Emergence of Monotheistic Religions

judaism• According to the Hebrew conception, there is but

one God, whom they call YHWH.

• God is the creator of the world and everything in it. All the gods of all other peoples were simply idols.

• The Hebrew God was totally sovereign and ruled the world; he was subject to nothing. All peoples were his servants, whether they knew it or not.

• This God was also transcendent. He had created nature but was not in nature. The stars, moon, rivers, wind, and other natural phenomena were not divinities or suffused with divinity, but God’s handiwork.

judaism

• Secondly, this omnipotent creator of the universe was not removed from the life he had created, however, but was a just and good God who expected goodness from his own people.

• Judaism also emphasized individual worth.

• Each person, possessed of moral freedom had the ability to choose between good and evil.

• Through Moses and other holy men, God had made know his commandments, his ideals of behaviour.

• True freedom consisted of accepting God’s ethical norms voluntarily.

judaism

• Lastly, the Hebrew conception of God was closely related to three aspects of the Hebrew religious tradition that have special significance: the covenant, law, and the prophets.

• Covenant: Moses and the 12 commandments= entering contract or covenant with God.

• Hebrews promised to obey YHWH and follow his law. In return, YHWH promised take special care of his chose people or “a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.”

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• Law: A crucial element of the Hebrew world. In some cases it set for specific requirements, such as payments for offenses.

• Most important were the ethical concerns that stood at the center of the law.

• The prophets: they supposedly had special communion with God and felt called upon to serve as his voice to his people.

judaic terms• Torah: (in Judaism) the law of God as revealed to

Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).

• Talmud: the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law and legend comprising the Mishnah and the Gemara.

• The Mishnah: an authoritative collection of exegetical material embodying the oral tradition of Jewish law and forming the first part of the Talmud.

• The Gemara: a rabbinical commentary on the Mishnah, forming the second part of the Talmud.

Studying the Torah

tefillin

the jesus cult

the cult of jesus:the jewish background

• Sadducee: rejected the possibility of personal immortality and favored cooperation with the Romans.

• Pharisees: liberal approach to Jewish law, believed in the afterlife, and wanted to liberate Judea from Roman control.

• Essenes: lived in a religious community near the Dead Sea who awaited the coming messiah.

• Zealots: militant extremists who advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule.

the cult of jesus:the jewish background

• Yeshua ben Yusef (c. 6 BCE - 29 CE)

• The transformation of the inner person

• To love God and one another

• Sermon on the Mount: presentation of ethical concepts:

✴ humility, charity and brotherly love.