RELIGIOUS STUDIES 253

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RELIGIOUS STUDIES 253

• INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE OR OLD TESTAMENT

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My Website http//www.stfx.ca/people/bmacdona/we
lcome.html
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HANDOUTS - WHAT THE COURSE IS ABOUT -
assignments - evaluations - textbooks -
tentative outline - introduction (SEGMENT
1) - the Hebrew Bible/TANAK or Old Testament
(SEGMENTS 2-6) - Deuterocanonical /Apocryphal
(SEGMENT 7) - between the two Testaments, that
is, between the Old and the New Testament
(SEGMENT 8).
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READINGS S. L. HARRIS, UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE,
7TH ED., 2007, Chapter 1 The Bible An
Overview, pp. 1-12, and Chapter 2 The Process
of Formation, pp. 13-35. S. L. HARRIS,
UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE, 8TH ED., 2007, Chapter
1 The Bible An Overview, pp. 1-12, and
Chapter 2 The Process of Formation, pp. 13-31.
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INTRODUCTION (SEGMENT 1) Questions people
frequently ask about the Bible. - The biblical
God and the covenant people - What is the
Bible? - a collection or a library of books
written over a a period of more than 1,000
years - an anthology of ancient Hebrew and
Greek writings - Christians divide the Bible
into the Old Testament (OT) and the New
Testament (NT)
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- The OT is also known as the Hebrew Scriptures
of Judaism - Jews also call their Hebrew
Scriptures the TANAK/TANAKH, an acronym for -
TORAH (Law or Instruction) - NEVIIM (The
Prophets) and - KETHUVIM (The Writings) (See
Box 1.1 TANAK The Three-Part Hebrew Bible,
p. 3.) (See Table 1.1 Order of Books in the
TANAK and in the Old Testament, pp. 4-5.)
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To the original Hebrew Bible, Christians add the
New Testament See Table 2.1 Approximate Order
of Composition of New Testament Books, p.
19/20. See Box 2.2 Abbreviations of Books of the
Bible, in Alphabetical Order (pp. 20-21).
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THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE - for most Protestants the
Bible consists of 66 books (39 from the Hebrew
Scriptures/Old Testament and 27 from the New
Testament) (see Table 1.1, pp. 4-5) - Roman
Catholics, most Eastern Churches, and some
Protestants include several additional books
from a Greek edition of the Hebrew Bible (see
Table 1.1, pp. 4-5) - these books, although
authoritative for Roman Catholics, etc., are
known to most Protestants as the APOCRYPHA or
Deuterocanonical - For these Christians, the
Bible consists of 72 books.
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Examine the Bible you have. What is the
arrangement of the books?
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What value does the Bible have for us today? -
It is the foundation document for Judaism and
Christianity - It profoundly influences
standards of human behaviour - It influences
assumptions about the purpose of life - Western
culture remains permeated by biblical
principles... - Western society is still
largely defined by ancient Judeo-Christian
religious traditions.
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- How is the Bible used and/or studied
today? - Its use in a religious service -
Its use as studied in a university Reading
pp. 1-12 Harris, Understanding the Bible.
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BIBLICAL WRITERS, MANUSCRIPTS, AND
TRANSLATIONS See Chapter 2, The Process of
Formation How the Bible was Transmitted,
Canonized, and Translated, pp. 13-35/13-31. -
Ancient tradition had Moses as the author of the
TORAH/PENTATEUCH, that is, the first five books
of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy) - The Books of JOSHUA,
EZRA, NEHEMIAH, etc., assumed to have been
written by Israelite leaders whose name they
bore - Howeverbut the product of a multiple
authorship and a lengthy process of repeated
editing.
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What were the Original Languages in which the
Bible was written - Hebrew most of the Hebrew
Bible - Aramaic see Gen 31.47 Jer 10.11 Ezra
4.8-6.18 7.12-26 Daniel 2.4b-7.28. - Greek
many of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books and
all NT books.
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• What were the First Translations of the Bible
• - The SEPTUAGINT (LXX) from the original Hebrew
  and Aramaic into Greek done by Jewish scholars
  in Alexandria, Egypt
• - The VULGATE (translation from the Hebrew and
  Greek into Latin) done by Jerome, living as a
  monk in Bethlehem, between 385 and 405 C.E.,
  with the help of Jewish scholars
• Pre-Reformation translations at first merely
  rendered the Vulgate, into the languages of
  modern Europe
• See Textbook, pp. 22-24
• - Not until the 1500s were translations again
  made from the Bibles original Hebrew, Aramaic,
  and Greek manuscripts.

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How was the CANON of the Hebrew Bible
determined? - The term CANON (see G-7, and
Canonization process, pp. 17-22/18-22) - It
refers to a list of books officially approved for
use in a religious community - a standard of
measurement by which books are included or
excluded from the authoritative list -
CANONIZATION occurs as an historical process -
CANONIZATION the end result of a long period of
development.
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- HULDA, and the canonization process (time of
Josiah 640-609 BC see 2 Kings 22.11-20 2
Chronicles 34.19-28).
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• - By about 400 B.C. the Torah accepted as
  Scripture, authoritative for teaching the Mosaic
  legacy
• - Within another two centuries, the Former and
  Latter Prophets (see Box 1.1) were probably
  regarded as sacred
• As early as the mid-2nd century B.C., a third
  category of Scripture was also recognized (see
  Introduction to ECCLESIASTICUS, OR SIRACH)

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THE BIBLE AND MODERN SCHOLARSHIP (see Textbook,
pp. 26-33/25-29) - BIBLICAL CRITICISM -
CRITICISM from a Greek word meaning to judge
or to discern. - in biblical studies,
scholars use various critical methods to study
the Bible
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BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM - A theological
movement. (see pp. 27-28 and G-15/G-14 in
textbook) - Its insistence. - In this view, in
the act of writing, biblical authors transcended
ordinary human limitations to produce absolutely
infallible documents - It is a response to
modern scientific methods of analyzing the Bible.
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BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM - a rejection of any
historical-critical study of the biblical texts
- most biblical scholars, whether Catholic,
Protestant, or Jewish do not accept
fundamentalism - they believe in the use of a
variety of scientific methodologies in studying
the Bible - they seek an informed understanding
of the processes by which the Bible evolved.
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Reading Analytically The Bible and Modern
Scholarship (pp. 26-32/25-28) New Ways of
Analysis.
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HISTORICAL CRITICISM - The evaluation of
documents - The historical critic
investigates - WHEN was the book written? -
WHERE was the book written? - WHAT sources were
used? - WHO is the author? - FOR WHOM was the
book intended? - Does the book have an
editorial history? - If so, what is that
history?
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HISTORICAL CRITICISM (contd.) - The primary
question for the historical critic is - What
did the book mean when it was written? - Once
this is determined, we may then ask What does
the book mean now? For me? For us? For today?
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HISTORICAL CRITICISM (CONTD.) - The historical
critic wants to determine - What were the
social, political, and religious forces that may
have influenced the authors or editors views of
their subject?
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SOURCE CRITICISM - Scholars search for the
different SOURCES, both oral and written, that
the author(s) or editor(s) incorporated into
it - e. g., four main literary units, namely, J,
E, D, AND P, in the Torah/Pentateuch (Documentary
Hypothesis, G-11/G 10-11, pp. 89-96/67-72) -
Jahwist - Elohist - Deuteronomist and -
Priestly. - See the beginning of the Gospel
according to Luke (1.1-4).
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• FORM CRITICISM
• - a related method
• - The recognition that the Torah/Pentateuch is
  made up of many smaller units
• - For example, ancient folk tales, priestly
  rituals, genealogies, court archives, war hymns,
  parables, poems, creeds, etc.
• These units can generally stand alone.
• See, for example, Genesis 1.1-2.4a and 2.4b-25
  two stories of creation (P and J).

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PERICOPES - These independent units are called
PERICOPES - they originally had an independent
existence. - they are building blocks.(like
bricks that go to make up a building)
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FORM CRITICISM - Looks behind the written form
of the PERICOPE - The SITZ-IM-LEBEN, that is,
the life setting - for example, the two
versions of Gods disclosure of his personal
name, Yahweh, to Moses (Exodus 3 and 6), etc.
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- These traditions, i.e., PERICOPES, circulated
orally .before they were written downand before
they were put into the permanent form in which we
now find them in the biblical text - Thus, FORM
CRITICISM deals with the stages of development
that orally transmitted traditions undergo ....
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• REDACTION CRITICISM
• - The role of the individual Bible writer
• - The author-editor (redactor) did not slavishly
  copy sources, but rather revised them (see the
  beginning of the Gospel according to Luke 1.1-4)
• - He wove them together and shaped older
  documents according to a specific theological
  purpose (see Genesis 6.5-8.22, the story of the
  great flood) (P and J interwoven)
• Thus, an emphasis on the authors crucial
  function in assembling, rearranging, and
  reinterpreting older materials
• See, for example, the arrangement of the two
  stories of Creation in Genesis 1.1-2.4a and
  2.4b-25.

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LITERARY CRITICISM - Literary criticism attempts
to discover the significance of the text as we
now have it - The literary critic examines the
texts final form, searching for ways to
interpret their meaning - Every experienced
reader is a literary critic.not only to acquire
information but to recognize the authors
interests, images, and phrases - all this
suggests the authors intent or purpose.
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LITERARY CRITICISM (CONTD.) - Step One to
identify the various literary genres in the Bible
(See Box 2.4 Some Representative Literary Genres
in the Hebrew Bible, p. 31/26) - to attempt to
determine if the author is using expressions of
speech..
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THE READER DOES NOT COME EMPTY-HANDED TO THE
TEXT - the personal experiences of the
reader - the readers assumptions and
preconceptions . - what the reader often does
unconsciously - the readers projection of
subjective meaning - thus, the creative act of
reading. - the text will then cease to have
objective autonomy.
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Example of a reader with experience in Near
Eastern culture, history of religions, etc. - A
reader who approaches the text with a particular
goal/purpose in mind..
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Questions 1. WHAT IS THE BIBLE FOR A JEW, A
PROTESTANT, AND A ROMAN CATHOLIC? 2. WHAT ARE
THE MAIN DIVISIONS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES?
GIVE EXAMPLES OF BOOKS IN EACH DIVISION. 3. WHAT
IS MEANT BY APOCRYPHA? DEUTEROCANONICAL? 4. WHAT
VALUE DOES THE BIBLE HAVE FOR A BELIEVER? A
SECULAR PERSON?
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• QUESTIONS (C0NT.)
• 5. WHAT ARE WAYS IN WHICH THE BIBLE IS USED AND
  STUDIED TODAY BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE?
• 6. WHAT IS MEANT BY BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM?
• WHAT IS THE REACTION OF MOST BIBLICAL SCHOLARS TO
  BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM?
• 8. In what languages was the Bible originally
  written?
• 9. Explain clearly Septuagint and Vulgate.

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10. What is meant by the canon of Scripture? 11.
Describe clearly Huldahs role in the
canonization process. 12. Why is it that there
is a different canon of Scripture for the Jews,
Protestant Christians, and Roman Catholic
Christians? 13. Describe the process that led to
the canonization of the books of the Hebrew
Scriptures. 14. Describe clearly historical
criticism.
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15. WHAT IS SOURCE CRITICISM? 16. WHAT IS FORM
CRITICISM? 17. WHAT ARE PERICOPES? GIVE
EXAMPLES OF PERICOPES IN THE HEBREW
SCRIPTURES/OLD TESTAMENTS. 18. WHAT IS MEANT
BY REDACTION CRITICISM? 19. EXPLAIN CLEARLY THE
GOALS OF LITERARY CRITICISM. 20. GIVE EXAMPLES
OF FIVE DIFFERENT LITERARY CATEGORIES THAT THE
BIBLICAL AUTHORS EMPLOYED.
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Plus Questions for Review and Questions for
Discussion and Reflection on p. 11 and p. 34/30
in Textbook.