Chapter 10: Judaism and Christianity! Introduction!! Hebrews introduce monotheism into a world of polytheism in the form of a god above nature and free from compulsion and fate!! Hebrews took name Judaism in honor of Judah, a prophet, and their homeland, Judaea!! Christianity emerged from Judaism!
Judaism! The Sacred Scriptures!! Early scriptures known collectively as TaNaKh! Torah = Five Books of Moses! Nevi im = Books of the Prophets! Ketuvim = historical, poetic, and philosophic writings! Christians accept all of the TaNaKh as the Old Testament! Jews and Christians long regarded these books as the literal word of God!
Judaism! The Sacred Scriptures [cont.]!! Biblical Criticism in last 200 years has placed these works into historical context!! Close reading suggests stylistic differences tied to different authors!! Josiah s centralization of Hebrew belief resulted in the writing of Deuteronomy!! Other stories were woven together at a later date to create the rest of the Torah!
Judaism! The Sacred Scriptures [cont.]!! Oldest existing copy of complete Torah dates to 9th-11th centuries C.E.!! Greek language Torah dates to 2nd-3rd century B.C.E.!! Torah is one of best examples of mythhistory because it captures ideals, concepts, and beliefs of Jewish people even if not literally true!
Judaism! Essential Beliefs of Judaism in Early Scripture!! A single, caring God!! A God of history!! A community rooted in divinely chosen family!! A specific promised geographical homeland!! A legal system!! A sacred calendar!
Judaism! The Later Books of Jewish Scripture!! Nevi im and Ketuvim carry Jewish story from 1200 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.!! Books begin with Joshua, the return of the Jews from Egypt to Israel!! History suggests that return was spread out over time and that era involved extensive borrowing from other cultures!
Judaism! The Later Books of Jewish Scripture [cont.]!! Rule by Judges and Kings! Jews adopted loose confederacy advised by judges upon return to Canaan (Israel)! Created kings (1020 B.C.E.) to deal with internal strife! Kingdom split in two in reaction to extravagant reign of Solomon (950 B.C.E.)!
Judaism! The Later Books of Jewish Scripture [cont.]!! Teachings of the Prophets: Morality and Hope! Prophets demanded return of morality and compassion in face of corrupt leadership! Placed memory of past injustice and slavery against current events and demanded return to religious roots! Presented image of an inspiring future!
Judaism! The Evolution of the Image of God!! God s early concerns about humanity resulted in a flood and in the division of people by language!! Responded to evil with punishment!! YHWH accessible via prayer and dialogue!! Challenged self-willed polytheistic gods but provided no answer for the existence of evil in the world!
Judaism! Patriarchy and Gender Relations!! Torah granted women fewer rights than men!! Regulation of sexuality extensive in scripture!! Women had few heroic roles!
Judaism! Defeat, Exile, and Redefinition!! Jews exiled of northern kingdom by Assyrians (721 B.C.E.); returned sixty years later!! Outsiders including Alexander controlled Israel!! Roman Empire destroyed temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and dispersed people, 135 C.E.!! This Diaspora reshaped Jewish beliefs!! No significant numbers of Jews in Judaea until 20th century!
Judaism! Minority/Majority Relations in the Diaspora!! Jews remained distinct people in new settlements!! Flourished in many instances but faced discrimination in others!! Story of Esther shows Esther in preservation of Jewish community but also shows pressures on minorities in empires!
Christianity! Christianity Emerges from Judaism!! Developed at height of Roman power!! Jews were divided into four groups: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes!! Jesus teachings challenged Pharisees who accepted Roman rule!! Called for rapid religious reform and predicted early day of judgement for the world!! Promised a life in Heaven!
Christianity! Christianity Emerges from Judaism [cont.]!! Jesus preaching angered Jewish and Roman leaders!! Followers saw him as messiah and miracle worker!! Roman crucifixion did not stop growth of followers!! Message of compassion, salvation, and eternal life attracted many Romans!
Christianity! Jesus Life, Teaching, and Disciples!! Adapting Rituals to New Purposes! Jesus prayer and preaching was writing Jewish tradition! Baptism was modification of unimportant Jewish ritual! Last supper an extension of Passover meal!
Christianity! Jesus Life, Teachings, and Disciples [cont.]!! Overturning the Old Order! Assertion that the end of the world was at hand was recognition that world would soon change! Argued that wealth was a hindrance to salvation! Raised commandment to love your neighbor above a broad range of Jewish commands! Predicted violent end of world!
Christianity! Jesus Life, Teachings, and Disciples [cont.]!! Jesus and the Jewish Establishment! Was condescending and confrontational toward Jewish religious leaders! Scoffed at dietary and Sabbath restrictions! Restricted divorce! Teachings reflect desire to return to earlier beliefs in faith and spirituality, and that the future lay in Heaven, not earth!
Christianity! Jesus Life, Teachings, and Disciples [cont.]!! Miracles and Resurrection! Miracles rather than teachings brought followers! Crucifixion and resurrection completed the miracles of Jesus! Apostles, especially Paul of Tarsus (d. 67 C.E.), transformed Christian sect into broad religion with preaching, organizational network, and instructional letters!
Christianity! The Growth of the Early Church!! Peter, designated as leader of early organization, stressed Christian ethics over Jewish practices such as circumcision!! Broadened appeal to Gentiles!! Made little mention of the apocalyptic side of Christianity!
Christianity! The Growth of the Early Church [cont.]!! Paul Organizes the Early Church! Saul converted from a critic to an apostle of Christianity! Was Jewish by ethnicity, Roman by citizenship, and Greek by culture! Linked Christian communities of eastern Mediterranean with letters (Epistles)! Formulated concept of original sin and redemption from it!
Christianity! The Growth of the Early Church [cont.]!! The Christian Calendar! Created sacred calendar with special days! Christmas = Jesus Birth! Easter = Jesus Resurrection! Pentecost = Jesus Ascension [had been date of Jewish commemoration of the receipt of the Ten Commandments]! Numbered years from the presumed date of Jesus birth! Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday, from the seventh to the first day of the week!
Christianity! The Growth of the Early Church [cont.]!! Gender Relations! Women were central to earliest church but became less so over time despite spiritual equality! Paul recommended celibacy for all but monogamous marriage for those who could not remain celibate! Made wife subordinate to husband at home! Commanded women to keep silent in church! Accepted slavery!
Christianity! From Persecution to Triumph!! Adopted imperial capital (Rome) as center of the new religion!! Christianity started as one of a number of mystery religions in Rome!! Refusal to worship emperor seen as threat!! Persecution extensive within empire!! Decided on content of New Testament by 200 C.E.!
Christianity! From Persecution to Triumph [cont.]!! The Conversion of Constantine! Constantine vision in 313 C.E. regarded as Christian sanction of his military career! Immediately made Christianity legal! Sponsored council at Nicaea that produced Nicene Creed! Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the empire in 392 C.E.!
Christianity! From Persecution to Triumph [cont.]!! How Had Christianity Succeeded?! Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) scorned Christianity but revealed strengths and secrets of the spread in his critique! Zeal! Promise of future life! Miracles! Austere morals! Created state within a state! Created personal community within universal religion!
Christianity! Doctrine: Definition and Dispute!! Augustine (354-430 C.E.) emphasized the spiritual rather than the political possibilities!! Connected Christian theology to Greek philosophy of Plato!! Emphasized meditation!! Believed sexuality to be perilous!! Believers should subordinate their will to the teachings of the church!
Christianity! Doctrine: Definition and Dispute [cont.]!! Battle over Dogma! Divisive dispute over the divinity of Jesus! Arius (250-336 C.E.) thought humanity of Jesus made God more sacred than Jesus! Arian dispute led to open warfare and military defeat of the Arians! Growth of Christianity sometimes led missionaries to try to convert Jews by coercion!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! The Conversion of the Barbarians!! Christian bishops came from ranks of senatorial governing class--continuity with the empire!! Extensive conversions culminated in conversion of Clovis in 496 C.E., the first barbarian to accept the religion!! Action got Clovis support and connections from Roman leadership!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Decentralized Power and Monastic Life!! Early church dominated by missionaries who were unmarried men and women!! Pope Gregory I (590-604 C.E.) encouraged monastic movement; useful in conversion and discipline!! Church power fragmented in West until 1000 C.E.!! Monasteries developed missions, schools, and other institutions of church!! Decisive papal leadership would come later!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! The Church Divides into East and West!! Church superceded empire in West but Byzantium never ceded power to the church!! Eastern church urban and organized; Western church rural and disconnected into local units!! Rome seen as an outlier of Orthodox church after Council of Chalcedon!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Church Divides into East and West [cont.]!! Split between Rome and Constantinople! Central issue was authority of Roman pope from the perspective of Rome and Constantinople! Leo IX (elected pope in 1048 C.E.) promoted papal power in the West--and over Constantinople! Result was Great Schism of 1054 C.E. onward! Most direct confrontation was in 1204 C.E., when western Crusaders attacked Constantinople rather than pursue state purpose of attacking Muslims!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Church Divides into East and West [cont.]!! New Areas Adopt Orthodox Christianity! Orthodox monks became active later than monks in the West! Caught between Roman West and Islamic East, these missionaries moved north to Russia, which began to call itself the Third Rome after the fall of Constantinople! East and West competed for converts in areas adjacent to the two religions!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Christianity in Western Europe!! Europe halted Muslim growth at Tours, 732 C.E.!! Muslim conquests cut Christianity off from the lands of its birth!! Christianity became primarily a religion of Europeans, often recently-converted barbarian warrior nobles!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Christianity in Western Europe [cont.]!! The Pope Allies with the Franks! Pope felt surrounded by Muslims and Byzantines as well as by powerful Goths to the north! Turned to powerful Franks such as Charles Martel, who defeated Muslim invasion of France at Tours in 732 C.E.! Pope gave official approval of Martel s son, Pepin III, and the Carolingians as royal ruling house of the Franks!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Christianity in Western Europe [cont.]!! Charlemagne Revives Idea of Empire! Although crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 C.E., Charlemagne s goal was to expand his own empire! Victories made his empire coterminous with Christianity except for Great Britain! Promoted education as part of Carolingian renaissance! Charlemagne s empire paralleled that of the East!
Christianity in Wake of Empire! Christianity in Western Europe [cont.]!! The Attempt at Empire Fails! Carolingians maintain power until end of 9th century! Invaders (Magyars, Norsemen, Arabs) are too powerful to keep out; local administrators act on their own! Church institutions and leaders give Europe its fundamental character and order (600-1100 C.E.)!
Early Christianity: What Difference Does It Make?! First millennium of Christianity ended in high Middle Ages!! By 1000 C.E., church was most important cultural and organizational force in Western Europe!! Church took on developmental and administrative roles in addition to its spiritual mission!