less advanced and could not protect themselves from a stronger more powerful nation. 

What are the Latter Prophets?

 The Latter Prophets contain the books of Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of Twelve.  In the Latter Prophets, there is an emerging popularity of the prophet.  All of these books are stories or poetry in which the Prophet proclaims what he saw or was told by Jesus.  These prophets focus less on judgment, which was a main focus on the earlier books.  They focus more on the hope of restoration.

Prophets have many stories or visions that they pass on to the citizens of the nation.  There are many different types of visions.  Each vision or oracle has a specific structure, so while reading the passage, the format and type can easily be seen.

An oracle of judgment is a judgment in which a nation is condemned for past faithlessness or for future sins.  The book of Amos 1-2 are full of oracles of judgment, the structure of this oracle helps to make more clear the situation in the book of Amos.

Vision reports are a narrative in which a prophet explains what he saw.  These visions are usually symbolic.  It is an image that the prophet uses to help explain what is going to happen in the future. 

Although these books focus more on the hope for restoration, there is still judgment.

Covenant lawsuit is a prophetic saying in which the Lord brings Israel to judgment.  The Lord accuses the nation of not obeying the covenant code.  This is then followed by the Lord showing evidence of his accusation.  After the evidence is reported, the Lord states the judgment upon the nation.

Although the book of Isaiah is only one, because of themes and difference in writing style, it can be broken into smaller sections.

Isaiah is broken into three sections.  The three sections are First, Second, and Third Isaiah.  First Isaiah makes up the chapters 1-39 and is told by Isaiah.  The focus or themes in this first section is God’s holiness.  It also makes clear that judgment is inevitable, but there is a hope for restoration.  Second Isaiah consists of chapter 40-55.  This section is told by an anonymous prophet.  The themes in this section are salvation, a second exodus, restoration and monotheism. 

Mount Zion is a very important location in the Latter Prophets.  It becomes very important as the nation focuses on restoration.

Zion is the mountain that the Jerusalem temple was located.  Zion was usually referred to as Mt. Zion.  As referred to in the latter prophets, this place was a holy place of God. 

What are the Wisdom Books?

The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job make up the wisdom literature in the Tanak.  These books contain short observations and instructions about how to live life.  They also contain poetry that focus on the meaning of life, and nature.  These books are very different than the others before them.  They do not lay such a heavy focus on the covenant law, but focus more on the human search for order. 

Since the wisdom books focus on the meaning of life, the most important idea in this section is to try and determine what the true them is.  The Book of Job introduces two possible themes.

Theodicy is the question of divine justice.  This issue of theodicy is brought up in the book of Job.  The main question that theodicy brings into people’s minds is how can there be such evil in the world, when there is such an all-powerful, all-knowing God?

In the book of Job, Hauer and Young bring up the idea of disinterested piety.  Disinterested piety is the idea of righteousness.  It is the idea that people do what is right because they know it is right, not because they are worried about the punishment or reward that comes along with the follow through of the action.