|
|
|
|
|
Glossary
|
|
|
|
- The
glossary below offers definitions of terms common in discussions
of apocalyptic literature. Alert the professor to any other terms
you would like to see in the glossary.
-
- aboriginal
- definition
-
- agonothete
- definition
-
- androcentric
- definition
-
- anomie
- definition
-
- antinomianism
- definition
-
- apocalyptic
- Greek
for "revelation," a genre of literature common in social crises
or circumstances of persecution, characterized by: 1) a method
whereby a prophecy or event from the past associated with a
wise figure or religious intermediary (story) is applied to
the present day (discourse) to render the meaning of the present
chaos clear; 2) mythic features such as a view of God as lord
of history, a view of time divided into two ages (the present
evil age and the future age of God's reign, a view of ethics
that is sharply dualistic, a view of the cosmos which is also
binary, envisioning a heavenly plane and an earthly plane with
parallel histories, and an esoteric language of visions and
symbols that communicate meaning; and 3) and a sense of urgency
about time that senses an imminent end of time. Biblical apocalyptic
flourished from 200 BCE to 200 CE.
-
- apotheosis
- definition
-
- Armageddon
- The
location of the final battle of earth's history as described
in the Book of Revelation. The name appears only once in the
Bible, and then in Greek, but is probably based on the Hebrew
for "mountain of Megiddo" (har Megiddo). Megiddo was
a common battleground, located as it was in a valley along the
trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia (see Judg 5:19). Most
notably, it was the battleground where Pharaoh Neco's army killed
King Josiah in 621 BCE (2 Kgs 23:29-30; 2 Chr 35:22; Zech 12:11).
-
- ascesis
- definition
-
- biblical realism
- definition
-
- bourgeois/bourgeoisie
- definition
-
- canon
- From
the Greek word for measuring rod, this refers among other meanings
to the rule by which something was judged, and particularly to
the official list of books judged to be authoritative scriptures
by a given community. The Protestant canon of the Old Testament
largely follows the Jewish canon. It is therefore smaller than
the Catholic canon, which includes several of the extra books
found in the early Greek translation of scripture, the Septuagint.
The Eastern Orthodox churches, which still use the actual Greek
version of the Old Testament, recognize all of the Septuagint's
extra books in their canon.
-
- Christ
- See
messiah.
-
- Christology
- The
branch of Christian theology that explores the person, nature,
and function of Christ. High Christology emphasizes the divinity
of Christ; its heretical extreme is Docetism, which argues that
Jesus only appeared human but was in reality completely divine.
Low Christology emphasizes the humanity of Christ; its heretical
extreme is Arianism, which argues that since God cannot be generated,
and Jesus Christ was generated as a human, Jesus cannot be God.
-
- colonialism
- definition
-
- commonwealth countries
- definition
-
- contrapuntal
- definition
-
- coup d'etat
- definition
-
- covenant
- A
covenant is an agreement between two parties. Covenants in antiquity
were diplomatic and economic in nature, much as today, and the
literary conventions of these ancient covenants were used to portray
the relationship between God and Israel. There are several covenants
in the Bible: with Noah (Gen 9), with Abraham (Gen 15; 17), with
Moses (Exod 20), with David (2 Sam 7:8-17), and through Jesus
(Matt 26:26-30; 2 Cor 3:4-18).
-
- dalit voices
- definition
-
- developed world
- definition
-
- developing world
- definition
-
- diaspora
- Greek
for "dispersion," most commonly used of Jews living outside the
land of Israel anytime after the Babylonian Exile, but also used
by other displaced or dispersed groups.
-
- dikaiosyne
- definition
-
- disciple
- Greek
for "one who follows," a term used in scripture for students of
a master.
-
- discourse
- definition
-
- dissentient
- definition
-
- docetic, docetism
- definition
-
- East
- definition
-
- ebionitic
- definition
-
- economic hegemony
- definition
-
- eirene
- definition
-
- empire
- definition
-
- episteme
- definition
-
- epistemology/-ical
- definition
-
- epistle
- Greek
for letter, an exhortation or written sermon intended for public
reading.
-
- eschatology/-ical
- The
branch of theology that is concerned with the ultimate or last
things, such as the end of times, judgment, death, heaven, hell
(from the Greek for furthest, uttermost, extreme, end, + logos
= word).
-
- eschaton
- Greek
for "the end," the end of times which is regarded as immanent
in apocalyptic literature.
-
- Essenes
- definition
-
- ethos
- definition
-
- euangelion
- definition
-
- eusebeia
- definition
-
- evangelist
- Greek
for "one who proclaims the good news" or gospel, understood in
Christian tradition to apply particularly to the authors of the
four canonical gospels.
-
- exegesis
- definition
-
- exegete
- definition
-
- exegetical literature
- definition
-
- Exile
- The
forced removal of the Judean elite to Babylon in the wake of the
Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, and the period of
approximately 50 years during which these people lived in servitude
in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.
-
- Exodus
- The
exit or escape of Israel from Egyptian captivity, recounted in
the book of the same name. The book in its final form dates eight
centuries after the events it describes (story date c.1280
BCE; discourse date c.400s BCE) and was compiled from several
sources, all of which factors complicate the historical reliability
of the account.
-
- exousiology
- definition
-
- expiatory
- definition
-
- First World
- definition
-
- Foucaultian parameter
- definition
-
- gender
- definition
-
- gendered nationalism
- definition
-
- Gentile
- A
non-Jew; common Jewish term of reference in antiquity.
-
- Geschichte
- definition
-
- gnosticism
- From
the Greek for knowledge, any one of a number of dualistic ideologies
popular particularly in mid- to late-antiquity that espoused a
path of spiritual ascent through the secret, complex structures
of the cosmos and away from the evil material world.
-
- gospel
- Old
English term for good news (godspell), a translation of
the Greek term for the same; a literary genre represented in the
New Testament by four books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and
in the Christian apocrypha by sixteen other books. The canonical
gospels tell the story of the public life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus. They were written between 65-100 CE.
-
- halakhot
- definition
-
- Hasmoneans
- A
dynastic family of priests who governed Judah and Israel in the
wake of the Maccabbean Revolt until the Roman conquest (152-63
BCE).
-
- hegemonic
- definition
-
- hegemons
- definition
-
- Hellenism
- The
graecized culture that spread throughout the Mediterranean world
in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great (d.323 BCE)
and remained prominent during the period of Roman hegemony.
-
- heresy
- From
the Greek "choice," in religious vocabulary a choice for a teaching
about the faith which the dominant or orthodox church holds to
be contrary to that faith.
-
- hermeneutic(s)/-al
- From
the Greek "to interpret or explain," the science and methodology
of interpretation.
-
- heterodoxy
- From
the Greek "other or different opinion," any position that differs
from accepted teaching (see orthodox).
-
- historical Jesus
- definition
-
- imperialism
- definition
-
- imperium
- definition
-
- incarnation
- The
Christian belief that God became flesh (Latin in + carne)
in Jesus of Nazareth.
-
- intertextuality
- definition
-
- Jewish
Temple
- The
central place of worship and prayer in the biblical period. Solomon
built a huge edifice in Jerusalem in the mid-10th century BCE
with the income from heavy taxes imposed on the people. When the
nation split after his reign, it was partly because of this temple;
northern Jews had their own shrines (Shechem, Bethel, Dan, Gilgal),
and had always opposed centralized worship. The common people
in both north and south also resisted centralized worship: archeologists
have discovered scores of hilltop memorial shrines to ancestors,
small temples to local fertility and astral deities, and remnants
of household shrines. The Jerusalem temple was destroyed by the
Babylonians in 587-586 BCE, rebuilt by during the restoration
(see Ezra and Nehemiah), expanded by Herod the Great in 37-4 BCE,
and destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Much of biblical law treats
the laws of worship and cultic sacrifices (thanksgiving, atonement,
free-will offerings).
-
- jubilee year
- definition
-
- kaffir
- definition
-
- katheudein
- definition
-
- latitudinarianism
- definition
-
- legionary economy
- definition
-
- Logos
- Greek
for "word," a term that came to be applied particularly to Jesus
Christ as the divine Word made flesh.
-
- Maccabees
- definition
-
- manumission
- definition
-
- Marcionism
- definition
-
- mare nostrum
- definition
-
- martyr
- Greek
for "witness," the standard legal term for observers at the execution
of economic transactions, legal affairs, and everyday events.
The term came to have the specialized meaning of "one who testifies
to the faith" in Jewish and Christian circles during the persecutions
of 200 BCE-200 CE (the period when apocalyptic literature flourished).
-
- messiah
- Hebrew
for "anointed one," a kingly, prophetic, or priestly figure envisioned
during and after the Babylonian Exile as savior of the Jewish
people who would restore their political/religious autonomy. Applied
by Christians to Jesus ("Christ" is the Greek equivalent of "messiah")
and by Jews throughout history to a handful of leaders (e.g.,
Simon bar Kokhba, 132-135 CE, Shabbatai Zevi, 1626-1676).
-
- metonym
- definition
-
- metropolitan
- definition
-
- missiologist
- definition
-
- multilateralism
- definition
-
- neo-colonialism
- definition
-
- New
Testament
- The
Christian name for the Christian scriptures, that is, for the
revelation about Jesus Christ. The term "testament" means something
that testifies or witnesses to something; in this case the scriptures
attest to God's relationship with the new Israel, those who believe
in the Christ. The shape and number of books in the New Testament
differ among the major Christian denominations.
-
- New
Testament Apocrypha
- Greek
for "hidden," books of Christian pious literature that are not
in the Christian canon.
-
- norm
- definition
-
- Old
Testament
- The
Christian name for the Jewish Bible, that is, for the revelation
that predates Jesus Christ. The term "testament" means something
that testifies or witnesses to something; in this case the scriptures
attest to God's relationship with Israel. The shape and number
of books in the Christian Old Testament differ somewhat from the
Jewish canon.
-
- Old
Testament Apocrypha
- From
Greek for "hidden," works that were included in the Greek version
of Tanak (the Septuagint) but were not included in the Jewish
canon. Because these books were in the Septuagint, they came into
Christian Bibles. Many or all are considered canonical by Catholics
and eastern churches, while they are considered "deuterocanonical"
or simply as pious literature by Protestants.
-
- Old
Testament Pseudepigrapha
- From
Greek for "false writing," works written by later authors in the
name of earlier biblical figures.
-
- ontological
- definition
-
- orientalism
- definition
-
- orthodoxy
- From
the Greek "straight opinion," the accepted or dominant teaching
or position.
-
- panegyrist
- definition
-
- parable
- A
parable is a comparison drawn from nature or common experience
in life designed to illustrate some moral or religious truth.
It is a common biblical form in Tanak and in the New Testament.
-
- paraenetic
- definition
-
- parousia
- The arrival or advent of an emperor; in the New Testament, applied to Jesus' return (see
second coming).
-
- passion
narrative
- An
account of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus; probably
the earliest portion of the gospels to be written. Passion narratives
are found in all the canonical gospels (Mark 14:1-16:8; Matt 26:1-28:20;
Luke 22:1-24:53; John 13:1-20:31).
-
- Passover
- The
event related in Exodus 12 whereby God delivers the Israelites
from captivity in Egypt by passing over their houses and slaying
the first-born sons of the Egyptians. Also, the annual ritual
recalling this event, and particularly the supper of symbolic
foods during which the story of Exodus is retold.
-
- Pastorals
- definition
-
- Pentateuch
- Literally
"five jars/scrolls," this is the Greek term for the first five
books of the Jewish Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy), known in Hebrew as the Torah or instruction.
Scholars now believe that the first four of these books were compiled
over centuries from and by four different traditions, the Yahwist,
Elohist, Deuteronomist (responsible for the entire book of Deuteronomy
as well), and the Priestly.
-
- Pentecost
- definition
-
- pericope
- From
the Greek "cut all around," a discrete passage or story in a literary
work.
-
- periodization
- definition
-
- Pharisees
- A
group of Jews who lived in the late Second Temple period and advocated
a democratization of Jewish ritual law so that the common people
could partake in the sanctification that priests enjoyed. The
Pharisees believed not only in written Torah, but in their own
interpretation of that instruction (oral Torah). Their oral Torah
included the extension of laws for priestly separation to lay
people, as well as a belief in resurrection from the dead.
-
- pistis
- definition
-
- plenipotentiaries
- definition
-
- polemic
- definition
-
- politarch
- definition
-
- polyvalent
- definition
-
- portmanteau term
- definition
-
- postcolonialism
- definition
-
- postnationalism
- definition
-
- poststructuralism
- definition
-
- praxis
- definition
-
- pre-millenialists
- definition
-
- princeps
- definition
-
- proconsul
- definition
-
- proleptic
- definition
-
- prophet
- A
prophet is a religious functionary set aside or specially appointed
by (a) god for a number of religious and political tasks.
-
- prosboul
- definition
-
- proselytization
- definition
-
- proxy wars
- definition
-
- pseudonymity
- From
the Greek for "false name," the authorial stance of assuming the
identity of a more famous figure in whose tradition one wishes
to write; a common and accepted practice in antiquity, though
today considered plagiarism.
-
- "Q"
(Quelle)
- Abbreviation
for the German "Quelle," or source; a hypothetical source for
the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that contained the material they
share word-for-word that is not in one of their other sources,
the Gospel of Mark; it consists mostly of sayings of Jesus (see
synoptic problem, Two Source Hypothesis).
-
- quietism
- definition
-
- Qumran
- definition
-
- Raj era
- definition
-
- redaction
- The
activity of collecting, arranging, editing and modifying sources
to adapt their message to new circumstances and the redactor's
theological perspective.
-
- redaction
criticism
- The
study of the theological perspective of a biblical text evident
in its collection, arrangement, editing and modification of sources.
-
- regent
- definition
-
- Republican oligarchy
- definition
-
- retainers
- definition
-
- riposte
- definition
-
- Sadducee
- A
member of the priestly family descended from Zadok, one of two
high priestly families under King David; the chief priestly family
in the Jerusalem Temple from the time of Solomon to the destruction
of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and one of the chief ruling parties
in Jerusalem from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty (146 BCE-70
CE). The ancient Jewish historian Josephus describes them as religious
conservatives who rejected any teachings outside of the Torah,
such as resurrection from the dead, life after death, and the
existence of angels.
-
- Samaritans
- Demographically
a group of people who lived in the former northern kingdom of
Israel, centered around the ancient capital of Samaria, who after
the Assyrian destruction and exile (721 BCE) had remained and
intermarried with the non-Israelite peoples transported to the
region by Assyria. Religio-politically, a conservative Jewish
group that maintained the ancient paleo-Hebrew script for their
sacred writings (as opposed to the square script introduced by
foreign powers during Assyrian and Babylonian hegemony), and,
more importantly, who recognized only the Torah as legitimate
scripture (as opposed to Judean Jews, who had expanded scripture
to include the prophets and the writings). The Samaritans have
maintained their own temple and cult of Jewish festivals on Mount
Gerizim near Shechem from the late fourth century bce to the present
day.
-
- sangfroid
- definition
-
- scripture
- Literally,
"a writing"; a written tradition vested with authority by a community
because it is understood to be sacred, holy, God-given.
-
- second
coming
- Also
referred to by its Greek equivalent, parousia (being alongside,
presence), the belief present in every strand of New Testament
tradition that Christ will return in the future to establish fully
the messianic reign.
-
- Second
Temple Judaism
- Judaism(s)
during the period from the Restoration to the destruction of the
second temple by the Romans, c.539 BCE-
70 CE.
-
- Second World
- definition
-
- Seleucids
- A
Syrian Hellenistic dynasty that controlled Palestine from approximately
200 BCE until the Hasmonean or Maccabbean Revolt of 175-152 BCE.
The dynasty's attempts to enforce Hellenization at the cost of
Jewish law and tradition was the catalyst both for the Revolt
and for the composition of the Book of Daniel, and seems to have
played a role in the genesis of the Dead Sea Scroll community.
-
- semiotics
- definition
-
- Septuagint
- From
the Latin for seventy (septem [7] + -ginta [decimal
suffix]),BCE. This was the premier version used by early Greek-speaking
Christians, and so became the basis of the Christian canon. The
name "seventy" derives from a tradition that Ptolemy II (285-247
BCE) commissioned 70 or 72 elders to prepare the translation,
a task they accomplished in a miraculous 72 days.
-
- shastras
- definition
-
- Sibylline Oracles
- definition
-
- social ethics
- definition
-
- soteria
- definition
-
- soteriology
- definition
-
- structural binomial
- definition
-
- stuprum
- definition
-
- subaltern
- definition
-
- supercessionism
- definition
-
- syncretism
- definition
-
- synoptic
gospels
- From
the Greek "with one eye," the three gospels that tell the story
of Jesus in largely the same way, sometimes with passages that
are identical word-for-word. These three gospels are Matthew,
Mark and Luke.
-
- synoptic
problem
- The
observation that, while the three synoptic gospels share much
material word-for-word, they are also significantly different.
The most accepted theories to account for this problem are 1)
the primacy of Mark; and 2) the Two Source Hypothesis (see "Q"
[Quelle], Two Source Hypothesis).
-
- Tanak
- The
Jewish name for their scriptures; an acrostic in which each of
the consonants represents one of the three major divisions of
the Jewish Bible: "T" for Torah or instruction, law (including
the biblical books from Genesis to Deuteronomy), "N" for Nevi'im
or prophets (Joshua-Malachi), and "K" for Kethuvim or writings
(Psalms-2 Chronicles). The shape and number of books in the Jewish
Bible differ somewhat from Christian canons.
-
- te kai
- definition
-
- theocracy
- definition
-
- theodicy
- From
the Greek "justice of God" or "justifying God," the problem of
and attempt to explain the existence of evil and suffering alongside
the assertion of a just and loving God.
-
- theology
- From
the Greek "words about God," the science or study of God.
-
- Third World
- definition
-
- titulon
- definition
-
- Torah
- The
Hebrew word for instruction, this term designates in its narrowest
sense the first five books of the Jewish Bible (Genesis to Deuteronomy),
and in its broadest sense authoritative teaching of whatever source.
Rabbinic tradition distinguishes between God's revealed instruction
disclosed preeminently in scripture (the written Torah) and the
subsequent interpretive tradition of that revelation (oral Torah,
some of which has been compiled in written sources like the Mishnah,
the Gemara, the Talmud, etc.).
-
- trope
- definition
-
- Two-Thirds World trope
- definition
-
- Two-Source
Hypothesis
- The
theory that the authors of Matthew and Luke used two shared sources
for their gospels, the Gospel of Mark and "Q," (sayings of Jesus),
in addition to their own unique material. The theory is one way
of accounting for the synoptic problem (see "Q" [Quelle]; synoptic
problem).
-
- Vedic Prajapati
- definition
-
- vernacular
- An
adjective describing something in the common tongue, it is used
in postcolonial studies to describe interpretations originating
with the "native" or subaltern.
-
- vice-regent
- definition
-
- West
- definition
-
- zealot
- A
Jew committed to rebellion and guerrilla warfare or terrorist
activity against the Romans, c.63 BCE-70 CE.
|
|
|
|
|
