October+24+-+Judaism+and+the+Rise+of+Christianity

=Judaism and the Rise of Christianity=

The Hebrews greatly influenced Western civilization. The founders of the Hebrew tradition were a tribe who called themselves the "Children of Israel," the Israelite, or Hebrews. Later they became known as Jews. The Hebrew tradition was associated with spiritual and the mystical, and was founded on faith. The Hebrew Bible evolved into the Old Testament of the Bible. Judaism emphasized a special national destiny, privilege and responsibility. The nomadic Hebrew people were forced out of their homeland by 2000 B.C., and led by Abraham they settled in Canaan, which they came to believe was promised to them by their god, Yahweh. The Hebrews believed that God crated a perfect world, and that the reason it is no longer a paradise is because of human disobedience of God's commands. The Hebrews believed that god had made a covenant in which God agrees to be the Hebrew deity if the Hebrews agree to be his people and to follow his will. This covenant is referred to many times in the first five books of the Bible, which are called the Torah.

The Hebrews left Canaan for Egypt about 1`600 B.C. When they were enslaved by the Egyptians, Moses led the Hebrews on an exodus out of Egypt and into the Sinai desert. It was there that God is said to have given Moses the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the essence of the religious law of the ancient Judeo-Christian world. They have had enormous influence. After Moses' death, the Hebrews wandered for forty years in the wilderness until they arrived in Canaan.

The Hebrews believed that human beings were ultimately responsible for their own actions. The Israelite prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, functioned as mouthpieces for God. By 1000 B.C., the kingdom of Israel was established, with Saul as its first king. David (who ruled from about 1000 to 961 B.C., was Israel's greatest king. His rule was a time of military success, and included the capture of Jerusalem, which David made the capital of his kingdom. David's son Solomon, who ruled from about 961 to 922 B.C., was famous for his wisdom. Following Solomon's death the kingdom was split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C., while Judah was overrun by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C. The Hebrews remained in exile until about 539 B.C. It was the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 which marked the end of Hebrew power in the region until the twentieth century.

The Hebrew Bible consists of three major groupings: the Law, the Prophets, and the writings. The two books of the Bible which are the best from a literary standpoint are Genesis, for its fascinating narratives, and Job, for its sublime philosophical poetry. The books of the Hebrew Bible were written over a period of three thousand years, beginning in 3000 B.C. The earliest extant passages are those from Isaiah contained in the dead Sea Scrolls.

Christians believe that Jesus is God and Savior, and that he rose from the dead after being crucified by the Romans. Jesus was Jewish. His followers, who identified him as the Christ -- which means "Messiah" -- were the first Christians. Jesus' miracles included changing water to wine, healing the blind, and raising the dead. Jesus preached the promise of hope and salvation, and that those who believed in him would have eternal life. Jesus' teachings can be reduced to two essential commandments: love God above all, and love others as one loves oneself. He taught his message through stories, or parables, such as that of the Good Samaritan. Jesus' increasing popularity angered Jewish religious authorities, as well as Roman authorities such as Pontius Pilate. After the death of Jesus, the next centuries were a period of slow growth for Christianity. The first great turning point came in 313 A.D., when the emperor Constantine granted Christianity toleration as a religion.

At first Christianity was opposed to art, as it served the worship of idols. But the art was put to work as an instrument of theology. The type of Christian churches such as Old St. Peter's in Rome was known as Early Christian basilica. The advantage was that its design emphasized the altar, but the disadvantage of the style was that it had limited open space the the wooden ceiling was a fire hazard. In the Early Christian era, sculpture was always secondary to painting and mosaic. One of the rare examples of sculpture is the statue of //Jesus the Good Shepherd//, which dates form mid-third century A.D. and features Jesus carrying a sheep. Early Christian sculpture consisted primarily of reliefs carved on sarcophagi (coffins). Greater importance was attached to the recognition of the subjects than to realistic representation of the human body. The earliest Christian art was found in the catacombs, the underground cemeteries in and around Rome. The walls of the catacombs were decorated with frescoes, paintings made quickly on wet lime plaster. The paintings used symbolic subjects, and Jesus was repeatedly shown as the Good Shepherd with his flock of followers.

The New Testament is for Christianity what the Hebrew Bible is for Judaism: the repository of revealed religious truth. It interprets the acts and words of Jesus Christ. The New Testament contains gospels, or accounts of Jesus's life; epistles, or letters to the early Christian churches; the Acts of the Apostles, which is a history of the thirty years after the resurrection; and the Apocalypse, which is concerned with the end of the world. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain common material and present a similar overview of Jesus's life and ministry. The action-centered gospel of Mark is the earliest, written about A.D. 70. John's is s the most theological of the gospels. The New Testament contains twenty-one epistles addressed to early Christian communities. They were written as a means of explaining points of doctrine. Fourteen are attributed to Paul. His ideas have influenced Christian teaching for nearly two thousand years

The music of the Early Christian Church has its roots in the responsorial chanting of Jewish worship. Early Christianity, unlike Judaism, prohibited instrumental accompaniment. Until the fourth century, liturgical music was based exclusively on sacred texts.

The single most important expounder of Christian doctrine was Augustine, A.D. 354-430, who was from northern Africa. According to his theory, the Old Testament prefigures or anticipates the New Testament. As the first Western autobiography, Augustine's //Confessions// was enormously influential, paving he way for the Renaissance rediscovery of the self. One of Augustine's central ideas is that evil is a deficiency in good rather than something that exists in its own right. Another of his influential ideas was that only God could freely grant salvation. According to Augustine, since human beings were unable to save themselves, their only hope for salvation lay in accepting God's truth as revealed in sacred scripture, including the New Testament.

Interesting Web Sites: To find out more about early Christian music including the many Chants they performed go to: http://www.monachos.net/content/liturgics/liturgical-studies/108-early-christian-and-byzantine-music-history-and-performance

The Book of Job: []

Worksheet You are to read each of the questions below and select the correct answer. Record you answers, in order on a seperate sheet of paper. Each question is worth 4 points for total of 100 possible points. This is not an optional assignment and will count towards your overall grade. Number and write the correct answer to each question. Be sure to sign your name and turn in to Mr. Patrick. DO NOT SHARE YOUR ANSWERS WITH OTHERS!

Multiple choice

1. The Hebrew Bible consists of whag part of the Christian Bible? a. Old Testament only b. New Testament only c. Both the Old and New Testaments d. neither the Old nor New Testaments

2. The story of Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and their eating of the forbidden fruit is told in a. Genesis b. Exodus c. Numbers d. Deuteronomy

3. What prophet called for social justice and for an end to war? a. Isaiah b. Ezekiel c. Jeremiah d. Elijah

4. Who was Israel's greatest king? a. Saul b. David c. Solomon d. Nebuchadnezzar

5. Who is the reputed author of he biblical Song of Songs? a. Saul b. Solomon c. David d. Isaiah

6. The Hebrew Bible consists of the canon of books accepted and officially sanctioned by Judaism. Which of he following is not one of he three major groupings? a. Law b. Writings c. Canons d. Prophets

7. What two books of the Hebrew Bible are considered the most significant literary accomplishments? a. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes b. Genesis and Exodus c. Genesis and Job d. Psalms

8. What is the Bible's oldest poem? a. Song of Solomon b. Book of Ecclesiastes c. Song of Songs d. Song of Deborah

9. The belief that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified by the Romans is one of the most important elements of the faith of a. Jews b. Muslims c. Christians d. Gnostics

10. Where was Jesus born? a. Galilee b. Nazareth c. Syria d. Damascus

11. How old was Jesus when his public ministry began? a. 16 years old b. 25 years old c. 30 years old d. 33 years old

12. Jesus's first miracle is recorded in the New Testament Gospel of a. Mark b. Luke c. John d. Matthew

13. Who was ultimately responsible for Jesus's crucifixion and death? a. Nero b. Judas c. Pontius Pilate d. Augustus

14. What was the crime against the state that led to Jesus's execution? a. Jesus's healing miracles b. Jesus's natural miracles c. claims of Jesus's status as son of God d. Jesus's teaching to love God above all

15. What happened in A.D. 35? a. Jesus was transfigured b. Paul's conversion near Damascus c. Jesus was crucified on the cross d. Jesus appeared to the seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias

16. Why was sculpture rare in Early Christian art? a. because of Christianity's devotin to the word of the bible b. because Early Christian art was devoted to illustrations of the gospel c. because of Christianity's disdain for idol worship d. because of the importance given to one's soul rather than one's body

17. Where was teh earliest Christian art found? a. churches b. catacombs c. monastic cells d. biblical illustrations

18. Popular New Testament themes for catacomb paintings included all of the follwoing, except a. jesus's healing of the paralytic b. The resurrection of Lazarus c. the rewards of constant prayer d. Jesus's death and resurrection

19. The New Testament was written in a. Greek b. Latin c. Hebrew d. English

20. What type of writing in the new Testament contains accounts of Jesus's life and ministry? a. epistles b. gospels c. Revelatoin d. Acts of the Apostles

21. Which of the following is ot one of the "synoptic" gospels? a. Mark b. John c. Luke d. Matthew

22. Of the surviving gospels, what gospel is the earliest, composed around A.D. 70? a. Gospel of John b. Gospel of Luke c. Gospel of Mark d. Gospel of Matthew

23. Which gospel emphasizes Jesus as the Messiah referred to in Old Testament prophecies, the one who would complete the Jewish communitys destiny? a. Gospel of John b. Gospel of Luke c. Gospel of Mark d. Gospel of Matthew

24. What gospel is the only one tha describes Jesus's birth in a manger in Bethlehem? a. Gospel of John b. Gospel of Luke c. Gospel of Mark d. Gospel of Matthew

25. None of the gospels is an actual eyewitness account of Jesus's life and work. An early source may have been composed during Jesus's lifetime which is referred to by scholars as a. A. b. G. c. L. d. Q.

Performance Objectives