Need to know about Christian

Part 1 – Definition

Please give a short definition for each term.

1. Jesus –

2. Christ –

3. Jew –

4. Gentile –

5. Gospel –

6. Synoptic Gospels –

7. Paul –

8. Pharisees –

9. Essenes –

10. Priests –

11. Hasmoneans –

12. John the Baptist –

Part 2 – Short Answer (Choose three)

1. What is the difference between impurity and sin? Why are both significant for understanding Jesus?

2. What are the relevant differences and similarities between John the Baptist and Jesus?

3. In terms of Jewish and Roman politics, why was Jesus crucified and why was he crucified alone?

4. How did Jesus’s last visit to Jerusalem contrast with his likely behavior before?

5. How did Jesus’s teachings avoid political suspicion? How were they politically attractive to Jewish people in their 1st century context?

6. How do we know the priests were involved in Jesus’s death? Why would they have been willing to push for Jesus’s death even if they knew he wasn’t personally dangerous or politically involved?

7. What was the behavior of Jesus’s followers after his crucifixion, and what does this behavior tell us about Jesus’s life and mission?

Part 3 – Short Essay (Choose one)

1. Jesus was both a person of his times and a figure whose teachings have obviously transcended his specific context. How did Jesus’s life and teachings better fit the first century? How do Jesus’s life and teachings seem to apply today? Which do you think better characterizes Jesus’s actual life and teachings? Is it more convincing to you that the first century Jesus resists our expectations, or that he anticipates them?

2. Jesus and the early Christians were a part of the larger Jewish context. At the same time, they also brought a number of innovations and new combinations. Compare Jesus’s life and message to that of the Pharisees, Essenes, followers of John the Baptist, Sadducees, priests, and/or the temple. How did Jesus and the early Christians fit with these other Jewish groups? How did they challenge them? Is it more convincing to you that Jesus and the early Christians were part of first century Judaism, or that they pushed to create a new religion?

3. Jesus avoided political attention for most of his life and work. Whatever he taught, he taught it skillfully and carefully enough that political figures allowed him to continue when many others were crucified. And yet, at the end, he too was crucified, but alone. Describe both the ways in which the historical Jesus avoided political confrontation and the ways in which he touched on politically sensitive ideas. Which gives us a better portrait of Jesus—the one who was politically cautious, or the rebel?