Description
Abbasaid Empire: Created in 750 of the Christian Era, named after Muhammad’s youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd AlMuttalib. Changed the capital to Madinat alSalam (City of Peace). Mongols conquered it and it destabilised in 1258.
Abu Bakr: Father in law of Muhammad, rules from 632 to 634. A rightly first guided caliph. Abu Talib: Leader of the Hashim, Quresh clan, Muhammad’s uncle, 549 – 619. Allowed Muhammad a job in his trading company.
Abraham: Father of Isaac, ancestor of the Jews, and Ishmael, ancestor of the Muslims. Commanded by God to purify his house in Mecca. God calls him to leave his land to look for the promised land. No clear birthplace, placed at about the second millennium BCE. Acculturation: Describes the process of cultural and psychological change that occurs as two cultures meet.
Aisha: Called mother of believers, one of the wives of Muhammad, married at 9 years old. Continued his message throughout the rain of the Caliphs. Led a battle on her camel and lost.
Don't forget about the age old question of What is stagflation?
Al Baqir: The 5th and 4th imam, Revered by Shia Muslims and respected by Sunni Muslims for his knowledge and Islamic knowledge, leading jurist in Medina. 676 – 733 Al Ghazali: Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic of Persian decent. Single most influential Muslim after the prophet. Brought Sufism back into the orthodox Muslim path. Lived when the Muslim Ummah was approaching 500 years.
Ali: Cousin and son in law of the prophet. Chosen as the 4th caliph, assassinated, leadership disputed. His sons were both assassinated, and that started the faction the Shi’ites. Reign from 656 – 661
Angelican: a tradition within Christianity comprising of the Church of England. Comes from a Latin term meaning English Church. Founded by scriptures, and the traditions of the Aposolitic Church.
Don't forget about the age old question of What is the purpose of a victims rights amendment?
Antiochus Epiphanes IV: Ruled the Seleucid empire from 175 BC – 164 BC. Son of Antiochus III The Great. Near conquest of Egypt started the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees. First king to use divine epithets on coins. We also discuss several other topics like What is export model?
Apostles: After his resurrection Jesus sent 11 of them to spread his teachings. Resulted in the Canon, accepted sacred writings of the New Testament, the Apostle’s creed, and the structure of clergy leadership. Don't forget about the age old question of What is pre-testing?
Archbishop of Canterbury: The senior bishop of the Church of England, symbolic head worldwide of the Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Canterbury. Arius: Christian priest in Alexandria, Egypt. He was of Libyan origins. Taught about the nature of the God Heads which emphasize a father’s divinity over that of his son. Primary topic of Council of Nicea, convened by Constantine in 325 AD. Don't forget about the age old question of Who are you more and least likely to be murdered by?
Asia Minor: Modern turkey, denotes the westernmost protrusion of Asia. Ashkenazi: trace origins back to the tribe of Israelites of Canaan in the middle east. Names comes from Ashkenaz, the first son of Gomer.
Assyrians: People from Assyria, a Semitic Akkadian kingdom position on the north Tigris river. Late 25th to early 24th century BC. Came to rule a number of powerful empires. Athanasius: 20th bishop of Alexandria , lasted for 45 years, a renowned Christian theologian , exiled for 17 years by 5 different roman emperors. Remembered for his role in the conflict with Arius.
Augustine: A father of the church whose writings are considered very influential in Christian philosophy. He was a Bishop of Hippo.
Ayatollah Khomeini: Iranian religious leader and politician, leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Supreme leader of Iran til death.
Benedict XVI: Leader of the catholic church, pope and sovereign of the Vatican between 2005 and 2013.
Baal : northwest Semitic title meaning “master” or “lord”
Asherah: Semitic mother goddess appearing in ancient sources of Akkadian writings. Baal Shem Tov: a mystical rabbi considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Name meaning Master of the Good Name. We also discuss several other topics like What is beta-lactam ring?
Battle of Badr: Fought 623 CE in the Hejaz region of Arabia. Decisive victory due to divine intervention. Killed several Quraishi leaders by breaking the Meccan lines. Signalled that there’s a new power in the Arabian Peninsula. Strengthening Muhammad’s position as leader.
Battle of Karbalah: 61 AH, in Karbalah, present day Iraq. Hussein refused to recognize Yazid, a small group of Hussein supporters versus an army detachment of Yazid fought ending in Hussein’s death. Considered a Martyr for Shi’ite islam.
Battle of Sifin: 657 CE. Occurred during the first Fitna. Fought on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Syria. The battle was indecisive, weakened Ali’s position and did not resolve the tensions in the empire.
Battle of Uhud: Fought in 625 AH fought at the valley located in front of mount Uhud in northwestern Arabia. Between Muhammad’s Medina and ibn Harb of Mecca. The second battle between the muslims and meccans. A mistake by the archers almost caused the Muslims the battle causing them to retreat up the mountain, Meccan’s declared victory. Muhammad badly injured in the battle.
Babs: a religious movement from Persia from 1844 to 1852 , title means gates. Babylonians: Ancient Akkadian speaking Semitic nation based in current day Iraq. 1894 BC emergence . Rival state of Assyria.
Bar Kochba Revolt: Third major revolt of the Jews against Roman Empire. Last of Jewish Roman Wars. Simon Bar Kochba was commander. 132 – 136 CE, the Roman victory saw the banning of Jews from Jerusalem. Aftermath of the war differentiated Christianity from Judaism as a distinct religion.
Caliph: Ruler of the Islamic Ummah, head of state of a Caliphate, derived from word meaning successor or representative.
John Calvin: A French theologian and pastor during the Protestant reformation. He was a principle figure in development of Calvinism. He was influenced by Augestinian traditions. Led him to expand sovereignty of god in looking for human salvation from eternal damnation
Canaan: a Semitic speaking religion in current day Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. 4th millennium BC. Canaanite nations of the bronze and iron ages are mention in the bible. Chalcedon: ancient maritime town in Asia. Now distinct city of Istanbul. Greek name meaning “New Town”.
Christotokos: Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Means Christbearer.
Circumcision: Surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis. Taken up by jews as a physical sign of their covenant with god.
Conservative Judaism: Arose in the early 1900, modern stream of Ashkenazi Judaism. Developed as a reaction to more liberal views taken by reformed Judaism. Means that Jews should try to conserve Jewish tradition rather than abandon then.
Constantine: Roman emperor from 306 to 337, first Roman emperor to be converted to Christianity. Tolerance for all religions in empire.
Constantinople: Founded in 330 AD, it was the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, Latin and Ottoman empire.
Covenant : an alliance or agreement, between God and humanity or religious communities. Abrahamic religions.
Crucifixion: painful method of execution, tied or nailed to a cross, left to hang until dead. Abolished by Constantine I in 337.
Crusades: Religiously motivated military campaigns to restore Christianity to holy areas near Jerusalem. Ordered by pope Urban II , conducted between 1095 and 1291 against muslims in the Levant.
Cyrus: Founder of the Achaemenid empire. Eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia. He respected the religions and customs of the lands that he conquered. Recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics and military strategy. Defined national identity of Iran.
Cyril: Christian missionary born in the 9th century among the Slavic People. Devised the Glagolitic alphabet, writing Apostles to the Slavs which contributed to the cultural development of the Slavs. Pope John Paul II declared him copatron saint of Europe. Damascus: nicknamed City of Jasmine, Capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 – 750. First settled in the second millennium BC.
Dar alHarb: House of war. House of the west. A country where muslim law is not in force in the matter of worship.
David: Second king of the United Kingdom of Israel. An ancestor of Jesus. Considered to be a prophet and king of a nation. Righteous.
Dead Sea: historically a place of Refuge for King David. It is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the East and Israel to the West.
Dhikr: The remembrance of god. Islamic devotional act typically involving the recitation of the Names of God. Silent Prayer.
Diet of Worms: an imperial diet, or assembly, of the Holy Roman Empire held in Worms, Germany. January to May 1521. Effects of Protestant reformations.
Diaspora Judaism: the historical dispersion of Jews from the Kingdom of Judah. Began in the 6th century BCE due to conquest of the Kingdom by Babylon and the destruction of the first temple. Three groups of Jews, Babylon, Egypt, Judaea.
Divided Monarchy: The split of the United kingdom into Israel in the North and Judah in the south. 921 BCE.
Docetism: the doctrine according to which the phenomenon of Christ, was just mere semblance without true reality.
Dome of the Rock: A shrine located on the temple mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Completed in 291 CE, it’s been refurbished multiple times. Religious significance is due to the rock at the centre, known as the foundation stone.
Ecumenism: initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. Single church. Derived from Greek, “The whole inhabited word”. Used for reference to the Roman Empire. Edict of Milan: Constantine I and Licinius, controlling the Roman Empire and the Balkans met in Milan and agreed to treat Christians benevolently.
Elijah Muhammad: The African American religious leader who led the nation of Islam between 1934 until 1975.
Episcopalians: Members of the Anglican church use this word meaning having bishops in their name.
Excommunication: religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. Like in the Catholic church.
Exodus: Story of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt following the death of Joseph, their departure under the leadership of Moses, the revelations at Sinai, and their wanderings up to the borders of Canaan.
Ezra: Ezra the Scribe, He returned from Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem. His name means “God Help”.
Fana: A Sufi term for dissolution or annihilation of the self. A state of enlightenment, intrinsic unity between Allah and all that exists.
Fatima: A title for the virgin Mary due to her reputed apparitions to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917. Filioque: Latin for “and the Son”, used in Western Christian Churches, found in Nicene Creed.
Ali ibn Abu Talib: The beloved, 600661, first Imam, rightful successor of the prophet Hasan ibn Ali: The chosen, 624670, eldest surviving grandson of Muhammad through Muhammad’s daughter Fatima
Husayn ibn Ali: Master of the Martyrs, 626 – 680, grandson of Muhammad and brother of Hasan ibn Ali. Opposed Caliph Yazid.
Ali ibn Husayn: One who constantly prostrates ornaments of the worshippers, 658712. Author of prayers in Shahifa al sajjadiyya.
Solomon’s Temple: holy temple in ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount Zion. Destroyed during siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.
Fivers: Shi’a muslims, who disagree with the majority of Shi’a on the identity of the fifth imam.
Four Gospels: 4 accounts of the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Galilee: A large region in Northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District and Haifa District.
Gemarrah: rabbinic teaching and discussion that went on in Babylon. Further teachings on the Mishnah known collectively as Gemarrah.
Genghis Khan: United nomadic tribes of northeast Asia forming the Mongol Empire. Started Mongol invasions.
Golden Age of Islam: A historical period that began in the mid8th century and lasted until the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. During this time the Arab world became an intellectual
centre for science, philosophy, medicine, and education. House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Muslim and nonMuslim scholars sought to translate and gather the entire world’s knowledge into Arabic.
Hagar: Meaning uncertain is a biblical person in the Book of Genesis. Egyptian handmaid of Sarah who gave her to Abram to bear child.
Hanif: refers to one who maintained the pure monotheistic beliefs of the patriarch Ibrahim. Rejected idolatry and retained religion.
Henotheism: Belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence of other deities that may be worshipped.
Heresy: any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. In alliance with the religions symbol of evil.
Hellenism: any of the various beliefs and practices of people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period of the roman empire. 300 BCE and 300 CE.
Hijra: the migration or journey of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. June 21st and July 2nd in 622 AD.
Holocaust: mass murder and genocide of approximately 6 million Jews during the second world war under Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Homoousion: From the greek word meaning “same”, theological term used in discussion of Christian understanding of God as Trinity.
Homoiousion: Christological doctrine formulated at the first ecumenical council to affirm, that god, son and the father are same substance
Iconoclast: destruction of religious symbols, established dogma or conventions. Iconodule: A supporter, or someone who is in favor of religious images or icons and their veneration. Against use of religious images.
Imam: an Islamic leadership position. A worship leader of a mosque or muslim community. Scholar.
Immaculate Conception: A dogma, stating that when the virgin Mary was in the Womb she was kept free of original sin and was filled with sanctifying grace usually not received until baptism. Sainte Anne is her mother.
Interior Castle: was written by Saint Teresa of Avila, 1577 as a guide for spiritual development through service and development. Practical “blueprints” for seekers who want to understand prayer as mystical union with God.
Irenaeus: 202 CE, saint, Bishop of Lugdunum, early church father, apologist, his writings helped development of Christian Theology. Recognized as a saint. Feast day June 28th in Roman Catholic Calendar.
Isaac: only son that Abraham had with his wife Sarah. Father of Jacob and Esau, one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, Sarah beyond childbearing years. Did not leave Canaan.
Ishmael: Abraham’s first son with Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar.
Ishmaelites: Descendants of Ishmael, elder son of Abraham.
Ismaili Shia: A branch of Shia Islam, also known as Seveners. Got their name from their acceptance of Ismail ibn Jafar who was appointed as the spiritual leader. See Muhammad as the final prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity.
Israelites: a Semitichebrew speaking people of the ancient Near East. Evolved into Jews and Samaritans of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Israelite derived from the Hebrew word Yisrael.
Jacob: known as heel or legpuller, renamed Israel by God meaning “God Contended”. Son of Isaac and Rebakah. Wrestles with angels.
Jahiliyya: Islamic concept of ignorance of divine guidance, or state of ignorance of the guidance of God. Condition of preIslamic Arabia.
Jewish Christian: original members of the Jewish Reform movement later became Christianity. Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and thus equivalent to all Christians. Confession of Jesus as Christ, but still adhered to Jewish practices. New Testament. Jewish War: Sometimes called the Great Revolt, 6673 CE. First of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea province against the Roman Empire. Due to antitaxation protests. Jordan River: 251 km long river in West Asia that flows to the dead sea. Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist.
Joshua: a figure in the Torah, one of the spies of Israel, moses assistant. Book of Joshua. Leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses. Name was Hoshe’a, the son of Nun. Born in Egypt. Explored land of Canaan.
Judah: State in Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Southern kingdom vs the northern kingdom of Israel. 9th century BCE. Jerusalem was the capital. Cooperative agreement with the Assyrians.
Judah Halevi: Spanish jewish physician , 10751141, one of the greatest Hebrew poets. Kabah: The cube, the sacred house, it is one of the most sacred sites in Islam. Kabbalah: esoteric method, discipline and school of though meant to explain the relationship between the eternal and mortal. Judaism related.
Khadija: first wife of the Muhammad. Belonged to the Clan Banu Quraish. Regarded as mother of Islam. Daughters married Caliphs.
Kharijites: Emerged in the late 7th century. Concentrated in Today’s southern Iraq. Means “those who went out”. Rejected leadership.
Kristallnacht: referred to as the night of Broken Glass. Attacks against Jews on 910 November 1938.
Labarum: A military standard that displayed the first two greek letters of the word Christ. Symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ.
LXX: The Septuagint, Greek Old Testament, an ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. Dated as early as the late 2nd century BCE. Luther: launched the protestant reformation to change the theology and practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Salvation a gift of God’s Grace.
Maccabees: means hammer. They were a jewish rebel army that took control of Judea. Founded Hasmonean dynasty which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting Judaism, expanding boundaries of the land of Israel by conquest, forced conversion, reduced Hellenism.
Marcion: a bishop in early Christianity. Prompted church to develop a canon of scriptures. He rejected the deity in jewish scriptures as inferior to god’s proclaimed in the Christian gospel.
Marranos: Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity. Continued being jews in secret.
Martin Luther King Jr.: A Baptist minister, helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership conference in 1957.
Masada: an ancient fortification in the southern district of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, overlooks the dead sea. Herod the Great built places for himself on the mountain. The Siege of Masada ended in suicide for 960 Jewish rebels holed up there. Mecca: birthplace for Muhammad, site of the revelation of the Quran, pilgrimage. Messiah: a saviour or liberator of a group of people most commonly in Abrahamic religions. Title of Jesus.
Midrash: a Hebrew term for the body of homiletic stories told by jewish rabbinic sages to explain passages in the Tanakh. Method of interpreting biblical stories that go beyond simple religious, legal or moral teachings.
Mishnah: the first major written redaction of the jew oral traditions. Redacted in 220 CE, in fear that oral traditions would be forgotten.
Mitzvah: meaning commandment, 613 commandments given in the Torah. Moral deed performed as a religious study. Human Kindness.
Mongols: central northasian ethnic group. Religion Shamanism.
Monophysites: meaning only one nature, is a Christological position that after the union of the divine and the human in historical incarnation, jesus, had only a single nature, either divine or synthesis of the divine.
Monotheism: belief in the existence of one god or in the oneness of God. Mordecai Kaplan: 1881 – 1983, rabbi, essayist and jewish educator, the cofounder of reconstructionist Judaism.
Moses: a religious leader, and prophet, author of the Torah. Most important prophet in Judaism. Important to the story of Exodus.
Moses Mendelssohn: 17291786, a German, Jewish philosopher that the jewish enlightenment is attributed to.
Moses Maimonides: medieval Spanish, Sephardic, jewish philosopher, a Torah scholar. Known as the great eagle.
Hira: the location where Muslims believe that Muhammad received his first revelations from God through the angel Jabril, aka Gabriel.
Mt. Gerazim: one of the two mountains in the vicinity of the west bank city of Nablus. Sacred to Samaritans who regard it as Jerusalem’s Temple mount. Having been the location chosen by Yahweh for a holy temple.
Mt. Zion: a hill in Jerusalem just outside the walls of the Old City. City of David. Mu’awiyah: the second caliph from the Umayyad Clan. Brother in law to Muhammad. Refused to obey Ali.
Mughal Empire: 1526 – 1757, an imperial power in the Indian sub continent. Architecture and arts. Taj mahal and the Pearl Mosque.
Muhajirun: were the early, initial muslims, who followed Muhammad on his Hijra from Mecca to medina. Called the Ansar, “Helpers”.
Muhammad Abduh: 1849 – 1905, egyptian islamic jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer. Key founder of islamic modernism, Wrote “treaties on the Oness of god” and a commentary of the Quran.
Muhammad Iqbal: 18771938, British india, philospher, poet, politician. Inspired the Pakistan Movement. Urdu lit. Knighted in 1922.
Mustafa Kemal: in office 1923 – 1938, was an Ottoman and Turkish Amry officer. First president of Turkey. Revolutionist. Founded the republic of Turkey. Surname means “Father of the Turks” is forbidden to be used by anyone else.
Myth: a scared narrative explaining how the world and mankind came to be in its present form.
Nation of Islam: syncretic new religious movement. Founder in Detroit by Wallace. D. Muhammad in July 1930. The goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans. Accused of being black supermicist, and anti semetic.
Nebuchadnezzar: 11261103 BC, was the fourth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and Fourth Dynasty of Babylon. Noted for his victory over Elam, and the recovery of the cultic idol of Marduk.
Nestorius: the archbishop of Constantinople, rejects the title for the Virgin Mary “Mother of God”. Did not believe that Christ was truly God. Accused of Heresy. His ideas were not far from those that eventually emerged as orthodox.
Nicea: a Hellenic city in northwest Antolia, known as the location of the first and second councils of Nicea, capital city.
Nicene Creed: profession of faith. Formed Nicene Christianity. Always was sung or recited. 95 Theses: Written by Martin Luther in Germany, regarded as the initial catalyst of protestant reformation.
Occultation: A word used in astronomy, when an object is hidden by another object passing between it and the observer.
Orthodox Judaism: a religious approach to Judaism which adheres to the teachings of the Torah.
Orthodox Christianity: use the greek word orthodoxa meaning “correct belief”, used to express their belief to have an unbroken connection to the faith, doctrine, and practices of the ancient Christian Church. Eastern and Oriental.
Ottoman Empire: historically referred to as the Turkish Empire. Founded by Turkish Tribes in Anatolia in 1299. Gone in 1924.
Persians: people of Persia. Persian speaking. Iranic people. Current day Iran. Pesach: also known as Passover, biblically derived Jewish festival, Pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Celebrate the liberation of the Jews from ancient Egypt 3300 years ago.
Pharisees: a school of thought, a political party. 14037 BCE in the wake of the Macabee revolt. Conflicts between them and John the Baptist. After the destruction of the second temple, they are believed to be Rabbinic Judaism. Believed in the literal resurrection of the body, were monotheist.
Pope: is the Bishop of Rome. Leader of the World Wide Catholic church. Successor of Saint Peter. Called the “Holy See”.
Priest: a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or multiple deities.
Prophet: an individual who has been contacted by the supernatural or the divine. Delivers this new knowledge to Humanity. Advocate.
Prophecy: the process in which one or more messages have been communicated to the prophet, then communicated to others. Messages involve divine inspiration, interpretation or the revelation of conditions to come.
Protestants: follows or Protestantism, one of the major divisions of Christianity. Deny the universal authority of the pope. Affirm the reformation principles by faith alone. Originated from Martin Luther’s 95 theses.
Qur’an: literally meaning the recitation. Believed to the verbatim word of god. Revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad in the cave of Hira.
Quraysh: a powerful, merchant tribe that controlled Mecca and its Kaaba. Rabbi: derived from the Hebrew word “My Master”, a teacher of the Torah.
Jewish Scriptures, Beliefs, Theoloy Summary
Jewish religious thought is commitment to monotheism.
The religion of Abraham and the ancestors of Israel was not monotheistic, but a distinctive practice. Stories of Prophet Elijah(the guardian of the covenant), highlight the struggle between allegiance to Yahweh and worship of Ba’al, god of the land.
Ba’al was in charge of life giving and rain.
Yahweh is the one god, the creater and director of all
Marduk: god Babylon
Devout jews recite the Shema daily “Hear O Isreal”.
Unity of god is fundamental in Jewish theological assertion.
Shema means that god is not many, all if reality is a unified order, one universal law of righteousness Jews do not accept the Christian idea that god is triune, father , son and spirit.
God purely in Godself is En Sof, absolute and without limit.
God manifested in ten emanations known as the sefirot because he cannot reveal his true nature God is transcendent, far above and beyond the created world. IN total contrast to everything that has been created in time and space. Eternal, no beginning or end, no limitations.
God is imminent, near and present to all creatures.
Evil can be the result of a previous sin of an individual or community. Discipline or testing from god. God created the world from a dark watery chaos and by divine command made it s agood purposeful world.
Role of humans is to serve the creator and fulfill God’s will in the world.
Jewish belief elevates humans to a little less than god, cared for and lobved by God, given great responsibility of being masters over all of God’s Creatures.
Humans are to serve god, but at the same time are partners with god in preserving of creation. Animals are to be respected and treated fairly and humanely.
No worshipping idols, murder, adultery and incent, eat limb torn from living animal, blaspheme, steal Human sin is called averah, Jewish traditions have no delusions about human nature to sin Sin is any act or attitude whether of omission or commission which nullified God’s will, obscures his glory,
profanes his name opposes his kingdom or transgresses the mitzvoth ( Commandments) Yetzer hatov: the good inclination, and yetzer hara, the evil inclination.
Evil inclination is essential in providing motivating power of life.
Jewish tradition has the view that life is a continuing struggle to control the evil inclination. Jews believe that humans have free choice and the ability to avoid Satan.
Jewish beliefs that some punishment for sin can be in this life or the final punishment in the life to come. God not only the creator but also the redeemer who forgives and restores and thus makes it possible for humans to turn back to the life god intended.
God redeems and saves by being God for humans that is god continually searches and calls for humans God delivered them from Egypt, , brought them to the holy mountain, and entered into a covenant with them, gave them the torah and led them to the promise land.
The initiative to seek god must come from humans.
Teshuvah, Hebrew word for repentance means to turn around, make a complete change in life. Repentance involves 4 seps, the readiness to acknowledge an wrongdoing, act of compensation, genuine resolve, praying for forgiveness.
Yom Kippur set aside for repentance, day of atonement
Mitzvoth: commandments which god has given through the Torah.
Halakhah is a the way the code of life is spelled out in the Talmund and how the mitzvots apply to life. Jews have never felt that it was their mission to bring people into Judaism
The righteous will be rewarded in Gan Eden ( Paradise )
Jewish Praxis, Holy Days, Culture Summary
Mitzvoth commandments deal with both ritual actions and ethical behavior.
Halakhah, the path or code, that provides the blueprint for everything about life from cradle to grave. Sabbath the only festival prescribed in the ten commandments, it is a supreme symbol of the covenant relationship with god.
God rested on the 7th day after finishing the creation >> Sabbath
Reminder of the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. >> Sabbath
Rejoicing with god in creation, celebrating freedom in human society. >> Sabbath. Special Sabbath prayer is called Kiddush, said over a glass of wine.
Rosh Hashanah – New year, on the first of Tishri, early Autumn.
Everything a person does is recorded in God’s books and these are opened for examinations at the beginning of the new year, weighed and judged and a verdict inscribed.
Rosh Hashanah has a special ritual blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn, during a service. Ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of repentance
Yom Kippur: day of atonement, called the Sabbath of Sabbaths.
Evening service for Yom Kippur Kol Nidre prayer. During this day Jews confess sings and ask for forgivness. Conluding Service is called Neilah referring to the closing of the gates of heaven. Concludes with a final blast of the Shofar.
Sukot – the festival of booths, 5 days after yom kippur, 15th of Tishri, Lasts for seven days during which jews build a hut (sukkah) and make it their home. Festival of ingathering of harvest, ritual use of citron, palm branches, myrtle and willow. The hut reminds jews of wandering in the wilderness.
Follow Sukkot there’s a celebration of Simhat Torah, on this day the annual reading cycle of the Torah is complete. Followed by reading opening verses of the Torah.
Hannukkah: the feast of lights, eight day festival, recalls the victory of Maccabbeus and the Jews of the Selecuids in 165 BCE. Lighting of the Menorah, letting it burn for eight days.
Prium: coming in early spring, talks about Mordecai and his grandniece Esther risking their lives to save their people from the Persians.
Pesach (Passover) celebrates Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. “festival of our freedom” Passover also symbolizes the deliverance of all nature from the bondage of winter. Preparing involves cleaning and purifying the house, only Matzah ( unleavened bread )a nd other unleavened food can be eaten for the 7 day festival due to the Israelites fleeing in haste from Egypt.
Passover ritual meal called seder ( order ) celebrated in evening of the first two days. Haggadah ( story) is a written guide for the seder.
Seder includes 4 cups of wine, a special cup for Elijah , salt water to remember tears, drops of wine split in sorrow, and 4 questions to be asked of the youngest child present.
Shavuot: the festival of Weeks (Pentecost) , final festive, sevens weeks after Passover, celebration of abundant spring harvest. It remembers especially the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Yom Hashoah – holocaust memorial day.
Duty of worshipping god is at the heart of the Jewish Tradition.
For festival worship many wear a tallith (prayer shawl) , jewish men may also were tefillin, small black boxes that contain words of the Torah.
Important prayers are the 18 benedictions, said in the morning, noon and evening prayers. Have to do with repentance, redemption, healing and blessing.
The act of studying the Torah is also an important ritual for jews.
Women are generally exempt from Torah studying obligations for the reason that their role as the homemaker does not allow them time.
Kashrut ( ritual fitness) – kosher food, all vegetables and fruits are permissible, no horses, pigs or birds of pray.
Must be killed in shochet ( ritual slaughter)
Meat and dairy products can’t be prepared or eaten together.
Covenant between god and Israel is circumsicion, brit milah, done on the 8th day after birth. Passage into puberty is the Bar Mitzvah ( son of the commandment ) , young Jewish boy is expected to progress in studying the Torah. Bat Mitzvah for girls.
Sacred duty of marriage is spelled out in the Talmund. One who remains unmarried impairs the divine image.
Marriage ritual performed under huppah (canopy) . Blessings over two goblets of wine. Death: members sit with dying person reciting the Shema.
Shivah: period of mourning for seven days. Body is to be wrapped in white shrouds before burial. Jewish law prohibits suicide or any action that might harm or desecrate someone’s body. Cremation is prohibited.
Kelal yisrael – the total community of Israel.
People are jewish either by birth or conversion, one who is born Jewish can never ben deprived of that identity even if he/she abandons jewish practices.
Biblical laws segregate women from men in synagogues.
Halakhah designates that code of laws that prescribe how a Jew should live every aspect of life. Means “way” , drawn from the Torah and Talmund.
All actions should be infused with awareness of the presence of God.
Halakhah not a burden but a great gift from god.
It is a mitzvah to get married. One should not over indulge in food, drink and have lack of cleanliness. Tzedakah – important principle of charity. Giving to those in need.
God chose Israel but Israel chose to be chosen. Higher responsibility and higher standards are expected of the Jewish people compared to others.
The important mitzvah of pursuing peace (shalom) is extended to conflict and warfare between people and nations.
Christianity Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology Summary
For Christians the way to know god is through the revelation in Jesus Christ. God’s divine face is shown for all to see.
God’s eternal brilliance is reflected in the “image” of god, Jesus Christ.
Jesus favorite term for god was “Abba”
God is involved in human existence to make sure that mercy is what wins out of the dirt and grime. Christians see god as the loving father and mother wanting to create humans in order to show them love. Christian’s see the suffering of Jesus as god’s way of becoming the “friend of sinners”. Christians: God was incarnated in Jesus, became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Trinity: god is one god in three persons. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Nicenene creed guide Christians to understanding god’s triune nature.
Creation account: God created the universe, determined it all to be good, and placed humans as the crown of creation to play as god’s representatives within this good world.
God created the first human from dust of the ground and breathed spirit into him. Jesus: loving god, one’s self and neighbor sums up all the law.
God gives the world not only its existence but also its value
Christians emphasize the sinfulness of human nature more forcefully than Jews or Muslims. Christians view the story of adam and eve as the story of all humans. Inevitable human sin. Originating sin is due to the fall from heaven to earth.
The belief that the only way to fix originating sin is to get help from God.
Death is not the end of human existence. Humans enslaved by sin, saved by Jesus Christ. Recognizing sinfulness it the first step in turning toward the redemption that comes from God. Pattern of atonement reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ atoninig for the sins of all humankind by his
sacrifice on the cross. His atonement returning the loving relationship between humans and god. Muslims and Jews are against the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.
Soteriology: the belief in salvation through Jesus Christ. Experience the love of God through Jesus Christ. Arius was teaching that Jesus was actually human created to be god’s son and savior of the world. Docetists: taught that Jesus Christ was fully god but just seemed to be human. Faith is saying yes to God’s love, and accepting the divine promise. Christians calls this justification by faith.
Baptism is an important ritual for Christians symbolizes the inclusion of the new person in the family of god. Removes a person’s sinful nature and the person is born again.
Sharing in the Eucharist Lord’s Supper is a concrete experience of being united with Christ through this sacred meal.
Christians believe throughout a person’s life they will be sinful and redeemed humans. Christ speaks of sanctification: making holy of our lives.
Resurrection, judgment day, and eternal life in heaven. Heaven last image of Salvation.
Christianity Praxis, Holy Days, CultureSummary
Christians live based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Earliest practices are the Sunday service of prayer and Eucharist
Canon law: governs the conduct of public worship.
Liturgical: place a good deal of emphasis on the traditional liturgy ( order of public worship) and properly ordained clergy.
Non Liturgical : emphasize a free and spontaneous approach to prayer, reading the bible, testifying to faith and exhorting others in worship together.
Liturgical denominations: Roman Catholic, orthodox, angelica and Luther churches. Non liturgical: Baptists, Quakers and free evangelical churches.
Sunday Worship: Communal worship, Sunday is the day of Christ’s resurrection, consists of Liturgy of the word and liturgy of the Eucharist. Begins with a call to worship, communal confession of sins, hymns and prayers.
Liturgy of word: reading of the Old Testament, gospels, and Epistles.
Non liturgical churches have more emphasis on reading the bible, preaching, songs and prayer. Sacraments: the Eucharist is considered by many to be a sacrament, a sacred ritual. Ceremonies called sacraments include baptism, the lord’s supper, confession, forgiveness and anointing the sick., confirmation, marriage, and ordination of clergy.
Eucharist: Roman Catholid believe in transubstantiation, where the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ. Radical reformers like Zwingli held that the bread and wine only symbolize christ’s body and blood.
Lent and Easter: celebrate the events of christ’s entry into Jerusalem, last supper, crucifixion and entombment.
Ash Wednesday: putting ashes on forehead, Lent is devoted to special disciplines of prayer, repentance. Fasting and voluntarily giving up certain pleasures.
Maundy Thursday: celebrates Christ’s last supper with his disciples when he used the bread and wine of the Passover.
Sunday morning is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Continues for the next 6 weeks Nativity celebrated on January 6th , Advent is observed 4 weeks before Christmas, Epiphany for some weeks after Christmas. Celebrates God’s love in the incarnation of Christ.
Advent celebrates events from Christ’s life.
Epiphany has becomes associated with the story of the wise men from the east coming to Bethlehem to present gifts to the newborn king.
Pentecost: celebrates god giving the spirit to give guidance to the church.
Short services throughout the day: prime, matins, lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline. Confession is a sacrament.
Initiation into the Christian community is baptism. Used water to symbolize cleansing. Through this ritual the child is born again having participated in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Eastern Orthodox churches the infant receives Holy Communion as a full member of the church. Today Christians use prayers, rituals and sacraments for the purpose of healing the sick. Jehova’s witnesses plae restrictions on the practice of modern medicine such as blood transfusions. Controversy about using religious icons in art
One does not become Christian by birth, rather by choosing to belong by believing and being baptized.
Significant development today are the ecumenical movement in which Christians are trying to make real the unity of the world
Pricilla: prominent women in Christianity.
Antinomians ( people against the law) who taught that since Christ abolished the law that Christians are free to do whatever they want.
Jesus identified neighbor as anyone in need, the sick, prisoner, hungry and thirsty strangers. God’s kind of love shown in Christ is agape: unconditional, non discriminatory, self giving love. War: a just cause of defense or protection declared by a lawful authority.
Dualist view sees this world as just a preparation for the next with the conclusion that Christians have no special role .
Islam Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology Summary
The tawhid, the assertion of the oneness of god.
Shahada: there is no god but god and Muhammad is the prophet of god.
Allah in Arabic simply means “God”
The greatest sin according to the Quran is shirk, associating something else with god, this is the great sin of polytheism. No divine power rules and directs our lives.
Rab al alamin : god of the world. Also called Rabb. Muslim is a “abd” ( worshipper, servant ) Creation: god breathed the spirit into humans providing the breath of life, the animating spirit and humans were created male and female.
Khalifa means deputy or representative.
Humans differ from all three creatures because of three qualities: intelligence that can discern between true and false, a will freely to choose, and the power of speech to worship god.
Those who achieve completeness by using reason, free will and speech to follow god are perfect. Forgetfulness and negligence is behind human sin and evil doing.
Two inclinations given to humans by god: spiritual that directs the intelligence to follow god’s laws and the inclination to fulfill the desires and passions with which God has endowed humans. A person who denies god is called a kafir. Kufr means to cover or conceal.
Kafirs become mushriks. Those who associate other things with god, and thus commit the great sin of denying the unity of God. Use God’s bountiful gifts while denying his existence.
Falah – muslim word for felicity.
Path of Islam is fundamentally a path of knowledge. Islam means submission to god. Muslim word for faith is iman, leads to the submission to god.
Shariah law, is the code of behavior in Islam, same as halakhah.
Jihad , spiritual struggle. Continual holy war against unbelievers and evil doers.
Islam Praxis, Holy Days, Culture Summary
God is rab, muslim is abd, life in service of god is ibadah.
Muslim rituals not geared towards the cucles of nature in the seasons of the year. Follows lunar pattern. 12 months, 2930 days each.
Five pillars: confession, prayer, alms, fasting and pilgrimage.
Prayer is an expression of praise and submission to god. Muslims also use dua’ Praying in group, one person acts as an imam. It’s important to perform the prayer in harmony. Allahu akbar: god is great, bowing hands on knees saying glory to my lord, in a position of submission “glory to my lord, the most high”.
Close of prayer, blesses the prophet and his family , peace be upon you all fellow Muslims. Friday noon prayer: special sermon called khutba.
Alms giving required of Muslims over 16 who can afford it. 2.5 percent general annual rate. Not to be given to relatives.
Fasting: Ramadan >. Time to break bad habits and regain control. Submission to god. One learns appreciation of the material pleasures.
Fasting not permitted to impair one’s health.
Hajj – once in a lifetime, must be physically and financially capable, spiritual state called ihram. Wearing of special garmnets. No sex, cutting hair, uprooting living things, wearing jewelry etc. Circle the kabah ( tawaf) saying “I am here o god I am here ) , seven time, in a counter clockwise direction. Pilgrims to reach out and touch the black stone.
Running in memory of Hagar and Ishmael, pilgrims run seven times between two hills. Then they drink from the well of zamzam.
On the 8th day everyone moves out into the desert to live in tents, on the ninth day the ritual of standing ( wuquf) at the plain of arafat, and the mount of mercy. From noon until sunset.
Next comes ritual of stoning and feast of sacrifice.
Pilgrims throw 49 pebbles at three stones representing satan .
Mawlid al Nabi – twelfth day of the third month.
Two eids
Muharram is the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Associated with Hijra. Tenth of muharram is a day called ashura involves fasting.
Shiite attached the martyrdom of imam husayn to this day remembering the battle of karbalah. Birth: 7th day named, and a sacrifice may be performed. Khitan ( circumcision ) is an important purification ritual.
Marriage , bridal gift , mahr, for the bride to keep.
Death , prayer is performed around the dead person with the entire service standing. Laid to rest facing Mecca on the right side of the body.
Calligraphy is important in islam to show holy words and passages.
Iran Mulas – religious scholars, everywhere else ‘ulama.
Muslims have a duty to engage in da’wah, missionary activities directed to converting the world. God’s gift of free will means no coercion or forcing people to accept islam.
Jewish History
∙ Synagogue jewish place of worship, means gathering
∙ Bar Kochbah Thid major rebellion agaist roman empire, jews of Judea. Last of wars ∙ Conservative Judaism traditional jewish practices
∙ Epic of Gilgamesh : mesopatamian flood story
∙ Exodus = salvation journey from egypt to palestine
∙ Reform Judaism new modernized jew practices
∙ Rabbinic Judaism mainstream of Judiasm,
Jewish Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to the promise land, away from salvery ∙ Henotheism worshipping of one god but admitting there are other gods ∙ Tanakh Hewbrew bible consisting of Talmund Nevim , Ketivim, ∙ Midrash = explanation of the tanakh
∙ Torah laws
∙ Halakhah = the way/laws to describe how to practice the mitzvot in daily life ∙ Haggadah = jews stories, used to get laws e.g.the story of exodus ∙ Mishnah written oral torah
∙ Oral Torah oral torah
∙ Talmund Mishnah + gemarra, babylonion and palestinian
∙ Shema = like shahada to muslims, jews used to said twice daily for two thousands years
∙ Mitzvah/Mitzvot = commandments of the covenant for jews
∙ Adonai/Elohim/Yahweh God
∙ Covenant an agreement between god and people
∙ Five books of the Torah
∙ Gemara mishnah translation
∙ Ketuvim part of the Tanakh
∙ Nevi'im part of the Tanakh
∙ Kingdom of God Israel
Jewish Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Sabbath = jew holiday, celebrate the 7th day of creation and rest and celebrating freedom from egypt,exodus.
∙ Rosh Hashanah = jews celebration for their new year, day of justice, right and sinners.
∙ Yom Kippur =(the atonment) one of the most holy days for jews, for repentance ∙ Shofar = horn blown in the in ‘Rosh Hashanah’, to arouse the sleeping souls for war against sins.
∙ Sukkot = jews holiday 5 days after yom kippur, rejoice the Torah. ∙ Hanukkah = jews 8 days of celebration(Fest of light),Judah Maccabeus over Antiochus Epiphanes.. oil lasted 8 days instead of one in the temple
∙ Purim = jews holiday to celebrate the survival, story of Eshtar, from the persian Haman.
∙ Passover/Pesach = high points of jews year, “the festival of our freedom” , Israel salvery from egypt, only allowed to eat bread on that day.
∙ Shavuot = pentecost, festival of the weeks, final major festival, remembrance of the covenant and the gift of Torah on Mt.sinai. marriage between god and ppl. ∙ Kipah = jews mens head cap, they wear during prayer
∙ Tallith = jews prayer shawl
∙ Tefillin = Jewish observant men wear while praying, small black boxes containing words of the Torah, attached to the head or arms with leather bands.
∙ Kashrut = jewish dietry laws, Torah prohibition of food, horse flesh , pigs and shellfish. meat and milk can’t be eaten together.
Christianity History
∙ Book of Mormon
∙ Apostles’ Creed :
∙ Christotokos bearer of Christ, virgin mary , Greek name
∙ Luther 95 theses, against the roman church, make the protastants. ∙ The Passion = the journey of jesus to jerusalem where he was caught and crucified. ∙ Good Friday commemorating crucifixation of jesus
∙ LDS = latter day saints, a christian movment, they also a have their churches ∙ Brigham Young = He was the President of The Church of Jesus (LDS Church) 19th cent. ∙ Joseph Smith: founder of the LDS 19th cent.
Christianity Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Jesus Duh
∙ New Testament
∙ Messiah/Christ saviour
∙ Nicene Creed = explanation of the trinity in 4th and 5th centuries ∙ Baptism Full body immersion in water, can be done at adulthood, naming of the child. 7 8 days after birth
∙ Canon a set of religious laws
∙ Disputed Letters of Paul lletteres that scholars do not believe were written by Paul ∙ Council of Trent important council, condeming protestant heresey ∙ Ecumenism initiatives aimed at greater christian unity
∙ Justification by faith duh
∙ Eucharist Lord’s supper
∙ Immaculate Conception virgin mary sinless
∙ Gospels stories about jesus
∙ Theotokos Greek name for Mother of Christ, the Virgin Mary. ∙ Mormon Articles of Faith = LDS
∙ Undisputed Letters of Paul
∙ Incarnation = embodied in flesh,God incarnation in Christ
∙ Sacraments sacred rituals, Eucharist example
∙ Sola fides faith alone,one of the the theologies during the protestants reformation ∙ Sola gratia = grace alone
∙ Sola scriptura scripture alone
Christianity Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Epiphany celebration of god’s revelation as jesus christ
∙ Ash Wednesday putting ash on forhead, used for repentance and fasting ∙ Christmas preparing for the birth of jesus
∙ Feast of Ascension holy thursday, symbolizes jesus rise to heaven ∙ Lent give up a pleasure for 6 weeks before Easter , and it’s time for repentance ∙ Easter resurrection of jesus christ
∙ Feast of Epiphany just a feast
∙ Pentecost = celebration of the holy spirit and establishment of the church ∙ Soteriology = the study of the religious doctrines of salvation
Islam History
∙ AlAsh‘ari= mutazila theologian, islamic golden age
∙ AlGhazali = second most influential islamic figure after the, prophet brought sufism back into the main stream
∙ AliMohammad
∙ Anno Hijra = 622 C.E
∙ Ansars = the ppl who took in the prophet in madina
∙ Bab = religion movement from perisa
∙ ‘Ashura = 20h of moharram to memorize the battle of karabala ∙ Mecca = duh
∙ Medina = duh
∙ Mughal = empire in 16th cent. muslim
∙ Mu‘tazilites= Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought[1] that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in presentday Iraq, during the 8th–10th centuries. ∙ Muhammad ibn Abd alWahhab established first Saudi state 1792 ∙ Ottoman Duh, Turkish ,
∙ Yathrib name of Medina before Hijra
∙ Zaydis shiite, fivers, school of thought, islam,
∙ Shiat Ali people of ALi
∙ Shaykh Ahmad persian dude, he claimed that he got word directly form the imam.
Islam Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Five Pillars of Faith= shahada, 9ala,hij,zakat,9yam
∙ Shari’ah islamic law, way of life.
∙ Hadith stories told by the Prophet and his companions
∙ Fiqh study of religion
∙ Fatiha the opener of the Quran
∙ Fasting not eating
∙ Fana mortal life
∙ Hajj pilgrimage
∙ Hijab head cover
∙ Ijma = the agreement of the scientists of the umma on the decision ∙ Kab‘ah built by Abraham and Ishamal. holy site, haj, islam, black stone, mecca ∙ Jihad holy war
∙ Mahdi 12th imam
∙ Mohammad prophet BBUH
∙ Qur’an holy book of islam, muhammad, cave, gabriel
∙ Nabi prophet with scripture
∙ Rasul messenger
∙ Qiyas one of the teaching of the hadeeth
∙ Sayyid Kazim = he led the shaykhi movment till his deat, he was mulla told about the coming of the mahdi
∙ Shahadah duh
∙ Shirk denial of the existence of god.
∙ Tawhid = there’s only one God, opposite of shirk.
∙ Sufis inner,mystical dimension of Islam
∙ Averoes= aka ibn rushud, 12 cent. master of philosophy
∙ Avicenna = aka ibn seena,11th cent. philosophy and medicine
Islam Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Jum‘ah friday prayers
∙ Eid aladha duh
∙ Eid alfitr duh
∙ Muharram 1st month of islamic lunar cycle
∙ Ramadan duh
∙ Sawm duh
∙ Salat duh
∙ Raka’ah duh
∙ Wudu ceremonial cleansing before prayer, heads, ears, eyes, nose, arms, feet, back of neck
∙ Zakat Alms , money giving, annual islamic tax
∙ masjid Double duh
∙ Muezzin ghadieh’s way of saying muethin
∙ Mihrab hole in the wall
∙ Minbar pedestal for kitbah
∙ Sura a division of the quran
∙ Stoning of the Jamarat haj, 49 stones at 3 pillars representing
NOT RELIGION SPECIFIC
∙ Polygamy marrying more than one girl, islam, men allowed, women are not
∙ People of the Book jews, christians, muslims
∙ Prayer
∙ Myth
∙ Orthodoxy = by doctrine and believe, christianity
∙ Orthopraxy = by practice, doing activities over conduct, islam and judism UNDEFINED WORDS:
∙ Acts
∙ Advent = holiday for chris. preparation of the celebration nativity of the jesus ∙ Anselm = saint of canterbury, responsible for the theory about the existence of god and the satisfaction theory of atonement.
∙ Apocalypse Pretty clear what it is :P
∙ Aquinas = saint in 13cent.
∙ Aquinas’ Proofs = 5 proof’s about the existence of god
∙ Asia Minor = perisa, turkey and iraq maybe sham as well.
∙ Augustine = : A father of the church whose writings are considered very influential in Christian philosophy. He was a Bishop of Hippo.
∙
∙ Brit milah =covenant of circumcision
∙ Calvin = calvinism, reformation christians broke with the catholic church ∙ Consubstantiation = theological doctrine attempts to describe the nature of the christian Eucharist.
∙ DeuteroPauline Letters = ppl think the disputed letter od paul where written by this guy, they represent the value of the women in the catholic church
∙ Documentary Hypothesis
∙ Enlightenment duh
∙ Epispasm Foreskin restoration, jews under greek rule, breaks covenant with go, opposite of circumcision
∙ Eschatology: The department of theological science concerned with ‘the four last things: death, judgement,heaven and hell’
∙ Faqir: Muslim ethnic groupfound in India.
∙ Filioque clause : and the son , a phrase included in the nicene creed ∙ Guide for the Perplexed: relationship between philosophy and religion, written by MAY MOON
∙ Immanuel Kant german philosopher
∙ Intercalary month insertion of a leap day to match things with lunar calenders. ∙ Job:
∙ Kaballah : Jewish school of thought
∙ Kirland cant find
∙ Liturgy public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions.
∙ Manicheism
∙ Maundy Thursday: celebrates Christ’s last supper with his disciples when he used the bread and wine of the
∙ Moroni
∙ Moses Maimonides jewish scholar
∙ Moses Mendelssohn = german jewish philosopher,father of reform jew, whose ideas the jewish enlightenment in 18th and 19th cent.
∙ Mountain Meadows Massacre : LDS and Mormone attacked a train in south Utah 19th century
∙ Nauvoo : a place of gathering for LDS
∙ Occultation : An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer.
∙ Ontological argument : An ontological argument is any one of a category of arguments for the existence of God appearing mainly in Christian theology
∙ Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter ∙ Q ...
∙ Rabbi Judah HaNasi = editor of the Mishnah in its final form. He is referred to as “Rebbi,”
∙ Rashi delicious food =haha very funny _
∙ Rumi wrote on the right side of the Gemarrah
∙ Safavid = dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynsaties of iran 16th to18th Cent
∙ Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah basically like 10 commandments ∙ Shabbatai Zvi claimed to be the long awaited jewish messiah ∙ Sheol garment used during haj ?????
∙ Simhat Torah :is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings,
∙ Synoptic Gospels mathew, mark and luke, called this because they include many similar stories
∙ Tanjakh : head thing
∙ Theodicy an attempt to resolve the evidential problem of evil by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence,omnipotence, and omniscience with the occurrence of evil or suffering in the world.
∙ Tisha B’Av : is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day (Tisha) ∙ Transubstantiation : replacing wine and bread, for jesus body and blood. ∙ Ulama’ = educated class of muslim legal scholars
∙ Ulrich Zwingli : held that the bread and wine only symbolize christ’s body and blood ∙ Universal House of Justice : duh
∙ Yarmulke: jew cap
Abbasaid Empire: Created in 750 of the Christian Era, named after Muhammad’s youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd AlMuttalib. Changed the capital to Madinat alSalam (City of Peace). Mongols conquered it and it destabilised in 1258.
Abu Bakr: Father in law of Muhammad, rules from 632 to 634. A rightly first guided caliph. Abu Talib: Leader of the Hashim, Quresh clan, Muhammad’s uncle, 549 – 619. Allowed Muhammad a job in his trading company.
Abraham: Father of Isaac, ancestor of the Jews, and Ishmael, ancestor of the Muslims. Commanded by God to purify his house in Mecca. God calls him to leave his land to look for the promised land. No clear birthplace, placed at about the second millennium BCE. Acculturation: Describes the process of cultural and psychological change that occurs as two cultures meet.
Aisha: Called mother of believers, one of the wives of Muhammad, married at 9 years old. Continued his message throughout the rain of the Caliphs. Led a battle on her camel and lost.
Al Baqir: The 5th and 4th imam, Revered by Shia Muslims and respected by Sunni Muslims for his knowledge and Islamic knowledge, leading jurist in Medina. 676 – 733 Al Ghazali: Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic of Persian decent. Single most influential Muslim after the prophet. Brought Sufism back into the orthodox Muslim path. Lived when the Muslim Ummah was approaching 500 years.
Ali: Cousin and son in law of the prophet. Chosen as the 4th caliph, assassinated, leadership disputed. His sons were both assassinated, and that started the faction the Shi’ites. Reign from 656 – 661
Angelican: a tradition within Christianity comprising of the Church of England. Comes from a Latin term meaning English Church. Founded by scriptures, and the traditions of the Aposolitic Church.
Antiochus Epiphanes IV: Ruled the Seleucid empire from 175 BC – 164 BC. Son of Antiochus III The Great. Near conquest of Egypt started the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees. First king to use divine epithets on coins.
Apostles: After his resurrection Jesus sent 11 of them to spread his teachings. Resulted in the Canon, accepted sacred writings of the New Testament, the Apostle’s creed, and the structure of clergy leadership.
Archbishop of Canterbury: The senior bishop of the Church of England, symbolic head worldwide of the Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Canterbury. Arius: Christian priest in Alexandria, Egypt. He was of Libyan origins. Taught about the nature of the God Heads which emphasize a father’s divinity over that of his son. Primary topic of Council of Nicea, convened by Constantine in 325 AD.
Asia Minor: Modern turkey, denotes the westernmost protrusion of Asia. Ashkenazi: trace origins back to the tribe of Israelites of Canaan in the middle east. Names comes from Ashkenaz, the first son of Gomer.
Assyrians: People from Assyria, a Semitic Akkadian kingdom position on the north Tigris river. Late 25th to early 24th century BC. Came to rule a number of powerful empires. Athanasius: 20th bishop of Alexandria , lasted for 45 years, a renowned Christian theologian , exiled for 17 years by 5 different roman emperors. Remembered for his role in the conflict with Arius.
Augustine: A father of the church whose writings are considered very influential in Christian philosophy. He was a Bishop of Hippo.
Ayatollah Khomeini: Iranian religious leader and politician, leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Supreme leader of Iran til death.
Benedict XVI: Leader of the catholic church, pope and sovereign of the Vatican between 2005 and 2013.
Baal : northwest Semitic title meaning “master” or “lord”
Asherah: Semitic mother goddess appearing in ancient sources of Akkadian writings. Baal Shem Tov: a mystical rabbi considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Name meaning Master of the Good Name.
Battle of Badr: Fought 623 CE in the Hejaz region of Arabia. Decisive victory due to divine intervention. Killed several Quraishi leaders by breaking the Meccan lines. Signalled that there’s a new power in the Arabian Peninsula. Strengthening Muhammad’s position as leader.
Battle of Karbalah: 61 AH, in Karbalah, present day Iraq. Hussein refused to recognize Yazid, a small group of Hussein supporters versus an army detachment of Yazid fought ending in Hussein’s death. Considered a Martyr for Shi’ite islam.
Battle of Sifin: 657 CE. Occurred during the first Fitna. Fought on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Syria. The battle was indecisive, weakened Ali’s position and did not resolve the tensions in the empire.
Battle of Uhud: Fought in 625 AH fought at the valley located in front of mount Uhud in northwestern Arabia. Between Muhammad’s Medina and ibn Harb of Mecca. The second battle between the muslims and meccans. A mistake by the archers almost caused the Muslims the battle causing them to retreat up the mountain, Meccan’s declared victory. Muhammad badly injured in the battle.
Babs: a religious movement from Persia from 1844 to 1852 , title means gates. Babylonians: Ancient Akkadian speaking Semitic nation based in current day Iraq. 1894 BC emergence . Rival state of Assyria.
Bar Kochba Revolt: Third major revolt of the Jews against Roman Empire. Last of Jewish Roman Wars. Simon Bar Kochba was commander. 132 – 136 CE, the Roman victory saw the banning of Jews from Jerusalem. Aftermath of the war differentiated Christianity from Judaism as a distinct religion.
Caliph: Ruler of the Islamic Ummah, head of state of a Caliphate, derived from word meaning successor or representative.
John Calvin: A French theologian and pastor during the Protestant reformation. He was a principle figure in development of Calvinism. He was influenced by Augestinian traditions. Led him to expand sovereignty of god in looking for human salvation from eternal damnation
Canaan: a Semitic speaking religion in current day Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. 4th millennium BC. Canaanite nations of the bronze and iron ages are mention in the bible. Chalcedon: ancient maritime town in Asia. Now distinct city of Istanbul. Greek name meaning “New Town”.
Christotokos: Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Means Christbearer.
Circumcision: Surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis. Taken up by jews as a physical sign of their covenant with god.
Conservative Judaism: Arose in the early 1900, modern stream of Ashkenazi Judaism. Developed as a reaction to more liberal views taken by reformed Judaism. Means that Jews should try to conserve Jewish tradition rather than abandon then.
Constantine: Roman emperor from 306 to 337, first Roman emperor to be converted to Christianity. Tolerance for all religions in empire.
Constantinople: Founded in 330 AD, it was the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, Latin and Ottoman empire.
Covenant : an alliance or agreement, between God and humanity or religious communities. Abrahamic religions.
Crucifixion: painful method of execution, tied or nailed to a cross, left to hang until dead. Abolished by Constantine I in 337.
Crusades: Religiously motivated military campaigns to restore Christianity to holy areas near Jerusalem. Ordered by pope Urban II , conducted between 1095 and 1291 against muslims in the Levant.
Cyrus: Founder of the Achaemenid empire. Eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia. He respected the religions and customs of the lands that he conquered. Recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics and military strategy. Defined national identity of Iran.
Cyril: Christian missionary born in the 9th century among the Slavic People. Devised the Glagolitic alphabet, writing Apostles to the Slavs which contributed to the cultural development of the Slavs. Pope John Paul II declared him copatron saint of Europe. Damascus: nicknamed City of Jasmine, Capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 – 750. First settled in the second millennium BC.
Dar alHarb: House of war. House of the west. A country where muslim law is not in force in the matter of worship.
David: Second king of the United Kingdom of Israel. An ancestor of Jesus. Considered to be a prophet and king of a nation. Righteous.
Dead Sea: historically a place of Refuge for King David. It is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the East and Israel to the West.
Dhikr: The remembrance of god. Islamic devotional act typically involving the recitation of the Names of God. Silent Prayer.
Diet of Worms: an imperial diet, or assembly, of the Holy Roman Empire held in Worms, Germany. January to May 1521. Effects of Protestant reformations.
Diaspora Judaism: the historical dispersion of Jews from the Kingdom of Judah. Began in the 6th century BCE due to conquest of the Kingdom by Babylon and the destruction of the first temple. Three groups of Jews, Babylon, Egypt, Judaea.
Divided Monarchy: The split of the United kingdom into Israel in the North and Judah in the south. 921 BCE.
Docetism: the doctrine according to which the phenomenon of Christ, was just mere semblance without true reality.
Dome of the Rock: A shrine located on the temple mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Completed in 291 CE, it’s been refurbished multiple times. Religious significance is due to the rock at the centre, known as the foundation stone.
Ecumenism: initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. Single church. Derived from Greek, “The whole inhabited word”. Used for reference to the Roman Empire. Edict of Milan: Constantine I and Licinius, controlling the Roman Empire and the Balkans met in Milan and agreed to treat Christians benevolently.
Elijah Muhammad: The African American religious leader who led the nation of Islam between 1934 until 1975.
Episcopalians: Members of the Anglican church use this word meaning having bishops in their name.
Excommunication: religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. Like in the Catholic church.
Exodus: Story of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt following the death of Joseph, their departure under the leadership of Moses, the revelations at Sinai, and their wanderings up to the borders of Canaan.
Ezra: Ezra the Scribe, He returned from Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem. His name means “God Help”.
Fana: A Sufi term for dissolution or annihilation of the self. A state of enlightenment, intrinsic unity between Allah and all that exists.
Fatima: A title for the virgin Mary due to her reputed apparitions to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917. Filioque: Latin for “and the Son”, used in Western Christian Churches, found in Nicene Creed.
Ali ibn Abu Talib: The beloved, 600661, first Imam, rightful successor of the prophet Hasan ibn Ali: The chosen, 624670, eldest surviving grandson of Muhammad through Muhammad’s daughter Fatima
Husayn ibn Ali: Master of the Martyrs, 626 – 680, grandson of Muhammad and brother of Hasan ibn Ali. Opposed Caliph Yazid.
Ali ibn Husayn: One who constantly prostrates ornaments of the worshippers, 658712. Author of prayers in Shahifa al sajjadiyya.
Solomon’s Temple: holy temple in ancient Jerusalem on the Temple Mount Zion. Destroyed during siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE.
Fivers: Shi’a muslims, who disagree with the majority of Shi’a on the identity of the fifth imam.
Four Gospels: 4 accounts of the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Galilee: A large region in Northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District and Haifa District.
Gemarrah: rabbinic teaching and discussion that went on in Babylon. Further teachings on the Mishnah known collectively as Gemarrah.
Genghis Khan: United nomadic tribes of northeast Asia forming the Mongol Empire. Started Mongol invasions.
Golden Age of Islam: A historical period that began in the mid8th century and lasted until the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. During this time the Arab world became an intellectual
centre for science, philosophy, medicine, and education. House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Muslim and nonMuslim scholars sought to translate and gather the entire world’s knowledge into Arabic.
Hagar: Meaning uncertain is a biblical person in the Book of Genesis. Egyptian handmaid of Sarah who gave her to Abram to bear child.
Hanif: refers to one who maintained the pure monotheistic beliefs of the patriarch Ibrahim. Rejected idolatry and retained religion.
Henotheism: Belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence of other deities that may be worshipped.
Heresy: any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. In alliance with the religions symbol of evil.
Hellenism: any of the various beliefs and practices of people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period of the roman empire. 300 BCE and 300 CE.
Hijra: the migration or journey of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. June 21st and July 2nd in 622 AD.
Holocaust: mass murder and genocide of approximately 6 million Jews during the second world war under Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Homoousion: From the greek word meaning “same”, theological term used in discussion of Christian understanding of God as Trinity.
Homoiousion: Christological doctrine formulated at the first ecumenical council to affirm, that god, son and the father are same substance
Iconoclast: destruction of religious symbols, established dogma or conventions. Iconodule: A supporter, or someone who is in favor of religious images or icons and their veneration. Against use of religious images.
Imam: an Islamic leadership position. A worship leader of a mosque or muslim community. Scholar.
Immaculate Conception: A dogma, stating that when the virgin Mary was in the Womb she was kept free of original sin and was filled with sanctifying grace usually not received until baptism. Sainte Anne is her mother.
Interior Castle: was written by Saint Teresa of Avila, 1577 as a guide for spiritual development through service and development. Practical “blueprints” for seekers who want to understand prayer as mystical union with God.
Irenaeus: 202 CE, saint, Bishop of Lugdunum, early church father, apologist, his writings helped development of Christian Theology. Recognized as a saint. Feast day June 28th in Roman Catholic Calendar.
Isaac: only son that Abraham had with his wife Sarah. Father of Jacob and Esau, one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, Sarah beyond childbearing years. Did not leave Canaan.
Ishmael: Abraham’s first son with Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar.
Ishmaelites: Descendants of Ishmael, elder son of Abraham.
Ismaili Shia: A branch of Shia Islam, also known as Seveners. Got their name from their acceptance of Ismail ibn Jafar who was appointed as the spiritual leader. See Muhammad as the final prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity.
Israelites: a Semitichebrew speaking people of the ancient Near East. Evolved into Jews and Samaritans of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Israelite derived from the Hebrew word Yisrael.
Jacob: known as heel or legpuller, renamed Israel by God meaning “God Contended”. Son of Isaac and Rebakah. Wrestles with angels.
Jahiliyya: Islamic concept of ignorance of divine guidance, or state of ignorance of the guidance of God. Condition of preIslamic Arabia.
Jewish Christian: original members of the Jewish Reform movement later became Christianity. Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and thus equivalent to all Christians. Confession of Jesus as Christ, but still adhered to Jewish practices. New Testament. Jewish War: Sometimes called the Great Revolt, 6673 CE. First of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea province against the Roman Empire. Due to antitaxation protests. Jordan River: 251 km long river in West Asia that flows to the dead sea. Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist.
Joshua: a figure in the Torah, one of the spies of Israel, moses assistant. Book of Joshua. Leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses. Name was Hoshe’a, the son of Nun. Born in Egypt. Explored land of Canaan.
Judah: State in Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Southern kingdom vs the northern kingdom of Israel. 9th century BCE. Jerusalem was the capital. Cooperative agreement with the Assyrians.
Judah Halevi: Spanish jewish physician , 10751141, one of the greatest Hebrew poets. Kabah: The cube, the sacred house, it is one of the most sacred sites in Islam. Kabbalah: esoteric method, discipline and school of though meant to explain the relationship between the eternal and mortal. Judaism related.
Khadija: first wife of the Muhammad. Belonged to the Clan Banu Quraish. Regarded as mother of Islam. Daughters married Caliphs.
Kharijites: Emerged in the late 7th century. Concentrated in Today’s southern Iraq. Means “those who went out”. Rejected leadership.
Kristallnacht: referred to as the night of Broken Glass. Attacks against Jews on 910 November 1938.
Labarum: A military standard that displayed the first two greek letters of the word Christ. Symbolizes the crucifixion of Christ.
LXX: The Septuagint, Greek Old Testament, an ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. Dated as early as the late 2nd century BCE. Luther: launched the protestant reformation to change the theology and practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Salvation a gift of God’s Grace.
Maccabees: means hammer. They were a jewish rebel army that took control of Judea. Founded Hasmonean dynasty which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE, reasserting Judaism, expanding boundaries of the land of Israel by conquest, forced conversion, reduced Hellenism.
Marcion: a bishop in early Christianity. Prompted church to develop a canon of scriptures. He rejected the deity in jewish scriptures as inferior to god’s proclaimed in the Christian gospel.
Marranos: Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity. Continued being jews in secret.
Martin Luther King Jr.: A Baptist minister, helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership conference in 1957.
Masada: an ancient fortification in the southern district of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, overlooks the dead sea. Herod the Great built places for himself on the mountain. The Siege of Masada ended in suicide for 960 Jewish rebels holed up there. Mecca: birthplace for Muhammad, site of the revelation of the Quran, pilgrimage. Messiah: a saviour or liberator of a group of people most commonly in Abrahamic religions. Title of Jesus.
Midrash: a Hebrew term for the body of homiletic stories told by jewish rabbinic sages to explain passages in the Tanakh. Method of interpreting biblical stories that go beyond simple religious, legal or moral teachings.
Mishnah: the first major written redaction of the jew oral traditions. Redacted in 220 CE, in fear that oral traditions would be forgotten.
Mitzvah: meaning commandment, 613 commandments given in the Torah. Moral deed performed as a religious study. Human Kindness.
Mongols: central northasian ethnic group. Religion Shamanism.
Monophysites: meaning only one nature, is a Christological position that after the union of the divine and the human in historical incarnation, jesus, had only a single nature, either divine or synthesis of the divine.
Monotheism: belief in the existence of one god or in the oneness of God. Mordecai Kaplan: 1881 – 1983, rabbi, essayist and jewish educator, the cofounder of reconstructionist Judaism.
Moses: a religious leader, and prophet, author of the Torah. Most important prophet in Judaism. Important to the story of Exodus.
Moses Mendelssohn: 17291786, a German, Jewish philosopher that the jewish enlightenment is attributed to.
Moses Maimonides: medieval Spanish, Sephardic, jewish philosopher, a Torah scholar. Known as the great eagle.
Hira: the location where Muslims believe that Muhammad received his first revelations from God through the angel Jabril, aka Gabriel.
Mt. Gerazim: one of the two mountains in the vicinity of the west bank city of Nablus. Sacred to Samaritans who regard it as Jerusalem’s Temple mount. Having been the location chosen by Yahweh for a holy temple.
Mt. Zion: a hill in Jerusalem just outside the walls of the Old City. City of David. Mu’awiyah: the second caliph from the Umayyad Clan. Brother in law to Muhammad. Refused to obey Ali.
Mughal Empire: 1526 – 1757, an imperial power in the Indian sub continent. Architecture and arts. Taj mahal and the Pearl Mosque.
Muhajirun: were the early, initial muslims, who followed Muhammad on his Hijra from Mecca to medina. Called the Ansar, “Helpers”.
Muhammad Abduh: 1849 – 1905, egyptian islamic jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer. Key founder of islamic modernism, Wrote “treaties on the Oness of god” and a commentary of the Quran.
Muhammad Iqbal: 18771938, British india, philospher, poet, politician. Inspired the Pakistan Movement. Urdu lit. Knighted in 1922.
Mustafa Kemal: in office 1923 – 1938, was an Ottoman and Turkish Amry officer. First president of Turkey. Revolutionist. Founded the republic of Turkey. Surname means “Father of the Turks” is forbidden to be used by anyone else.
Myth: a scared narrative explaining how the world and mankind came to be in its present form.
Nation of Islam: syncretic new religious movement. Founder in Detroit by Wallace. D. Muhammad in July 1930. The goals are to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans. Accused of being black supermicist, and anti semetic.
Nebuchadnezzar: 11261103 BC, was the fourth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and Fourth Dynasty of Babylon. Noted for his victory over Elam, and the recovery of the cultic idol of Marduk.
Nestorius: the archbishop of Constantinople, rejects the title for the Virgin Mary “Mother of God”. Did not believe that Christ was truly God. Accused of Heresy. His ideas were not far from those that eventually emerged as orthodox.
Nicea: a Hellenic city in northwest Antolia, known as the location of the first and second councils of Nicea, capital city.
Nicene Creed: profession of faith. Formed Nicene Christianity. Always was sung or recited. 95 Theses: Written by Martin Luther in Germany, regarded as the initial catalyst of protestant reformation.
Occultation: A word used in astronomy, when an object is hidden by another object passing between it and the observer.
Orthodox Judaism: a religious approach to Judaism which adheres to the teachings of the Torah.
Orthodox Christianity: use the greek word orthodoxa meaning “correct belief”, used to express their belief to have an unbroken connection to the faith, doctrine, and practices of the ancient Christian Church. Eastern and Oriental.
Ottoman Empire: historically referred to as the Turkish Empire. Founded by Turkish Tribes in Anatolia in 1299. Gone in 1924.
Persians: people of Persia. Persian speaking. Iranic people. Current day Iran. Pesach: also known as Passover, biblically derived Jewish festival, Pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Celebrate the liberation of the Jews from ancient Egypt 3300 years ago.
Pharisees: a school of thought, a political party. 14037 BCE in the wake of the Macabee revolt. Conflicts between them and John the Baptist. After the destruction of the second temple, they are believed to be Rabbinic Judaism. Believed in the literal resurrection of the body, were monotheist.
Pope: is the Bishop of Rome. Leader of the World Wide Catholic church. Successor of Saint Peter. Called the “Holy See”.
Priest: a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or multiple deities.
Prophet: an individual who has been contacted by the supernatural or the divine. Delivers this new knowledge to Humanity. Advocate.
Prophecy: the process in which one or more messages have been communicated to the prophet, then communicated to others. Messages involve divine inspiration, interpretation or the revelation of conditions to come.
Protestants: follows or Protestantism, one of the major divisions of Christianity. Deny the universal authority of the pope. Affirm the reformation principles by faith alone. Originated from Martin Luther’s 95 theses.
Qur’an: literally meaning the recitation. Believed to the verbatim word of god. Revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad in the cave of Hira.
Quraysh: a powerful, merchant tribe that controlled Mecca and its Kaaba. Rabbi: derived from the Hebrew word “My Master”, a teacher of the Torah.
Jewish Scriptures, Beliefs, Theoloy Summary
Jewish religious thought is commitment to monotheism.
The religion of Abraham and the ancestors of Israel was not monotheistic, but a distinctive practice. Stories of Prophet Elijah(the guardian of the covenant), highlight the struggle between allegiance to Yahweh and worship of Ba’al, god of the land.
Ba’al was in charge of life giving and rain.
Yahweh is the one god, the creater and director of all
Marduk: god Babylon
Devout jews recite the Shema daily “Hear O Isreal”.
Unity of god is fundamental in Jewish theological assertion.
Shema means that god is not many, all if reality is a unified order, one universal law of righteousness Jews do not accept the Christian idea that god is triune, father , son and spirit.
God purely in Godself is En Sof, absolute and without limit.
God manifested in ten emanations known as the sefirot because he cannot reveal his true nature God is transcendent, far above and beyond the created world. IN total contrast to everything that has been created in time and space. Eternal, no beginning or end, no limitations.
God is imminent, near and present to all creatures.
Evil can be the result of a previous sin of an individual or community. Discipline or testing from god. God created the world from a dark watery chaos and by divine command made it s agood purposeful world.
Role of humans is to serve the creator and fulfill God’s will in the world.
Jewish belief elevates humans to a little less than god, cared for and lobved by God, given great responsibility of being masters over all of God’s Creatures.
Humans are to serve god, but at the same time are partners with god in preserving of creation. Animals are to be respected and treated fairly and humanely.
No worshipping idols, murder, adultery and incent, eat limb torn from living animal, blaspheme, steal Human sin is called averah, Jewish traditions have no delusions about human nature to sin Sin is any act or attitude whether of omission or commission which nullified God’s will, obscures his glory,
profanes his name opposes his kingdom or transgresses the mitzvoth ( Commandments) Yetzer hatov: the good inclination, and yetzer hara, the evil inclination.
Evil inclination is essential in providing motivating power of life.
Jewish tradition has the view that life is a continuing struggle to control the evil inclination. Jews believe that humans have free choice and the ability to avoid Satan.
Jewish beliefs that some punishment for sin can be in this life or the final punishment in the life to come. God not only the creator but also the redeemer who forgives and restores and thus makes it possible for humans to turn back to the life god intended.
God redeems and saves by being God for humans that is god continually searches and calls for humans God delivered them from Egypt, , brought them to the holy mountain, and entered into a covenant with them, gave them the torah and led them to the promise land.
The initiative to seek god must come from humans.
Teshuvah, Hebrew word for repentance means to turn around, make a complete change in life. Repentance involves 4 seps, the readiness to acknowledge an wrongdoing, act of compensation, genuine resolve, praying for forgiveness.
Yom Kippur set aside for repentance, day of atonement
Mitzvoth: commandments which god has given through the Torah.
Halakhah is a the way the code of life is spelled out in the Talmund and how the mitzvots apply to life. Jews have never felt that it was their mission to bring people into Judaism
The righteous will be rewarded in Gan Eden ( Paradise )
Jewish Praxis, Holy Days, Culture Summary
Mitzvoth commandments deal with both ritual actions and ethical behavior.
Halakhah, the path or code, that provides the blueprint for everything about life from cradle to grave. Sabbath the only festival prescribed in the ten commandments, it is a supreme symbol of the covenant relationship with god.
God rested on the 7th day after finishing the creation >> Sabbath
Reminder of the deliverance from slavery in Egypt. >> Sabbath
Rejoicing with god in creation, celebrating freedom in human society. >> Sabbath. Special Sabbath prayer is called Kiddush, said over a glass of wine.
Rosh Hashanah – New year, on the first of Tishri, early Autumn.
Everything a person does is recorded in God’s books and these are opened for examinations at the beginning of the new year, weighed and judged and a verdict inscribed.
Rosh Hashanah has a special ritual blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn, during a service. Ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of repentance
Yom Kippur: day of atonement, called the Sabbath of Sabbaths.
Evening service for Yom Kippur Kol Nidre prayer. During this day Jews confess sings and ask for forgivness. Conluding Service is called Neilah referring to the closing of the gates of heaven. Concludes with a final blast of the Shofar.
Sukot – the festival of booths, 5 days after yom kippur, 15th of Tishri, Lasts for seven days during which jews build a hut (sukkah) and make it their home. Festival of ingathering of harvest, ritual use of citron, palm branches, myrtle and willow. The hut reminds jews of wandering in the wilderness.
Follow Sukkot there’s a celebration of Simhat Torah, on this day the annual reading cycle of the Torah is complete. Followed by reading opening verses of the Torah.
Hannukkah: the feast of lights, eight day festival, recalls the victory of Maccabbeus and the Jews of the Selecuids in 165 BCE. Lighting of the Menorah, letting it burn for eight days.
Prium: coming in early spring, talks about Mordecai and his grandniece Esther risking their lives to save their people from the Persians.
Pesach (Passover) celebrates Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. “festival of our freedom” Passover also symbolizes the deliverance of all nature from the bondage of winter. Preparing involves cleaning and purifying the house, only Matzah ( unleavened bread )a nd other unleavened food can be eaten for the 7 day festival due to the Israelites fleeing in haste from Egypt.
Passover ritual meal called seder ( order ) celebrated in evening of the first two days. Haggadah ( story) is a written guide for the seder.
Seder includes 4 cups of wine, a special cup for Elijah , salt water to remember tears, drops of wine split in sorrow, and 4 questions to be asked of the youngest child present.
Shavuot: the festival of Weeks (Pentecost) , final festive, sevens weeks after Passover, celebration of abundant spring harvest. It remembers especially the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Yom Hashoah – holocaust memorial day.
Duty of worshipping god is at the heart of the Jewish Tradition.
For festival worship many wear a tallith (prayer shawl) , jewish men may also were tefillin, small black boxes that contain words of the Torah.
Important prayers are the 18 benedictions, said in the morning, noon and evening prayers. Have to do with repentance, redemption, healing and blessing.
The act of studying the Torah is also an important ritual for jews.
Women are generally exempt from Torah studying obligations for the reason that their role as the homemaker does not allow them time.
Kashrut ( ritual fitness) – kosher food, all vegetables and fruits are permissible, no horses, pigs or birds of pray.
Must be killed in shochet ( ritual slaughter)
Meat and dairy products can’t be prepared or eaten together.
Covenant between god and Israel is circumsicion, brit milah, done on the 8th day after birth. Passage into puberty is the Bar Mitzvah ( son of the commandment ) , young Jewish boy is expected to progress in studying the Torah. Bat Mitzvah for girls.
Sacred duty of marriage is spelled out in the Talmund. One who remains unmarried impairs the divine image.
Marriage ritual performed under huppah (canopy) . Blessings over two goblets of wine. Death: members sit with dying person reciting the Shema.
Shivah: period of mourning for seven days. Body is to be wrapped in white shrouds before burial. Jewish law prohibits suicide or any action that might harm or desecrate someone’s body. Cremation is prohibited.
Kelal yisrael – the total community of Israel.
People are jewish either by birth or conversion, one who is born Jewish can never ben deprived of that identity even if he/she abandons jewish practices.
Biblical laws segregate women from men in synagogues.
Halakhah designates that code of laws that prescribe how a Jew should live every aspect of life. Means “way” , drawn from the Torah and Talmund.
All actions should be infused with awareness of the presence of God.
Halakhah not a burden but a great gift from god.
It is a mitzvah to get married. One should not over indulge in food, drink and have lack of cleanliness. Tzedakah – important principle of charity. Giving to those in need.
God chose Israel but Israel chose to be chosen. Higher responsibility and higher standards are expected of the Jewish people compared to others.
The important mitzvah of pursuing peace (shalom) is extended to conflict and warfare between people and nations.
Christianity Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology Summary
For Christians the way to know god is through the revelation in Jesus Christ. God’s divine face is shown for all to see.
God’s eternal brilliance is reflected in the “image” of god, Jesus Christ.
Jesus favorite term for god was “Abba”
God is involved in human existence to make sure that mercy is what wins out of the dirt and grime. Christians see god as the loving father and mother wanting to create humans in order to show them love. Christian’s see the suffering of Jesus as god’s way of becoming the “friend of sinners”. Christians: God was incarnated in Jesus, became flesh and dwelt amongst us. Trinity: god is one god in three persons. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Nicenene creed guide Christians to understanding god’s triune nature.
Creation account: God created the universe, determined it all to be good, and placed humans as the crown of creation to play as god’s representatives within this good world.
God created the first human from dust of the ground and breathed spirit into him. Jesus: loving god, one’s self and neighbor sums up all the law.
God gives the world not only its existence but also its value
Christians emphasize the sinfulness of human nature more forcefully than Jews or Muslims. Christians view the story of adam and eve as the story of all humans. Inevitable human sin. Originating sin is due to the fall from heaven to earth.
The belief that the only way to fix originating sin is to get help from God.
Death is not the end of human existence. Humans enslaved by sin, saved by Jesus Christ. Recognizing sinfulness it the first step in turning toward the redemption that comes from God. Pattern of atonement reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ atoninig for the sins of all humankind by his
sacrifice on the cross. His atonement returning the loving relationship between humans and god. Muslims and Jews are against the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.
Soteriology: the belief in salvation through Jesus Christ. Experience the love of God through Jesus Christ. Arius was teaching that Jesus was actually human created to be god’s son and savior of the world. Docetists: taught that Jesus Christ was fully god but just seemed to be human. Faith is saying yes to God’s love, and accepting the divine promise. Christians calls this justification by faith.
Baptism is an important ritual for Christians symbolizes the inclusion of the new person in the family of god. Removes a person’s sinful nature and the person is born again.
Sharing in the Eucharist Lord’s Supper is a concrete experience of being united with Christ through this sacred meal.
Christians believe throughout a person’s life they will be sinful and redeemed humans. Christ speaks of sanctification: making holy of our lives.
Resurrection, judgment day, and eternal life in heaven. Heaven last image of Salvation.
Christianity Praxis, Holy Days, CultureSummary
Christians live based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Earliest practices are the Sunday service of prayer and Eucharist
Canon law: governs the conduct of public worship.
Liturgical: place a good deal of emphasis on the traditional liturgy ( order of public worship) and properly ordained clergy.
Non Liturgical : emphasize a free and spontaneous approach to prayer, reading the bible, testifying to faith and exhorting others in worship together.
Liturgical denominations: Roman Catholic, orthodox, angelica and Luther churches. Non liturgical: Baptists, Quakers and free evangelical churches.
Sunday Worship: Communal worship, Sunday is the day of Christ’s resurrection, consists of Liturgy of the word and liturgy of the Eucharist. Begins with a call to worship, communal confession of sins, hymns and prayers.
Liturgy of word: reading of the Old Testament, gospels, and Epistles.
Non liturgical churches have more emphasis on reading the bible, preaching, songs and prayer. Sacraments: the Eucharist is considered by many to be a sacrament, a sacred ritual. Ceremonies called sacraments include baptism, the lord’s supper, confession, forgiveness and anointing the sick., confirmation, marriage, and ordination of clergy.
Eucharist: Roman Catholid believe in transubstantiation, where the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ. Radical reformers like Zwingli held that the bread and wine only symbolize christ’s body and blood.
Lent and Easter: celebrate the events of christ’s entry into Jerusalem, last supper, crucifixion and entombment.
Ash Wednesday: putting ashes on forehead, Lent is devoted to special disciplines of prayer, repentance. Fasting and voluntarily giving up certain pleasures.
Maundy Thursday: celebrates Christ’s last supper with his disciples when he used the bread and wine of the Passover.
Sunday morning is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Continues for the next 6 weeks Nativity celebrated on January 6th , Advent is observed 4 weeks before Christmas, Epiphany for some weeks after Christmas. Celebrates God’s love in the incarnation of Christ.
Advent celebrates events from Christ’s life.
Epiphany has becomes associated with the story of the wise men from the east coming to Bethlehem to present gifts to the newborn king.
Pentecost: celebrates god giving the spirit to give guidance to the church.
Short services throughout the day: prime, matins, lauds, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline. Confession is a sacrament.
Initiation into the Christian community is baptism. Used water to symbolize cleansing. Through this ritual the child is born again having participated in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Eastern Orthodox churches the infant receives Holy Communion as a full member of the church. Today Christians use prayers, rituals and sacraments for the purpose of healing the sick. Jehova’s witnesses plae restrictions on the practice of modern medicine such as blood transfusions. Controversy about using religious icons in art
One does not become Christian by birth, rather by choosing to belong by believing and being baptized.
Significant development today are the ecumenical movement in which Christians are trying to make real the unity of the world
Pricilla: prominent women in Christianity.
Antinomians ( people against the law) who taught that since Christ abolished the law that Christians are free to do whatever they want.
Jesus identified neighbor as anyone in need, the sick, prisoner, hungry and thirsty strangers. God’s kind of love shown in Christ is agape: unconditional, non discriminatory, self giving love. War: a just cause of defense or protection declared by a lawful authority.
Dualist view sees this world as just a preparation for the next with the conclusion that Christians have no special role .
Islam Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology Summary
The tawhid, the assertion of the oneness of god.
Shahada: there is no god but god and Muhammad is the prophet of god.
Allah in Arabic simply means “God”
The greatest sin according to the Quran is shirk, associating something else with god, this is the great sin of polytheism. No divine power rules and directs our lives.
Rab al alamin : god of the world. Also called Rabb. Muslim is a “abd” ( worshipper, servant ) Creation: god breathed the spirit into humans providing the breath of life, the animating spirit and humans were created male and female.
Khalifa means deputy or representative.
Humans differ from all three creatures because of three qualities: intelligence that can discern between true and false, a will freely to choose, and the power of speech to worship god.
Those who achieve completeness by using reason, free will and speech to follow god are perfect. Forgetfulness and negligence is behind human sin and evil doing.
Two inclinations given to humans by god: spiritual that directs the intelligence to follow god’s laws and the inclination to fulfill the desires and passions with which God has endowed humans. A person who denies god is called a kafir. Kufr means to cover or conceal.
Kafirs become mushriks. Those who associate other things with god, and thus commit the great sin of denying the unity of God. Use God’s bountiful gifts while denying his existence.
Falah – muslim word for felicity.
Path of Islam is fundamentally a path of knowledge. Islam means submission to god. Muslim word for faith is iman, leads to the submission to god.
Shariah law, is the code of behavior in Islam, same as halakhah.
Jihad , spiritual struggle. Continual holy war against unbelievers and evil doers.
Islam Praxis, Holy Days, Culture Summary
God is rab, muslim is abd, life in service of god is ibadah.
Muslim rituals not geared towards the cucles of nature in the seasons of the year. Follows lunar pattern. 12 months, 2930 days each.
Five pillars: confession, prayer, alms, fasting and pilgrimage.
Prayer is an expression of praise and submission to god. Muslims also use dua’ Praying in group, one person acts as an imam. It’s important to perform the prayer in harmony. Allahu akbar: god is great, bowing hands on knees saying glory to my lord, in a position of submission “glory to my lord, the most high”.
Close of prayer, blesses the prophet and his family , peace be upon you all fellow Muslims. Friday noon prayer: special sermon called khutba.
Alms giving required of Muslims over 16 who can afford it. 2.5 percent general annual rate. Not to be given to relatives.
Fasting: Ramadan >. Time to break bad habits and regain control. Submission to god. One learns appreciation of the material pleasures.
Fasting not permitted to impair one’s health.
Hajj – once in a lifetime, must be physically and financially capable, spiritual state called ihram. Wearing of special garmnets. No sex, cutting hair, uprooting living things, wearing jewelry etc. Circle the kabah ( tawaf) saying “I am here o god I am here ) , seven time, in a counter clockwise direction. Pilgrims to reach out and touch the black stone.
Running in memory of Hagar and Ishmael, pilgrims run seven times between two hills. Then they drink from the well of zamzam.
On the 8th day everyone moves out into the desert to live in tents, on the ninth day the ritual of standing ( wuquf) at the plain of arafat, and the mount of mercy. From noon until sunset.
Next comes ritual of stoning and feast of sacrifice.
Pilgrims throw 49 pebbles at three stones representing satan .
Mawlid al Nabi – twelfth day of the third month.
Two eids
Muharram is the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Associated with Hijra. Tenth of muharram is a day called ashura involves fasting.
Shiite attached the martyrdom of imam husayn to this day remembering the battle of karbalah. Birth: 7th day named, and a sacrifice may be performed. Khitan ( circumcision ) is an important purification ritual.
Marriage , bridal gift , mahr, for the bride to keep.
Death , prayer is performed around the dead person with the entire service standing. Laid to rest facing Mecca on the right side of the body.
Calligraphy is important in islam to show holy words and passages.
Iran Mulas – religious scholars, everywhere else ‘ulama.
Muslims have a duty to engage in da’wah, missionary activities directed to converting the world. God’s gift of free will means no coercion or forcing people to accept islam.
Jewish History
∙ Synagogue jewish place of worship, means gathering
∙ Bar Kochbah Thid major rebellion agaist roman empire, jews of Judea. Last of wars ∙ Conservative Judaism traditional jewish practices
∙ Epic of Gilgamesh : mesopatamian flood story
∙ Exodus = salvation journey from egypt to palestine
∙ Reform Judaism new modernized jew practices
∙ Rabbinic Judaism mainstream of Judiasm,
Jewish Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to the promise land, away from salvery ∙ Henotheism worshipping of one god but admitting there are other gods ∙ Tanakh Hewbrew bible consisting of Talmund Nevim , Ketivim, ∙ Midrash = explanation of the tanakh
∙ Torah laws
∙ Halakhah = the way/laws to describe how to practice the mitzvot in daily life ∙ Haggadah = jews stories, used to get laws e.g.the story of exodus ∙ Mishnah written oral torah
∙ Oral Torah oral torah
∙ Talmund Mishnah + gemarra, babylonion and palestinian
∙ Shema = like shahada to muslims, jews used to said twice daily for two thousands years
∙ Mitzvah/Mitzvot = commandments of the covenant for jews
∙ Adonai/Elohim/Yahweh God
∙ Covenant an agreement between god and people
∙ Five books of the Torah
∙ Gemara mishnah translation
∙ Ketuvim part of the Tanakh
∙ Nevi'im part of the Tanakh
∙ Kingdom of God Israel
Jewish Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Sabbath = jew holiday, celebrate the 7th day of creation and rest and celebrating freedom from egypt,exodus.
∙ Rosh Hashanah = jews celebration for their new year, day of justice, right and sinners.
∙ Yom Kippur =(the atonment) one of the most holy days for jews, for repentance ∙ Shofar = horn blown in the in ‘Rosh Hashanah’, to arouse the sleeping souls for war against sins.
∙ Sukkot = jews holiday 5 days after yom kippur, rejoice the Torah. ∙ Hanukkah = jews 8 days of celebration(Fest of light),Judah Maccabeus over Antiochus Epiphanes.. oil lasted 8 days instead of one in the temple
∙ Purim = jews holiday to celebrate the survival, story of Eshtar, from the persian Haman.
∙ Passover/Pesach = high points of jews year, “the festival of our freedom” , Israel salvery from egypt, only allowed to eat bread on that day.
∙ Shavuot = pentecost, festival of the weeks, final major festival, remembrance of the covenant and the gift of Torah on Mt.sinai. marriage between god and ppl. ∙ Kipah = jews mens head cap, they wear during prayer
∙ Tallith = jews prayer shawl
∙ Tefillin = Jewish observant men wear while praying, small black boxes containing words of the Torah, attached to the head or arms with leather bands.
∙ Kashrut = jewish dietry laws, Torah prohibition of food, horse flesh , pigs and shellfish. meat and milk can’t be eaten together.
Christianity History
∙ Book of Mormon
∙ Apostles’ Creed :
∙ Christotokos bearer of Christ, virgin mary , Greek name
∙ Luther 95 theses, against the roman church, make the protastants. ∙ The Passion = the journey of jesus to jerusalem where he was caught and crucified. ∙ Good Friday commemorating crucifixation of jesus
∙ LDS = latter day saints, a christian movment, they also a have their churches ∙ Brigham Young = He was the President of The Church of Jesus (LDS Church) 19th cent. ∙ Joseph Smith: founder of the LDS 19th cent.
Christianity Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Jesus Duh
∙ New Testament
∙ Messiah/Christ saviour
∙ Nicene Creed = explanation of the trinity in 4th and 5th centuries ∙ Baptism Full body immersion in water, can be done at adulthood, naming of the child. 7 8 days after birth
∙ Canon a set of religious laws
∙ Disputed Letters of Paul lletteres that scholars do not believe were written by Paul ∙ Council of Trent important council, condeming protestant heresey ∙ Ecumenism initiatives aimed at greater christian unity
∙ Justification by faith duh
∙ Eucharist Lord’s supper
∙ Immaculate Conception virgin mary sinless
∙ Gospels stories about jesus
∙ Theotokos Greek name for Mother of Christ, the Virgin Mary. ∙ Mormon Articles of Faith = LDS
∙ Undisputed Letters of Paul
∙ Incarnation = embodied in flesh,God incarnation in Christ
∙ Sacraments sacred rituals, Eucharist example
∙ Sola fides faith alone,one of the the theologies during the protestants reformation ∙ Sola gratia = grace alone
∙ Sola scriptura scripture alone
Christianity Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Epiphany celebration of god’s revelation as jesus christ
∙ Ash Wednesday putting ash on forhead, used for repentance and fasting ∙ Christmas preparing for the birth of jesus
∙ Feast of Ascension holy thursday, symbolizes jesus rise to heaven ∙ Lent give up a pleasure for 6 weeks before Easter , and it’s time for repentance ∙ Easter resurrection of jesus christ
∙ Feast of Epiphany just a feast
∙ Pentecost = celebration of the holy spirit and establishment of the church ∙ Soteriology = the study of the religious doctrines of salvation
Islam History
∙ AlAsh‘ari= mutazila theologian, islamic golden age
∙ AlGhazali = second most influential islamic figure after the, prophet brought sufism back into the main stream
∙ AliMohammad
∙ Anno Hijra = 622 C.E
∙ Ansars = the ppl who took in the prophet in madina
∙ Bab = religion movement from perisa
∙ ‘Ashura = 20h of moharram to memorize the battle of karabala ∙ Mecca = duh
∙ Medina = duh
∙ Mughal = empire in 16th cent. muslim
∙ Mu‘tazilites= Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought[1] that flourished in the cities of Basra and Baghdad, both in presentday Iraq, during the 8th–10th centuries. ∙ Muhammad ibn Abd alWahhab established first Saudi state 1792 ∙ Ottoman Duh, Turkish ,
∙ Yathrib name of Medina before Hijra
∙ Zaydis shiite, fivers, school of thought, islam,
∙ Shiat Ali people of ALi
∙ Shaykh Ahmad persian dude, he claimed that he got word directly form the imam.
Islam Scriptures, Beliefs, Theology
∙ Five Pillars of Faith= shahada, 9ala,hij,zakat,9yam
∙ Shari’ah islamic law, way of life.
∙ Hadith stories told by the Prophet and his companions
∙ Fiqh study of religion
∙ Fatiha the opener of the Quran
∙ Fasting not eating
∙ Fana mortal life
∙ Hajj pilgrimage
∙ Hijab head cover
∙ Ijma = the agreement of the scientists of the umma on the decision ∙ Kab‘ah built by Abraham and Ishamal. holy site, haj, islam, black stone, mecca ∙ Jihad holy war
∙ Mahdi 12th imam
∙ Mohammad prophet BBUH
∙ Qur’an holy book of islam, muhammad, cave, gabriel
∙ Nabi prophet with scripture
∙ Rasul messenger
∙ Qiyas one of the teaching of the hadeeth
∙ Sayyid Kazim = he led the shaykhi movment till his deat, he was mulla told about the coming of the mahdi
∙ Shahadah duh
∙ Shirk denial of the existence of god.
∙ Tawhid = there’s only one God, opposite of shirk.
∙ Sufis inner,mystical dimension of Islam
∙ Averoes= aka ibn rushud, 12 cent. master of philosophy
∙ Avicenna = aka ibn seena,11th cent. philosophy and medicine
Islam Praxis, Holy Days, Culture
∙ Jum‘ah friday prayers
∙ Eid aladha duh
∙ Eid alfitr duh
∙ Muharram 1st month of islamic lunar cycle
∙ Ramadan duh
∙ Sawm duh
∙ Salat duh
∙ Raka’ah duh
∙ Wudu ceremonial cleansing before prayer, heads, ears, eyes, nose, arms, feet, back of neck
∙ Zakat Alms , money giving, annual islamic tax
∙ masjid Double duh
∙ Muezzin ghadieh’s way of saying muethin
∙ Mihrab hole in the wall
∙ Minbar pedestal for kitbah
∙ Sura a division of the quran
∙ Stoning of the Jamarat haj, 49 stones at 3 pillars representing
NOT RELIGION SPECIFIC
∙ Polygamy marrying more than one girl, islam, men allowed, women are not
∙ People of the Book jews, christians, muslims
∙ Prayer
∙ Myth
∙ Orthodoxy = by doctrine and believe, christianity
∙ Orthopraxy = by practice, doing activities over conduct, islam and judism UNDEFINED WORDS:
∙ Acts
∙ Advent = holiday for chris. preparation of the celebration nativity of the jesus ∙ Anselm = saint of canterbury, responsible for the theory about the existence of god and the satisfaction theory of atonement.
∙ Apocalypse Pretty clear what it is :P
∙ Aquinas = saint in 13cent.
∙ Aquinas’ Proofs = 5 proof’s about the existence of god
∙ Asia Minor = perisa, turkey and iraq maybe sham as well.
∙ Augustine = : A father of the church whose writings are considered very influential in Christian philosophy. He was a Bishop of Hippo.
∙
∙ Brit milah =covenant of circumcision
∙ Calvin = calvinism, reformation christians broke with the catholic church ∙ Consubstantiation = theological doctrine attempts to describe the nature of the christian Eucharist.
∙ DeuteroPauline Letters = ppl think the disputed letter od paul where written by this guy, they represent the value of the women in the catholic church
∙ Documentary Hypothesis
∙ Enlightenment duh
∙ Epispasm Foreskin restoration, jews under greek rule, breaks covenant with go, opposite of circumcision
∙ Eschatology: The department of theological science concerned with ‘the four last things: death, judgement,heaven and hell’
∙ Faqir: Muslim ethnic groupfound in India.
∙ Filioque clause : and the son , a phrase included in the nicene creed ∙ Guide for the Perplexed: relationship between philosophy and religion, written by MAY MOON
∙ Immanuel Kant german philosopher
∙ Intercalary month insertion of a leap day to match things with lunar calenders. ∙ Job:
∙ Kaballah : Jewish school of thought
∙ Kirland cant find
∙ Liturgy public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions.
∙ Manicheism
∙ Maundy Thursday: celebrates Christ’s last supper with his disciples when he used the bread and wine of the
∙ Moroni
∙ Moses Maimonides jewish scholar
∙ Moses Mendelssohn = german jewish philosopher,father of reform jew, whose ideas the jewish enlightenment in 18th and 19th cent.
∙ Mountain Meadows Massacre : LDS and Mormone attacked a train in south Utah 19th century
∙ Nauvoo : a place of gathering for LDS
∙ Occultation : An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer.
∙ Ontological argument : An ontological argument is any one of a category of arguments for the existence of God appearing mainly in Christian theology
∙ Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter ∙ Q ...
∙ Rabbi Judah HaNasi = editor of the Mishnah in its final form. He is referred to as “Rebbi,”
∙ Rashi delicious food =haha very funny _
∙ Rumi wrote on the right side of the Gemarrah
∙ Safavid = dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynsaties of iran 16th to18th Cent
∙ Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah basically like 10 commandments ∙ Shabbatai Zvi claimed to be the long awaited jewish messiah ∙ Sheol garment used during haj ?????
∙ Simhat Torah :is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings,
∙ Synoptic Gospels mathew, mark and luke, called this because they include many similar stories
∙ Tanjakh : head thing
∙ Theodicy an attempt to resolve the evidential problem of evil by reconciling the traditional divine characteristics of omnibenevolence,omnipotence, and omniscience with the occurrence of evil or suffering in the world.
∙ Tisha B’Av : is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day (Tisha) ∙ Transubstantiation : replacing wine and bread, for jesus body and blood. ∙ Ulama’ = educated class of muslim legal scholars
∙ Ulrich Zwingli : held that the bread and wine only symbolize christ’s body and blood ∙ Universal House of Justice : duh
∙ Yarmulke: jew cap
Islam History 10/18/2012
Islam
∙ Arabic – Hebrew words built on a three letter root; S, L, M
∙ Islam = complete trust of and surrender
∙ Muslim = the person who submits to the will of God
Muslim
∙ Born to a Muslim family or converted by confessing Shahada, which states that there is no god but God and Muhammad is his
messenger – Niya is required when saying it, which is the
INTENTION
∙ 80% of Muslims are not Arab – Arab does not equal Muslim
Origins of Islam
∙ Abraham
∙ Sarah – his wife
∙ Hagar – maid – kicked out
∙ Ishmael – maid’s son – kicked out
∙ Isaac – wife’s son
∙ Ishmaelites in Arabia – Hagar and Ishmael go South from Israel after being kicked out which is Saudi Arabia
Arabian Religion and Society
∙ Before Mohammad, inhabitants in the Arabian peninsula worshipped many Gods but still believed there was one greatest of Gods – they called him Allah (came from Il Alah) – he created the universe
o They are henotheistic – Jews and Christians were “Hanif”
∙ Nostic Christians and Muslims both believed that Jesus did not really die on the cross, because he was not human, he was not matter
∙ Arab religion worshipped three daughters of Allah at Kabah, a black stone of mysterious origins – before Mohammed – place of pilgrimages for all Arabs
∙ Pre-Muslim Arabian society did not believe in an after-life – they had a fear of death that Islam cured
∙ Arab social values: family and male honor, hospitality, defense of the socially defenseless (poor, widows, orphans)
∙ Warlords and tribal loyalty
∙ Mecca was the capital of Arabia – religious centre due to Kabah – political centre because of the Quraysh Tribe – economic centre (trade routes and markets) – Mecca was very wealthy so they began to lose their defense for the socially defenseless
Theological Constructions
∙ This period before Islam is called: Jahaliyya = time of IGNORANCE
Life of Mohammad
∙ 570CE – he was born a Qurayshi (the tribe that controlled Mecca), raised by his uncle Abu Talib
∙ He worked in the family business, had a good reputation ∙ He married Khadijah at 25 (595CE) – she was 40, wealthy, and a widow
∙ So after he married her, he didn’t need to work as much so he started to spend a lot of time alone in the mountains of Mecca, praying in solitude
∙ One night, in 610CE in the month of Ramadan, the angel Gabriel appears to Mohammad in Mount Hira (this becomes known as the night of power) – Gabriel says “Recite!”
o Quran = recitation
∙ Mohammad was troubled, wasn’t sure about it, his wife encouraged it – he became depressed wondering if there was more – but he got more messages, a lot about social justice
∙ Muhammad began his work in Mecca, addressing issues: o Social and religious reform
o Idol worship and polytheism
o Care for the poor
o Assist the oppressed
o Give alms
∙ He was directly criticizing the practice, the morals, the life of Qurayshis
∙ He had few supporters: wife, Abu Bakr (close friend), Zayd (former slave), Ali (cousin)… he had many enemies
∙ 619CE: The Quraysh go to Abu Talib so he can silence Mohammad but he refuses, and they can’t cross Abu Talib
o When his uncle and his wife die, Muhammad’s support system collapses
∙ 622CE: he gets an invitation from Yathrib (later named Medina) – this city has been experiencing many civil wars – they invited him to act as arbitrator
∙ His flight from Mecca to Medina is known as the Hijra – it becomes the start date of Islam (Anno Hijra) – in this city, the first Muslim community was established (Ummah) – he made peace between the warring tribes in Medina and establishes Islam
∙ Now Medina and Mecca are at war with each other – Muhammad asked the Jews in Medina to just not conspire with the Quraysh but they did and there was a massacre
∙ Battle of Badr – 624CE – Muslims are outnumbered by Meccans and WIN – this gets interpreted such that Angels were on the field helping the Muslims
∙ Battle of Uhud – 625CE – Muslims lose badly – Meccans pulled back for some unknown reason
∙ Cleansing the Kabah – Muhammad and his army go to Mecca and the Meccans give up without a bloodshed – they devoted the Kabah to God alone
∙ Black stone , statue of jesus, only two things in the Kabah ∙ Muhammed returns to Medina and he makes two pilgrimages in Mecca before he dies in 632CE
Caliphate
∙ After the prophet’s death, the followers aren’t sure what to do ∙ One follower, Umar, threatened to beat anyone who said that the prophet is dead – Abu Bakr said that they didn’t worship
Muhammad, they worshipped Allah, who is immortal, always alive ∙ Division between Sunnis and Shias begins now
∙ Khalifah = steward, Caliph, watches over the place, didn’t own the place – first Caliph was Abu Bakr (632-634CE) – people who believed Ali was supposed to be the successor were not happy but Ali recognizes and follows Abu Bakr nonetheless and was happy to wait his turn
o Abu Bakr brought stability, and established Islam throughout Arabia, reestablishing treaties of loyalties and peace
∙ Imam = prayer leader
∙ The Quraysh didn’t want Ali to be the next Caliph because they didn’t want Islam to be a monarchy
∙ Abu Bakr appointed his next successor: Umar (634-644CE) o Umar extends Islam into the Middle East and captures
Jerusalem in 637CE – establishing the just treatment of Jews and Christians – he was then killed by a Persian slave
∙ A hiring committee was formed to pick the next successor – Uthman or Ali? They went with Uthman (644-656CE)
o He takes Islam into Asia Minor (Turkey) and North Africa – o He oversaw creation of the Qur’an
o He was assassinated in a coup
∙ Ali was the 4th Caliph (cousin of Muhammad and son-in-law) (656-661CE)
o Ali announced an amnesty for the killers of Uthman to end bloodshed – supporters of Uthman rebel against Ali for this, including Muhammeds wife Aisha
o Mu’awiyah is Uthman’s cousin who believed he should be the next Caliph
o Battle with Mu’awiyah at Siffin (657CE) where he fights against Ali for this – Ali was winning – so Mu’awiyah gets his soldiers to put the Quran on their swords, so Ali was unsure what to do – so he steps back and agrees to send the dispute to arbitration – he allowed Mu’awyiah to get stronger because of this
o By 660, Mu’awiyah was a self-appointed caliph
o Ali’s supporters believed that for this, he was an enemy of God so they kill him in 661 – killed by Kharijites (faction within the party of Ali that believed Ali lost divine favor , leading to his assassination. )
Islam Splits!
∙ Hasan (Ali’s first son) – powerless, and not much of a fighter, loses caliphate to Mu’awiyah – he was killed
∙ Rise of the Umayyad tribe (cousins of the Quraysh)
∙ Husayn (Ali’s last surviving son) vs. Yazid (Mu’awiyah’s son) – BATTLE OF KARBALA IN 680
o Shi’at Ali = party of Ali = Shia
o Husayn is killed by Yazid – his head was put on a spear
o Treating the grandson of the prophet like that makes Yazid an enemy
∙ At this point, there is a total split – Sunni and Shia o Quraysh + Umayyad Dynasty = Sunni
o Shias laid low
Shia Islam
∙ Thought caliphate should have always stayed in the family of Muhammad
∙ Shias had no caliphs, just Imams (divinely mandated leader) – just 12 of them! Have a unique connection to God through the blood they share with the Prophet
∙ Ali was Muhammad’s cousin and Fatima (prophet’s daughter)’s husband
∙ First four Imams: Ali, Hasan, Husayn, Ali-Zayn
∙ 5th Imam: al-Baqir vs Zayad?! Disagreement over who should follow:
o Zaydis: Shia who followed Zayad as
o Al Baqir was the older son – his mother was a granddaughter of Ali
o Zayad lead a revolt against the Umayyad, making people think he was the better choice
∙ 6th Imam: Jafar
∙ 7th Imam: Musa vs. Ismail?
o Ismail is the eldest but he died before Jafar died
o Musa
o Isma’ilis: Shia sect that traces its Imamate through Isma’il’s sons – also called “Seveners” – they thought you can’t take away Imamate from someone just because he died
o Rest of Shia follows Musa
∙ 12th Imam: Mehdi – born in 869 and disappeared 5 years later, 874 CE – he didn’t die apparently – his followers are called the Twelvers
o He went into hiding (OCCULTATION) and he is still hiding o This is when the “babs (gates is the literal meaning, they were people) concept comes in – the idea is that, even though he is hiding, the babs act as communication between him and his community – THIS IS THE LESSER OCCULATATION
o Greater and Lesser Occultation
Greater Occultation = begins in 941 when the 4th bab dies and there is NO form of communication with him
and there is TOTAL occultation, TOTAL darkness
The belief is that he could be anywhere and will return
at the end of time (with Jesus) – consistent with the idea
in Judaism of a MESSIAH
∙ Shia make up about 20% of Muslims
∙ Ayatolla Khomeini (Iran) = his followers claimed he was the Mahdi
Umayyad Dynasty: 661-750CE
Islam spreads to Spain (west), Afghanistan and Pakistan (East), stopped from taking France in 732
∙ 691 – Dome of the Rock on the Temple mount in Jerusalem was built where the Jewish temple was
∙ Damascus is the Capital – Islam spreads
Abbasid Dynasty: 750-1258
∙ Massacred Umayyads in 750., took control
∙ Baghdad became their capital
∙ Height of this dynasty = 800’s – height of Muslim culture, philosophy, learning, theology, math, science, medicine (500 doctors in 8th century in Baghdad)
∙ While this was happening, Christianity was going through the DARK AGES
Sufism
∙ Mystical Islam – when Muslims encountered Christian ascetics o Protests power, wealth, corruption of mainstream Islam
o Protest against legalism and motivation by fear – Antinomianism!
∙ Sufis embraced asceticism – poverty
∙ Suf – wool - uncomfortable
∙ Dhikr = remembrance – this is the their main principle ∙ Language of sexual love and union common among mystics ∙ Mystical ecstasy – Fana = annihilation (consumed by God and identity disappears)
∙ Four stages of mystical progression:
o Love of God
o Nearness to God
o Bliss
o Annihilation (fana) – completely overcome by God “How great is my majesty?”
“I am the absolute truth”
∙ Al-Ghazali, 11th century – legal scholar becomes a mystic ∙ Rumi – well-known Muslim Sufi poet
∙ Whirling Dervishes: mystical union, ecstatic, out of body feeling,
Islam in Crisis
∙ Fatimid / Seljuq mini-empires
∙ Abbasid Dynasty seen as the Golden Age (esp 750-950CE) ∙ 1258 – Fall of Baghdad – no more Muslim empire
∙ Mongols converted: three empires (1500’s)
o Mughal Empire in India and east (Doesn’t exist anymore) o Safavid Empire in Iran (Doesn’t exist anymore)
o Ottoman Empire in Turkey and Eastern Europe (
East and West
∙ The Muslims start to get into a conservative period
∙ The Christians have an enlightenment period – scientific and intellectual growth
o Renaissance = rebirth
∙ Crusades – Catholic West vs. Muslim East
o Both sides have skewed ideas of each other
Political Islam
Islamism: political ideology, all Muslim
∙ Founding of Pakistan – formed from India – was peaceful, lead by a poet
∙ Afghan war against Russia – failed occupation of Afghanistan ∙ Palestine/Israel conflict – Islamists have been trying to raise Jihad as one of the pillars of Islam, which is incorrect
The Quran
∙ Revelations came over 22 year period
∙ Context specific
o Early revelations in Mecca – short prophetic indictments – context specific (treatment of widows, idolatry, treatment of the poor – social and religious)
o Late revelations in Mecca – longer interpretations of past prophets – when Mohammed began to come across Jews
(interpretations of Jewish prophets)
o Revelations from Medina – arguments, discourses, legal pronouncements – governmental in nature, law, legal
arguments
o Some think that it preexisted humanity and came to
Mohammed when he needed it
o Mohammed’s recitations were orally transmitted and then written on various materials
The oral transmission always results in variations and
forgetfulness – Early Muslims realized it was becoming a
problem – Uthman oversees the writing and printing of
the Quran – now there is one version (unline
Christianity) because ALL competing versions were
destroyed (nobody’s seen them)
o 650CE - Quran fragments are collected
o Arranged in 114 Suras – each of them are a relevant event o Presented in order of length, not chronology, not genre, not theme (exception of the first one)
Sura 104 – The Slanderer – Al Hamza
∙ About greed and holding on to your money
∙ Give your money and be generous
∙ Dying rich won’t make you immortal
Sura 103 - The Epoch – Al Asr
∙ The human is always at a loss
∙ Humans are always forgetting – forgetting to submit to the will of God – being honest, faithful, just, patient
Sura 10.3 – Jonah
∙ God is the creator of everything
Sura 4.94 – The Women
∙ Muslims fought against their oppressors
∙ The point is that Muslims are not supposed to deny the offer of peace or reject peace just because your enemy is not Muslims, because everyone, at one point, was not Muslim and did not follow Allah properly
Problem Texts – these passages exist but they’re contextual – the context was war, thus resulting in statement as follows. One cannot take a passage and call it the essence of Islam. These texts are not representative, which is inaccurate.
∙ Sura 8.60
o Striking terror into the hearts of the enemies
∙ Sura 47.4
o Cut the unbelievers’ throats
The Quran & Al Fatiha
∙ Quran means the “recitation”
∙ Every event, formal, mournful, etc., Quran is read – usually every night before bed
∙ There is a hadith from Mohammed – reciting the Quran in a beautiful way to make it sound beautiful
∙ One with God, preexisted humanity – seen the same way that Jesus is seen in Christianity
Islam is a mix of orthopraxy and orthodoxy. There is submission of will and submission of body. Muslims must abide by God’s law. Shariah law was intended to limit the local differences from place to place in the world.
Shariah Law – moral code and religious laws for Muslims - established in four steps:
∙ Quran – if it forbids something or says something is okay, end of debate – doesn’t include much laws, however
∙ Hadith / Sunnah – most law is derived from the Hadith’s – words of Mohammed – do not have the status of the Quran but Muslims believed that Mohammed was incapable of making errors – sometimes they are stories ABOUT Mohammed – Muslims derive a model of behaviour
o Isnad = chain of transmission (so and so said that so and so said that so and so said that Mohammed said…)
∙ Qiyas = analogy – a religious community must have a debate every time a new invention comes out – they try to find hadiths or some statement in the Quran to make analogies and draw conclusions about modern contexts
∙ Ijma = consensus – when there is no hadith or Quran statement to aide in the decision, consensus is used, since God will not allow His community to agree on an error, thus consensus is basically divinely ordained.
Legal Debates
∙ Coffee – roasted – they debated if it was legal – Mohammed hasn’t said anything and neither has the Quran – some argued that since intoxication is forbidden, then maybe so is coffee? Coffee places were shut down, reopened, shut down, and reopened – Qiyas was inconclusive – they then realized that people were drinking coffee for a century and no moral decay resulted, so coffee became legal in Islam
∙ Khamr – Muslims were originally allowed to drink wine until Mohammed forbade it through the Quran –
o Hanafi argued that khamr referred exclusively to fermented grapes and dates, thus other alcoholic drinks were okay
o Shafi’i argued that khamr was not meant to be interpreted literally but metaphorically – it wasn’t what you drank that was a problem, but it’s that intoxication led to social and
moral decay, which is a problem
o Fiqh – determination of rules and debates
Muslim Theological Debates
Muslims believe that God is ONE and cannot be divided
∙ God’s attributes – caring, generous, understanding, grace, love, wisdom – Muslims debated on the relationship between God and his attributes
o Knowledge, power, generosity
o Speech
o Mu’tazilites – represent rationalist stream in Islam – faceless, without attributes (with secondary attributes) – no essence – Quran was created by God as it was delivered to Mohammed (did not exist before it was recited and it’s a second order
down)
o On the other hand, the position is that God and his attributes are one, his speech and knowledge are eternal (LIKE THE
TRINITY) – SYNCHROTISM
o If God’s speech is eternal like him, what does that make the Quran? The other side would argue it’s his speech and eternal like him – consubstantial
∙ God’s hands?
o Mu’tazilites – thought it was metaphors, not literal, God had no hands, eyes, etc.
o Mainstream Islam thought it was literal, although not human like
Hadith of Gabriel Summary
Islam = body, rites, practices, doing, law
Iman = mind, doctrines, belief, philosophy, theology
Ihsan = soul, heart, spirituatlity, seeing, mysticism
Muslim Theology
∙ Five Pillars of Faith
o Monotheism = Tawhid = there is no god but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God (Shahada) – God cannot be separated in any way – Tawhid is never contradicted in Muslim theology
o Prophecy
Nabi = prophet – warnings from God
Rasul = messenger – innovation, scripture – Rasuls are still Nabis
Muslims do not worship Mohammed – but he is highly
revered – they believe that was not capable of making
errors – a lot of Muslims follow his example and imitate
him
o Revelation
God reveals in stages -
People of the Book –
o Angelic Agency – they are supposed to believe that there are angels and that the world is shared by humans and spirits – mediate between Allah and humans
Jinns = made from fire – take any form – more
ambiguous – invisible
Gabriel and Iblis
Iblis = Shaytan (Satan) = didn’t bow down to
Adam, so he was thrown out of heaven – some
sides see it as SERIOUS devotion to God – he can
tempt but never forces you to do anything
o Judgement and Afterlife
Muslim ethical system – judgment, reward, and
punishment – your salvation is at stake if you don’t
follow Muslim laws
“The Day of Noise and Clamour” – people rushing about, anxious about being judged
Hell temporary for all but religious hypocrites – you
don’t go to hell forever – do time in hell then go to
heaven
Religious hypocrite – claim to be Muslim but don’t
follow any Muslim laws
Islam is a combination of faith and practice – action infused with faith – the Five Pillars puts it more on the orthopraxy side (only one of the pillars are about faith)
Five Pillars of Practice
∙ Shahada – confession
o “I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Mohammed is the messenger of God.”
o Shias have a third part about Imam Ali
o This is said 3 times when one wants to convert to Islam – must be with the INTENT (niyah) of conversion
∙ Salat – ritual prayer – not spontaneous – it is 5 times a day – dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark – prayer with the mouth and body – articulation of submission
o Raka’ah – cycle of postures in prayer
o Meuzzin = caller to prayer
There was a debate whether it is okay to call to prayer
through the speakers
o Wudu is required for prayer – ritual washing
o Jum’ah = gathering for prayers = Friday afternoon =
communal prayer
o Masjid = mosque
∙ Zakat = to purify – alms (giving money to the poor) – 2.5% annual “tax” – must have a minimum income in order to pay zakat (otherwise you receive zakat) –
∙ Sawm – fasting! In Ramadan – must have niyah to fast o Spiritual awareness – it is the month where Mohammed received his first revelation
o For one month – except for the sick and pregnant
o Followed by Eid Al Fitr – giant feast - include the poor! 1st of Shawal (10th month) – holiday (receive gifts, buy
new clothes, off work and school)
∙ Hajj – pilgrimage – obligatory once in a lifetime – go to Mecca – can’t be or risk being in debt. Hajj brings purification, re-birth, and a fresh start.
o Day before: 7 counter-clockwise circumambulations around the Kabah + running between two nearby hills
Running between Safa and Marwa – Zam Zam Water
o Day One: 20km walk from Mecca to the Mount of
Mercy/Arafat (sometimes stopping for the night at Mina)
o Day Two: constant prayer from noon – sunset – central ritual of Hajj – at sunset, pilgrims move from Arafat to Muzdalifah (cobine their sunset and evening prayers – gather pebbles
o Day Three: Back to Mina – prilgrims throw seven pebbles at a white pillar that represents Satan – Stoning of the Jamarat o Day Four: more pebble throwing – return to Mecca that afternoon
o Hajj is followed by Eid Al-Adha
Feast of sacrifice!
10th of Dhul-Hijja (last month of the calendar)
Hijra – Muslim new year! Flight of Muslims with Mohammed from Mecca to Medina
∙ 1st of Muharram – marks the new year - 1434 AH (started Nov. 14, 2012)
o Observed by Shia Muslims – recalls the martyrdoms of Ali and Husayn
o First 9 days is a mourning period
o 10th – Ashura – funeral procession: representations of Husayn’s coffin, horse, weapeons, etc.
Shias express mourning and remorse
Women and Islam
∙ Female Genital Mutilation -
∙ Hijab – comes from two Quranic passages – ensures purity of heart – modesty and “draw your cloak close around you” – from
encountering Christianity?
∙ Female infanticide – can bring the whole tribe down – Mohammed prohibited it
∙ Polygyny – Mohammed limited it to four – Quranic verse that says “Unless he treats each equitably, he only marries one”
Jewish History 09/16/2012
All religions change… sometimes negative (fighting with other religions). Contact with other religions changes religions (borrowing ideas).
Judaism history starts in about 1800-1900 BCE. More time elapsed between the founding of Judaism and the founding of Islam than the founding of Christianity and the present day. History of the Jews is so long; telling their history is like telling the history of humanity.
Judaism is a small religion. Christians make up 33.3% of the world; Muslims make up 20.4% of the world; and Jews make up 0.2% of the world. ∙ Theological explanation: God favors Christians and Muslims. ∙ Sociological explanation: Islam and Christianity are missionary religions – seeking to convert nations and the people around them – Judaism is not a missionary religion
The Israelites have interacted with Canaanites, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Babylonians, Persians, Ishmaelites, Greeks, Pagan Romans, Christian Romans, and Muslim Empires. The Jews have intermarried practically all of those “races”. The Jews are NOT a pure race.
Who is Jewish?
∙ Religious Judaism - a woman must be Jewish to have a Jewish child (conservative) – if you have a Jewish mother, you’re Jewish even if you convert (genetic?) – lacks central authority
∙ Ethnic Judaism – don’t follow religion but call themselves Jewish – cultural
∙ Sephardic – Jews from Spain, North Africa, Palestine (ethnic groups of modern Jews)
∙ Ashkenazi – Northern/Eastern Europe, Russia (ethnic groups of modern Jews)
Orthopraxy = “practicing”
Orthodoxy = “thought, belief”
BCE = before common era; before Christian era
BC = before Christ
AD = after Christ’s birth
AH = Al-Hijra = Islam
Old Testament = Hebrew Bible = Tunac = Torah
Three Elements of Judaism
∙ One God: Shema (prayer) – orthopraxy
∙ Torah (First five books) as word of God – scripture is authoritative ∙ Future Salvation – God will intervene in the human course
The Hebrew Bible is a chronological book of events – starts from the beginning of the universe (Genesis 1-11) – biblical mythological/theological record.
Biblical Legend
∙ Genesis 12 – starts with Abram (who changes his name to Abraham), and his wife Sarah, who gets a call from God, promising him a land (1900-1700 BCE) – this is LEGEND, not myth – because myths are implausible – however, Abraham picking up his family and moving is plausible but since there is no record, it’s a biblical LEGEND – Abraham may have never existed… First person to answer the call of God after the Flood and all… he is a father figure, the first patriarch – they get to a promise land and find that the Canaanites already live there! The people of Abraham have to conquer the land, with the belief that God gave it to them..
∙ Abraham and Sarah are extremely old yet childless, unable to conceive at this point – therefore, the father would impregnate a housemaid from the household to provide him with an heir – so Abraham impregnates Hagar, who gives birth to Ishmael (first born) – suddenly, God allowed infertile, old Sarah to conceive at an old age, giving birth to Isaac (second son) – Who is the inheritor? Sarah becomes jealous and asks for Hagar and Ishmael to be kicked out of the house
∙ Isaac becomes the father of Jacob – the God they’re following has no name – Jacob has a dream where he wrestles with God – so he changes his name to Israel (meaning wrestling with God) – when these persons encounter God, they change their names… divine change of person?
∙ 100’s of years later, the Israelites are in Egypt (stay for 400 years) – their community grows and resentment starts to build with the Hebrews and the Egyptians – the Hebrews (Israelites) are enslaved and persecuted by the Pharaohs in Egypt – killed all the boys in order to cut off the lineage – only one boy is spared – put in a basket and into the river, where a princess discovers him, takes him into the Royal household and raises him but he later discovers he is Jewish – this is Moses
∙ Moses sees the Israelites being persecuted and he steps in one day and kills an Egyptian overlord – now that he’s an enemy, he flees into the desert – he finds a bush that’s on fire that isn’t actually being consumed by the fire, not being burned up – the burning bush tells him to go to Pharaoh and stand up for his people – he is concerned that the bush is talking to him, so he asks, “Who are you?” and the bush goes, “I am who I am.” The bush said, “Tell them I am sent you.” (I am = echyeh”) God gets called “yahweh”. God sends 10 different plagues, one of which includes the killing of the first born boys of the Egyptian households… The Pharaoh lets the Hebrews go but pursues them later…
∙ Then the EXODUS happens – 1250 BCE – Moses parts the Red Sea and leads his people through, then the waters close, and the Hebrews are free
Biblical History
∙ The Jews had to go around homeless for 40 years, where once they ended up in Mount. Sinai – that’s where the giving of the Torah to the Jews by God took place – the Torah = LAW
∙ Mitsvah = commandment – ten commandments given to Moses by God (Yahweh) – now we’re starting to move towards Judaism, with the Torah, and the God’s name – BUT, these people are not yet monotheistic (they weren’t polytheistic either) – they were “henotheistic”, meaning recognizing other Gods yet only worshipping one
∙ Mosaic Covenant (treaty)
∙ 11th century BCE – Israelites have re-conquered Canaan – archaeological records do not show records of war, they only show demographical conquest, where people are moving in, etc…
o The story told in the Book of Joshua, resettling of Canaan – he sets up 12 tribes, equal to each other but not fully united – over the tribes, he sets up a judge over each tribe – Joshua is a military commander who helped found the Israelite country
∙ The period of the monarchy – moving into nationhood and a united monarchy rather than the 12 tribes – Saul is the first monarch – David is the second monarch, the KING (ruled 1000-960 BCE) –
most famous and most beloved king, has the approval of God himself:
o He successfully brought the twelve tribes together under one nation… ISRAEL
o Peace and prosperity – they’re suddenly powerful, wealthy, and autonomous (for 80 years)
o Jerusalem – David had to pick a capital for his country, so he picks a new city, non-Israelite city, inhabited by none of the tribes, in order to avoid problems
∙ After David, his son, Solomon, rules (960-21 BCE) – he was known for his wisdom as King, his wealth, and his international power – he had many wives from other Kingdoms (the story of cutting a baby!) – Solomon built the first Jewish Temple! “First Temple Judaism”
∙ Monarchy Breaks Down… Solomon’s sons were not as great as him, not as wise – they start making policies that are unpopular with the people (including taxation), so he taxed the periphery cities more than the popular cities – the monarchy starts to break up into two (2) – Israel becomes the Northern Kingdom and Judah becomes the South Kingdom (Jerusalem ends up in Judah) – The Assyrians (gigantic empire) conquer the Northern Kingdom (ISRAEL) in 721 BCE
∙ The Babylonians (from Iraq) in 587 BCE destroy Judah, lead by King Nebuchadnezzar - ends period of the “First Temple”
o Nebuchadnezzar takes the wealthy and the elite and forces them out of Jerusalem – either made them flee or kidnapped them to Babylon – this is the start of The Diaspora Judaism, meaning they get scattered in other people’s lands,
developing outside of Israel
∙ Judaism encounters a theological problem, because their treaty is destroyed (which said that if the people stayed loyal to God, they would live there)… Thus a prophet comes along saying that God wasn’t very happy with the people and was disciplining them using the Babylonians – this guaranteed the continuation of the religion after the First Temple is destroyed
∙ The Septeuagint (LXX) – translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek since many Jews could not read Hebrew anymore, due to Diaspora – after the Persians conquered the Babylonians, the Jews still did not want to go back –
o The Kind of Egypt was building a huge library and invited 72 (LLX) people from Jerusalem, scholars, religious leaders, etc, and he would ask the Jewish translators Greek philosophical questions like, “Can you teach a man to be good?” Or “Can you teach virtue?” and they would reply with a perfectly
Greek philosophical answer… so the King puts the 72 people into separate rooms and they translate separately for 72 days and they all arrived at the exact same translation… miracle! Thus God was okay with this.
∙ The Second Temple
o The Persians (Iranians) were led by King Cyrus who went and destroyed the Babylonians
o The Israelites were invited to return (538 BCE)
o Temple was rebuilt, completed in 515 BCE
o Monotheism was developed due to the Diaspora, the
realization that God is everywhere
∙ The Greeks pushed back the Persians, and bringing about the Hellenization of the world – Hellenism became very attractive – EPISPASM to compete in the Olympics! Which is a theological problem because circumcision was part of the covenant with their God
∙ Even when Rome was in power, everyone still spoke Greek and preferred Greek culture – Greco-Roman Period
∙ 2nd century BCE, sects developed (a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs)
o Sadducees - interested in stability, peace, working with Rome
o Pharisees - believed in angels, resurrection, had instructions from God, ORAL TORAH, whispered to Moses by God – thus they redefine the religion
o Sicarii – rebel group – sprout up in 1st century CE – violent resistant movements against Rome – named after their sickle shaped weapons
o Zealots – rebel group – willing to die for God
o Christians
∙ War of Independence I (66-73 CE) – Rome destroys Second Temple in 70 CE – Bar Kochba Revolt (squashed by Rome)
Rabbinic Judaism
∙ 70-500 CE
∙ New religion? It was a very different form of Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple
o Synagogue vs Temple – the temple was a place of sacrifice – Jews were required to go 3 times a year to sacrifice – the synagogue replaced the temple, religion happened in the
synagogue, in different communities - Priesthood disappeared from Judaism since they were only needed for sacrifice – priest was replaced with a Rabbi (“my teacher”) – the Rabbi leads the synagogue
o Prayer vs. Sacrifice – prayer becomes the primary, central religious act in Judaism, with the disappearance of the temple o Dining Room Table vs. Altar – sacrifice requires an altar – dining room table becomes the central location of religious life – the family meal – where purity is controlled (as it’s a religion of purity) – purity is important so that you can enter the
temple and do your sacrifices – purity does not disappear - o Talmud – new religious writing
Medieval Judaism
∙ 500-1600 CE
∙ Encounter with Islam – as Islam spread and moved across the Mediterranean, it was taking over Christian land which included Jewish communities – for the most part, the Jews were happy about this… living under Muslim rules was better than under Christian rules for them – Muslims respected them whereas the Christians viewed them as Christ-killers
∙ Philosophy – starts to develop with – start to give nicknames (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon = RMBM = Rambam) – self-reliance, free will, independence? Or was everything pre-ordained and pre destined? (Divine omnipotence) Burning question in 12th century, Jews discuss with Muslims – Guide for the Perplexed (in Arabic and later translated to Hebrew) – Judaism was never anti-intellectual, they believed that the human mind will rationalize intellectually ∙ Saadia
∙ Judah Halevi
Expulsion of Jews Eastward
∙ The Jews had no land, they lived in each other’s land
∙ Because of the war between Islam and Christianity, the Jews were expelled (as they were blamed) – also because of Christian rumours that Jews were poisoning wells, kidnapping children (blood libel), etc… kidnapping the Catholics’ bread (body of Christ)
∙ Most of them end up in Poland (opened its doors to the Jewish as it was a new country) – middle class! And settle in Germany as well…
Responds to Persecution
∙ Mysticism – Kabbalah is the Jewish school/form of mysticism – mystics tend to reject the boundaries – they recognize the universality of human life (think we’re all the SAME)
o The Zohar is the main writing of the Kabbalah – believed to be written by 3rd century Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai but it was actually by 13th century Moses ben Shemtov of Leon
o Messiah = promised King to come free the Jews from foreign rulers forgotten by the Jewish
o Shabbatai Zvi (17th century.. 1666 CE) – proclaimed messiah! He was captured by Turkish Grand Vissieh where he was offered either conversion to Islam or death… he converts and they all convert
∙ Hasidism – Hasidic movement – Israel ben Eliezer (18th century) = The Baal Shem Tov the master of the Good Name – can heal people by laying his hands on people and saying God’s name (Jewish aren’t supposed to say God’s name (Yaweh) as it’s extremely powerful) = The Baal Shem = Besht – he urged people to find joy in the middle of misery – he tried to persuade them that God can be found everywhere even in the ghettos – communities adored him and believed what he said
∙ Modern Skepticism – sectarianism – the Jewish have lots of boundaries (diet, dress code, etc) – they wanted to eat at restaurants, dress normally, have Christian friends, etc – so Moses Mendelssohn – they’re not the essence of the religion, it’s what you believe so you can choose not to do these things! REFORM JUDAISM – ethical kosher (according to ethics, not purity)
o Conservative: If it’s in scripture, you cannot DEBATE IT. If it’s a practice developed later culturally, you may give that away (such as dress) - Zecharias Frankel in Germany – Solomon Schechter in the US (19th century)
o Orthodox: Samson Raphael Hirsh (19th century) – strict interpretation of the Torah – The Torah is God’s word and is not to be negotiated with
∙ Zionism – independence, security, language – nationalism – Theodor Herzl (1860 – 1904) argued that until the Jews had a nation (land, army), they will be at the mercy of their host nation, no security – people did not pay him much attention until the Holocaust – they were thinking humanity was getting better until the Holocaust
o The Holocaust: 1933, Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germnany – increasing persecution and public harassment of German Jews – racism and anti-Semitism – Shoah is the word the Jewish use for the Holocaust (burning everything) – starts Nov. 9/10 1938 (Kistallnacht = The Night of Broken Glass) –
when a Jew living in Paris assassinates a German ambassador for the persecution of Jews – so Hitler proposed the Judenfrage (what to do with the Jews) and his answer was called the Final Solution – it was to exterminate the Jews – Auschwitz – 6
million died in total ( 4m in extermination camps and 1.5 in mass execution over the war)
o 1938 – League of Nations conference of 32 countries – 1939 the St Louis ship full of Jews was turned away by Cuba, US, Canada
∙ Jews began to realize that they will never be safe in someone else’s land and they need to set up a nation – they were setting up Israel in Israel (1948) but one problem… people were already living there! Palestinians! Muslim lands!
Scripture
The Hebrew Bible includes the Torah (law/instructions), the Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim – TNK = TaNaK = Tanakh (all three sections) ∙ The Torah – Genesis
o Torah = first five books of the bible – Five books of Moses – sometimes called Pentateuch
o Torah = law
o Gen 1:1 – “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth” is the first verse – talks about the creation of
everything in the universe -
o Gen 2:4 – “These are the generations of the heavens and the Earth when they were created – two creation accounts?
They’re not different versions of the same account; because in Genesis 1, the vegetation was created in day 1 and the
humans were created in day 6, and God was called Elohim (plural); in Gensis 2, humans were created before
vegetation… as well as a different name for God, which is “YHVH Elohim” (which they just say Adonay instead of
Yahweh, because they can’t say the name of God, meaning Lord God) – this is evidence that led scholars that we probably have multiple people that were involved in the
writing/composition of the Five Books of Moses – we identify them using the Documentaty Hypothesis which consists of: E (Elohist) – they refer to God as Elohim (writing
Gensis 1)
J (Jawhist) – refers to God as Adony Elohim (Yahweh)
P (Priestly) – wrote all about temple, how big, exact measurements, exact details about the altar, exact
instructions on sacrifices and purity
D (Deuteronomist) – wrote Deuteronomy and Genesis 1
o In the Torah, you have etiological myths (myths of origins) – they are myths of explanations. You also have legends (which aren’t completely mythological, that’s why they’re called legends, because they’re plausible). Once we get into the exodus, entry in Canaan, tribes, monarchy, etc., we get into Biblical History.
o In these initial stories, we also learn the story of Adam and Eve (story of where humans come from) – the story of Cain and Abel (the sons) – Noah (the Flood Story – Noah is
instructed how to save animals and humans when God destroys everything - the rains fell for 40 days and the waters rise for 150 days)
o The Epic of Gilgamesh – God decides to destroy the Earth with a flood – he tells Utnapishtim to save animals before the flood – this is a much older story, thus this is probably the source of the Genesis flood story – God destroys the humans in this story because the humans talked too much, they made too much noise
Note: syncretism = when religions borrow ideas from each other
o Tower of Babel – humans build a gigantic tower in an attempt to get closer to God – takes a lot of cooperation – as they got higher and higher, God destroys the tower and he scattered the people and gave them all different languages in order to avoid this again
o Job – from later writings and later periods – Job is very righteous, faithful to God, and everything is going really well for him – so God takes everything away from this righteous man – and Job believed that good things come to good people – and now he has to figure out why bad things are happening to him, why do bad things happen to good people? Job thought it was the influence of Satan in the world.
o The five books:
Genesis - Bereshit (significant word, meaning Exodus) Exodus – Egypt
Leviticus – priestly purity and other commandments Numbers – from wilderness to Canaan
Deuteronomy – more laws, death of Moses
∙ The Nevi’im – for the prophets
o Former prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (one book), Kings (one book)
o Later: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve: Hosea, Micah, Malachi (one book)
o Prophets in the Hebrew Bible speak for God (or God speaks through him) – they don’t say anything on their own authority – sometimes they may say something about the future but this is not the main characteristic – they warn the community about theological behaviors
o Prophets are sent when the Jews slack off
∙ The Ketuvim
o Literally means “Writings”
o 11 Books – very miscellaneous
o You get all sorts of things in the Ketuvim – proverbs, psalms, Job, Ruth (woman marrying a Jewish husband, story about converting to Judaism)
o Psalms are often about remorse and God’s mercy, because they were written by King David out of guilt
Other Important Writings
∙ Midrash – stories about the biblical characters that come from people thinking about the bible, inspired by the bible, answers some questions that aren’t in the Bible
o Two different kinds of Midrash
Halakhah – midrash about the LAW – kind of like
commandments
Haggadah/Aggadah – midrash on narrative material
o Variety of voices
∙ Mishnah = oral Torah – idea of the Pharisees
o Whispered into Moses’ ears by God
o Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi or Judah I - C. 200 CE – he committed the oral Torah to writing and called it the Mishnah
o Interpretation of Mishnah is called “Gemara”
∙ Talmud
o Mishanah + Palestinian Gemara = Palestinian Talmud
(completed 450CE) – shorter = viewed as less authoritative and incomplete
Nickname: Yerushalmi
o Mishanah + Babyonian Gemara = Babylonian Talmud
(completed 500CE) –
Nickname: Bavli
o They think that miracles are not proofs or arguments – this is also a way of defying Christianity (as Jesus performed multiple miracles) – consensus is extremely important
∙ Talmud Commentaries
o Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitshak (1040-1105CE) – nicknamed Rashi – he is the most famous of Talmudic commentators
Theology of Judaism
∙ Monotheism – Judaism went through a process to get to monotheism, as they started as henotheistic – the shift was a result of the Babylonian conquest
o Henotheism vs. Monotheism – two Gods in the text, where they’re recognized but only one is worshipped
o Orthopraxic
o Shema – their creed – “Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” – statement of faith or belief
∙ Resurrection – communal resurrection of Israel at the end of time o Exchatological -
o Sheol – what awaits after death – dark, gloomy, but neutral – it’s not Hell – where everybody goes when they die – you have an afterlife when you die defending your religion or being
righteous
o Theodicy
∙ Messiah – literal meaning comes from the verb meaning to “anoint” (kind of like baptism) – in the theological perspective, it means that God is overseeing or guiding – you stop being a messiah when you die (living office) – sometimes objects are “anointed ones” such as spoons – there is also a tradition saying that the line of Davidic Kings will not end (ended by the Babylonians however) – that’s when they stop thinking about a present office and they think about it as a future office, waiting to be fulfilled (‘cause God made that promise in scripture) – Christians are the ones that end up coming with the new idea of a Messiah (Jesus)
∙ Sin – Judaism holds the belief that you’re born without sin – but sinning is a character of being human
o Halakhah (what you can do and what you can’t do) – breaking these laws is sinning
o “Building a fence around the Torah” – Rabbinic Judaism find loopholes (for instance, no mixing milk and meat)
Maimonides’s 13 Principle of Jewish Faith
∙ God is the creator and guide of everything. He is the sole creator. Nothing would be without him.
∙ God is oneness and the essence of oneness and there is no other oneness like his.
∙ God has no body; he is free from all the properties of matter. ∙ God is the first and the last.
∙ It is right to pray to God, and only to God.
∙ All the words of the prophets are true. They have a special access to God’s knowledge.
∙ The prophecy of Moses our teacher was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets.
∙ The entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses.
∙ The Torah will not be exchanged, and there will never be any other Torah.
∙ God knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts. ∙ God rewards those who keep his commandments and punishes those who transgress them.
∙ The Messiah will come, eventually.
∙ There will be a revival of the dead at the end of time.
Distinctive Jewish Practices
∙ Circumcision – 8th day of a boy’s life – this goes back to ancient times -
∙ Kashrut – rules of kosher eating – also goes back a long time – collection of laws that makes food kosher – some foods have to be the right kind, prepared the right way, and killed the right way – these two practices go back to the Hebrew Bible, which lays out what you can and cannot eat (bugs, reptiles, dogs, pork, etc.) – eating things that eat dead things is not kosher (i.e.. Eagles) – can’t eat shellfish either – the Hebrew Bible does not explain why some things are kosher or not kosher, it simply lays out the laws – has to be killed the right away (drained of blood – like halal)
∙ Sabbath/Shabbat: a day without “work” – based on a Torah command – rest one day of the week – like when God rested the 7th day after creating the universe – there is a lot of debate on “what is considered work?” – you welcome the Sabbath by lighting a candle
∙ Prayer – official prayer requires a minion (chorum – meeting that needs a minimum number of people for it to happen) – Jewish prayer is supposed to be focused on God only
o Minyan –
o Tefillin – small black boxed with a Torah scroll – go in symbolic locations when praying – reminder that the Torah is close to your mind and heart – entirely symbolic – reminds the prayer that their ultimate focus is God
o Tallith – developed in rabbinic Judaism – prayer shawl – goes over the head when praying – cuts out the noise and
peripheral vision to avoid distraction and maintain focus on God – some Jews wear it all the time!
o Kippah/Yarmulke – if you’re going before God, you must cover your head out of respect, fear, humility, etc. – wearing it all the time recognizes that God is everywhere and one needs to tremble before God
Rules
∙ Letter of the Law or the Spirit of the Law?
∙ Charges of Legalism, no spirit or heart
Holy Days
∙ Adapted lunar calendar – intercalary month allows the harvest festival to stay rooted in the fall and the Passover would stay in the spring – leap year every 4 years -
∙ Relation to cycle of nature – holy days that have a relation to agricultural times maintain their actual timing
∙ Relation to history of interaction with God
∙ Every holy day has an agricultural material level and a spiritual level and meaning
∙ Jewish New Year – 5773 – began Sept. 16, 2012
∙ 1st of Tishri – September and October
o Serious focus on self-improvement – start of new possibilities and expressing remorse for things that didn’t go so well –
repentance for the things done wrong – eat Apple dipped in honey (sweet upon sweet – sweet coming year symbolism) – a shofar is a goat’s horn that is blown, which goes back to
ancient monarchy ceremonies – this blowing symbolizes God’s autonomy (God is King)
∙ Yom Kippur – 10th of Tishri – Day of Atonement
o When the Temple stood, Yom Kippur was the day on which, all of Israel, would pray to God for the collective forgiveness on a communal level, not individually – it would have two parts: the high priest would gather all the sins of the people
and drive the goat to the desert where it would die with
the sins – SCAPEGOAT
The second thing is that the high priest would go into
the Temple and into the Holy of Holies (where only he
could enter on this day only) and speak the name of
God (YHWH – Yahweh – sacred – sometimes called
tetregrammaton (four letters)) – when you’re reading
the YHWH, you say Adonay instead of God’s name
o Most important Holy Day – fasting (for 25 hours) – somber, serious, mournful – you beg God for forgiveness – you don’t celebrate but you observe
∙ Sukkot - 15th of Tishri – Feast of Booths and Festival of Ingathering
o related to autumn harvest, sleeping in fields to protect crops – bringing the crops in (sukkah is a temporary tent/booth) - o also called Feast of Booths and Festival of Ingathering o lasts for 7 days
∙ Simhat Torah – Joy of Torah
o Follows the last day of Sukkot – celebrates God’s gift/granting of the law (Torah)
∙ Hanukkah – Festival of Lights – 25th of Kislev (Dec. 8 this year) – festive!
o Alexander the Great (d. 323 BCE) – he expanded the Greek Empire - he outlawed
o Antiochus IV Epiphanes – decided to outlaw judaism, by making everything related with Judaism illegal – he went into the Temple and sacrificed a pig in the Temple’s alter – the Israelites fought back - 167 BCE – Abomination of Desolation o Maccabean (tribe) revolt, Hasmonean (clan) rule
o Redication of the defiled Temple – rededicating the Temple to God after the outrageous act
o Miracle of Light – the lamps burned for 8 days despite having 1 day’s worth of oil – THUS Hanukkah lasts for 8 days and a candle is lit every day (8 in total by the end)
∙ Purim – Feb. 23 this year
o 14th of Adar – Feb.-March
o Most joyous and fun of Jewish Holy days – celebrates the escaping of a genocide of Jews in Persia (when the King fell in love with a Jewish) – Jam filled cookies are made at this time! o Book of Esther
o Purim means “lots” (as in straws, not much as in quantity) ∙ Pesach – Passover – 15th of Nissan (March-April) o When God sent down plagues on the Egyptians, the Pharaoh lets the Jews go – recalls the Exodus
o Eating flat bread! They also have “Sedar” (meaning order, because everything happens in a certain order because a story is being told) – the story told alongside meal is called Pesach Haggadah
o Symbolic meaning: spring! Emergence from winter and entry into spring – related to spring equinox
∙ Shavuot – 50 days after Passover (7 weeks + a day) (May June)
o This year’s is May 14-16, 2013
o Feast of Weeks
o Two levels of symbolism and meaning: early harvest festival and the second festival that thanks God for the giving of the Torah
∙ Tisha B’Av
o Ninth of Ab
o Held on the 9th of Ab
o Next is on July 15
o Collective day of mourning: both destroyed Temples, Holocaust, for loves ones that have died
o 1st – 9th of Av - Weddings not permitted, no hair-cutting, no make up, no new clothes – fasting, not bathing, not putting on perfume
Christian History 09/29/2012
All the followers of Jesus were Jewish and so was Jesus himself. Different Jewish Sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, Sicarii, Christians.
So many people claimed to be the Messiahs, when Rome was ruling Judiah. They were each killed off by the Romans.
Jesus of Nazareth was born in 4 BCE in the Galilee. He was critical of Judaism although he was Jewish himself. He was performing miracles. He was born of a virgin. He went to observe Passover in Jerusalem. He protested and is arrested by the Romans. He was executed the next day. He was killed in the traditional Roman way of death… Crucifixion. You die of suffocation when you’re crucified. Three days later, he was raised from the dead by God. Followers of Jesus kept following him after he died.
∙ Paul: Apostle to the Gentiles = diaspora Jew – the risen Jesus came to him as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute
Christians – therefore his name changes from Apostle to Paul (divine encounter with God?!) – so he stops persecuting and becomes a champion of Christ followers’ movement – he was arrested and executed on his way to Spain - JEWISH FOLLOWER OF JESUS – he is doing this travelling 40-50 CE
∙ Gentiles – no circumcision and no food restrictions!
Christianities
Gnostics / Docetics – form on knowledge
∙ Jesus only appeared to be human
∙ Anti-flesh/anti-material
Marcion – argued that the world was created by an evil God (JEWISH GOD)
∙ Demiurges (evil) were behind creation, Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible
∙ Rejected Gospel of Matthew from his cannon
Orthodoxy (proper belief) and Heresy (wrong belief)
Imperial Christianity
∙ Constantine was Roman emperor 306-37 CE – he had a dream before a battle with the sign of Labarum and Chi Rho – he puts it on his battle stand and he wins – he issues Edict of Milan 313 CE – it made Christianity legal in Roman Empire – Christianity grows
exponentially -
∙ Christians with armies and power as history shifted
Debates and Creeds
∙ 4th century - Arius from Alexandria believed that Jesus was not eternal but created
o That Jesus was homoi-ousion; similar substance to God
∙ Athanasius, from Alexandria, argued that Jesus always existed but wasn’t revealing himself
o That Jesus was homo-ousion; same substance as God – son of God
∙ Nicene creed established the concept of Trinity – Nicea = co-equal Father, Son of God, and Holy Spirit – co-eternal and co-substantial ∙ Ideas about Mary – Theotokos = bearer of God… Christotokos = bearer of Christ (Bishop of Constantinople leads to theological development of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 – Mary was born without sin immaculately
∙ Jesus was fully human and fully divine – Nestorius argued that he had two persons in him (human and divine) and that only the human part was born and the divine part was coeternal –
∙ Monophysites opposed Nestorius – human element of Jesus was completely swallowed up into the divine one, he had one nature. ∙ Council of Chalcedon, 451 – compromise between Rome and Constantinople – Jesus was one person (mono) but with both human and divine natures in him – important point in Christian history because it’s the high point of Christian dialogue – mostly important for eastern orthodox
∙ The next great political event is the FALL OF ROME – happens over a century – declared gone in 476 CE – this opens a power vacuum that changes Christianity greatly as there is no longer a roman empire or an emperor – there is church however – universal catholic church (has a Roman bishop)
∙ Holy Roman Emperor – bringing together of the church and the empire! Any resistance to him becomes as resistance against the church (kind of like resistance to God himself) – religion and politics brought together inseparably
o The Roman bishop starts to extend missions – he becomes powerful and wealthy – this results in two historical things: Crusades (aka movements) – mostly about Christian
imperialism and about internecine debate (debates in
the same house, same religion)
637CE Jerusalem fell to Umar
1010CE The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was
burned down by Muslims
1071CE – Turkish muslims persecuted Christians in
Jerusalem
1095CE – first of many Crusades – happened
because of Muslim persecution of Christians – they
went and fought – only reasonable and legible
crusade because the rest were mostly about
taking land
1099 CE – Crusaders win back Jerusalem (they
lose it again in 1187 to Muslims)
Split between East and West in 1054 – between the bishop of Rome and Bishop of Constantinople – the
Bishop of Rome excommunicates the Bishop of
Constantinople over theological disagreement – the
disagreement was over the word FILIOQUE CLAUSE –
the bishop of Constantinople refused to say, “Holy Spirit,
God, and Son” because he believes everything derived
from God and refused to say that in their creed but the
Bishop of Rome wanted to add it
Keep in mind the West spoke Greek and the East
spoke Latin
∙ Cyril (829-69CE) missionizes by learning THEIR language and preaching to them in their own language which had a fantastic result – vernacular! They made a new alphabetic based on Greek letters, CYRILLIC ALPHABET (Russian)
∙ 7th century Debate – Iconoclasts vs. Iconodules – debate over whether its okay to use religious pictures or icons (of Jesus, for instance) in worship – The iconodules believed it was okay because they weren’t worshipping the pictures, rather they’re helping the worship, whereas the iconoclasts SMASHED THE ICONS; they thought that it was idolatry (worshipping something other than God) – the Iconodules won
Social History:
15th century – Europe is in the midst of social and technological change
∙ Urbanization – increasing tendency of people moving to cities – makes people more liberal and more accepting because they are open-minded and learn more as they come more into contact with cultural difference and exchange of ideas
∙ Literacy – people are more literate, education is becoming prevalent, and people are more interested in reading – so they read the Bible! However, churches are not allowing them to have the Bible to read – especially since translating and owning the Bible was illegal!
∙ Growth of vernacular languages – Latin was the language for the catholic church – other languages (vernaculars) were starting to develop
∙ Printing press (1456) – invention of printing press – shift in technology resulting in social shifts!
Martin Luther (1483-1546CE) – Catholic Priest
∙ Corruption in Rome
o Exploitation of Northern European churches
o Indulgences – selling to the rich to build buildings
∙ 95 Theses of Luther (1517CE)
o The theses were posted to the door of the church in
Wittenberg
o Direct challenge and refutation of many Catholic ideas
Martin’s Ideas
∙ Sola fie/sola gratia – by faith alone/by grace alone – humans can do nothing to affect salvation – humans were saved by God’s grace alone and by faith alone and you don’t EARN it by buying or by doing good
∙ Sola scriptura – by scripture alone – all practice and belief must be found in scripture – this separates prodestant Christianity and catholic Christianity – different groups in the 3 religions believe this:
o Jewish Karaites – believe that God revealed in scripture - the Talmud was rejected by them
o Christian Lutherans
o Muslim Wahhabis – anything that comes after the Quran has no legitimacy
Diet of Worms
∙ Charges – 1521CE
o Excommunication – rendered him unsavable by God
o Political subversion - since his protest was not just theological but political as well
∙ Diet of Worms was his trial
Effects of Luther’s protests
∙ Protestant reformation
∙ Local authority = multiple splintering into different types of Christianity
o Calvin/Calvinism
o Presbyterianism
o Anabaptists
o Mennonites
o Puritans
o Quakers
o Baptists
∙ He thought anyone can have the level of connection a pope has with God
∙ People were starting to interpret scripture in their own way and start different kinds of protestant Christianity
∙ Council of Trent – 1545-1563 – counter reformation – they took away indulgences but it was too little too late for reconciliation
Anglicanism
∙ Henry VII King of England – he decided that he wanted to divorce one of his wives and the Catholic Church didn’t’ allow divorce so the Pope said no
o That is why the Church of England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church – over divorce
o 1534 CE -
∙ The Americans call the Anglicans “Episcopaleans”
∙ Some Anglican churches are very liberal whereas there are some conservative ones
Modern Catholicism
∙ Vatican II – 1962-1965 – the last time the council revisited different aspects of Catholic theology - It was done to modernize of some Catholic practices, not others – for instance, they didn’t want to worship in Latin anymore – it also allowed the Minister, Pope, etc, to stand facing the congregation with his back to the Cross and Jesus
∙ Infant Baptism – since humans are born sinful, baptizing babies would allow them to go to heaven if they die as babies – Catholicism no longer believes this
∙ Ecumenical - this Vatican also reached out to other religions as it ended praying against Jews, and it now recognizes Judaism as an actual religion not to be prosecuted – and it also recognized protestants and that they can go to heaven too
The New Testament: Genre – can be arranged chronologically or canonically (genre order):
∙ Gospels – a form of biography (interested in getting into the character psychologically and not mostly interested in facts) – persuades people to emulate the character/hero – teaches virtue - the following don’t make a claim of authorship:
o Matthew – 80-90CE – synoptic gospel (meaning they look extremely similarly to one another)
o Mark – 66-72CE – synoptic gospel
o Luke – 80-90CE – synoptic gospel
o John – 90-100CE – fourth gospel – looks profoundly different – different life and itinerary of Jesus (different depiction) – in this gospel, Jesus dies after Passover – this is known as the spiritual gospel -
∙ Acts – one act in New Testament – no authorial claim – an act is a series of narratives of figures (not Jesus) in early Christianity - o Name of the Book: Acts of the Apostles (apostles being Peter & Paul) – the act represents the realization in
Christianity that the end (Judgment day? Apocalypse?) is not exactly near
o The Gospel of Luke and Acts likely have the same author o First “history of the church”
o Talks about the transition of the gospel from Jerusalem (where it opens) to Rome (where it closes) – Paul’s travel
∙ Letters –
o Letters of Paul – come first in this section – 50-55CE – this date means that everything Paul has done and his life was done before the destruction of the Second Temple. His letters say nothing about Jesus – his interest was mostly in the RESURRECTION (not in the historical teaching, living Jesus)
Undisputed letters – no one questions that they’re Paul’s
1 Thessalonians
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Philippians
Philemon
Romans
Disputed Letters:
2 Thessalonians
Colossians,
Ephesians
Deutero-Pauline Letters – someone writing in
Paul’s name
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
o Hebrews (no author)
o James (brother of Jesus)
o Peter (2) (Chief of disciples)
o John (3) (Chief of disciples)
o Jude
∙ Apocalypse - one – “John of Patmos” is the claimed author – Book of Revelation
o Something is revealed to a Seer – sometimes a Seer gets to see Heaven (tour of heaven)
o Other times what’s revealed to a Seer is the future – to tell the people to hold firm to their faith because God will eventually intervene to save His community
o Cosmic battle between forces of good (Jesus) and forces of evil (Satan)
o Rapture – precedes the Apocalypse – certain people are taken up (133,000 people) to avoid the Apocalypse
The Great Theologians
∙ Augustine (354-430CE)
o Manichean/Manichaeism – follower of manichy – had a distinct view of the world – manickies believe in dualism (no grey area in between anything, no middle ground) – Augustine brought this into Christianity and became extremely
influential for the development of the Catholic Church -
o Human guilt, sin – they punish themselves for being made of flesh (which is not good, compared to the spirit world) and punish their body or withhold things from it (food, even air) – very negative view of humanity and human nature – darkly pessimistic (goes back to Augustine and then the New
Testament and Paul)
o Graeco-Roman Philosophy – explicit introduction of
philosophy in Christianity and comes up with 7 virtues -
added three to Aristotle from the New Testament
7 Christian virtues: wisdom, temperance, courage,
justice (from Plato), faith, hope, and love (from the New
Testament)
o Reason vs. revelation - theological debate –
∙ Anselm (1033-1109) – scholastic thought – argued that you can only rely on the human intellect to a certain degree – “philosophy is the handmade of theology” – philosophy works at the service of theology – you can only use human intellect to serve revelation
o “I believe so that I may understand” – revelation and belief comes first – philosophy and knowledge are subservient to revelation
o Ontology = the study of being – God just IS – God exists because he must – there can be no greater thing in the universe than God – ontological argument – there’s a God because there’s a God – it’s inconceivable
∙ Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) – 5 proofs for the existence of God: o First Proof: The argument from motion – that nothing can move itself – things are in motion, meaning they have been SET in motion by something else – there cannot be infinite regress (where there’s no beginning) – there has to be a beginning to set something in motion and to start this chain reaction – thus, there must be an unmoved mover, called God o Second Proof: causation of existence – some things are created by other things – nothing can create itself – no infinite regress – uncaused cause, called God – everything has a cause and is caused by something before it, and God is the uncaused cause.
o Third Proof: Contingent and Necessary Objects – contingent beings are caused – not every being can be contingent – there must exists a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings – this necessary being is God – necessary objects MUST exist, can’t not exists – everything else is contingent (doesn’t have to exist) – he argued if everything was
contingent, then basically nothing would exist – one necessary thing in the world is GOD
o Fourth Proof: the argument from degrees and perfection – recognize degrees of beauty, truth, goodness, knowledge, etc. – in order to have these degrees, the perfect form of these things must also exist – these perfections are contained in God – we can rank things in order – he argued that the only way we can do that if there was an epitome for these sorts of things – the perfect form of those things is God, against which everything is compared
o Fifth Proof: the argument from intelligent design – universe works in such a way that suggests an intelligent designer – he borrowed this idea from Seneca (German philosopher?) – intelligent designer designed the universe