Class Notes for Bible Exam #4

8/9/2019 Class Notes for Bible Exam #4

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When reading the letters:

What in the Gospel made him think a certain thing was the right thing to do?

- watch how he builds on elements of the gospel to say thats the right thing- look for the why, the reasons underlying his instructions, rather than what

- look for the way he does the work of theology, interpreting the Gospel in new

situations(this is a big job we are to do as ministers, to figure out what the Gospel

means in our situations)

- Paul is a perfect example of this, working out the way to respond as a Christian

So were looking for two things:

- how he does this working out

- how he builds solutions: some come from the culture, but usuallyits from something significant in Gospel

Instructions for the Corinthians were not appropriate for the Philippians or anyone

else, and vice versa

- you cant pick out commands and apply them to now - because you need toknow what was going on originally

- need to know why Paul thought something was the right thing to do, and thenwhen we know that, then we can say, how will that reasoning and part of

the Gospel look in our time and place? May be the same and may be

significantly different

- have to know what was going on at the time and why Paul told them that,only then can you know what it means for us

I THESSALONIANS

1. The earliest of Pauls writings - 51 CE

- before he settles in Ephesus- while in Corinth, he sends Timothy back to Thessalonica

- he gets worried about the people in Thessalonica, about whether theyve

kept their faith

2. It stands out among the letters because Paul is not angry about something

3. Addresses two of their concerns in this letter:a. What does it mean that we are suffering persecution?

- these folks were happy pagans, worshipping a whole bunch of gods who were

helping you out- then you were convinced to worship the one God by a guy who comes to town,

then he leaves

- things go downhill and everyone hates you- you wouldnt think if youre worshiping the biggest God of all that this

would happen

- you cant do business, become an outsider socially, estranged, economic

persecution

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- couldnt attend many community functions because worship of other gods

there

- may have felt like they made a wrong choice for becoming Christian- social and economic persecution were the main forms of persecution for early

Christians

- most who became Christians were not well off and now were really bad off- most people in cities did not eat meat because they couldnt afford it

- not in trade guilds anymore because worship of other gods there

- kids going to bed hungry because of this new faith- they need to know what it means that theyre suffering - something has gone

seriously wrong

- why havent things turned around for us?

What Paul says:

- dont be discouraged

- you didnt make a wrong choice

- God cares- when youre one of the people of God, the rest of the world turns against you

- the forces of evil want to make you turn away from God- this is a sign that youre on the right track, that youre one of Gods people

- it was like that for the prophets of Israel, for Jesus, for Christians in Palestine,

and for Paul

- Gods people are disadvantaged in the world because they are Christians andthis is evidence that they are Gods people

- persecution is not a sign of God abandoning them or a bad choice

- that they still have faith shows that God is with them- Paul comes back to this issue a lot - what does persecution of Christians mean?

b. Why are people dying in our church?- they thought Jesus would return before anyone died

- they were worried about them - did they miss the Kingdom?

- the ancients thought that there was nothing after death

What Paul says:

- they will not miss eternal reward and their place with God

- at the Second Coming, the dead are changed first

These Gentiles would have been reading the Septuagint with the lens of Christianity- Septuagint is the Bible of early Christianity

- Gentiles cannot keep laws that marked you as Jewish (food laws, circumcision,

Sabbath)

- Paul says God has to save Gentiles as Gentiles, not as Jews

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- the rest of the law they keep (such as dont murder, dont steal, etc.)

2 THESSALONIANS (12-3-02)

1. 60% of NT scholars say Paul wrote it, soon after 1 Thessalonians

40% say he didnt, and if not, it was written soon after Paul died

2. Why Paul may not have written 2 Thessalonians

too much alike- the wording and structure copies 1 Thessalonians

- the thanksgiving in chapter 1 says that God will make the persecutors suffer,

not the kind of thing Paul would write

3. Purpose of the letter:

- to oppose over-realized eschatology

- early Christians understood the end times as the times in which they were living,

when God will pour out Gods spirit on all people, the times the prophetslooked to; this began at Pentecost, according to church

- they thought they were living in the last era, when God was among us in anew and different way this is realized eschatology we already have it

- all Christians in first century said we live in this time when we have the

beginning of blessings that God had for Gods people, but not all of them

- the one final act of God was yet to occur, when God shows who God is, whenGods character will finally be seen clearly, all wrongs would be righted,

Gods intentions will come about: the second coming of Christ

- the Second Coming is an absolute necessity for Christian belief, because it saysthe world does not reflect the character of God and does not satisfy God

- one day, God will make it right, in the future

- Christians live in the time of the beginning of the end the end of the end hasnot yet come, the one day when God will finish this act

- its clear whos going to win because Christ has been raised from the dead and

shows God has power over death and all manner of evil- but that hasnt been shown in the world since and the world isnt what God

wants it to be, not a good place, doesnt manifest power of God over evil

- but one day it will and God will finish that act

- Gods presence is in the world now, but something new will happen- all Christians believe we have some of those benefits now

Writer of 2 Thessalonians says some of the people there think they have all the blessingsnow

- they had over-realized eschatology

- they thought they had more of the end-time blessings than the writer thinks youcan have

- they felt they had experiences of God in their lives that was amazing and

superior

- they did not look for the Second Coming they said it happens within, and

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thats it

- they said they already had all of the blessings of God

- they say the Day of the Lord has already come: this is over-realized eschatology- they redefined the Second Coming as an inner experience rather than a cosmic

event that all will see, not an earth-changing day that all will experience

- it only happens in my heart and makes me close to God- they say it enables them to live above some of the troubles that others have in

their lives

In Chapter 2 writer says Second Coming has NOT happened yet

- says I told you some things have to happen and they havent yet

- says the restrainer has to let loose the person of lawlessness

- we dont know who these people are, but the people receiving this letter wouldhave known them

- this was code language, also found in apocalyptic material that outsiders cannot

figure out

- probably refer to Roman emperors- they werent anyone who lived after the first century

- because if you dont know who they are, how do you know they havent comeyet? Because writer says they know who it is

- writer talks about the people who experienced a Second Coming

- they say they are qualified by this to be leaders of the church and expect to bepaid by the church members; live off the church

- they had quit their regular jobs to do this and became busybodies

- they werent lazy, did a lot of things in name of Christian ministry- writer said to send them back to their regular jobs

- its not churchs job to support them

- they appointed themselves- they claimed to have superior spiritual experiences; the writer says thats not

how you can tell who the leaders of the church should be

Chapter 3: translated strangely here and in 1 Thessalonians

- idleness really means disorderly not laziness

- these folks quit their jobs and started working for the church, saying the Day of

the Lord had already come, so you arent lazing around waiting for it- claimed leadership and a special measure of Spirit of God and claimed to be

superior over other people

This is very important scripture regarding leadership in the church

- spiritual experiences do not necessarily qualify you for leadership or that it will

lift you above the troubles of life- or think theyre closer to God than others

- 2 Thessalonians says they have deceived themselves

- presence of Spirit of God will not lead you to believe that you are better than

other folks

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Pseudonymous literature

- written in the name and spirit of another person- schools of thought did this in the name of their founders

- or to get attention for the writing

- books of James, Jude, Peter are this kind these guys were illiterate

The church still heard the word of God in these writings and included them in the canon

Even though certain books were not written by apostles, the church heard the word ofGod in them

Colossians, Ephesians and 2 Thessalonians were included in Pauline collections by 100

- the community heard the Word of God in them

- Colossae didnt exist as a city it was totally destroyed in an earthquake whenthe letter was written

- the community felt Paul was connected to these writings in some way; his

teachings were reflected in them

Our faith should not lie in the person who wrote something but in God speaking throughit, regardless of who wrote it

In reading the epistles (letters), we are reading someone elses mail

I Corinthians gives instructions on how to dress when leading worship includes men &

women- then later it says women should keep silent in church

- not sure why thats included, but there must have been a good reason, specific to

that time and placeChristianity was known as a religion of slaves and women, and it could have been that

some Christians wanted to accommodate the culture in order to attract more

membersTrying to match the ideal with the circumstances of the day

We cant take it all literally we need to interpret everything even those verses we like

Part-time literalism only reaffirms our prejudices- so we must not be literal with everything

Reading and appropriating scripture must be done carefully because its all influenced by

first century cultureSo you need to have a consistent interpretive model

The letters written to address particular situations and issues of that day

**TAPE** I Corinthians is about whether the good of the individual or the church is

more important Paul says the latter

There has never been a Christian culture

We are to look at everything through our understanding of what the core of the gospel is

- why does Paul give certain advice?

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- what would the theological reflection of Paul look like today?

- this is what were to do

Those specific instructions of Paul and not one commandment should be brought into our

world without reflecting on it through the Gospel

This demands a lot more of us and everything about us is shaped by what God calls us tobe

1 CORINTHIANSPaul wrote it 53-54 CE most agree on this

The church at Corinth wrote Paul, asking questions

Paul also received a report from Chloes people

So 1 Corinthians is about their circumstances, which Paul understood clearly and answerstheir questions

It addresses way more problems than any other Pauline letter

- it was a messed up church

The problems stemmed from the combination of Pauls teaching with their old paganbeliefs

- the only picture of spirituality they had came from their old religion

- Paul comes, hangs out for 18 months, hits the road and they say, Now what

are we supposed to do?- there wasnt anyone around who could answer their questions on how to be a

Christian

- they combined their understandings of what it means to be spiritual and what itmeans to be religious

Other problems stemmed from presence of several social classes in the church

Their old beliefs lead them to think the spirits of the gods will endow them with great

powers

- that they will have powerful lives- that they would have impressive manifestations of the presence of God:

speaking in tongues, working miracles, having successful business

- if gods are with you, you will have them powerful, impressive and successful

lives- they expect the Spirit of God to do the same

- Paul says you are judging things by the wrong standards

- Paul says being successful or impressive, or how much you escape difficulties oflife has nothing to do with whether the Spirit of God is with you

- the way to tell if the Spirit of God is with you is not if you look really good, but

if what you do to helps the group- that you put as your highest priority the building up of the church

- Pauls basic task in 1 Corinthians is to redefine what it means to be spiritual

- discusses this in general in first 4 chapters, then has to discuss how that works

out when you come to choosing leaders, discussions of sexual morality,

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legal matters, business affairs, how you conduct worship, how you

celebrate Lords Supper, how you exercise spiritual gifts all of these

things reflect the way you understand it to be spiritual- Paul tries to reorient their understanding of spiritual

- he also tells them to get their money ready for the collection for Jerusalem

2 CORINTHIANS

They didnt get it the first time, so he writes again

- problem of misunderstanding spirituality has gotten worse

Composed of at least 2 separate letters:

Chapters 1-9

Chapters 10-13 written later

The main issue is how does the spirit shows itself in the life of the leaders, especially

apostles

- some other teachers came and demanded deference and money so they wouldbe successful

- they said that the idea that the Spirit of God makes you successful is right- they claimed to be apostles

- they claimed to be more spiritual and said the people had to listen to them and

pay them well

- so that they would have the kind of life that would keep them above the troublesthat most people face

- the Corinthians accept them warmly

- but Paul says get rid of them- Paul says escaping difficulties and hardships is not a sign of God

- he says real apostles retain faith and spread the gospel despite difficulties and

hardships and to persevere with faith- 2 Corinthians is about contrasting these different understandings of apostleship

and leadership and reveals different understanding of spirituality

- the false idea he wrote against was that God removed you from difficulties ofthe world if you possessed a sufficient measure of the spirit and that God

gives you the power to be in charge and to make people to do what you

want

- the right idea is that you remain with the same hardships as everyone else,spirit allows you to persevere with faith

- Paul rejects this other kind of leadership

- we see this today churches want someone impressive who can solve all their

problems and a lot of us want to be that

- but that is not what its about - Christian leadership means you endure hardshipswhile on display

We need to understand the Corinthian situation and how Paul responded

What is the message about Christian leadership here?

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- you need to always think of the image you have of yourself

- you cant say you have a special spirit and that folks have to listen to you

because you know and they dont

GALATIANS (12-5-02)Written either very early or very late in Pauls career

- either around the time of the Jerusalem Conference or,

- just before he wrote Romans

Judaizers were trying to convince the Galatian Gentile Christians to keep the law

- circumcision, Jewish holy days, and maybe the food laws

- those things that marked you as Jewish

Paul hits hard against this

he rejects these teachers vehemently

- they were probably surprised by this- he has run into this problem time and again, so he reacts this way

1. Establishes his own character as one they should listen to

- he is the Christian leader who has worked hard to preserve the Gentiles

freedom from those commands throughout his life

- so they should listen to what he has to say about it

2. There is conflict between him and Peter

- Peter withdrew and ate only with the Jewish Christians at Lords Supperwhen James people came in

- usually, Peter ate with the Gentiles and Paul called him on it

This leads into a longer monologue where Paul sets up the argument in terms he wants to

discuss thats what you do when youre good at making an argument

- the opposition between:1. Works of the law one way you might seek salvation

2. Trusting in the faithful obedience of Christ to count to God for you

He gives a series of proofs that obedience to Christ is the best way to justificationa. they have the Spirit of God in them before they considered keeping the law

- so if Spirit dwells in you, why do you need anything else?

b. all people of faith are descendents of Abraham, who was right withGod because of his faith and before he was circumcised before taking

on image of being Jewish

c. their own baptism into Christ makes them Abrahams children Christ is THEdescendent of Abraham, and so, as children of Abraham, that makes you

one of the children of God

Paul quotes a baptismal liturgy: neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither

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male nor female, for all are one in Christ

- this was familiar to them

- he uses it as the basis of his argument now that you know that, how does thatlook in the way that you live? It means Gentiles do not have to take up

Jewish law that makes you a Jew

- being able to say no to the works of law, those elements of it that identify you asJewish (set apart from Gentiles) Gentiles not allowed to do this

He is so vehement about this point because the character of God and the Gospel are atstake

- God must be big enough to save Jews as Jews and Gentiles as Gentiles

- God saves all, not just one particular ethnic group, or else the gospel is not for

the whole world

The first 4 chapters not allowed to do works of law

Chapter 5 you are set free, but dont use your freedom to indulge yourselves- you are set free to serve God

- he then gives regulations about how to live which are not the basis of yourrelationship with God, but the way you live your faith

PHILIPPIANSWritten when Paul is in prison we dont know when or where

Main problem addressed here is division in the church- church leaders are arguing with one another

- one of the earliest hymns of Christianity addresses this problem:

Let this mind be in you which was in Lord Jesus Christ.he humbledhimself and took upon him the form of a servant. In Philippians 2

- Paul quotes it because everyone believes it, well known to them, and he uses

it to make his point- best way to make an argument is to start with something the other already knows

- wants them to stop bickering and to get along

- we believe in what this hymn says, so humble yourselves as Christ did

- near the end of the book, he names the leaders who are not getting along:Euodia and Syntyche

- these are two women leaders

- church probably met in their homes- may have been bickering between two house churches

- evidence that the early church had women as leaders

- calls on other church leaders to help them get along together

ROMANS

Written 56-57 CE, from Corinth by Paul

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Paul is getting ready to take the collection to the Jerusalem church and this is

significantly on his mind as he writes to the Romans

3 purposes of Romans:

1. Writes to introduce himself to the Roman church and to claim them as his church

- hes going to Jerusalem as apostle to the Gentiles and wants to be able torepresent the Roman church

2. Writes to get help from them for his planned trip to Spain

3. Also to deal with the problems hes heard theyre having in their faith community

Sometimes Romans is read as Pauls systematic theology but thats not it!

- if youre going to explicate your gospel for posterity, youre not going to do

so while asking for money, or saying they belong to him, or giving advice- not an objective account of his gospel any more than any other letter

- he writes to accomplish the 3 purposes above

- he does give some explication of his gospel, but it is mitigated by these

circumstances

Main theme of Romans: Righteousness of God- righteousness means God is holy, faithful, trustworthy and just

- God lives up to Gods character and acts and will act the way we know God to

be from scripture

He starts by setting out the problem: first 4 chapters talk about justification by faith

- explanation of how all are guilty before God

- tells why all deserve to go to hell- Gentiles because they violate their consciences & do things they tell others not

to do

- Jews because they violate the Law of Moses

God is merciful, too

- condemnation of all does not express all of Gods character- all who trust in faithful obedience of Christ to God are accepted by God

- since God punishes sin, God can remain just

- but justifies those who have faith in the work of Christ

4 Ways of Salvation in Romans: how God brings us back to God, how God relates to us

1. Chapters 1-4: Judicial image

- Paul uses law court language- justification = legal term for not guilty

2. Chapter 5: Relational image- reconciliation of God and people

- God recalls us to be his friends, no longer enemies and Christians respond

- they were only out of relationship because people turned away from God

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3. People have been captured by the power of sin who we belong to: sin or God

- a force in the cosmos gets a hold of you and wont let you go

- you cannot free yourself from it- Christians are freed from this and ruled by God, not by sin

- you are not freed from sin so you can be an autonomous being

- you are freed from sin so you can serve God- you are either a slave of sin or a slave of God

- you are fortunate that you are now under the control of God

4. God has given us the Spirit

- salvation is life in the Spirit

- God lives in Christians

- Spirit overpowers sin- guarantees that God will be with them after death

- evil is finally defeated

- reflects the character of God that we are not left in the clutches of sin

- Spirit keeps you from selling yourself back to sin

(Crucifixion and resurrection bring justification and pays the debtResurrection validates the meaning of crucifixion

- also was seen as vindication of Jesus ministry

- God in Jesus did this amazing thing

- Jesus raised to a transformed existence)

First 8 chapters:- how God saves us through Christ and brings us to Gods self

- judicial, relational, ownership terms (as listed above)

Problem is that God made promises to Israel and those arent being kept

- God said youre my people but Israel is not listening to the gospel

- why can you trust God if God ran out on the Jews? the promises are not beingfulfilled

Chapters 9-11: the place of Israel in Gods plan and whether God has been faithful

- it looks like God has forsaken Israel because they arent responding to the goodnews in as many numbers as Gentiles do

- Paul goes back to the prophets:

- says not all Israel IS Israel- God has now attracted Gentiles and God hopes the Jews will see God acting in

the Gentiles, and will accept the gospel

- Paul says God still loves Israel and are Gods chosen people, even though theyhavent accepted the Gospel

- in the end, Israel will turn to the gospel, although Paul doesnt know how it will

work out, how God will manage to be faithful to Israel

- He says, Who can understand the wisdom of God?

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- then he gives a doxology

God will have work it out and be faithful and consistentPaul is confident that God has not abandoned Israel

- after all, Paul is a Jewish Christian

Chapter 12:

- In light of God who lives up to Gods word, Christians must live a certain way

- living sacrifice = dedicated to God, purpose of life is what God wants you to do(not sacrificed on altar!)

- that involves renewing your mind, thinking about the world through

different lenses than others do

- he talks about how you do this getting along with others, dealing with govt,what you do in community, how to get along with those who disagree

with you about what you should eat

COLOSSIANSWas not written by Paul

The reason it was written was that some teachers said you had to follow the certain

religious festivals and dietary rules

- when you did this, you had visions of heaven with angels worshipping and

you can participate in the angelic worship- the visions themselves were not the problem

- the problem was they claimed that if you didnt do this and have the visions, you

are not forgiven and you are not a Christian

Colossians says you are forgiven and have salvation in Christ

so dont need to do these things

EPHESIANS

Not written by PaulThe writer read Colossians, which is in flowery language (lots of adjectives)

- Ephesians is even more flowery

Paul did not write Ephesians because it talks about the apostles as the foundation of thechurch

- Paul himself didnt think the apostles were important (see Galatians)

- this was written after the apostles were gone they were thought of in glowingterms after they were dead

- written in a later time

Ephesians is an attempt to bring together Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians

- the issue of these 2 kinds of Christianity did not go away for a long time

- tries to make connection that the same God who acted in the life of Israel is

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the same God who is acting now a redemptive historical connection

- the same God calls us to a single faith and single baptism

- intention was not to make the Jewish & Gentile Christians the same, but forthem to continue to recognize each other as people of God

PASTORAL EPISTLES1 & 2 Timothy

Titus

These teach about how to be a pastor so theyre named Pastoral Epistles

Paul didnt write them

We cant tell exactly when written, probably 90-110 CE

Purpose of all 3 books:

- to combat false teaching

- to establish lines of authority that can be used to reject false teaching

- setting up structures of church to help fend off false understandingof Christianity

Some say they were written to address the same situation, but Dr S says they were for

different situations, since 3 letters were written

- they have different theology

- 1 & 2 Timothy written by different people

1 Timothy:

- how do you read the Law, the Hebrew Bible- some Gentiles were attracted to the Law and the writer says NO, that is not

legitimate for Gentile Christians to do

- how do you interpret the Law and apply it in Gentile churches?- talks about how God is our savior a constant refrain of 1 Timothy

- that is how you think about your life, and so you dont need to worry

about those regulations- appoint leaders who recognize false teachings and who can get rid of it

2 Timothy: addresses a very different problem

- problem of over-realized eschatology, that the Day of the Lord has come andthey all have ALL the blessings

- says dont believe this

- weve been waiting for it a long time, but Day hasnt yet come

Titus:

- how you use the Law of Moses

- some wanted to keep the purity laws

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- writer says NO Gentiles arent to follow the Law

HEBREWSNot a letter, but a complicated treatise

- no commentators agree on how to outline its arguments

- has the most complex literary style of any book of BibleDoesnt say who wrote it, just dives right in

Main purpose of Hebrews:To encourage Jewish Christians not to return to Judaism

- maintains that Christians should keep Christian faith

- shows how Christianity is superior to Judaism

- Jesus is the new and better thing- the sacrifice of Jesus is superior to the sacrifices of Judaism

- Jesus is the Word of God

- Jesus is above angels, above Moses, and any other thing

- Jesus as High Priest through whom Christians can go to God- in Judaism, High Priest had to cleanse himself of sin

- Jesus is without sin- since these are true and Christianity is so great, hold onto your Christian faith

- Jesus is the initiator and perfecter of our faith

- Jesus is the unique revelation of God

- keep your connection to Christ do not turn you backs on Christ - to be peopleof God

CATHOLIC EPISTLESJames, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, 1-2-3 John

These were written at the end of the 1st century, except 2 Peter written later

Address a general area (such as all Christians in Greece or Turkey), not a specific

church

Catholic = universal or general; broad audience

Only 2 & 3 John was written by whose name is on them

- we dont know who he is, John the Elder or Presbyter

The others are not by those whose names are on them

James attributed to Jesus brother

- a collection of ethical exhortations- may be from his sermons and put into this form

- put in a letter and distributed them to preserve this apostolic preaching

- the most famous part is faith without works is dead

- this seems to contradict Paul, because Paul says salvation is by faith

without the works of the law - but it doesnt

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- James: faith = you believe a set of propositions

- Paul: faith = an orientation of life, you trust God and so you orient your

life to what God would have you do;works is living the Christian life Paul would say that if you

claim to have faith and its not lived out, its not faith

1 Peter:

- addresses a group under persecution, probably in Rome

- a letter of comfort and admonition- persecution doesnt mean God doesnt love you

- hold onto faith, despite persecution

- reminds them of their baptism and the end time universality of suffering of

Gods people- your suffering will not be for nothing all will turn out in the end

2 Peter:

- seems to have read Jude- the last book of NT that was written

- to warn against over-realized eschatology that they have all the blessings Godhas for us and Gods Spirit coming is the Second Coming

- tells the people to not listen to those teaching it

- helps church figure out the Second Coming is soon

- it hadnt happened yet- expecting it decades earlier

- writer says that Gods time is not our time, that a thousand years

is like a day to God soon to God is not soon to us- helps to reorient that thinking

Jude:- claims to be the brother of James

- written because the writer thinks they arent keeping the law strictly enough

- antinomians = those against keeping laws and rules- libertines same as antinomians

- Jude says theyre dangerous

- reject them by remembering the apostles teaching

- church beginning to formulate how theyll live in post-apostolic days byremembering this

1 John:

- written against Docetists

- these folks believed that Jesus only seemed to have a physical body

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- their argument stemmed from whether Jesus was human or divine

- this letter emphasizes the apostles as witnesses to the physical existence of Jesus

- said we were with him and he had a real body- we ate with him, we shook hands with him, we were with him when he

was sweaty, etc.

- that is the function of attributing this letter to apostle John, who wasthere

- says to be a Christian, you must do 2 things:

1. you must do righteousness2. you must confess Jesus in the flesh as the Christ

- speaks of love, but it is for the church, not for Docetists

2 John:- against Docetists

- live in truth and love

- dont listen to Docetists

3 John:

- written by John the Elder- writes to say he is sending some itinerant preachers and asked the people to

please give them housing and money

- included in Bible because they thought apostle John wrote it

- also that this is how early Christianity worked preachers sent around withletters of recommendation; if they stayed more than 3 days, they were

considered false prophets

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Documents

Class Notes for Bible Exam #4