The final examination will be administered in the classroom (SPR 2360) on Monday, March 20 from 3-6 p.m.

You will need a blue book to write your answers in. The final exam will be closed book (no textbook, no Bible).

In studying, make use of: the glossary in the textbook; the index in the textbook; the index in your study Bible (if your Bible has index); and your class notes.

There will not be any "trick" questions on the midterm. I promise; and there will be a few extra credit questions.

You can expect the following kinds of questions:

- short answer (multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank)

- identification of passages (taken from specific texts listed below)

- short identification of simple terms, persons, or things (one or two sentences)

- longer identification of concepts, ideas, or theories (several sentences/a paragraph)

- essay questions (found at the bottom of this page)

All of the questions will assume your familiarity with the following information:

- historical and religious contexts for the Jesus Movement until the second century

- structure and contents of the New Testament

- the primary academic methods for studying the New Testament

- theories on how and when the different Gospels were composed

- theories on how the different Gospels are (or are not) related to each other

- the classification of the letters of Paul (authentic, deutero-pauline, pastoral)

- major themes that characterize each of the four gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, the general/catholic letters, and Revelation

- general background on noncanonical texts (letters, gospels, acts, apocalypses)

- theories on the spread of the early Christian movement

- issues of canon formation

Not sure if you know this information? Start with the textbook: Ehrman provides very helpful outlines at the beginning and ends of the chapters of the textbook. Make sure you know these "basics," and then begin to review the content of the readings from the Bible and from the textbook. Note places where Ehrman gives examples from the Bible (citations from the gospels, Acts, or letters): these are probably significant, important examples that illuminate important themes from that text. Then go over your notes from class (if you have any): what points did the professor repeat? What examples did he draw on from the texts? What terms did he write on the board?

Any form of studying is a negotiation between "big picture" and "little details": your job is to figure out what the "big picture" is in the various written accounts of the life and times of Jesus and his earliest followers, and then figure out which "little details" best help to describe and fill in that big picture.

For example: Ask yourself: "What are the particular themes and ideas in the Gospel of Luke?" Think big picture: general ideas, themes, concepts. Then ask yourself: "What examples can I think of from the Gospel of Luke that demonstrate these themes?"

 

Or: "What is going on in 1 Corinthians?" Think big picture: general ideas, themes, conflicts. Then ask yourself: "What examples can I think of from 1 Corinthians that demonstrate these conflicts?"

 

This is the best procedure for working your way down from "big picture" to "little details."

The quotations for identification will be drawn from any of the following sources:

1. The four canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

2. The following letters of Paul: 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, Romans

3. The following non/pseudo-Pauline letters: Ephesians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 John

4. Other texts: Acts of the Apostles, Revelation

The passages chosen will be ones that we have discussed and/or that very clearly illustrate some particular theme of that text and/or that are distinctive and unique to that Gospel (e.g., Mark's healing of the blind man or John's prologue).

You will be asked different kinds of questions from these passages: some passages you will be asked to identify ("What gospel does this come from?"), and asked to defend your identification (as on the midterm); others you will be asked about in short-answer format, such as True/False, multiple choice, or fill-in-the-blank ("TRUE OR FALSE: In this passage, Paul is concerned with sexual ethics"; or "This passage is known as a _________ Code," and so forth).

At the bottom of this page (below the study terms) you will find four essay questions; you will choose two of these questions to answer for the final exam (they will appear exactly as they do below). Each essay question should be supported with as much detailed information about the context and content of the relevant New Testament texts as possible: in preparing your answer, try to outline your arguments or ideas in such a way as to help you remember details as well as big picture. You may not bring any notes or outlines for these questions into the final exam. I will not give a page number for the essays, no matter how many times you ask me, because you all have different writing styles, different handwritings, and different ways of expressing yourself. I will say this: one page in a blue book is most likely insufficient; an entire blue book for each question is probably way too much.

Terms for Identification

Listed below are a list of terms: persons, concepts, ideas, things, some general, some specific, all important to the study of the New Testament as we have engaged in it so far. It is important for the midterm to know what all of these terms mean and how they relate to the historical study of the New Testament documents. In a few cases will you be asked to give a straightforward definition ("What is apocalyptic?"); at other times, you may be asked a question that necessitates knowledge of these terms, but puts them in a different context ("Which gospel is the least apocalyptic?" or "Which of the following ideas could be described as 'apocalyptic'..."). Many of these terms may also be helpful to you in preparing your essay question responses. (Note: I have removed from this list the names of canonical New Testament books [Matthew, Mark, etc.], but you are still responsible for knowing them!)

Essay Questions

1. Describe the different representations of Jesus in each of the four canonical gospels.  How does examination of the editing of each gospel from sources give us insight into each author's particular idea of Jesus and salvation? What common features do the four gospels share that might account for them being included in the New Testament canon?

2. Describe Paul's basic gospel message, and the conflicts that arose from it. What did Paul's earliest missionary preaching sound like, and how did it develop over time? What conflicts developed in Paul's communities (concerning ethics, the end of time, and the Law)?

3. Describe some of the crises of self-definition that can be found in the later letters of the New Testament (the Pastoral letters and the general/catholic letters). How did Christians in the late first/early second century define themselves over against Jews, "pagans," and against other Christian groups?

4. Describe the role of the end of the world in the early Jesus movement (from its origins until the mid-second century). How did the expectation of the apocalypse inform the earliest stages of this movement, and how did that expectation change over time? Based on some of the later texts of the New Testament (pastoral letters, Revelation), how did some Christian communities deal with the "non-apocalypse," and how did they ground their ethical and theological ideas?

Good luck!