Part one
Question #1
The Jewish Canon, which is also referred to as the Hebrew Canon, comprises three major divisions. The first division is abbreviated as TANAKH, which is a representation of the Torah, which has five books; namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The other division is Nevi, which is a representation of eight books written by various prophets. The books written by these prophets include Joshua, judges, kings, and Samuel. The oracles books include Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Also, the twelve Minor Prophets wrote Hoses, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi. The last division is Ketuvim, which entails the books of wisdom and religious poetry. These books include Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Songs of Solomon, Ruth, lamentation, Ecclesiastes, and Esther.
Question #2
The reason why Jamnia was famous is that it was a small town that hosted a discussion that revolved around Jewish canon. After the destruction of Jerusalem temple in 70 AD by Titus, a leader by the name Yochanan ben Zakkai came up with a center that was meant for learning and which was located in Yavneh. The establishment of the center was a great attraction to scholars. Furthermore, since the temple was destroyed and a learning center was introduced, Jamnia turned to a new spiritual location within Israel. With its recognition, Israel’s legislative body also moved to Jamnia. As a result of the increasing attention, the place was well known to many, and this made it famous.
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Question #3
A Protestant Bible is essentially a Christian Bible that was written and revised by the Protestants. In the Old Testament, the Protestant Bible has 39 books, while the Catholic Bible has 46 books. The New Testament has 27 books and, when combined with those in the Old Testament, sum up to 66 and 73 for the protestant and Catholic Bibles, respectively. In ancient times, the Jewish scriptures were written in the Aramaic language. The language was recognized after the Babylonian exile and acted as Hebrew alphabets.
Question #4
Deuterocanonical books are passages to which the Catholic Church takes a significant consideration. These books include Baruch, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Maccabees I, Maccabees II, Judith, and Tobit. The mentioned books have no spiritual authority over the Catholics because they were determined by history, in ancient time, there were no fixed books which were to be included in the Jewish first canon hence the introduction of the seven listed books by Catholics. From a protestant point of view, the deuterocanonical books are non-canonical because they do not have any spiritual authority over the followers of Christ.
Question #5
From a Biblical standpoint, Torah means teaching and instructions to humanity. Also, it represents five books of law that are significantly linked to Moses, who is the unique recipient of God’s revelation from Mount Sinai. All kinds of churches, including Roman Catholic, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox, agree to the formation of the Torah books. The books under Moses law as far as Torah is concerned to include genesis, exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and numbers. Also, it is among the three divisions of the Jewish Canon.
Question #6
Septuagint, which is abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest Old Testament Greek translation from the ancient language (Hebrew). Septuagint came from the Jewish community, which was found in Egypt, and the translation was determined by the commonness of the Greek language by the Jewish. Pentateuch has adopted the language in the translation of the first five common books of the bible. Also, Vulgate was known as the fourth-century translation of the Roman Catholic Bible into Latin. During the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic promulgated its bible in Latin version, and even to date; it is used in that version.
Question #7
God sent Moses to Egypt to relocate the Israelites from the land and lead them to Canaan. However, Pharaoh was reluctant to set the Israelites free, which made him together with his fellow Egyptians to experience various plagues. They include; volcanic eruption, red algae, the killing of firstborn sons, boils, and frogs. The plagues have a significant impact on the book of Exodus. First, as His children, the people have known that God is powerful, and with His might, as his children, it is important to be obedient. Obedience comes with salvation, which revolves serving a living God and no one else. When God said to Pharaoh through Moses to let his people go, that was an essential principle of the manifest. The manifestation means that the service to God is fulfilling the desire of his people. The fulfillment implies that obedience is crucial, and one has to sacrifice to gain salvation and enjoy a spiritual death, which as a guarantee of eternal life.
Question #8
Textual criticism is the attempt to determine the original words of a statement or a text. The concept of textual criticism is essential to the study of the scriptures because it helps a person to understand the inner meaning of words used in the bible. In the modern world, people have changed because they interpret the Bible in various ways. To avoid confusion and ensure a more comprehensible word, it is essential to consider textual criticism as it will help a person to analyze a scripture in a manner that he or she understands concerning the meaning of the wordings.
Question #9
In the Bible, CE means Common Era, which is similar to the years AD/BC. The acronym BC means Before Christ, which is a representation of things that happened before Jesus Christ was born. BCE means Before Common Era and AD means Anno Domini, indicating the era in which Jesus Christ was born.
Question #10
Torah means teaching and instructions to humanity. Also, it represents five books of law that are significantly linked to Moses, who is the unique recipient of God’s revelation from Mount Sinai. Given that Moses was the first-hand person to receive God’s revelation did not mean that he wrote the five books of Torah. The books of Torah ranges from genesis to numbers, and within those books, Moses did not write any book. What happened is that scholars replicated what was given to Moses. For example, in the book of Genesis, when God created Adam and Eve, Moses was nowhere to be found. Also, in the same book, God issued a powerful curse to a man, woman, and the serpent which lives to date. At this era, Moses was not available because from genesis chapter one to chapter twelve is a story of God and his creation.
Question #11
The book of Genesis recounts the story of two brothers, Abel and Cain. Being raised together was an indication that they were to live in love peace and harmony. However, things turned to b different when each of them took their careers. When Abel decided to be a shepherded, he did his work with passion and zeal. As for Cain, who was a farmer, he was hard-working but at the same time, filled with jealousy. When the time came to offer sacrifice to God, Abel searched for the best animal while Cain made no such significant efforts. Abel's sacrifice was accepted while Cain’s was rejected, and due to malice, the latter killed the former. The impact of Abel’s death was that the blood of God’s people would never go in vain, but God will revenge for them and curse the culprits. The reason behind this is that God is jealous and also a blessing. Even if he cursed Cain, he blessed him with children and wife. Also, when his brothers sold Joseph because of their jealousy, God ensured that they witnessed his blessing and revenge for him. in regards to this, people can learn about God’s character of being jealous and blessing at the same time. When people fight and one fall victim, even in his death, God will revenge for him or her.
Question #12
Every individual across the globe needs to have characters that portray social justice to all people. Social justice should align with the Leviticus 19 code of holiness. The code of holiness desires a person to b righteous, but since nobody can be righteous, it requires people to do Godly things that serve social justice. Four elements govern the code of justice. The first aspect is behaving honestly. Being honest requires a person to put lies behind and speak the truth because it set a person’s free. Honesty does not only revolve speaking, but also it entails doing things that are true and fair view to the society at large. For example, if an organization presents an accurate and fair view financial statement to the shareholders, the shareholders will decide on the data provided and make a good investment, which will have good returns. As a result, the organization will have served the shareholders justice for their money. The second element is treating workers fairly. In this world, what goes around comes around. Fair treatment of workers means that they will benefit from the pay and as a result, replicate the fairness to the organization. The product of their replication equals the success of the company.
On the other hand, failing to treat workers may compel them to find their ways of getting what they want. In effect, they may steal from the company, and as a result, the company can collapse. Mistreatment is an indication of social injustice, but relatively treatment portrays love, respect, and trust among one another. For example, if Jesus had mistreated his disciples, none of them could have ever fought for him after he departed. The third element is offering equal rights to people with disabilities. The bible says that we are all made in the likeness of God and also wonderfully and fearfully. Thus, everybody is equal in the eyes of the lord. For example, when the bleeding woman touched Jesus’s garment, she was healed because she was still a God’s child. Her bleeding did not mean that she could not have received healing. The last element is doing justice; doing what is right is a significant indication of righteousness. For instance, Jesus returned a person's ear, which was cut by peter when they tried to take Jesus.
Question #13
The scapegoat in the book of Leviticus was an animal that was sacrificed in the desert with a notion that it was to carry people’s sin. In the days of the atonement, scapegoats act as the savior of the people. The people who had sinned and fallen short of God’s glory gave a sacrifice to the Lord, and as the animal was getting burned, the sins of the people were washed away.
Question #14
The provision of the law in Leviticus 19:9-10 is an indication that God cares for everybody. He who provides for the rich also provides for the poor. Also, to the foreigners, God has a plan for them because they cannot die of hunger since he had prepared a meal for them throughout their journey.
Question #15
Leviticus 19:15 states that judgment should be done relatively because no one should be favored due to the social class status, and no one should be rejected because of their humble background. When Jesus met a rich man, he told him to sell all his properties, and he shall see the kingdom of God. At the same time, the older woman who gave out a cent as an offering was more blessed than all the tycoons because she gave out from the heart. Thus, all people are equal under God.
Part Two
Question #4
The book of Genesis is divided into two. The first part covers the first twelve chapters, and it entails God and the creation. The second division covers chapters twelve to fifty and sheds light on God and Abraham (Covenant). Thus, Genesis shows that God is merciful because he did not kill Cain; God is helper because he created Eve to help Adam. Also, God is a promise fulfiller because he fulfilled the promise he had for Abraham.
Furthermore, Genesis shows that human beings tend not to be satisfied with what they get. They seek more even if they have to break the law. For example, Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit despite being warned, and Abraham had Ishmael with another woman. As for the environment, God is the creator of everything. He created heaven and earth, and during the time of Noah, he wanted to destroy it.
Question #5
Enuma Elish is known as the seven tablets of creation. It is also defined as the myth of Mesopotamian creation, given that its title comes from the opening line piece. Animals and human beings came to being so that they could praise their gods. Comparing this creation with that of Genesis, there is a significant difference because Enuma Elish is a myth, and the Genesis creation account is practical. God spoke nothing, and something was formed.
Question #6
The five themes of exodus include only one God, knowing and making known, the glory of God is shown, and his glory is his character, God’s grace is more powerful than the law, and lastly, all people are saved and free just like the Israelites. Exodus shows that God was God when pharaoh indicated that his gods are more powerful than God of Moses; God sent plagues. Also, God makes sure he was known through the plagues. He glorified himself with his characters of being the king of kings. When the pharaoh gave a command that Israelites were going nowhere, God made him surrender and release them. Due to this, God saved all people as he saved the Israelites.
Question #7
The laws of purity, according to Leviticus, were; holiness is sexuality, holiness is hygiene, holiness is sickness, and holiness is diet. These laws governed the Jewish people in several ways. No one was allowed to enter the house of the lord if he or she has committed adultery or fornication before marriage. Also, no sick person was recognized in the temple. They would rather stay at home rather than interact with the people. Furthermore, people were to eat food in a standard way, which was recommended by all and be clean because cleanliness was next to Godliness. In the modern world, the law of purity has changed because people do what they see fit for them but not what is according to the bible.
Question #8
Christians were influenced by the Biblical and spiritual authority of the scripture, which governed their spiritual life. The influence made them come up with the canon of scripture. The reason why other people like the Roman Catholic did not get much into the canon was that they did not know what was to be included, which ultimately led to the inclusion of more books. Furthermore, the decision to make the canon of scripture was because of spiritual authority.
