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Part 1: Judaism
Part 2: Christianity
Lesson 10
Part 1: Judaism
Theme: Religion and Conflict
Lesson 10
Abraham
• Originally from the Sumerian city of Ur
• Migrates to Palestine around 1850 B.C. on God’s
command (Genesis 12:1)
• God establishes a covenant with Abraham (Genesis
17:7-8)
– “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between
me and you and your descendants after you for the generations
to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after
you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I
will give as an everlasting possession to you and your
descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
• It is from this passage that modern Jews claim Israel
belongs to them
Moses
• Moses leads the
Hebrews out of
slavery in Egypt to
Canaan, the land God
has promised them
(Exodus 12: 31)
• Along the way, God
gives Moses the Ten
Commandments
(Exodus 20: 1-17)
Statue of Moses
by Michelangelo
Ten Commandments
• I. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me.
• II. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven
image.
• III. Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord
thy God in vain.
• IV. Remember the
Sabbath day, to keep it
holy.
• V. Honor thy father
and thy mother.
• VI. Thou shalt not kill.
• VII. Thou shalt not
commit adultery.
• VIII. Thou shalt not
steal.
• IX. Thou shalt not bear
false witness against
thy neighbor.
• X. Thou shalt not covet
anything that is thy
neighbor's.
Yahweh
• The God of the Abraham and Moses was
Yahweh
– The only god; all others were false imposters
(monotheism)
– A personal god who expected the Israelites to
worship him alone and to observe high moral
and ethical standards
Torah
• Between 1000 and 400 B.C., Israelite religious
leaders compiled Yahweh’s teachings into the
Torah
– What Christians call the Old Testament
• Yahweh would punish or reward both the
individuals and the community based on how
well they observed his commandments
– Many would see the exile imposed by the New
Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C. as an example of
Yahweh’s punishment
Rabbis
• Rabbi means teacher or master
• They are Jewish religious officials trained
in Jewish law, ritual, and tradition
• The synagogue is the Jewish place of
assembly for prayer and study
– It is not required for a synagogue to have a
rabbi, but if it does, he is appointed by the lay
leadership
Talmud
• An authoritative record of
rabbinic discussions on Jewish
laws, Jewish ethics, customs,
legends and stories
• Fundamental source of
legislation, customs, case
histories and moral
exhortations
– For example, the Torah
does not prohibit
pronouncing the name of
God, but the Talmud does
(Talmud, Sanhedrin 90a)
Joshua
• Joshua succeeds Moses as the
one who will lead the Israelites
into the Promised Land
• A series of battles occur
between the invading Israelites
and the native Canaanites:
– Jericho (Joshua 5:13–6:27)
– Ai and Bethel (Joshua 8:129)
– Against an alliance of
southern cities (Joshua 10:143)
– Against an alliance of
northern cities (Joshua 11:115)
Conquest of Canaan
• Formative event in Israel’s history
– Now the Israelites could describe themselves
as the inhabitants of the land God had
promised to their forefathers.
• Israel is now a land, not just a people
Judges
• After the death of Joshua, the Israelites settle into a
disorganized, chaotic existence
– Failure to completely eradicate the Canaanites causes
continuing problems
– "In those days there was no king in the land, everyone did what
was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25)
• God calls judges such as Samuel to provide leadership
– Fails to provide the basis for a strong centralized leadership
(system somewhat like America under the Articles of
Confederation)
– Does not bring stability or domestic tranquility
– The end of the nomadic lifestyle calls for a more centralized
government
– People complain they want a king
– A constitutional monarchy follows
Kingdom of David
(1000-970 B.C.)
• Extends the kingdom by
war
• Makes Jerusalem the
political capital
• Draws up plans for the
Temple
• “Behold, the days are
coming, says the Lord,
when I will raise up a
righteous shoot to David; As
king he shall reign and
govern wisely, he shall do
what is just and right in the
land.” (Jeremiah 23: 5)
Kingdom of Solomon
(970-930 B.C.)
• Asserts “federal power” over “tribal power”
• Divides the country into 12 taxable units
– Through taxation and forced labor, he creates a large landless
class, forcing people to move to the cities and accept an
industrial economy
– The individual becomes the economic unit, thus weakening
family ties and parental authority
• Builds the Temple David planned
• Preserves the kingdom by peace (David had extended it
by war)
– During the reigns of King David and King Solomon the Israelites
dominated the territory between Syria and the Sinai peninsula
Temple
• Under King Solomon, the
Jews built an elaborate
temple in their new capital
of Jerusalem
– Housed the Ark of the
Covenant and the Ten
Commandments
• Romans destroyed the
Temple in 70 A.D.
• In 638 A.D., Muslim
invaders capture
Jerusalem and eventually
build two mosques on the
site of the old Jewish
temple
Diaspora
• After King Solomon, tribal tensions lead to a
division of the larger kingdom into Israel in the
north and Judah in the south
• Eventually both Israel and Judah come under
foreign domination
• As a result of these various conquests, the
Jewish people are displaced from their
homeland
• Babylonian, Archaemenid, Alexandrian,
Seleucid, and Roman regimes all ruled over the
Jewish Diaspora
Diaspora
• All these regimes embraced many different
ethnic and religious groups and mostly tolerated
the cultural preferences of their subjects so long
as the communities paid their taxes and
refrained from rebellion
• However they sometimes created state cults
which honored their emperors as gods
• This created a problem for the monotheistic
Jews
Daniel: An Example of Jewish
Conflicts with their Rulers
18th Century icon of
Shadraeh, Meshaeh,
and Abed-nego in
the furnace (Daniel
3:8-12) and Daniel in
the lion’s den (Daniel
6:10-13)
Jewish Rebellions
• Relations between the Jews and Romans
were especially tense as the Romans
expanded their empire into the eastern
Mediterranean
• Between the 3rd Century B.C. and the 1st
Century A.D., the Jews mounted several
rebellions, but were decisively defeated in
the Jewish War of 66 to 70 A.D.
Conquered Jerusalem
• 324… Byzantine rule
– The Roman Empire, including Jerusalem,
becomes Christian under Emperor
Constantine
• 614 - 638… Jerusalem falls to the Persians
(614), Byzantines (629) and Arab Muslims
(638)
– 688 - 691… Dome of the Rock and El-Aksa
built
• 1099… First Crusaders capture Jerusalem
(We’ll discuss the Crusades in Lesson 21)
Jerusalem: A Divided City
Jerusalem: A Divided City
• The Dome of the Rock is
the holiest Islamic shrine
in Jerusalem.
• It stands over the rock
from which Muslims
believe Muhammad rose
to heaven.
• For Jews, the shrine
stands on the traditional
location of the first
Jewish temple, the
Temple of Solomon.
• Jews believe the site to
be where Abraham
prepared to sacrifice his
son Isaac.
Major Jewish Holy Days
• Passover
– Celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in
Egypt
• Chanukah
– Commemorates the successful revolt against the Seleucids and
rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem
• Rosh Hashanah
– First of the year
– Begins the Days of Awe which are a time of introspection
culminating in Yom Kippur
• Yom Kippur
– “Day of Atonement” for sins man commits against God
Major World Religions
Source: About, Inc
http://christianity.about.com/library/weekly/blreligiontop.htm
Religion
Members
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Sikhism
Baha‘i
Confucianism
Jainism
Shintoism
Wicca
Zoroastrianism
2 Billion
1.2 Billion
785 Million
360 Million
17 Million
16 Million
5 Million
5 Million
4 Million
3 Million
.7 Million
.2 Million
Divisions of Judaism Today
• Orthodox
– Jewish law comes from God and cannot be changed
– Torah is the fundamental text
– Israel
• Conservative
– Accepts the binding nature of Jewish law but believes
that the law can change
– Use the Talmud along with the Torah
• Reformed
– Most liberal (i. e., open to change)
– The process of reinterpretation of the Torah to the
language of today is ongoing, and that every Jew has
a stake and a role in that restatement and extension.
Ideas Unifying Judaism
•
•
•
•
•
One people (Abraham is their forefather)
The Chosen People (holy people)
Covenant relationship (Promised Land)
Temple/synagogue
Torah and Talmud
Jewish Concept of the Messiah
• Hebrew word is moshiach (annointed)
• The moshiach will be chosen by God to put an
end to all evil in the world, rebuild the Temple,
bring the exiles back to Israel, and usher in the
world to come.
• “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the
moshiach, and though he may tarry, still I await
him every day.” (Principle 12 of Rambam’s 13
Principle’s of Faith)
– Rambam is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, one of the
greatest medieval Jewish scholars
Afterlife
• Olam Ha-Ba is Hebrew for “the World to Come”
and also the term used to refer to the spiritual
afterlife.
• When the moshiach comes to initiate the perfect
world of peace and prosperity, the righteous
dead will be brought back to life and given the
opportunity to experience the perfected world
that their righteousness helped to create. The
wicked dead will not be resurrected.
• Jews prepare for the Olam Ha-Ba through study
of the Torah and good deeds
Part 2: Christianity
Theme: How religions grow and spread
Lesson 10
Jesus
• Born sometime before 4
B.C. in Bethlehem
– Virgin birth as the Son of
God (Luke 1:34-35)
• Called Twelve Apostles to
assist him
• Met resistance from
Jewish authorities,
especially the Pharisees
who had a different idea
about what the Jewish
law meant
• Developed further
problems with the
Pharisees because Jesus
associated with sinners
Who is Jesus?
• Christians recognize Jesus as
the Messiah promised in the
Old Testament and Jesus
claims to be the Messiah
– “I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes
to the Father except
through Me.” (John 14:6)
• Jesus was a Jew and his
original ministry was to the
Jews
• But the Jews did not (and do
not) consider Jesus to be the
Messiah
• Again the high priest asked
him, “Are you the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed One?”
• “I am,” said Jesus. “And you
will see the Son of Man sitting
at the right hand of the Mighty
One and coming on the clouds
of heaven.”
• The high priest tore his
clothes. “Why do we need any
more witnesses?” he asked.
• “You have heard the
blasphemy. What do you
think?”
– Mark 14: 61-63
Jesus and the Romans
• Jesus lived in a time of high tension between
Roman authorities and their Jewish subjects
• He alarmed the Romans when he preached “the
kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15) and was
followed by large crowds
– Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to
Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We
have found this man subverting our nation. He
opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be
Christ, a king.” (Luke 23:1)
Trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection
• Jesus was brought before
Pontius Pilate, a Roman
governor, who acquiesced to
the Jews’ demand that Jesus
be crucified
• Jesus’ followers proclaim he
has risen from the dead and
that his death and
resurrection have served as
a sacrifice to offset their sins
– Now they too can survive death
and live eternally in heaven
New Testament
• Christians compiled a body of writings
including accounts of Jesus’ life, reports of
his followers’ works, and letters outlining
Christian teachings
• Becomes known as the New Testament
and Christians refer to the Jews’ Hebrew
scriptures as the Old Testament
Persecution and Saul
• Many orthodox Jews thought the new Christianity was
blasphemy and they started persecuting Christians
• One of the chief persecutors was Saul
– Zealous Pharisee
– Held the people’s coats while Stephen is being
stoned (Acts 4:58)
• Was on his way to Damascus to see whether there is
any Christian influence in the synagogue there when
God encountered him
– “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4)
Paul
• God makes Saul “a chosen
vessel unto me, to bear my
name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of
Israel” (Acts 9:15)
– Comes to be known as
Paul
– Greatest theologian of the
early Church
– Apostle to the greatest
sphere of Christian
missionary expansion– to
the Gentile world to the
west
Paul’s Mission Trips
Epistles
Paul’s Method
• The cities in which Paul established
churches were politically, culturally, and
economically important
• They were also located on the main
thoroughfares of the Roman Empire,
ensuring mobility of the message
• Christianity would radiate from these major
cities to others and eventually to the
countryside
Paul’s Theological Contributions
• Mission to the Gentiles
– “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is
the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)
• Salvation by Faith
– "For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith, and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one
can boast.“ (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Paul’s Theological Contributions
• Church Organization
– Founded, shaped, and nurtured a community instead
of simply organizing a church; provided pastoral care
– Provided instructions for church authorities (1 Timothy
3:1-15; 2 Timothy 2:22-26; Titus 1:5-9),
• Predestination
– “For he chose us in him before the creation of the
world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He
predestined us to be adopted as his sons through
Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and
will.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)
Factors Aiding the Spread of
Christianity
• Paul wrote in Greek
– The conquests of Alexander had introduced
Greek as the common language from Italy to
India (We’ll study Alexander in Lesson 18)
• Roman system of good roads and the lack
of piracy or serious crime (Pax Romana)
– Allowed Paul to travel and preach throughout
Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece, and Italy
Factors Aiding the Spread of
Christianity
• Presence of the synagogue
– Gave Paul a forum to preach, dispute with the
Jews, and attract converts
• Roman toleration of religion
– Paul and the other missionaries were able to
freely debate the cause of Christianity,
provided they said nothing subversive to
Rome’s political authority
Factors Aiding the Spread of
Christianity
• Degenerate nature of Roman society
– Rome’s idle, lascivious aristocracy amused
itself with such pursuits as mortal combat for
entertainment and created a spiritual void that
needed to be filled
• Broad Appeal
– Open to lower classes, urban populations,
and women
– Accorded honor and dignity to individuals who
did not enjoy high standing in Roman society
Result
• Less than 300 years after the crucifixion,
Christianity would become the most
dynamic and influential religion in the
Mediterranean basin
• In 380 A.D., Theodosius proclaims
Christianity the official religion of the
Roman Empire
Institutional Church
• In the absence of organized leadership, the
earliest Christians had generated a wide range
of sometimes conflicting doctrines
• To standardize the faith, Christian leaders
instituted a hierarchy of church officials
– The bishop in Rome and patriarchs in Jerusalem,
Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople
– As Roman imperial authority crumbled, the bishop of
Rome (known as the pope) emerged as the spiritual
leader of Christians communities in the western part
of the empire
Evolving Doctrine
• In 325 A.D., Constantine calls the Council
of Nicea which brought together Christian
leaders to consider the views of the Arians
– Arians taught that Jesus was a mortal man
rather than God Himself
– Arianism was condemned as heresy
• (We talked about this in Lesson 6)
Nicean Creed
We believe in one God
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit
and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the
Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,
and the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and
the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the
prophets.
We believe in the one holy catholic
(Christian) and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the
dead,
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Added Philosophical Sophistication
• The earliest Christians had come from the
ranks of ordinary people
• Their doctrine seemed unsophisticated to
intellectual elites
• Until the 3rd Century Christianity grew as a
popular religion of salvation favored by the
masses
• During the 4th Century, intellectual elites
began to give it a reasoned doctrine of
intellectual substance
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
• Well educated and conversant
with all the leading intellectual
currents of his day
• Converted to Christianity in 387
• Worked to reconcile Christianity
with Greek and Roman
philosophical traditions,
especially Platonism
• Tried to articulate Christianity in
terms that were familiar to
educated classes
• Wrote Confessions and The
City of God
Martin Luther
• In 1517, Martin Luther
distributed his Ninety Five
Thesis which was a public
challenge to debate the
Church practice of selling
indulgences
– Indulgences were a type of
pardon that excused
individuals from doing
penance for their sins and
facilitated entry into heaven
– Church officials thought
indulgences were great–
encouraged believers to
reflect piously on their
behavior and served as a
large source of income
Reformation
• In 1520, Pope Leo X
excommunicated Luther
• Though expelled from the Church,
Luther still considered himself a
Christian and he began to attract
followers
• The movement spread from
Wittenberg, throughout Germany,
to Switzerland, and throughout
western Europe
– The printing press was
instrumental in spreading the
word
• The dissidents became known as
“Protestants” because they were
protesting against the established
order
Other Reformers
• John Calvin
– Converted to Protestantism in
the 1530s and left France for
Switzerland to escape
persecution
– Founded a model Protestant
community in Geneva which
also served as a missionary
center
– Advanced the doctrine of
predestination
– Great influence on
Presbyterianism
Other Reformers
• Jacob Hermensen
(Latinized Arminius)
– Revolts against strict
Calvinism in favor of
free will
– Argues that people
must make an active
choice to be saved
– Profoundly influenced
John Wesley and
Methodism
Catholic Reformation
• In response to the Protestant Reformation, the
Catholic Church launches its own reforms
– Council of Trent demanded church officials observe
strict standards of morality and required them to
establish schools and seminaries to prepare priests to
properly perform their roles
– St. Ignatius Loyola established the Society of Jesus
(Jesuits) to provide an excellent broad education to its
members who would then go on to be extraordinarily
effective missionaries
Major World Religions
Source: About, Inc
http://christianity.about.com/library/weekly/blreligiontop.htm
Religion
Members
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Judaism
Sikhism
Baha‘i
Confucianism
Jainism
Shintoism
Wicca
Zoroastrianism
2 Billion
1.2 Billion
785 Million
360 Million
17 Million
16 Million
5 Million
5 Million
4 Million
3 Million
.7 Million
.2 Million
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