Quiz: Noah and Modern Methods of Bible Study

Please answer these questions and upload the document with your answers.

1. According to modern scholarship what are the 4 modern approaches for studying the Bible? How are they different from one another?
2. The authorship of the Bible is a core question for many students. Is it possible to maintain a belief in the text’s sanctity, even if you believe it is a human composition? How is it possible to balance the two beliefs?
3. It the Bible is a “collection of documents” written by many groups, what is the nature of its authority? Should some of the traditions be strictly observed, while we dispense with others? Who gets to decide how we live by the Bible? What is the role of Jewish community in mediating this question?
4. If a book considered holy has contradictions, what might that mean for people looking to religion for “ultimate truths”? Is this uniquely Jewish way to acce complexity and inconsistency? How does that make you reconsider your understanding of Judaism and what it requires?
5. If you have ever been to Israel and seen the Dead Sea Scrolls housed in the Shrine of the Book, you can begin to appreciate what makes them an important archaeological find. They provide modern scholars with important verification of the original text and how it was transmitted. If you have an interest in earlier versions of other biblical narrative, you may enjoy The Bible as It Was, by James L Kugel (Harvard University Press, 1997)
6. According to Rashi, when does the flood story take place in relation to the “generations of the world?”
7. Please explain Ramban’s understanding of the “children of God?”
8. What do our commentators suggest about Noah’s character during this time? (Verse 9)