Download Sophomore Wrap Up Chapter 4

Wrap-up Chapter 4
• Read
pages 89 thru 91
• Note on page 92: “No Middle Class”
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Major Features of Judaism
• Jerusalem: a city of 150,000 which swelled to
500,000 during religious festivals
• The Temple as rebuilt by Herod the Great from
15 years before Jesus’ birth to 35 years
after His death
 A place of offerings, prayer & sacrifice
 A den of thieves
• Read page 96
• Note on page 96 picture of a typical synagogue
• The synagogue became the center of Jewish
worship after the Temple in Jerusalem was
destroyed
• Synagogues in ancient times existed in every
village
• Then, as now, they were open 3 times daily for
prayer plus the day of Sabbath
• Read “Central Religious Practices” beginning on
page 97 and ending on page 100 before the
section entitled “Key Religious-Political Groups
and Persons”
Key Religious-Political Groups and Persons
• The Priestly Caste:
– Started out being because a person was from a
certain tribe to being selected by the Jewish
senate (The Great Sanhedrin) based on wealth or
social class
• The High Priest:
– His election was based on politics and he was as
much a politician as the religious leader of his
people
• Sadducees:
– Upper class, liberal in politics, conservative in
religion, accepted only the Torah, rejected notion
of resurrection, disliked by common people, died
out after 70 CE
Key Religious-Political Groups and Persons continued
• Pharisees:
– More liberal in religious matters than the Sadducees
but more politically conservative and would not deal
with the Romans, accepted more books than just the
five of the Torah, committed to the Law while
Sadducees were only committed to the Temple
allowed them to survive after 70 CE, today’s Judaism
is descended from the Pharisees’ beliefs, respected b
the common people
• Do not stereotype Pharisees based on Gospels:
– Did not participate in trail of Jesus, were criticized by
Jesus for being overly legalistic, but Gospels may also
reflect early church’s problems with the Pharisees
Key Religious-Political Groups and Persons continued
• Zealots:
– Maintained that Jewish independence could only be
achieved through a military overthrow of the
Romans, some may have initially been attracted by
Jesus but later rejected Him because of His position
of non-violence
• Tax Collectors:
– Jews were taxed by Romans and their own priests
amounting to 40% of their income, Romans hired
Jewish agents to collect a certain quota of taxes and
above that quota they were allowed to keep any
“extra” money they collected; also called
“publicans,” hated by the common people
Key Religious-Political Groups and Persons continued
• The Great Sanhedrin:
– Means “assembly” or “senate,” governing body of
Jews, 70 members plus president, voted on laws and
had its own police force, controlled everything to do
with religion, Pharisees and Sadducees were both
represented but Sadducees wielded the real power,
Sanhedrin tried Jesus but without the Pharisees
• Scribes:
– Both writers and jurists, interpreters of the Law,
could act as a court and pass judgment on those
who broke the Law, a scribe who taught was called a
“rabbi” meaning master or teacher, they taught in
synagogues, only some were also Pharisees,
organized the Old Testament as we know it today