Module 3 -- Humanities Test #1

Judaism: 

God made a covenant with Abraham to give him all the land of Canaan and Abraham promised that they will be a people for God.  

Moses wrote the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) 

Monotheism- Belief in one God 

Ethical and spiritual obligations- Commandments they had to follow 

Covenant- promise between 2 parties 

The Shema- Jewish prayer that affirms belief in God 

Tefillin or Phylacteries- Tiny black boxes with the Shema in them 

Mezuzah- brass rectangle with the words of the Shema on the doorpost of your house as a reminder of the covenant. 

Diaspora- Spreading of a people from their original homeland 

Early Christianity: 

Messiah- Meshiach (Hebrew for Messiah), Christos (Greek for Christ) All of these words mean the same thing, “Anointed One” 

Yeshua/Jesus- Yeshua (Hebrew for Joshua or Greek for Jesus) 

Jesus’ 3 Important Teachings: 

1. Nonviolence: Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Love your neighbor and your enemy. For the first 400 years after Jesus, Christians took this literally. Refused violence and refused to serve in the military. St. Augustine wrote about “just war” in his work, City of God. He taught that if you have virtue in your heart, you can “put to death wicked men… and by no means violate the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill’” Which is the opposite of what Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount, but it has been passed down to Christianity today.  

2. Rich needs to share wealth with the poor: A rich young man came to Jesus and said he had kept all the commandments, what else did he have to do to have eternal life, Jesus told him he hadn’t kept the most important commandment “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and given the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me” 

3. Help the marginalized: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-46) 

Emperor Constantine: 

Roman Emperor, not a Christian. Believed in Roman gods but understood that if he could unify the beliefs of the Christians throughout Rome, he could unify his empire. 

Council of Nicea: 

325 BCE Constantine called all 318 Christian bishops to meet, debate, and decide the nature of God once and for all. (Nicea- a city in modern-day Turkey) 

Nicene Creed: 

Council of Nicea produced this creed, saying they believe in one God the Father, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (Trinity: their “compromise”) 

Emperor Theodosius: 

How does Christianity become a worldwide religion? 

380 CE Christianity becomes the official Roman religion and is forced upon all Roman citizens by Emperor Theodosius 

Council of Carthage: 

Early Christians used the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). New Testament wasn’t really seen as a collection of books until hundreds of years after Jesus. 

Paul and others wrote letters and other books which were hand-copied by Christians (until the printing press was invented, almost 1400 years later) Problems with copyists and translators and forgeries.  

397 CE Council of Carthage gathered the bishops together again to decide which Christian writings were true, and which were forgeries.  

The excluded books are called the New Testament Apocrypha. 

Byzantium- the name of the city that became a second capital of the Roman Empire and developed a new flavor of Christianity. 

Constantinople: 

330 CE Emperor Constantine moves the seat of government from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium which he renamed Constantinople (“City of Constantine”)  

Today, it is known as Istanbul, Turkey 

Schism between East and West: 

1054 CE Christian church splits because of 2 doctrinal problems that the church in Constantinople (East) had with the church in Rome (West). The bishop of Rome and the bishop of Constantinople excommunicate each other. 

Roman Catholic Church- The name of the church in the West. Catholic means “universal” 

Greek Orthodox Church- The name of the church in the East. Orthodox means “the right way” 

3 Characteristics of the Byzantine Style: 

1. Flat and non-realistic 

2. Abstract Symbolism 

3. Gold 

Islam: 

One of the largest religions in the world. Practiced today by 2 billion people. 

“Islam” means “submission to God” 

Muslim- Followers of Islam. The word Muslim comes from the Arabic root, meaning: “those who submit” 

3 Abrahamic Religions: 

All see Abraham as their great father 

1. Judaism  

2. Christianity 

3. Islam 

Muhammed- The last great prophet in Islam, following such prophets as Abraham, Moses and Jesus. (Jesus is a prophet in Islam, rather than the Son of God, as the Christians believe) 

Mecca- The holiest city in Islam. Where Muhammed was born 

Night Journey: 

Around 621 CE, Muhammed goes on a journey, physically and spiritually, on a winged steed to the highest hill in Jerusalem (the third holiest city in Islam). There, Muhammed is cleansed. Gabriel gives him a test, which he passes. Muhammed and his heavenly guide, Gabriel ascend through the 7 stages of heaven. At each stage, he meets and learns from prophets: Adam, John the Baptist, Jesus, Joseph, Idris, Aaron, Moses, and Abraham. He then continues on without Gabriel to meet Allah (God). Allah instructs Muhammed to pray 50 times a day, but Muhammed talks him down to 5 times a day.  

Hijra: 

622 CE after not having much success converting people to Islam in Mecca, Muhammed takes his followers and moves to Medina (the second holiest city in Islam). This journey is so significant, its named Hijra and becomes the first year of the Muslim calendar. Over a few years in Medina, he converts the entire population to Islam. 

Kaaba- 629 CE, Muhammed returns to Mecca with 10,000 men, conquers the city, and destroys the idols in the Kaaba, with the exception of the Black Stone, which originally fell from heaven. Muhammed becomes the political and spiritual leader of Mecca. 

5 Pillars of Islamic Faith: 

1. Confession of Faith- (Shahadah) “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger” 

2. Prayer- 5 times a day, facing Mecca 

3. Alms- giving money or goods to the poor and needy 

4. Fasting- No food, or drink, or sex during the sacred month of Ramadan (which commemorates the month Muhammad received his divine calling from Gabriel.) Occurs in every season of the year. 

5. Pilgrimage or Hajj- pilgrimage to Mecca, during the 12^th month of the Muslim calendar, to circle the Kaaba 7 times. Believing Muslims would want to make this journey at least once in their lives. 

Qur’an: 

The holy book of Islam, the “eternal and absolute word of God” 

Qur’an is Arabic for “recitation”. It is sacred poetry intended to be chanted or sung, rather than read silently.  

Considered untranslatable, so you have to read it in Arabic to read the true Qur’an 

Comprised of 114 suras (chapters) that reveal the nature of God and the inevitability of judgment and resurrection. Contains guidelines for everyday living. 

Jihad: 

Arabic for “struggle”. It really means the struggle within me to be good 

Greater Jihad- I want to contain the anger, lust, and other forms of indulgence within me to be a good person 

Lesser Jihad- struggle to expand Islam 

Sunni- Largest branch (90%) of Muslims today. Live throughout the world, but particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Indonesia, etc. They believe that religious leaders should be chosen from the faithful. 

Shia- (Shiites) make up about 10% of Muslims today. Live primarily in Iran and Iraq. They believe that only direct descendants of Muhammad should rule. They claim descent through Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law. 

Islamic Scholarship: 

During the Middle Ages (Dark Ages) in Europe, the only texts that were copied and preserved were Christian texts, by the monks in monasteries. Europe lost the Greek writings of Plato, Aristotle, Homer, etc.  

We have them today because Muslim scholars preserved them. 

When the Muslim scholars reintroduced the lost Greek and Roman texts to Europe, it launched a period of great learning in Europe called the Renaissance. 

Today, we use Arabic numbers, which the West learned from the Muslim scholars.  

Some of the most beautiful calligraphy in the world is Islamic calligraphy.  

Buddhism: 

Prince Siddhartha was raised in a luxurious palace with servants to wait on him 

One day, he went outside the palace gates and saw great human suffering. People were hungry and homeless. Troubled by this, he left his father’s palace to live in the wilderness 

He meditated for 6 years, finally achieving enlightenment while sitting under a bo (fig) tree. He learned the 4 Noble Truths 

He’ll eventually become the Buddha 

His followers teach that anyone can reach Buddhahood: the ability to see the ultimate nature of the world 

4 Noble Truths: 

1. Life is suffering 

2. This suffering has a cause, which is ignorance 

3. Ignorance can be overcome and eliminated 

4. The way to overcome this ignorance is by following the Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration 

Nirvana- right now, we are all human beings, the top level of the cycles. We’ve almost made it! If we can give up desires for material things, we can reach the state of bliss called Nirvana.  

Dhammapada: 

The most popular canonical text of Buddhism 

Comprised of 423 aphorisms (or sayings) attributed to the Buddha 

Ashoka- an emperor who was appalled by the death he had inflicted on a battlefield in 261 B.C.E. After watching a monk walking among the dead, Ashoka denounced violence and began to spread the nonviolent teachings of Buddha. 

Mandala- The whole is a mandala [Sanskrit: "circle"], which is how Buddhism understands the cosmos to be. 

In Buddhism, a mandala is a symbolic representation of the universe, often used in meditation and