REL101: Final Exam Dr. Brown JMU

God is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present

Monotheistic view of God

Mawlid

Muhammad's birthday

Source of everything that exists, of all power, defined the reality and parameters of human life

God: Monotheism

_________ is 'de-sacralized', there is no sacred power, viewed as inanimate

_________ reveals the character of God: intelligence, beauty, power and goodness

Nature, monotheism

-Polytheism

-Veneration of nature

-Divination of magic

Taboos of monotheistic religion

Contract/deal or marriage

Covenant

Four promises to Abraham (Covenant)

-Many descendants

-Land

-Protection

-Bless the rest of humanity through Abraham

Priesthood

Religious specialists who can do rituals on your behalf

-Extensive, formal system of sacrifice (rituals)

-Comprehensive: legal, civic, economic, moral code

-Monotheism: Ten Commandments

-Controls the sacred and profane, purity and pollution: controls sex, dress, actions

Law of Moses (Judaism)

____________ an animal for your sins, and your standing with God is 'fixed"

Sacrifice (Law of Moses, Judaism)

-Centralization of power: King, Capital

-Centralization of religion: Built temples

-National prosperity (1100-900 BCE)

Main event during Nation of Israel

1200-600 BCE

Reign of Nation of Israel

Northern tribes (Israel) vs. Judah, causing country to divide into two

Israel civil war

El

Creator God of Canaanite Religion

Asherah

Wife of El (Canaanite religion)

Baal

Storm God of Canaanite religion

Anat

Baal's wife, Canaanite religion

Mot

God of Underworld (Canaanite Religion)

Fertility Cult: Baal's death and rebirth

Priestesses subjected to ritualized sex in order to bring back fertility into their surroundings

Human, typically infants or children

Canaanite's Sacrifice Method

To appease Mot the god of the underworld, keeping him from causing death randomly

Reasons for Canaanite sacrifices

Prophets

Those who speak for God

Fore-Tellers

Prophets tell them what will happen in the future

Forth-Tellers

Prophets criticize the actions of the people and how their past will cause action by God

Eschatology

Day of judgement, the Messiah and restoration of all humanity

Messiah

Person sent by God to judge everyone

Assyria

Conquest and deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel

-721 BCE

-Known as lost tribes due to erased religious and cultural records

Babylon

Conquest and deportation of the southern kingdom of Judah

-605 BCE

-Destroyed the temples

-Those who were deported were able to protect their ethnic and religious identity (keeping their religion in history)

Persia

Return of Judah to promise land

-Allowed all those deported due to the Babylonians to return

-Jewish people were allowed to return home

When the Jewish people returned home after deportation

-Rebuilt temple

-Restoration of the covenant (land, people, law, sacrifice, blessing)

-Emergence of Rabbi and Synagogue

Rabbi

Expert who helps the Jewish people maintain their relationship with God

Greece

Maccabean War

-167 to 165 BCE

Century of Independence

Greece

No pagan interference

Talmud

Debate on if stove you cook pure food on can also cook food that is unpure

Talmud Summary

Eliezer says it does not matter what you cook on the stove, tries to prove he is a prophet, does many miracles. Rabbis around him are unimpressed. Eventually, God awards the Rabbis for staying strong to their cause, even after the miracles, and says the Eliezer is wrong. Cannot cook unpure food on the same stove you cook pure food on.

Rome

Conquests of Judea (63 BCE)

Many religious parties

The Herods

Semi-Jewish Kings

(Edomite converts to Judaism)

ROME

Sadducees

Party of the priests (keeping people in line)

ROME

Pharisees

Religious observance

ROME

Zealots

Interested in getting the Romans kicked out

ROME

Essenes

Viewed the problem between the 2 parties is wrong, moved to the desert to practice their way

Samaritans

-Began to adopt Jewish customs and laws

-Have their own temple and priesthood

-View themselves as the main Jewish people, without any ties to Abraham

66-70 CE ROME

The Revolts

66-70 CE: Destruction of the temple

132-135 CE

-Simon bar Kochbah: the messiah

-Destruction of Jerusalem

-Banishment from land: renamed to Palestine

Dispersal throughout North Africa, Europe and Asia

-Jewish are sent out of Palestine and sent to these places

What happened to Jewish people when Diaspora occured

-Viewed as suspicious

-Marginalized as foreigners

-Episodic persecution from Christians and Muslims

How Judaism survived the diaspora

-Use of rabbis, Jewish laws and synagogues

-Stayed close to other Jewish people in new land

-God is transcendent

-Do not confuse God with nature

Judaism view of God

Everything God created was created 'good'

Judaism view of creation

-Humans have the potential to master the things God made

-Humans must be fruitful and procreate, creating more images of God

Judaism view of Humanity

Human Predicament: Judaism

-Moral alienation

-Humans make choices and have will the same way God does.

-Humans choosing incorrect choices cause a break/alienation from God and humanity

-Through the establishment of the covenant: promises are made to humanity (and Abraham)

Path of Ultimate Transformation: Covenant

(Judaism)

Judaism Ritual Life

Temple sacrifice five ways to synagogue worship

Circumcision

-Goes back to the covenant with Abraham

-A symbol that Abraham accepted the covenant with God

-A sign that is passed to infant boys

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

-Son or Daughter of commandments

-10/11 years old (puberty age)

-Privileges that adults have in the synagogue are passed to the children after ceremony

Sabbath

Jewish Holy Day

-Week long, occurs every 7th day

-Follow God's rhythms and patterns of work

-God freed the Israelites and brings them to the promise land where they receive rest

Passover (Pesach)

Jewish Holy Day

-Annual festival

-Celebrates the passing over of the angel of death

-Occurs during the Exodus

-Put blood on their doors or else the angel of death will steal your first born child

-Last plague

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Jewish Holy Days

-New year and Day of atonement

-Only ten days apart from one another

Yom Kippur

Jewish Holy Day

-When Jewish people meet together and reflect on the past

Talmud: Sacred Text

Jewish sacred text

-Rabbinic commentary of Jewish law

Bible (Tanah): Sacred Text

Jewish sacred text

-Law, prophets and writings

Principles of Jewish faith

-Universe created by God is material, God is NOT material

-God is main priority, nothing is above him

-Moses gives the 'law' (ten commandments): Torah

-Belief the messiah is coming

Jewish belief of afterlife

Resurrection

Pittsburgh Platform

Struggling with the problem of modern society

-Does modern technology, culture, science, etc. affect how we view Judaism?

-Certain diets, rest, dress, etc. should change in order to allow Judaism to fit in the modern world (Kosher, purity, etc.)

-Accept the bible but view it as outdated

Pittsburgh Platform view on resurrection

Soul is immortal, the body will not be resurrected with the soul

Orthodox Judaism

Not as conservative as Hasidic Judaism but it is more conservative than Conservative Judaism

Hasidic Judaism

Known as Ultraorthodox

-Hold on to all traditions as much as possible

Holocaust

Origin of antisemitism

Nazis

Nazi program

Exclusion, Isolation and Extermination

Different Jewish interpretations of the Holocaust

-Martyrdom

-Atonement

-Judgement

-'God is dead'

Martyrdom

Jewish people represent God on earth, and their commitment to their God was tested

Holocaust = test

Atonement

You atone for your sins, through death (suffering but for the rest of the human race)

Holocaust is the death you suffer for all of humanity

Judgment

Jewish people had broken the covenant, and offended God: therefore the Holocaust was a divine punishment

"God is dead"

Jewish people cannot possibly believe God is alive (A God who promises protection and is powerful/merciful) if they suffered through the Holocaust

Sermon on the Mount

CHRISTIANITY

-Comes from the Gospel of Matthew

-Talks about ten commandments

-Take external behaviors (murder, adultery) and focuses on internal behavior (being angry and lusting over women)

-Views actions and feelings are equivalent

-If everyone follows these rules, they will go to heaven/kingdom of heaven

Jesus' Birth

-Angel comes to Mary and tells her she is pregnant with the son of God

-No human father

-Jesus' conception is of divine origin

-Birth is attended by miracles (angels and wise men appearing)

Jesus and Kingdom of God

-A new system of values, God transforms humanity

-Commitment to self-sacrifice (Idea of self-denial and sacrifice), gives himself to the people

-Ministry: prophet

-Miracles and healing

-Identity as Messiah: Jesus wants to keep his identity as messiah a secret

Crucifixion

-A way to keep others under control/intimidate the people

-Very public

-Shows other cultures what happens if you mess with the Romans

Reinterpreting the Messiah: Christianity

-Went from conquering king to suffering servant

-Jesus says his suffering is an important part of his place on Earth

Jesus' Death

-Turning point in Bible

-Viewed as an atonement

Interpreting Jesus's resurrection

-Vindication of the divine Messiah

Gentiles

Non-Jewish people

Jesus' followers

Jewish people and Gentiles

Apostle Paul

-Most influential Christian in 1st century

-Converted gentiles

Jerusalem Council

-Gentiles are viewed as believers

-Gentiles must be circumcised

-Must believe and keep in the law of Moses

-God reconciled the Gentiles by their faith instead of the law

Paul Romans

-Abraham is reconciled to God, due to his faith without the law

-Gentiles who have faith can be reconciled to God

-"If Abraham can be reconciled solely on faith, so can the gentiles" -Paul

Followers of Jesus were Committed to:

-Jesus was the resurrected, divine messiah

-Jesus' atoning death as a new covenant: salvation

-Rejection of old covenant, Gentiles are welcomed into the community without law

Church

The Bishops

Canon

Bible

Creed

Summary of faith

Norms

Canon, Creed, Church

-ALL connected to the early Apostles

Constantine

Becomes first christian emperor

The Edict of Milan

313 AD

-Christianity is legal because of Constantine's conversion to the religion

Becomes the religion of Roman Empire

Christianity

Donatus

-Bishop from North Africa

-Martyrs who have suffered before Constantine

-Believed the lapsed christians should not be allowed back into the Christian church, other bishops do not agree

Lapsed people

Christians that denied their faith under the threat of arrest or tortures

Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Jesus portrayed as a human child with super-human abilities

-Jesus as child: smart and violent

-Undoes the harm he did as a child and blesses those who suffered

Gnosticism: The Apostle's Creed

150 AD

-Gnosis: Knowledge

-Pagan Jewish and Christian

-Matter/Universe is evil and a prison

-Body is a prison, your soul is pure

-Escape by salvation

-Knowledge is the key to escape the body/salvation

-Jesus = savior = gnosis

Arianism: the Nicene Creed

325 AD

-Arius = priest

-Is Jesus Divine? Arius says no

-Pyramid goes like this: 1. God, 2. Jesus, 3. Angels, 4. Humans

-Views Jesus as greatest thing created by God, but anything created by God is below him and is a creature

Council of Nicea

-Called in 325 Ad

-Nicene creed is a response to Arianism

-Jesus us the only son of God, emphasizing Jesus is divine