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Analysis of the Torah
Primary Source
Great
Authors of the Western Literary Tradition 3/15/19
author/editor Walter
Antoniotti
enters on the history presented in this
Great Course
The Documentary
Hypothesis of Genesis
The Deuteronomistic History of Genesis
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Prelude
The Bible, the
official scripture (canon) of
Judaism, may be divided into three sections.
1. The
Torah,
consists of the first five books
2. "Prophets.”
3 “Writings”
is everything else.
1. "Torah" names the
most important books.
Attributed to Moses, most biblical
scholars agree that these books are the work of more than one author
because
God is referred to as Elohim
(usually translated “God") and as YHWH (usually translated as “The
Lord”). Also there are variations in vocabulary and style and
contrasting perspectives given by the different versions of the same
stories.
The Documentary
Hypothesis of Genesis
The Documentary Hypothesis
positions four main source documents
assembled in stages. “
1. Yahwist narrative” (usually called
J) written in the 10th or 9th century B.C.
2. “Elohist narrative” (E)
composed in the 9th century B.C.
3. Deuteronomy (D)
version written if the 7th century B.C.
4. Priestly source (P) dates
to the 6th or 5th century B.C.
In the 8th century B.C., an editor combined J and E.
The resulting (hypothetical) document is often called JE. Around 500
B.C., a second editor added P, producing JEP. Deuteronomy was added
to the first four books of the Torah around 400 B.C. These different
stages are reflected in differing styles, emphases, and the ological
viewpoints.
Creation Narrative
In Genesis 2:4b–3:24, the Yahwist creation narrative
has the Lord created man from dust, before there were plants. The
Lord planted a garden and placed the man in it but prohibited him
from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. The Lord then decided that the man needed a companion and made
all the animals and brought them to the man. Man named all the
animals, but “there was not found a helper as his partner.” Next,
the Lord cast the man into a deep sleep, removed a rib from his
body, and created a woman as the man’s companion. A serpent
persuaded the woman to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree and she,
persuaded her husband to eat, as well. This violation of the Lord’s
prohibition and led to the humans’ expulsion from Eden. This is
probably the most familiar part of the Genesis creation.
1. "Torah" names the
most important books.
Attributed to Moses, most biblical
scholars agree that these books are the work of more than one author
because
God is referred to as Elohim
(usually translated “God") and as YHWH (usually translated as “The
Lord”). Also there are variations in vocabulary and style and
contrasting perspectives given by the different versions of the same
stories.
The Documentary
Hypothesis of Genesis
In the 8th century B.C., an editor
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Genesis 1:1 through 2:4a differs both in emphasis and in desd
the sixth day, God creates land animals of all kinds, including
humans, both male and fe. Go gives the humans dominion over
other creatures and tells them they may eat every seed-yielding
fruit that contains seeds.
Differences
In the earlier Yahwist J
account, the order is man, plants, animals, woman. In the later
Priestly
P account, the order is
plants, animals, humans (male and female). The Lord of the J
narrative is strongly anthropomorphic; he walks in the garden and
speaks directly to Adam and Eve.
God of the P narrative is far less
anthropomorphic and male and female humans are created at the
same time. There is no etiology of female submission; both are given
“dominion” over the earth.
P narrative is far more focused on
cosmology and the creation of the whole universe than the J
narrative, which focuses mainly on human beings and their fall from
primeval happiness. The J narrative also provides etiologies
for the harsh realities of human existence, including the necessity
of work and the pain of childbearing; the P narrative does not
address these issues at all.
The Mesopotamian Enuma Elish has a
creation narrative is strikingly similar to the P creation
narrative. In the
Enuma Elish, the
original state of the universe is a watery chaos. This chaos is
composed of two deities, Apsu (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water).
As they are mingled together, other gods are born out of them,
beginning with a pair who represents silt. Several generations
later, the story culminates in a war among many gods. The young god
Marduk emerges
victorious. The cosmos attains recognizable form when Marduk kills
Tiamat and divides her body in two. Marduk makes the sky out of one
part of Tiamat’s body and the earth out of the other.
It is possible that the author(s) of P
wrote in intentional contrast to the
Enuma Elish.
Elish
P is normally dated to the
period after the Babylonian Exile of the Jews (586–538 B.C.). A
creation story reworking the Babylonian material into a form
consonant with Jewish belief would make good sense. The P story of
humans’ creation can also be read in contrast to the Mesopotamian
version, where humans are created to work for the gods.
Importance
The Documentary Hypothesis
covers not only Genesis but also the rest of the Torah. In recent
years, the Documentary Hypothesis itself has come in for criticism
and revision, but the complexity of the narrative tradition out of
which the Pentateuch grew seems undeniable.
The Torah contains many foundational stories of both
Judaism and Christianity. Genesis is rich in memorable and
influential stories and it is with Abraham that the Lord makes a
covenant and becomes a god specifically of the Hebrew people.
Exodus through Deuteronomy focus on Moses as
hero, leader, and lawgiver. He receives direct visions of God but is
at first unwilling to accept the task required of him. He is the
recipient and spokesman of the Ten Commandments and the leader of
the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. He leads his people
within sight of the Promised Land but cannot reach it himself.
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The
Documentary Hypothesis
positions four main source
documents
assembled in stages.
“
1. Yahwist narrative” (usually called
J) written in the 10th or 9th century B.C.
2. “Elohist narrative”
(E) composed in the 9th century
B.C.
3. Deuteronomy (D)
version written if the 7th century B.C.
4. Priestly source (P) dates
to the 6th or 5th century B.C.
combined J and E.
The resulting (hypothetical) document is often called JE. Around 500
B.C., a second editor added P, producing JEP. Deuteronomy was added
to the first four books of the Torah around 400 B.C. These different
stages are reflected in differing styles, emphases, and the ological
viewpoints.
Creation Narrative
In Genesis 2:4b–3:24, the Yahwist creation narrative
has the Lord created man from dust, before there were plants. The
Lord planted a garden and placed the man in it but prohibited him
from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. The Lord then decided that the man needed a companion and made
all the animals and brought them to the man. Man named all the
animals, but “there was not found a helper as his partner.” Next,
the Lord cast the man into a deep sleep, removed a rib from his
body, and created a woman as the man’s companion. A serpent
persuaded the woman to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree and she,
persuaded her husband to eat, as well. This violation of the Lord’s
prohibition and led to the humans’ expulsion from Eden. This is
probably the most familiar part of the Genesis creation.
Genesis 1:1 through 2:4a differs both in emphasis and in details.
This Priestly account, recount the creation of the whole cosmos
from a formless void. Then, on the second day God creates light and
separated the primeval waters by creating the dome of the sky. God
creates the dry land (earth) and the plants on the third day. On the
fourth day, the sun and the moon were created. The Lord had
established the environment in which both animals and humans could
live. God creates swimming and flying creatures on the fifth day. On
the sixth day, God creates land animals of all kinds, including
humans, both male and female. God gives the humans dominion over
other creatures and tells them they may eat every seed-yielding
fruit that contains seeds.
|
Differences
In the earlier Yahwist J
account, the order is man, plants, animals, woman. In the later
Priestly
P account, the order is
plants, animals, humans (male and female). The Lord of the J
narrative is strongly anthropomorphic; he walks in the garden and
speaks directly to Adam and Eve.
God of the P narrative is far less
anthropomorphic and male and female humans are created at the
same time. There is no etiology of female submission; both are given
“dominion” over the earth.
P narrative is far more focused on
cosmology and the creation of the whole universe than the J
narrative, which focuses mainly on human beings and their fall from
primeval happiness. The J narrative also provides etiologies
for the harsh realities of human existence, including the necessity
of work and the pain of childbearing; the P narrative does not
address these issues at all.
The Mesopotamian Enuma Elish
has a
creation narrative is strikingly similar to the P creation
narrative. In the
Enuma Elish, the
original state of the universe is a watery chaos. This chaos is
composed of two deities, Apsu (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water).
As they are mingled together, other gods are born out of them,
beginning with a pair who represents silt. Several generations
later, the story culminates in a war among many gods. The young god
Marduk emerges
victorious. The cosmos attains recognizable form when Marduk kills
Tiamat and divides her body in two. Marduk makes the sky out of one
part of Tiamat’s body and the earth out of the other.
It is possible that the author(s) of P
wrote in intentional contrast to the
Enuma Elish.
Elish
P is normally dated to the
period after the Babylonian Exile of the Jews (586–538 B.C.). A
creation story reworking the Babylonian material into a form
consonant with Jewish belief would make good sense. The P story of
humans’ creation can also be read in contrast to the Mesopotamian
version, where humans are created to work for the gods.
Importance
The Documentary Hypothesis
covers not only Genesis but also the rest of the Torah. In recent
years, the Documentary Hypothesis itself has come in for criticism
and revision, but the complexity of the narrative tradition out of
which the Pentateuch grew seems undeniable.
The Torah contains many foundational stories of both
Judaism and Christianity. Genesis is rich in memorable and
influential stories and it is with Abraham that the Lord makes a
covenant and becomes a god specifically of the Hebrew people.
Exodus through Deuteronomy focus on Moses as
hero, leader, and lawgiver. He receives direct visions of God but is
at first unwilling to accept the task required of him. He is the
recipient and spokesman of the Ten Commandments and the leader of
the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. He leads his people
within sight of the Promised Land but cannot reach it himself.
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The Deuteronomistic History
The Book of Deuteronomy
looks back to the Torah and forward into earlier Prophets and Latter Prophets.
The
Deuteronomistic History combines the books of
Deuteronomy through 2 Kings. It narrates the end of Moses’s life and
leadership.
Deuteronomy or
“Second Law” refines and amplifies the Law presented earlier in the
Torah.
The book’s current form probably dates to the 7th
century B.C.
Deuteronomy covers forms of religious worship, political
institutions, and legal statutes. It assumes that Israel suffers or
flourishes depending on its people’s obedience to God and to the
Mosaic covenant.
It
is modeled on ancient Near Eastern treaties of mutual obligation
where the vassal is protected in return for loyalty and obedience.
In this view God's covenant is a promises to reward good behavior
and to punish bad behavior. The Ten Commandments can be seen as
fitting into this “treaty” framework.
“Thou shalt have no
other gods before me,” reflects the vassal’s standard oath of
loyalty.
Deuteronomistic History positions that Deuteronomy
itself was edited to serve as an introduction to the next four books
of the Bible. It further claims that a single editor (or school)
compiled these five books. Another version of the theory
positions successive editions of the Deuteronomistic History from
the 7th century B.C. (700 to 601) and continuing into the period of
the Babylonian Exile (captivity) beginning in 597 BC.
Questions
Why did the Israelites adopt monarchy as their form of government?
Why did the United Monarchy, founded by Saul and reaching a high
point under David and Solomon,
divide into two parts, Israel in the North, Judah in the South?
Why did Assyria conquer the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C.?
Most troubling of all, why did the Babylonians succeed in subduing
Judah and capturing Jerusalem?
The Deuteronomistic History portrays these events as
the consequences of vassals’ disobedience.
Various leadership stories of different leaders culminating in the
establishment of the monarchy and the Davidic line, are all directed
toward explaining the ultimate destruction of the always questioned
monarchy.
The Deuteronomistic History is as much a work of
literature as of “history.”
There are historical facts embedded in the story. The 5 books were
written long after the events they describe.
Writers had to draw on their own imaginations to describe characters
and events. “Fictionalized history” is a term used to describe the Hebrew Bible.
Stories of David” are like Shakespeare’s approach to
Henry V.
A similar comparison can be made with “Homer’s” relationship to his
material.
Compiled and arranged to explain the monarchy and
God’s hand in history,
it has important implications for our understanding of the monarchy
and
of the roles of the most famous kings, as seen David and Bathsheba
(2 Samuel 11–12).
Here, David is not admirable. His contradicts a
king’s military duty
by being idle at home while his troops are off at war.
He contradicts a king’s civic duty by seducing Bathsheba, the
wife of a soldiers.
We are not told what Bathsheba wants or whether David gave her a
choice.
Her message to David that she is pregnant is the only time she
communicates. Eventually David puts the soldier into battle where he dies and
David marries
Bathsheba. A prophet sent by the Lord who rebukes David. David grows
angry,
the prophet predicts evils to come in David’s family and David admits his
guilt.
The profit predicts Bathsheba's baby will die.
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Analysis
Perhaps, because David’s crimes were remembered by
the tradition, the author “had” to include them.
However, the author could have tried to explain these traditional
details away.
Instead, the author stresses the cruelty and deceit of David’s
actions.
Perhaps the author wants to remind us that the
legitimacy of the king does not depend
on his own ethical behavior. Though anointed by God, David is
fallible and at times, evil.
Perhaps such stories serve as reminders of the
dangers inherent in even a good king’s rule.
The Deuteronomistic History presents a multifaceted
view of kingship.
The books of the Deuteronomistic History were written for
retroactive effect
to explain not what went right in the monarchy so much as what went
wrong. The idea that God rewards good behavior and punishes
bad underlies the nature of
good and bad fortune and is often called the
Deuteronmist Theology.
Deuteronomistic
Theology.
In this
worldview, good fortune is evidence of righteousness, while bad
fortune is evidence that one did wrong.
With the conquest of Judah the question arose, what have we done
wrong to deserve this?
The Deuteronomistic History’s development of the monarchy attempts
to answer this question.
Most important, the people tended to fall into
idolatry and to worship other gods.
One fascinating point here is that the other gods are not denied or
seen as meaningless.
Even in the Ten Commandments, the prohibition on having any other
god
before
God
does not necessarily imply monotheism.
Turning to other gods is seen as breaking the treaty’s requirement
of loyalty to one’s overlord.
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2. Prophets
The Former Prophets include the Books of Joshua,
Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. The Latter
Prophets are the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 “minor
prophets.”
The role
of the Hebrew prophet in the monarchy depended upon the time periods
represented by the prophecy of interest.
The Latter Prophets reflect the sayings of
spokesmen, or wise men considered intermediaries between God and
his people. These oral sayings were recorded and later edited, annotated, and augmented to
formed a nucleus around which the books developed. They did not
assume canonical form until the 5th through 3rd centuries B.C.
The Greek
prophētēs
indicates an interpreter or proclaimer who “speaks
forth” God’s word. Hebrew prophets did not necessarily
foresee or predict future events. They were messengers. Prophets were less concerned with
predicting the future than with analyzing present people and
their behavior in in terms of God’s requirements. Nathan’s
rebuke to David in 2 Samuel 12 is a good example. This rebuke
ends with a prediction of the future, but Nathan’s main purpose
is to chastise David’s present behavior.
However, Christian theologians interpreted the
prophets as foretelling the coming of Christ. To understand
the influence of prophets on the Western literary, we
must consider how these texts were interpreted both at the time
they were written and later when they had influence.
Four Major Periods of
Prophetic Activity
In the early monarchical period (11th through
9th centuries B.C.), prophets advise and warned kings. Local
prophets, advised individuals and communities The advent of
the monarchy meant prophets could announce that God had chosen
an individual to be king or had rejected a king for wrongdoing.
During the 8th century B.C., the
prophets’ role changed from “kingmaker” to public adviser.
Social justice and religious practice issues were their concerns.
The Assyrian Empire had destroyed the Northern Kingdom (Israel)
and subjugated the Southern Kingdom (Judah). Prophets
interpreted these events as signs of God’s judgment against the
Hebrew people.
The Babylonian exile had the prophets
providing hope for an eventual return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding
of the Temple.
In post-exilic period, Cyrus of Persia
allowed the Jews to return to Judah. The main issue the
prophets addressed was the challenge of reestablishing a
community in postexilic conditions. Community’s identity, social
organization, and resistance to assimilation were concerns. |
Prophet Isaiah's Three
different Time periods: First, Second, and Third Isaiah.
Isaiah (chapters 1–39) represent the life of
Isaiah who lived in the late 8th and/or early 7th centuries B.C. Chapters 40 through 66 dates to the 6th
century B.C. because these chapters refer to the fall of
Jerusalem and the deportation of the people.
Third Isaiah may be
post-exilic.
One reappearing theme of these historical
events reflect God’s plan of the
Deuteronomistic History. An examples is the similar actions of great
empires, such as the Assyrian Empire in the 8th century B.C. and
the Babylonian and Persian Empires in the 6th century B.C.
Isaiah represents the manner in which the
prophet’s words were gathered in his own day and the process by
which they were reinterpreted and reapplied in later periods. In
his own day, Isaiah’s descriptions of hostile and threatening
foreign powers must have referred to the Assyrians. Later, these
descriptions were applied to the Babylonian conquest of Judah.
In its final redaction, the contrast between “worldly”
governments and the Jewish people is highlighted by the primacy
of Jerusalem and the expectation of a righteous “anointed
leader.”
Second Isaiah’s depicts God as the only
god, the universal God of all peoples, not just a god
of the people covered by the covenant. In 45:5–7 Isaiah thus
articulates true monotheism.
In chapters 44 and 45, Cyrus is referred to as
God’s “anointed,” who will carry out God’s purpose. Cyrus is
identified as the/a messiah, an anointed one. This is the
only biblical passage where the term
messiah
refers to someone
who is not an Israelite.
Christian reinterpretation and reapplication
of Isaiah was a rich source for predictions concerning Christ. One
of the most important verses in this regard is 7:14: “Look, the
x
woman is with
child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”
Matthew 7:14 and later Christian works refer to
X,
Mary, as a virgin.
The
Greek translation of X is based upon
parthenos, a “young
unmarried
woman,”
The Revised Standard Version uses Hebrew
almah,
“young woman”
Hebrew for virgin
is
bethulah.
Another crucial passage for later Christian
thought was the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53:3–9. Early
Christian writers identified these verses with Christ,
especially with his Passion. The “suffering servant” of Isaiah
lent support to the developing idea of an atoning Messiah,
rather than a triumphant Messiah.
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3. The
Writings
This wisdom literature, developed after the exile, has
important books such as Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. They meditate
on the nature and place of justice in the world. Ecclesiastes
casts doubt on assumption of Deuteronomistic Theology that
righteousness is rewarded and evil punished. The Book of Job
poses the strongest questioning of the Deuteronomistic Theology
of any text in the Hebrew Bible.
The Torah’s composition and importance
require further analysis. The creation story addresses questions about the composition of Genesis, the
Torah, and the Bible.
Tradition attributes the Torah to Moses, but
most biblical scholars agree to more than one author because of
Variations in ways of referring to God, as
Elohim
(usually translated “God”) and as
YHWH (usually translated as “The Lord”) plus Variations in
vocabulary/ style plus contrasting perspectives given
different versions of the same stories.
The Genesis 2:4b–3:24 creation narrative has the Lord
created man from the dust before there were plants on the earth.
The Lord planted a garden and placed the man in it but
prohibited him from eating the fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. The Lord felt man needed a companion
so all the animals were created no helper was found so the Lord
created a woman companion. The serpent persuaded the woman
to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. She, persuaded her
husband to eat fruit. This violation of the Lord’s prohibition
led to the humans’ expulsion from Eden.
The Genesis 1:1 through 2:4 creation
narrative differs in
emphasis and details. It recount the creation of
the whole cosmos. There is a formless void and then God
creates light, separates the primeval waters by creating the
dome of the sky. On the second day, God creates the dry land
(earth) and on the third day, the plants. On the fourth day
God creates the sun and the moon. On the fifth day, having
established a proper environment, God creates swimming and
flying creatures. Day six brings
humans and other
animals. God gives the humans dominion over other creatures. He
tells them they may eat every seed-yielding plant and any fruit
that contains a seed. |
|
Differences
In the earlier account, the order is man,
plants, animals, woman. In the later account, the order is
plants, animals, humans. In one narrative the Lord is
strongly anthropomorphic or human-like and walks in the garden
speaking directly to Adam and Eve. In another God creates man
and woman a the same time, and there is no causation of female
submission as both are given “dominion” over the earth.
One depicts the harsh realities of human existence, including
the necessity of work and the pain of childbearing the other
narrative does not address these issues.
The creation narrative of the Mesopotamian
Enuma Elish, is
similar to one Bible account, as the original state of the
universe is a watery chaos composed of fresh and salt water
deities. Mingling they create other gods beginning with a pair
representing silt. The cosmos attains recognizable form when
God Marduk kills Tiamat and divides her body in two. Marduk
makes the sky out of one part of Tiamat’s body and the earth out
of the other. |
|
The
Turbulent Years
2nd century begins the concept of
Original Sin
which according to Augustine, consists of the guilt of Adam
which all humans inherit . It was first alluded to in the by
Irenaeus,
Bishop of Lyon in his controversy with certain
dualist
Gnostics.
325
Council
of Nicaea
What
Happened at the Council of Nicaea?
400
Jerome Vulgate
translates the Greek bible into Latin.
1054 The Great East-West Schism
occurred when relations between the East and West which had long been embittered by
ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.
because prominent issues such as then source of the Holy Spirit ("filioque"),
whether leavened or
unleavened bread should be used in the
Eucharist,[5]
the Pope's claim to
universal jurisdiction, and the place of
Constantinople in relation to the
Pentarchy.[6] came
to a head. 1096 The
First Crusade was a military expedition by
Roman Catholic
Europe to regain the
Holy Lands
taken in the
Muslim conquests of the
Levant
(632–661). It ultimately resulting in the
recapture of Jerusalem in 1099.
1134 Medieval
Inquisition was a series of
Inquisitions (Catholic
Church bodies charged with suppressing
heresy) from
around 1184 including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230s) and later
the Papal Inquisition (1230s). The
Medieval Inquisition was established in response to large popular movements
throughout Europe considered
apostate
or
heretical to
Christianity, in particular
Catharism
and
Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy. These were the first
inquisition movements of many that would follow.
1271 The Last (Ninth) Crusade
considered to be the last major
medieval
Crusade to the
Holy Land
ended in
1272. Edward finally reached England in the summer of 1274 and was
crowned King of England on August 19, 1274. He had been
accompanied by Theobald Visconti who became
Pope Gregory X in 1271. Gregory called for a new crusade at the
Council of Lyons in 1274 but nothing came of this. Meanwhile,
new fissures arose within the Christian states when
Charles of Anjou took advantage of a dispute between
Hugh III, the
Knights Templar and the
Venetians in order to bring the remaining Christian state under
his control. Having bought
Mary of Antioch's claims to the
Kingdom of Jerusalem, he attacked Hugh III causing a
civil war within the rump kingdom. In 1277,
Roger of San Severino captured Acre for Charles.
1413
Lollard Rebellion was a
political and religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century to
the
English Reformation. The term "Lollard" refers to the followers of
John
Wycliffe,[1]
a prominent
theologian who was dismissed from the
University of Oxford in 1381 for criticism of the
Church and especially in his doctrine on the
Eucharist.
The Lollards' demands were primarily for reform of
Western Christianity.
1481
Spanish Inquisition began
when the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the
Inquisition established by
Catholic Monarchs,
Ferdinand II of Aragon and
Isabella I of Castile to maintain
Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the
Medieval Inquisition which was under Papal control. Assets
confiscated were used for the
Reconquista which finally expelled Muslims from these 700 years of
dominance. Editors Note: Hitler did the same so what
goes around comes around. It became
the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the
wider
Christian Inquisition alonmay have g with the
Roman Inquisition and
Portuguese Inquisition.
Inquisition were originally
intended in large part to ensure the
orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam and
regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after
the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and
Muslims to convert or leave. Motives proposed for the monarchs'
decision to fund the Inquisition included increased political
authority, weakening opposition, suppressing
conversos, profiting from confiscation of the property of
convicted heretics, reducing social tensions and protecting the
kingdom from the danger of a
fifth column.
Please Share! |
The Reform
Years
1450's Gutenberg
Printed Bible
added to the interesting
history
of communicating religious
information to the masses.
1517 Luther's
Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and
Efficacy of Indulgences
was written and is widely regarded as the initial catalyst for the
Protestant Reformation. There were other
causes for the turmoil and
Luther and Anti-Semitism would not be surpassed until the rise
of Adolph Hitler.
The
Reformation
144 minaudio
1618
The Thirty Years War was
a series of wars fought in
Central Europe involving most of
Europe.
It. was
one of the longest and
most destructive conflicts in
European history. Conflict origins and participant goals were complex.
Originally it was fought as
a
religious war between
Protestants and
Catholics of the
Holy Roman Empire. Disputes over internal politics and the
balance of power within the Empire also played a significant role. The war to
some extent ended the brutality caused competition Christian religions sects. In
1565
Fort-Caroline Massacre is one of many.
"A major consequence of the Thirty Years' War
was the devastation of entire regions, denuded by the foraging
armies (bellum
se ipsum alet). Famine and disease significantly decreased
the population of the German state
Bohemia, the
Low Countries and Italy; most of the combatant powers were
bankrupted." The problem of discipline was made
more difficult by the "ad hoc nature of
17th-century military financing; armies were expected to be largely
self-funding by means of loot taken or
tribute
extorted from the settlements where they operated. This
encouraged a form of lawlessness that imposed severe hardship on
inhabitants of the occupied territory." "Some of the quarrels that
provoked the war went unresolved for a much longer time."
Money lending and the origins of
anti-Semitism
"We study the role of economic incentives in shaping the
coexistence of Jews, Catholics, and Protestants, using novel
data from Germany for 1,000+ cities. The Catholic usury ban
and higher literacy rates gave Jews a specific advantage in
the money lending sector. Following the Protestant
Reformation (1517), the Jews lost these advantages in
regions that became Protestant. We show (i) a change in the
geography of anti-Semitism with persecutions of Jews and
anti-Jewish publications becoming more common in Protestant
areas relative to Catholic areas; (ii) a more pronounced
change in cities where Jews had already established
themselves as moneylenders. These findings are consistent
with the interpretation that, following the Protestant
Reformation, Jews living in Protestant regions were exposed
to competition with the Christian majority, especially in
money lending, leading to an increase in anti-Semitism.
That is from
a new AER piece by S. O. Becker and Luigi Pascali."
Editor's Note: As pointed out
in the many comments made, this is only part of the story.
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1776 U.S. Founding Fathers Religious Beliefs Differ
Franklin and Jefferson were
deists in that they believed "that
reason and
observation of the
natural world are sufficient to determine the existence of God, accompanied
with the rejection of
revelation
and authority as a source of religious knowledge."
Washington harbored a
pantheistic sense of providential destiny,
John Adams began a
Congregationalist and ended a
Unitarian, Hamilton was a lukewarm Anglican for most of his life but
embraced a more actively Christian posture after his son died in a duel.
Editors Note: Hamilton was the Dick Chaney of his day.
1840's Abolition
Splits Some US Churches "One of the legacies of the Second
Great Awakening was the Abolitionist Movement, the coalition of whites and
blacks opposed to slavery. To support their cause, they frequently quoted Jesus'
statements about treating others with respect and love. White Christians in the
south, however, did not view slavery as a sin. Rather, their leaders were able
to quote many Biblical passages in support of slavery. The Civil War and the
divide over the question of slavery thus began in the nation's churches, a
decade before fighting began on the battlefields."
1870 Papal
Infallibility,
"
dogma of the
Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of
Jesus to Peter, the
Pope is
preserved from the possibility of error[1]
"when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all
Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines
a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole
Church".[2]
This doctrine was defined dogmatically in the
First Vatican Council of 1869–e
that, appearing already in medieval tradition and becoming the
majority opinion at the time of the
Counter-Reformation."
Islam Also Sprang
from Abraham
Islam
is a
monotheistic and
Abrahamic
religion articulated by the
Qur'an, a
book considered by its adherents to be the
verbatim word of
God and by the teachings and normative example (called
the
Sunnah and composed of
Hadith) of
Muhammad, considered by them to be the last
prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a
Muslim.
Sharia is
their moral code and relegiouse law.
Muslims believe that God is
one and incomparable and the
purpose of existence is to love and serve God.[1]
Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and
universal version of a
primordial faith that was revealed at many times and
places before, including through
Abraham,
Moses and
Jesus, whom they consider
prophets.
They maintain that the previous messages and
revelations have been partially
misinterpreted or altered over time,
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but consider the Arabic Qur'an
to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God. Religious
concepts and practices include the
five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and obligatory acts
of
worship, and following
Islamic
law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society,
providing guidance on multifarious topics from
banking and
welfare, to
warfare and the
environment.
" Muslims revere Jesus as a uniquely inspired prophet who was born of
the Virgin Mary, ascended to heaven and will come again. Yet Muslims
cannot accept that Jesus was the son of God. This, they believe,
reflects a flawed view of both Jesus and God. As Ms Siddiqui shows,
Christians and Muslims sparred with one another intensely during the
early centuries after Islam’s rise, with each side vying to be the
ultimate revelation of God. But the two faiths did at least grudgingly
acknowledge one another as monotheistic, despite Islam’s firm rejection
of the Christian view of God as a trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
Source See
Muslim Heritage
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