Kingdom Network Bible Comprehension Exam PDF

Comprehension of Bible written exam Instructions This exam is meant to measure your biblical knowledge and your ability to synthesize that information in ways that can be accessible to church members and is faithful to the reformed tradition. This exam should be taken in one sitting not taking long...

Comprehension of Bible written exam Instructions This exam is meant to measure your biblical knowledge and your ability to synthesize that information in ways that can be accessible to church members and is faithful to the reformed tradition. This exam should be taken in one sitting not taking longer than 3 hours. A proctor needs to be present during the exam and approved by the education team; the proctor will need to affirm you to the exam without notes within one three-hour period. The answers should be typed. While you may have a bible for this exam, study notes are not allowed. 1.​ Name and briefly describe the various literary forms used in the Bible. Then choose a book of the Bible for each biblical literary form and describe how the book you chose fits that particular literary form. Historical: Genesis - Genesis articulates the historical record of the patriarchs of the faith how the nation of Israel came to be and the narratives that lead up to the Exodus. Poetic: Job - Job 3-41 contains many forms of poetry with different pictures, metaphors, similes, irony, and other forms of literature in an attempt for the characters to grasp the sovereignty of God over Job’s suffering. Prophecy: Isaiah - Isaiah prophecies the beginning, middle, and end of the Babylonian exile. Isaiah speaks God’s word of Judgment because of their disobedience, urges them to repent, and prophecies the coming savior who will bear the iniquities of the world. Letter: Colossians - Colossians is one example of Paul writing a letter to a church to give them encouragement, warnings, correction, and instruction. Gospel: Matthew - The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four narratives of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The purpose of a gospel is to tell the story of Jesus’ life through the perspective of an author to describe what Jesus came to teach and accomplish. Apocalyptic: Revelation - Revelation is an apocalyptic piece of literature meaning that it describes the end times, specifically the return of Christ and what He will accomplish in the physical and spiritual realms. 2.​ Please explain the various evangelical views of Genesis 1-3 including whether Adam & Eve were historical figures, major themes of Genesis 1-3, and describe your point of view. Literalist - The belief that Genesis 1-3 describes a true and accurate account of creation and the fall. God created the World in six twenty-four-hour days in the consecutive order that is described. Adam and Eve were historical figures that produced the beginning of the human race. Conservative - Genesis 1 is historically accurate and God created in six twenty-four hour days, but each of those days is an era that could have been for millions or billions of years. Genesis 2 & 3 are poetic descriptions of how evil came into the world. Adam and Eve are seen as historical figures. Liberal - The story of creation is metaphorical and poetic, not to be taken literally as to contradict scientific discoveries. All that is affirmed is that God is the one who created everything and gave humans a special role in it. Adam and Eve in this view might not have been historical figures, but mentioned poetically to give us an understanding that God created humans. Evolution could still be possible. I would hold more towards the Conservative viewpoint. I believe God created everything in 6 days, each could have been an era of many years. I believe Adam and Eve were historical people as they are mentioned in the New Testament and their lineage can be traced to Jesus as seen in Luke 3. 3.​ Please describe the various views of authorship for the first five books of the Bible (Torah)? Include your understanding of Wellhausen’s theory (its development, its thesis, its pitfalls, its modern proponents and opponents) and your position on Pentateuchal authorship. Documentary Hypothesis - JEPD - Yahweh, Elohim, Priest, Dueteronomist. The hypothesis was that the Pentateuch was formulated by a group of people rather than just one person, Moses. The four groups were developed during different times. J and E would have been separately developed sometime in the 8th BC century characterizing God by his Name of Yahweh and Elohim. P would have been developed in the 5th century BC when God’s people were trying to reassert worship in exile. D would have been developed after King Josiah’s time after he found the law. Proponents: Richard Elliott Friedman, Joel S. Baden Opponents: Umberto Cassuto, Gordon J. Wenham Pitfalls: Ezekiel’s writing occurs before the exile which have direct quotes from the Penteteuch which the Documentary Hypothesis would say could not be since it affirms its development post-exile. The Name (J & E) criterion fails when you compare the Masoretic text to the Septuagint. The J would be in the E place and the E would be in the J place. This occurs 94 times in the Septuagint. I affirm Mosaic Authorship with a few exceptions of later edits. Gen 14:14 - “...as far as Dan…” Moses would not have known the territory of Dan at that time, and it wouldn’t have been called that until the time of the Judges. Until then it would have been known as Laish. 4.​ Do you believe that Paul wrote all the Pauline epistles? Please explain the most common arguments for and against Pauline authorship, and explain and defend your view? Against Paul: Pseudonymous theory: 3 assumptions: 1.​ Assumes that pseudonymity was an accepted practice during the late first and early second centuries. 2.​ Assumes that stylistic differences can be attributed to different authors other than Paul 3.​ Assumes historical features present in the pastorals are post-Pauline. Against Paul: Fragment theory: According to this view, a common practice would have been to take something that was in fact Paul’s, fragments of his writings, and adapt it in written form to something else. There very well could be fragments of Paul’s other correspondence letters in the hands of another Christian, who, seeing a particular need of the Church, applied them to a customized letter. Taking the fragments, the new author could have adapted and expounded on the fragments, making them ever relevant to the situation at hand. For Pauline Authorship: Vocabulary and Content isn’t a great argument against the Pauline epistles because we cannot limit Paul’s vocabulary to His letters. We also have to view content in the proper context. The Pauline Epistles have different content than other Epistles because he was talking to them about different things. Amanuensis: The theory of amanuensis is that Paul had a scribe or secretary write down what he spoke. Ben Witherington argues that the voice is the voice of Paul, but the hand is the hand of Luke I hold a traditional view, that Paul wrote His epistles and the Pastorals. The Pastorals toward the end of his life. In order to harmonize the issue of Paul arriving at Spain I would appeal to 1 Clement 5:5-7 stating Paul’s reach to the limits of the West which could be known as Spain. Paul may have completed this mission as he intended to although it was not recorded in Acts being that He may have done so after it’s record. 5.​ What is source criticism? Higher criticism? Form criticism? Textual criticism? Redaction criticism? Postmodern criticism? Source Criticism: source criticism seeks to determine the various written sources that were likely used by biblical authors in composing their works. Higher Criticism: refers to an analytical method used in biblical studies that examines the authorship, dating, and historical context of a text. It aims to understand how different books or passages within the Bible were composed and edited over time. Form Criticism: Focuses on understanding the original oral forms or genres from which written texts originated. It aims to identify specific literary forms such as myths, legends, psalms, proverbs, parables, etc., that may have shaped various parts of the Bible. Textual Criticism: This involves analyzing ancient manuscripts and textual variants in order to establish accurate readings of a given text. This field seeks to reconstruct original versions by comparing different copies or versions of a manuscript. Textual critics examine variant readings found among multiple copies or translations of biblical texts with an objective of determining which reading is most likely original. Redaction Criticism: Focuses on understanding how editors (redactors) shaped and modified existing materials during compilation processes. Redaction critics explore changes made at both large-scale (such as combining multiple sources into one) as well as small-scale levels (like adding editorial comments). The goal is often to uncover theological perspectives held by redactors or their communities. Postmodern Criticism: encompasses diverse methods influenced by postmodernism's skepticism toward overarching narratives and absolute truths. In relation to Biblical studies specifically influenced by postmodernism principles are employed for analyzing power dynamics present within scripture interpretations throughout history rather than focusing solely on authorial intent. 6.​ What is hermeneutics? What are your fundamental hermeneutical principles used when to interpret a biblical passage? Hermeneutics is the science used to interpret writings. When I try to interpret a biblical passage I first like to determine what type of literature I’m reading. The way I would attempt to interpret Paul’s letters would be different then the way I would try to interpret poetic literature like Job or Ecclesiastes. Then I would determine the historical context including the author, audience, purpose of writing, and historical information such as the location, date and the historical culture of the time. I would then determine the canonical context, that is how the text fits into the entirety of Scripture. After finding out that information, I would get into the text and observe any grammatical structures, and contextual information. I usually try to ask three types of questions, modal, definitional, and interrogative of different words and structures to discover interpretive answers. I would also consult a various amount of commentaries from church fathers to modern scholars of different theological backgrounds to find any similarities and differences. Afterward, I would gather my notes from all my observations and questions to determine interpretive answers of what the text means. Lastly, I would make applications by bridging the cultural gap of the past to the present by determining how the text could apply to today and what kind of situations the text could apply to. 7.​ What was the New Testament writers’ view of the Old Testament? Please give biblical texts to defend your argument. To the New Testament writers, The Old Testament are the Holy Scriptures, God breathed, inspired and useful as Paul says for teaching, reproof, and correction. The New Testament writers consistently quoted from the Old Testament which there are 2574 total uses of the Old Testament in the New Testament. These uses were allusions, echos, citations, and quotations. Hebrews 1:5 - You are my son, today I have become your father Psalm 2:7 - You are my son, today I have become your father Acts 2:21 - Then everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved Joel 2:32 - Then everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved. Revelation 1:5 - …the firstborn from the dead… Psalm 89:27 - I will make him my firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth. 8.​ What does 2 Timothy 3:16 mean to you? It means that Scripture is absolute and originated by God. That is what it means to be God-breathed. That as a whole, the Scripture is God’s Word and as God’s Word, it is useful for the man to teach, rebuke, correct, and train for righteousness. This also means that Scripture is authoritative being that it is God’s own Word for mankind to use. 9.​ How do you deal with apparent contradictions, mistakes, scientific errors, etc. in biblical manuscripts? Give two examples. When it comes to contradictions, its important to ask clarifying questions about what contradictions are in question. When you can determine author’s intent then you can allow the context of what’s being written to help make sense of something that seems like a contradiction. It is also important to harmonize passages without inferring they are absolutely contradictory. However, when it comes to apparent contradictions such as historical mistakes, scientific mistakes, or manuscript errors, it takes a bit more digging. Scientific mistakes I find to be easier to answer. The Bible is not a science book and is not meant to appeal to a scientific audience, it was written from the perspective of men who had the knowledge of their time. In Joshua where it says the Sun stood still would actually imply that the Earth stood still if we were to think of our current scientific model of the solar system. There are however, some historical errors that are more difficult to answer, one of which in Luke 2 where it states that a census was taken while Quirinius was the governor of Syria. The Birth of Jesus can’t be later then 4 BC because That is when Herod the Great is dated to have died, but the governor of Syria during that time was Quintilius Varus. Quirinius was governor of Syria from AD 6 to 7. While there were many attempts to answer this historical inaccuracy, an answer is still to be found in extrabiblical accounts of the dating issue. 10.​ What are the prominent names of God in the Old Testament, and what is their unique significance? Yahweh - Yahweh is the name given to God as the One God who is the creator and sustainer of all things. Yahweh is used when God is speaking to His people in covenant. It refers to His covenant relationship with humanity. Sovereign God - in Hebrew Sovereign God refers to God as master or supervisor. God is sovereign over all of His creation, both in the heavens and on the earth. He is the master of all and everything is under His reign. Nothing is outside of His power or presence. Lord of Hosts - God’s name as Lord of Hosts refers to Him as the ruler of His heavenly army. God is a general who has command over His heavenly Host to accomplish His will as He sees fit. Not only in a military campaign, but He sends His hosts to those who are in great need or in distress.  11.​ What is the importance of the tabernacle and temple? Include the significance of the order of priests and the sacrificial system? What are the various sacrifices? Explain the christological allusions and implications of the tabernacle? Tabernacle/temple: The tabernacle and the temple express the principles of the faith and the dwelling place of God. The tabernacle/temple juxtaposes the transcendence and immanence of God. God made himself available to His people through the means of the tabernacle/temple. Priesthood: The priests were to keep God’s people faithful by acting as intermediaries between them and God by teaching them from the book of the Law and by helping the people make atonement for their sins. Sacrificial system: The sacrifices and offerings in the sacrificial system were meant to be a means of approaching the Lord and maintaining the presence of the Lord by preserving the purity and holiness of the sanctuary. ​ Various sacrifices: 1.​ Burnt Offering 2.​ Grain Offering 3.​ peace/fellowship/communion offering 4.​ Sin/purification offering 5.​ Guilt/reparation offering Christological allusions and implications of the tabernacle: Bronze basin: This would be wear the priests would wash themselves prior to entering the tent of meeting or else they would die. This is an implication of how Christ washes us of our sins and makes us presentable to the Lord so that we may be pure in His sight. Lampstand: the lampstand appeared like a tree with branches which was the symbol of the tree of life God placed in the Garden for man to eat so they would never die. This is an allusion to the life that Christ gives as He died on the wood of a tree to provide eternal life. The Holy of Holies: The Holy of Holies was the location of the ark which would represent the throne of God and His dwelling place. In Jesus Christ, we are made the temples and become the Holy of Holies for the Lord to dwell. God never needed a place to dwell for no place could contain Him, but in His mercy and grace, He made His people His own dwelling place. The Altar: The altar is the place where the high priest would bring the sacrifices to be burnt and lifted to the Lord. In Christ, our love for Him and others becomes the sacrifice. Our bodies are called living sacrifices to God, meaning that our actions are given as sacrifices to Him. 12.​Choose one minor and one major prophet that you believe embodies the Old Testament prophetic tradition. Explain why. Minor Prophet: Zephaniah. In the short 3 chapter’s of Zephaniah, he is characterized in three ways: the interpreter of God’s wrath, proclaimer of worldwide destruction, and herald of coming restoration. The prophets declared God’s judgments when His people would turn away from the law. But even when judgments were declared, God’s people were exhorted to repent and turn from sin. What follows is always a promise, God would restore His people, and not only would Israel be God’s people, but all the nations of the world. Zephaniah contains all of these themes within his prophetic book. Major Prophet: Isaiah Throuhgout Isaiah, the prophetic tradition is expressed throughout the entirity of his prophecies. Isaiah’s message is to call out the sins and disobedience of God’s people, a coming judgment that is both upcoming and immediate, and a salvation for that judgment that is both futuristic and immediate. Isaiah consistently speaks about one who will come from the lineage of David who will inaugurate the glory of Zion and unify all nations. I believe Isaiah includes the great theme of sin, exhortation to repentance, judgment, and salvation. 13.​ What is the significance of the flood? How does it inform our understanding of God? The flood represents God’s judgment, both spiritual and physical, on the world. The flood is God’s way of purifying the taint of sin that has produced in the world. The flood represents judgment through cleansing and purifying which is a type of baptism as Peter utilizes as a comparison. God promises after the flood that he would never do that again. The rainbow is the sign of the covenant that he would not destroy the earth again, the arc of the bow faces upward towards the heavens, not downward towards the earth. It seems as though the next time God would implement justice, it would be upon the heavens, which He then sends down through Jesus Christ. The flood helps us understand that God is just in His judgments of people’s desires to carry out sin. God has every right to rid the world he created of evil and instead of doing it again by the means of water, He did it by fulfilling all righteousness through the death and resurrection of Jesus. God desires His people to be Holy as He is Holy and he is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. While we know God is patient and loving, we must recognize what His attitude toward sin is which the flood allows us to see. 14.​What is the significance of the Exodus? What are the theological implications of the plagues? In what sense is the Passover foundational in Old and New Testament theology? The Exodus is the foundation of Israel’s history. It is the foundation of the law of God, that is by which God revealed His righteousness and power to His people. God establishes His society and government through the Exodus and by the hands of Moses and Aaron. The Exodus is how God rescues His people from bondage after 400 years of being slaves to the authority of Egypt. God may have given His law without the Exodus, but the Exodus proves that God desires to rescue His people. He shows himself to be worthy of honor and obedience before establishing the law. Through the plagues God shows Himself to be the one true God over all nations. The plagues represent various gods of Egypt. By causing the plagues, he shows himself to be more powerful then the gods that the plagues would represent. No egyptian could call on the name of their god because Yahweh showed himself as the punisher of those gods and anyone who called upon them. This also grants us to understand why He makes sure the first commandment is to have no other gods besides him since He is the one true God. The Passover is the time where Israel is commanded to make preparations for the Exodus. Israel is commanded to slaughter either from a sheep or goat and place its blood upon the doorposts of their homes. God said that when he sees the blood, he will pass over the home and no plague would come against them. In the new testament, Jesus and his disciples meet for the passover meal where He establishes the new covenant by consecrating bread and wine. The wine represents the blood of the new covenant which would be spilled on His crucifixion. The blood of Jesus Christ represents being cleansed from our sins and the purchase of our freedom. God’s wrath passes over us who have been affected by the blood of Jesus Christ and we have eternal life in Him. Essay Questions: 1.​ Write an essay on the covenantal promises in the Old Testament. What passages directly relate to this promise? What New Testament passages continue the theme of the promise fulfilled? Explain the importance of a covenant view of scripture in pastoral ministry. In the Old Testament, God makes visitations to specific people involving them in His plan for redemption. He starts first by making a direct prophecy to the serpent in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 saying, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” While this is not a direct covenant, it sets the covenant story in motion for God’s redemptive plan for the World through the seed of Eve. As they were evicted from the Garden of Eden, God gives them cloths of animal skin to cover their nakedness. This was a gracious sacrifice done by God to foreshadow the permanent promise of covering the shame of humanity brought upon by sin. The first appearance of a covenant begins with Noah after God casts judgment on the wickedness of mankind. This covenant, from Genesis 9:9-17, was given as a promise between Himself and creation, to never flood the earth again. The characteristics of God’s covenant almost always included a sign. The sign for Noah was the rainbow which God referred to as a bow being hung up in the clouds as if He were no longer pointing His wrath downward. This was followed up by prophetic messages Noah gave to His sons which Canaan would be Shem’s slave. The next covenant was a promise to Abraham from Genesis 15:1-21 where God promises that His descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Again God appears to Abraham at the age of 99 in Genesis 17 and tells him that He will be the father of many nations. The sign God gave to Abraham was circumcision. Following many generations, God appears to Moses in Exodus to be the one who will set the Hebrews free from Egyptian bondage. When Moses was successful after God reigned His power over Egypt, He led them to Mount Horeb to be given the 10 commandments. This would be the command for God’s people to obey as they entered into the promised land. After 40 years of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness, God renewed His covenant with them which came with signs of punishment and blessing. Punishment for disobedience, and blessings for obedience. When someone in Israel would break a commandment, either the 10 or the 616, atonement had to be made. The only way for atonement to be made was through sacrifice on the altar through the mediation of a priest who also had to atone for his own sins prior to preparing the atoning sacrifices for others. After many more generations, David who is from the house of Jesse is anointed to be king of Israel. David honored God and was established as King and promised a permanent kingdom through His seed. In 2 Samuel 7, David desires to build God a house, but God is the one who promises that He will build the house of David when He raises up a descendant that will establish an eternal kingdom. When the time for Jesus comes, He is prophesied to be the son of David by the angel Gabriel who will reign on the throne of Jacob forever with a kingdom without an end (Luke 1:26-33). At the passover supper, which is the supper to celebrate the exodus of Israel from Egypt, Jesus consecrates bread and wine, to represent His body that would be broken, and His blood that would be shed for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:26-30). One of the more important details of the gospels is tracing down Jesus’ geneologies. In Luke, Jesus is the son of Adam, which fulfills the prophecy of Him being the seed who will strike the head of the serpent while his heel will be striked by the serpent. In Matthew, Jesus is the son of Abraham, which fulfills the covenant promise God established with Abraham that He would father many nations since through Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The author of Hebrews makes many more connections of Jesus from the Old testment as He is the high priest that fulfills the covenant given to Abraham (6:13-20), and He is the sacrifice whose blood cleanses the consciosnesses of dead works (7:11-22). Covenant theology allows me to focus on the intentional relationship God has initiated between Himself & His elect. God has made a way from the beginning of time to redeem and reconcile His creation to Himself. The covenants allow me to reflect on God’s faithfulness, His desire for fellowship, and the future promise of the redemption of all things. If God was so intentional about all of these things, then I must also be intentional about these things in ministry. Teaching God’s people of His faithfulness strengthens our day through dark circumstances. His fellowship ought to encourage us to be in constant fellowship with one another through community groups and study groups. And God’s redemptive plan for the future gives us a great hope to continue to strive for in our daily lives. The covenant view of scripture in this way formulates pastoral ministry. 2.​ Write an essay on the major themes of the Book of Romans and how these themes will shape your ministry. The book of Romans contains many themes for the Christian to develop a sound theology and framework for understanding the fundamentals of the faith. While there are many themes that can come from Romans, I’d like to point out 8 major themes: human depravity, God’s justice, free justification, human faith over works, freedom from slavery, God’s purpose of election, and human response. In the beginning chapters of Romans, Paul describes the characteristics of the sinful nature of humanity and God’s justice and wrath that is established upon those who live in sin. Then Paul expresses that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are freely justified, meaning our sinful nature is removed from us and the righteousness of God is established in us. Paul argues that in Abraham’s case, He was credited righteous prior to circumcision, therefore allowing us to understand that it was his faith that made Him righteous, not the works. So by God’s promises, we are made righteous because of our faith in Christ, not by our works. This is how we are set free from the slavery of sin which begins our new life and walk with Christ. No longer are we slaves of sin, but slaves to Christ which is in itself freedom. Later on, Paul shifts and speaks about Israel’s rejection of Christ and the reason behind His election. Though Christ is God over all, not all who descended from Israel are Israel (Rom. 9:5-6). Israel’s rejection of Christ is now revealing the great mercies God now has upon the Gentlies. God has widened the borders of salvation to the entire world to all who would believe and have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. After making this case, Paul continues by encouraging the believers in the life they are called to live in Christ by living as a sacrifice, living in community, and by giving encouragements for life throughout the epistle. These themes allow me to think practically about how to develop a framework for ministry. By understand each theme, I will be able to understand the depths of the human condition and God’s purpose to redeem each person from sin into the new life He calls us to. Gospel teachings, community groups, community efforts, bible studies, generational ministries, and mission work will be founded by what Paul writes to the Roman church because in these teachings we see the full gospel message and God’s redemptive purposes for humanity. The saints can be equipped, and the lost can be found with what is written to the Romans.