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April 4 Language and Religion Languages of Sacred Scriptures o Texts from “Abrahamic Religions” Hebrew Bible No longer as important in number of practitioners but is at the source of the two largest religions on the planet. New Testament Qur'an o Hindu Scriptures are in Sanskrit and will note be covered Called “Vedas” Judaism and Islam o God has revealed himself in certain languages making those languages sacred o Jews insist on reading the Torah in Hebrew When Boys (or boys and girls in reformed tradition) turn 13 they are called to read part of the Torah in Hebrew It is considered that the “Angels speak Hebrew” so it is important to read Hebrew even if you don’t understand it. It is okay to pray in native language o Muslims think it is important to read parts of Qur’an in Arabic even if they don’t know what they are saying. Christianity o Written in Vernacular Greek Greek was “langua franca” of the time period Scriptures were in Greek but Jesus likely did not preach in Greek Most Christians (except Greek Orthodox) do not worry about speaking Greek. o Dead Sea scrolls were written in by a sect of Jews in Hebrew and were hidden to protect form the Roman invation. Written by the arsines o World was created in Christianity through the words of God – He Spoke the word into Existence according to Genesis. Most major religions have in common that there is a world of invisible beings that have great power o They will be referred to generically as “Spirits” An invisible entity that has consciousness and awareness Abrahamic religions believe in a “creative spirit” known as God, Allah, Hebrew word for God is “Elohim” or “Elokim. In Greek the name for God is “Theos”. Orthodox Jews will not mention the name of God when lecturing – they will say “the name” (in Hebrew) instead. o The use of the name for God is very restricted; sacred books must be buried in a special place when they are torn called a “Ganeeza” o Tetragramaton – the four letter name for God o “Yahweh” In Islam God (Allah) is mentioned all the time In the Christian religion, it is also okay to mention God Monotheistic religions o Believe in more than on spirit and said spirits can interact with normal people Called spirits or “alahine” (spelling?) in Hebrew For Shabbat (Jewish holy day of Sabbath) there is a song that is sung to the Angels; a good and bad angel come. If the house is prepared properly the Good Angel will be in charge over the Bad one. There are evil spirits in Judaism as well as good ones There is only one God in Christianity There is usually a “trinity” of Spirits o There is a human soul that is “immortal” (it will never die) not Eternal (has always existed) Hebrew belongs to the Semitic language Family Semitic family includes Hebrew and Arabic group of languages o Hebrew o Arabic group shares a written form o Amharic o Tigrinya o Aramaic – Spoken in every day life; quite possibly the language Jesus spoke. Cousin language of Hebrew Kabala: A group of Jewish teachings that arose in France o Many Rabbis believe it is divinely revealed Hebrew is not considered to be like every other language Letters of Hebrew alphabet was created by God before the World was created. World was created through the words of Hebrew The letters K,L,B were combined to create the first dog “Hebrew was the language through which the world itself was created” Assumption is that Adam and Eve spoke Hebrew Hebrew Bible (TaNaKh) Mostly in Hebrew; a few texts in Aramaic Books o Torah first 5 books of Moses (T) Also known as “Pentateuch” o The Prophets (N for Navi) – Most important part for Christians (Christians believe it alludes to birth of Jesus) o Writings (Kh) On Mount Sinai the whole Torah was relevealed not just the 10 Commandments including events that had not yet happened o Entire Torah was on a single scroll o Also revealed the oral Torah which was forbidden to be written down Passed down from generation to generation; never written down When Romans destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed temple in Israel Jews went into exile around 200 religious leader determined it was okay to write it down because it was being forgotten Called Mishnah – 16 Volumes o Written in Hebrew even though it was no longer the written language o More modern Hebrew than the rest of the Bible o For 300 years Rabbis commented on the written oral law; interpretations and explanations were added Called Gemara Now combined to be called “Talmud” April 6 Hebrew scriptures: Tanakh Torah (Pentateuch) o In Tradition: Written by Moses Theological understanding: Written around 1200 B.C.E. (~3200 years ago). Already existed as a unified scroll. o Scholars: Written at different times and combined Called: “Documentary hypothesis” Combined over many centuries Were not Unified until around 500 B.C.E. Hypothetical: based on linguistical evidence Neviim (Prophets) Khetuvim (Writings) Take three first letters and put vowel between them and get the name: Tanakh Biblical Inconsistencies (according to “Documentary Hypothesis”) In first chapter God is called “Alohim” (Spelling?) through Chapter 2 Verse 4 writing is very logical; after that the name of God changes as does the story. Noah and the Arc o Sometimes he takes 2 of each animals o Other times he takes 7 of each So called “fundamentalists” (or traditionalists) will not accept this hypothesis. Islamic Scholars memorize the entire Qur’an It is considered “forbidden” to memorize religious scripture it in Judaism; it is expected that you read the words. Religious Figures Language and Writing: High level of literacy in Jewish world Moses wrote things down Jesus never wrote anything down or told anyone to write down what he was saying o Possible reason he never wrote anything down: During the time period it was believed that the World was going to end soon o Feverish expectation that God would deliver a messiah to Israel that would conquer the Romans in an Apocalyptic fashion (Earthquakes etc) Reason Romans were worried about Messiah’s Possible reason Jesus was captured and executed Priests were in collusion with Romans Writings of Paul indicate a coming Apocalypse o Execution of Jesus Movie “Passion of the Christ” Linguistically Fascinating Jesus and Jews were speaking Aramaic o Good Aramaic with a good accent (well spoken) Romans were Speaking to each-other in Latin and some Roman o One scene at the trial of Jesus High Priests could not execute anyone, only Rome could do this Jesus was brought by High Priests to Ponchos Pilot (Roman Governor) Pilot asked Jesus what did he do that they want to kill you? Bible did not mention what language they would have spoken in Unlikely Pilot would have known Aramaic, Unlikely Jesus would have known Latin. In the film Pilot was arguing with Priests in Perfect Aramaic, and Jesus responded to Pilot in Latin this is not realistic. The likely language of interaction between Pilot and Judaism Jesus in reality would have been Greek Jesus was probably actually born around 4 B.C.E. and died around 30 C.E. due to an error in the calendar Muhammad was not literate o he could not write so it is a point of how divine the message is. o He commanded the people around him to write down what he was saying. o He received the revelation over 20 years. / Hebrew World: oral law could not be written down 70A.D temple in Jerusalem was destroyed about a half century later there was a revolt against Rome and the Jews were thrown out o Jews scattered throughout Roman World o Jerusalem was destroyed o Jews no longer had a central Temple o There was a danger the Oral Traditions would be lost Around 200 A.D. The leaders decided the information needed to be written down Called Mishnah Gemara was several hundred years of commentary Talmud is combination of Mishnah and Gemara Post Biblical: Mishnah Gemara Talmud Christianity Focuses on Jesus of Nazareth Happens in Israel under Roman occupation Rome was governed by a Puppet King o Jerusalem became too controversial and Romans began being controlled directly Jesus lived in North in Galilee Diglossia of Languages: Israel: Hebrew / Aramaic: o The preaching of Jesus was done in Aramaic (the language of Prayer and Writings was Hebrew) Aramaic was the common language Hebrew was not spoken in normal conversation, was used for Religious teachings This is still disputed, but is the predominant theory Roman World: Greek (Koine) / Latin o Koine: Vernacular Greek Mother tongue of many in Roman World Used as a common language for communication Europe: Latin / Romance Languages o Educated were taught Latin, but common people spoke local languages (French, Spanish, et al) o Roman Catholic Church used Latin Islamic World: Arabic / local varieties of Spoken Arabic o Used in News, Qur’an and Higher Education o Not spoken natively by anyone Christian Scriptures: Septuagint: Greek translation of Hebrew Bible New Testament: Gospels (all in Greek, possible Matthew was in Aramaic, but it has never been found) o Beginning at Birth Matthew (wise men were in house) Luke (Stable scene) o Mark o John o Most in line around “Passion Narrative o Last Supper o Arrest o Events of Crucifixion Dies in Afternoon Buried Rises on Sunday o Resurrection goes in different direction Acts of the Apostles (Written by Luke) Epistles (letters from Paul [Paul was converted later] and Others) o Letters of Paul probably written in the 40s Apocalypse o Means “Revelation” or “To Reveal” o Modern “Left Behind” series follows this last book