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HISTORY of Christian Theology

Judaism

ten commandments, Moses and Aaron
In order to properly understand the three major Western religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it is essential to grasp the importance that monotheism, God’s covenant with Israel, King David, the temple in Jerusalem, the Babylonian captivity, and the Torah have in the Jewish tradition.

The Introduction of Monotheism

God of action

The God of the Old Testament is not a passive god without body, parts or passions. He is a being who is intimately involved in the lives of His people.

Unlike Plato’s first principle which does not act and is not affected by outside stimuli, Israel’s God is a being with emotions who acts with power. He is identified by many human characteristics. He spoke and created the world. He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt with a strong arm by issuing waves of plagues, and eventually, He miraculously destroyed Egypt’s army. He inscribed ten commandments into two stone tablets. He was angry with Israel for forgetting Him and worshipping a golden calf in the manner of the orgasmic religions of the region, so he caused a great earthquake that swallowed up a large portion of the people he previously saved. Most importantly, He entered into a covenant, a bilateral agreement, with the house of Israel to be their God, and they would be His people. The God of the Old Testament is not a passive god without body, parts, or passions. He is a being who is intimately involved in the lives of His people.

“ What really distinguishes the Jewish religion from all of the other religions and philosophies at the time of Christ was not their God’s characteristics but that He was the only one and true God, the creator of the universe.”

God the Father and KingIn many respects, the God of Israel is more similar to the pagan gods of that era than the Greek philosopher’s first principle, the first mover. What really distinguishes the Jewish religion from all of the other religions and philosophies at the time of Christ was not their God’s characteristics but that He was the only one and true God, the creator of the universe. Monotheism. That is what set Judaism apart from everything else. Mono, meaning one, and theism, meaning god or immortal. The God of Israel was the only immortal being worthy of worship. He was their King or Monarch. This word comes from mono (one) and the Greek word archaea, meaning beginning or source. So, Israel’s God was the creator of all things, the King of kings, the only being who requires our complete loyalty and fidelity, the only thing worthy of worship.

This concept was new and very distinct. Generally, all societies believed in many gods. You have your god for your community and I have my god, and there are other gods for other locations or who control various aspects of nature. Our worship of the gods was to give them honor so that they would look favorably upon us subjects and be gracious to us, to bless us with a good life instead of cursing us with misery and woe. There really was no moral code imposed by the gods, as the various gods themselves were plagued by moral failings. Indeed, some of the gods demanded human sacrifice and sexual activity to satisfy their demands for homage.

God’s Covenant Relationship with His People

The second major unique concept of ancient Judaism was that this one true God imposed a moral law on his people.

The second major unique concept of ancient Judaism was that this one true God imposed a moral law on his people. Not only this, but God Himself would be bound by a covenant with His people if they obeyed that law. This concept was revolutionary. No longer were humans subject to the whims of gods who could change their mind at any moment, requiring people to always be on guard trying to stay in the good graces of these many fickle gods. Now, the one almighty God of the Universe condescended to make a treaty with His people to be their God and bless them if they remembered Him and obeyed his moral code. This God of ultimate power agreed to give humans the power to bind Him by following a defined written moral law. If they obeyed His law, God promised to bless them with prosperity and freedom from oppression. For the first time in recorded history, a god offered security and certainty. Israel could rely on the one true God to keep His word.

“For the first time in recorded history, a god offered security and certainty. Israel could rely on the one true God to keep His word.”

The covenant between God and Israel included not only blessings if they obeyed, but also a curse if they disobeyed. If Israel broke this covenant, God warned them that they would be conquered and carried away captive to foreign lands. But what is remarkable is that this almighty God agreed to forgive His people when they disobeyed if they would remember Him and amended their ways to follow His moral code once more. He promised that if they would repent and return to Him then He would reestablish them in their land and He again would be their God to bless them with all of the blessings promised in this covenant. Grace, mercy and atonement became a central precept of this religion.

joshua passing river of jordan iwth ark of the covenant

The closer one gets to God, the more holy and separated from the world he or she becomes.

arch of the covenantThis principle of God’s mercy was demonstrated by the role of holiness in Israel’s establishment in the land of Palestine. Part of the covenant God made with Abraham was that the Palestine area would belong to Abraham’s descendants if they remained a holy people. This covenant was reaffirmed by Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) and his posterity at Mount Saini when Moses led his people out of Egypt. Holy (whole) means complete and healthy (like God) by being set apart or consecrated for a divine purpose. The closer one gets to God, the more holy and separated from the world he or she becomes. Also, no unclean thing can exist in the presence of God, so one does not go into a holy place unprepared and unclean without risking destruction. On a broad scale, the land of Palestine is the Holy Land so the nation, as a whole, needs to remain holy or they would be destroyed. Jerusalem is the Holy City, and the temple is the holy place, the center of religious observance. Each area becomes more sanctified as it gets closer to God’s presence in His Temple. Even in the temple, there is the sanctuary called the holy place and the inner sanctum called the Holy of Holies. This location is so sacred that the high priest is the only person allowed to enter it on just one day of the year, the day of atonement. Inside the Holy of Holies is Israel’s most holy artifact, the arch of the covenant, which contained the ten commandments written on tablets of stone, the law of God. But above the law was the lid to the arch of the covenant known as the mercy seat, a throne of God where He sat in judgement. The center and most sacred aspect of the ancient Israeli religion was the law of the covenant and ultimately the mercy of God which was above the law.

Second temple reconstruction model

The center and most sacred aspect of the ancient Israeli religion was the law of the covenant and ultimately the mercy of God which was above the law.

The story of the Old Testament is a story of grace and redemption. Repeatedly, Israel broke its covenant with God by forsaking Him and worshiping other gods. After they suffered the consequences of their disobedience, they were redeemed when they finally remembered the covenant and returned to worship their God. This pattern began right away. When God called Moses up to the top of Mount Saini, God told Moses to set limits around the mount so that the people who were less righteous than Moses would not get too close to God’s presence and be destroyed. After waiting forty days for Moses to return, the people became anxious and made a golden calf to worship. Consequently, many of them were annihilated when Moses came down from the Mount. Yet, God did not fully reject His people who broke their covenant, instead He agreed to remain in their presence by allowing them to create a tabernacle with set limits and priests who could follow a procedure to become clean enough to administer the functions of religious sacrifice in the tabernacle for the benefit of the people. Once the tabernacle was built, God’s presence rested on the tabernacle like a glowing cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The grace of God is demonstrated by Him devising a way to allow His people to benefit from His presence in spite of their imperfections. The tabernacle and later Solomon’s temple built in Jerusalem became the focal point of their religious worship.

The grace of God is demonstrated by Him devising a way to allow His people to benefit from His presence in spite of their imperfections.

King David, the Babylonian Captivity, and the Roots of Rabbinical Judaism

King David is revered by Jews and Christians for his trust in God that enabled him to unite Israel and conquer its surrounding territory, enabling him to assemble the materials to build the temple in Jerusalem. Later when David’s son, Solomon completed the construction of the temple, he reiterated the covenant between God and Israel in his dedicatory prayer and all of Israel again reaffirmed this covenant. God promised David that if he and his posterity remembered the Lord, he and his descendants would sit on the throne in Jerusalem. Christians believe that this promise relates to Jesus, a direct descendant of King David, and that David is a type or symbol of Christ.

“The Old Testament is another way of saying old covenant, which refers to the covenant God made with Israel on Mount Saini.”

The Christians refer to the Jewish scriptures that existed at the time of Jesus as the Old Testament, which is another way of saying old covenant. This refers to the covenant God made with Israel on Mount Sinai. This book of scripture records Israel departing from the covenant and being carried away captive by Assyria, never to return during the history of holy writ, and then the kingdom of Judah being carried away to Babylon around the year 600 BCE. The Babylonian captivity had a dramatic and pivotal impact on the Jewish nation, culture and religion. This was the beginning of the diaspora, when Jews were dispersed throughout the Middle East and, later, the Greco-Roman empires, with a large community in Egypt.

“the people began to look to the Torah to find the presence of God, a trajectory that accelerated after the rebuilt temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.”

With the loss of the presence of God when their temple was destroyed during the Babylonian conquest, the Jewish people remembered the curse and blessings promised in the covenant. They turned to the Torah (the five books of Moses referred to as the law) to find solace in its promise of their return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple to again enjoy the presence of God in their midst. In the interim, the people began to look to the Torah to find the presence of God, a trajectory that accelerated after the rebuilt temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. This led to the development of Rabbinical Judaism, which is the orthodox Judaism we know today. This turn to the Torah during the Babylonian captivity increased the importance of teachers to understand and explain the law and the creation of synagogues or places of assembly where the Torah was taught. The natural leaders to fill this void were scribes who were occupied with copying the Torah. These teachers, known as rabbis, developed followings and over time replaced the priests from the tribe of Levi who had served in the temple as the practical leaders of the Jewish communities. The Bible recounts God’s role in the Jews’ return to Jerusalem as promised in the covenant. Even after their return, the dynamic of religious teaching and worship within the Jewish community was changed forever.

“The Bible recounts God’s role in the Jews’ return to Jerusalem as promised in the covenant. Even after their return, the dynamic of religious teaching and worship within the Jewish community was changed forever.”

torah

The Greek Occupation

Many Jews returned to Jerusalem and Palestine after the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great gave permission in 538 BC for the Jews to return from Babylonia. The Jewish nation remained a quasi-independent vasal state of Persia until Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 334 BC, and took over control of Palestine. Life was never the same afterwards.

Alexander and the Greek elite believed that their civilized culture offered the solution to all of the world’s problems and orchestrated a concerted effort to get the people they conquered to adopt classical Greek ideology and culture. They did this by establishing an active education system to indoctrinate the youth, encouraging soldiers to inter-marry with the local female population and granting them land. The Hellenization of the Mediterranean and near-middle east area was generally quite successful. Greek became the common language of trade and of the upper strata of society throughout the empire. Greek philosophy and material benefits seduced many of the young and upper-class to adopt Hellenic culture.

Alexander and the Greek elite believed that their civilized culture offered the solution to all of the world’s problems and orchestrated a concerted effort to get the people they conquered to adopt classical Greek ideology and culture.

Alexander the Great
To a lesser extent, the Jewish nation was no exception. The ruling class, consisting mainly of Sadducees, welcomed the economic advantages of compromise and adoption, while the general populous, led by the Pharisees, strove to hold onto their older customs and religious beliefs in spite of their leaders’ heady Hellenic view that they were primitive and barbaric. Regardless, if they paid their taxes, there was little trouble for the stubborn Jews while they were ruled by the Greek Ptolemies of Egypt. However, Palestine was a strategic location that was contested by the Greek Seleucids who ruled from Syria.

The Maccabean Revolt

Antiochus IV, took over. He feared that the rebellious Jewish nation created a vulnerability that the rising Roman power could exploit, so he set out to obliterate Judaism by force.

In 175 BC, the new Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV, took over. He feared that the rebellious Jewish nation created a vulnerability that the rising Roman power could exploit, so he set out to obliterate Judaism by force. In addition, Antiochus IV increased efforts to assimilate the region through Greek education, drama, and social benefits. He built a gymnasium and other public buildings in Jerusalem. The word gymnasium comes from the Greek word “naked” and reflected the practice of athletes participating in sporting events in the nude, which did not sit well with the conservative Jewish population. Antiochus outlawed the Jewish religion, including circumcision, built a fortress close to the temple and offered pigs on the temple’s alter to Pagan gods. This infuriated and united the Jews instead of demoralizing them.

They would immediately kill any circumcised child they found and hang it around the neck of his or her mother. These unfortunate women were paraded around town …

MacabeesAntiochus doubled down, and sent troops throughout the land to surround villages and conduct house-to-house searches to find any infant who was circumcised. They would immediately kill any circumcised child they found and hang it around the neck of his or her mother. These unfortunate women were paraded around town as the soldiers continued their search. Once their task was completed, the mothers were taken and throw over a cliff outside of town or otherwise executed.

Stattler Machabeusze

sacrifice priest killedEverything came to a head in 167 BC when Greek soldiers gathered the people of the small town Modin and demanded that their old priest, Mattathias offer sacrifice to a pagan god. He refused, and when another priest agreed to do it, Mattathias grabbed a sword and killed the priest and the senior officer before he and his five sons fled to the mountains, where they called on the rest of Judea to join them. They were not disappointed. Even though they were heavily outnumbered, they succeeded in defeating the Greek military, battle after battle, winning their independence from Greece. This revolt, instigated and led by the Hasmonean family, is known as the Maccabean Revolt, meaning “the Hammer” in honor of Mattathias’s son, Judah, a military genius who led the revolt after his father’s death.

The popular Pharisees threw their support behind the revolt while the ruling Sadducees supported the Greek occupiers. After the Hasmonean family’s victory, the Pharisees initially gained favor. That changed a generation later when Hyrcanus, the Jewish king and Mattathias’s grandson, asked a group of leading Pharisees if he was doing anything improper. Eleasar stood and mentioned that the king should give up his position as high priest and be content with just handling the civil affairs of the nation because there was a rumor that he was the illegitimate son of Antiochus. Incensed, the king asked the gathered Pharisees what punishment Eleasar deserved for sharing this false rumor. He became even more upset when they said “stripes and bonds” when nothing less than death would satisfy him. So, he transferred the power back to the Sadducees, even though the Pharisees remained more influential among the people.

The Diaspora and the Rise of Rabbinical Judaism

Many Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, but there always remained more Jews living outside of Palestine than within the Holy Land, with major Jewish communities in Egypt and in large cities throughout the empire. The Jews who returned rebuilt their temple, but not to the level of splendor of Solomon’s temple which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The temple resumed its role in Jewish worship, but a new factor gained major influence in Judaism both in the Holy Land and in the diaspora – rabbis and synagogues.

… scribes who copied and studied the Torah filled this role of instructing the people, and their influence rivaled the authority of the priests after the Jews returned to Jerusalem.

Originally, for Jews, the presence and glory of God was found in the Temple located in Jerusalem. When it was destroyed, the Jewish people turned to the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament purportedly written by Moses) to find the presence and glory of God. This required teachers to explain the Mosaic law to the people, especially because the scriptures were written in old Hebrew and were not easily understood by the populous after their spoken language had evolved into Aramaic.

While in Babylon, scribes who copied and studied the Torah filled this role of instructing the people, and their influence rivaled the authority of the priests after the Jews returned to Jerusalem. The scribes became the rabbis (teachers) of the people.

The Pharisees

Pharisees and HerodiansMost of the rabbis were Pharisees, but not all, and there were various schools of thought even among the Pharisees. After the Jews returned from Babylon, the Pharisees and Sadducees were the two primary rival sects.

Historians believe that the Pharisees grew out of the Hasidim party, whose name means “the holy ones.” Pharisees adopted a figurative understanding of the Law of Moses, which included oral traditions that they claimed were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. They emphasized the study of the Torah and obedience to their interpretation of the law, including this oral law. After the Greeks occupied the Holy Land, the Hasidim party stressed rigid strict obedience to the law in an attempt to maintain themselves and the Jewish people separate from this Hellenizing influence. The people viewed this group as the major force counteracting assimilation by the Greeks and started calling them powrashim from the Hebrew word meaning “to be separated.” The Greek transliteration of this word was Pharisee.

Pharisees instituted and stressed formal instruction and worship in synagogues.

Pharisees stressed formal instruction and worship in synagogues (places of assembly), something that had not been done before. This was partially done to dilute the influence of the Sadducean priestly class. During the Babylonian captivity, Pharisees advised Jews to practice various ceremonies in their homes that were associated with the destroyed temple. After their return to the Holy Land, the Pharisees continued to advocate this practice to undermine the authority of the priests.

Pharisees believed in the physical resurrection of the dead and in a mixture of free will and predestination. Even though only a very small percentage of the populous became official members of this sect, the general population supported them more than any other group.

The Sadducee, Essene and Other Sects

The Sadducees came from the upper-class, consisting primarily of priests, along with other wealthy aristocrats. Their name was probably derived from Zadok, King David’s high priest, whose family generally controlled the temple thereafter. Sadducees stressed the importance of strictly following the rituals in the temple with little regard for religion in the daily life of ordinary people. They rejected the oral law of the Pharisees and their allegorical interpretation of scripture. They did not believe in spirits or an afterlife. The sole purpose of their religious practice was to gain temporal blessings from God. They controlled the temple and most of the governmental positions, so they had much to gain by supporting their new Greek overlords, and much to lose if they didn’t. Generally, the Sadducees adopted Hellenistic ideas and practices, even replacing part of their simple garment with extravagant gentile apparel.

Other fringe groups also existed such as the Essenes. They felt that the Pharisees did not go far enough in separating themselves from the Hellenistic influences, so they set up their own communal settlements away from the cities. One of these communities was Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Another group was the Zealots, who advocated the violent overthrow of their foreign oppressors. Major conflicts existed between all of these and several other groups at the time of Jesus’s birth.

Roman army

Roman Oppression

Antiochus IV was correct in his assessment that the rebellious Jewish nation posed a problem that the emerging Roman power would exploit. Rome reached an agreement with the Maccabean rebels and helped them defeat Greece. Later, when the Roman General Pompey took over control of Palestine, he appointed a puppet king from the ruling Hasmonean family. One of the king’s advisors was an ambitious man from Idumea, south of the Holy Land, who quickly ingratiated himself with Rome and gained control of Judea. He then cemented his relationship with Rome by helping them in their struggle with the Parthians. His son, Herod the Great, became the king of Judea. Herod established strong relationships with various influential Romans, including its future emperor.

Rabbinical Judaism

Judaism is more than a religion. It has also been described as a culture, a race, and a nation. At its core, it is a very diverse community held together by its ties to the Holy Land, the Torah, traditions, and a long tale of travail.

Biblical Judaism centered its worship on sacrifices at their temple in Jerusalem until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE and the community was scattered in the great diaspora. Over the next sixty years, the Jewish community was thrown into disarray. Various groups vied to fill the power vacuum and claim the role of voice for the whole community. Over the next two hundred years Judaism experienced a radical transformation from its worship revolving around a physical location—the temple—to being centered on the study of the Torah as the “place” to find God. Yet they always maintained an affinity to the promised land which God gave them as part of his covenant with Abraham and his seed. Returning to Jerusalem was mentioned in their daily prayers and Shabbath worship service. The annual Passover meal concluded with a gathering in each home, singing together, “Next year in Jerusalem!” Even their wedding ceremony recalls God’s covenant that Palestine belongs to the Jews as a bride belongs to her groom and concludes with shattering a glass under the wedding canopy, recalling the destruction of Jerusalem.

There is a relationship between the Jew’s desire to return to their promised land and the religious worldview of individual redemption and returning to God. The scattered Jews turned to their rabbis for leadership and direction to make sense of the upheaval they experienced. The largest group of rabbis were Pharisees, so they primarily filled this power vacuum. Atonement was no longer found through animal sacrifice in the temple but through repentance and devotion to God by studying and following His word. This is summed up in the Hebrew word, teshuvah, which means to return and respond to God, and is tied to the concept of redemption. It incorporates just behavior as an element that is required to be in the correct relationship with God. Accordingly, acts of charity and loving kindness (tzedakah) became core values of Judaism. Maimonides describes this fundamental principle of Jewish worship thus:

What is teshuvah? When the straying one leaves his error and removes it from his thoughts, and resolves in his heart never to repeat it … and regrets it. … [H]e needs to make oral confession and say that these matters are finished from his heart.

The study (Talmud) of the Torah is different from a Christian’s study of the Bible. The word Torah means teaching or instruction. It incorporates the whole reservoir of Jewish thought. Even though it specifically refers to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), which is also referred to as the law, it can also refer to the entire Hebrew Bible (the “TaNaKH”, comparable to the Christian’s Old Testament), which also includes the books of the Prophets, and a third section called the Writings, which includes the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and everything else. The usage of the term Torah can even loosely be expanded to include the Mishnah (meaning learning) which is a collection of Jewish law that was compiled around 220 CE, and amended around 250 CE to include Oral Torah as authoritative doctrine. The Mishnah includes discussion and debates, including dissenting opinions, regarding the law. The Gemara analyzes the Mishnah, and together they are referred to as the Talmud, which is the principal resource to study the Torah. Jews also study the midrash, which consists of sayings or ideas tied directly to specific verses of the Hebrew Bible. Judaism has produced many scholars through the ages, and one of the most respected was Maimonides (1135–1204), who made a significant contribution to Jewish law and the Mishnah Torah.

Study of the Torah by Jews has produced a wide variety of opinions about its meaning, but one unifying aspect of Judaism is the observance of traditional holidays and, historically, the Sabbath (Shabbat). The pinnacle of creation was the seventh day which God sanctified. Accordingly, it is set apart from all the other days of the week to be a day of rest, worship, delight and redemption. Numerous rules were created to preserve the sanctity of this day. Interestingly, the Hebrew words for sanctify and marriage share the same root, emphasizing their covenant relationship with God. Jewish teaching ties Shabbat with redemption through the ten commandments that Moses received from God at the time of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. They were no longer slaves to a tyrant but beloved children of a merciful Lord, who required them to rest. Accordingly, Shabbat is a day associated with creation and redemption or self-renewal. Thus, they work six days a week, looking forward to redemption on the seventh day. This is a day when they can rest from the pursuit of material things to focus on personal development and family relationships, a true delight. The prohibitions associated with this day, such as restrictions on travel, actually strengthen familial and communal ties. That is why “More than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.”

Judaism rejected the astrology of its Babylonian captors, and this aversion to fatalism carried over to rabbinical teaching and Jewish thought. The rabbis taught that personal and communal destiny could be influenced through Teshubah (repentance), prayer, and but not all tzedakah (charity, acts of kindness) and that behavior molds the character of individuals and the community. “The heart is drawn after the deeds.” Consequently, holiday traditions play a central role in Jewish life and are a key to their survival as a distinct community over millennia of dispersion and oppression. Significant aspects of Jewish history and beliefs are rehearsed during these festive occasions, engraining the important principles of the community into the hearts of the rising generation. Most Christians are familiar with the Jewish tradition of the seder meal commemorating the Passover when Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt. All in attendance participate in reciting the narrative of the exodus. However, the most sacred holiday period is Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), celebrating the creation, leading up to Yom Kippur (day of atonement) a week later, when the whole community fasts, reflects on their misdeeds, and seeks teshuvah (repentance and redemption), climaxing in the reenactment of ancient rituals beseeching forgiveness and atonement. This same pattern of recalling lessons learned from historical events is followed on many other minor holidays celebrated by the Jewish community throughout the year.

The Jewish people maintained their distinct identity throughout the diaspora wherever a group settled. Their refusal to assimilate fell prey to suspicion, jealousy, bias, and misunderstanding. Consequently, they suffered persecution and were driven from one location to another for millennia, unifying them in their dependance on each other. They were not even deemed citizens of the countries where they lived until the French Revolution in 1809. Through it all, this self-identity with trials and suffering that was imposed by antisemitism became woven into the fabric of their culture, holding the community together despite their vast differences.

Few outsiders realize how varied the Jewish beliefs and practices have become over the centuries of Rabbinical Judaism. For example, there are wide differences of opinion regarding an afterlife. Most modern Reformed Jews do not believe in an afterlife. Reformed rabbis point out that the Jewish Bible promises temporal blessings for keeping Torah, not blessings after one dies. They point out that historically there was not the distinction between body and spirit, and the concept of a physical resurrection was a Persian idea that was adopted by the Pharisees. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem, most rabbis were Pharisees, so the idea of a spiritual afterlife, heaven and hell, and the resurrection of the righteous became part of Rabbinical Judaism until the modern period when this split occurred. Regardless of their belief about an afterlife, Jews generally embrace the concept that we show our gratitude to God for the gift of life by living it to the fullest.

The variety and depth of differences between Jewish groups and individuals is impressive. Indeed, their acceptance of the reality that various individuals and rabbis disagree and argue the merits of their positions on ideas large and small is a refreshing concept. The broad spectrum of categories ranges as follows: secular Jews (including 20 percent of the American Jewish population who consider themselves to be atheists); Reformed Jews, who generally reject kosher laws along with other rules and rituals unrelated to moral laws; Reconstructionists, who follow most Reformed ideas but have reintroduced the traditional rituals invigorated with new meaning; the Conservative movement that modernized Judaism while maintaining core beliefs and practices; Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, who hold on to the wisdom, practices, and dress of the past as an anchor in our turbulent time; and many who find meaning in the mystical traditions of Kabbalah and the Zohar. Indeed, the variety of beliefs and practices found within Rabbinical Judaism is a testament to the Jewish tradition of adapting to new circumstances while remaining true to their heritage.

 

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by Norman F. Cantor

Bestselling author Norman Cantor delivers this compact but magisterial survey of the ancient world—from the birth of Sumerian civilization around 3500 B.C. in the Tigris-Euphrates valley (present-day Iraq) to the fall of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476. He covers such subjects as Classical Greece, Judaism, the founding of Christianity, and the triumph and decline of Rome. In this fascinating and comprehensive analysis, Cantor explores social and cultural history, as well as the political and economic aspects of his narrative. He explains leading themes in religion and philosophy and discusses the environment, population, and public health. With his signature authority and insight, he highlights in Antiquity the great books and ideas of antiquity that continue to influence culture today.

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The Golden Thread

The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom

by James Hankins and Allen C. Guelzo

"...a monumental work of reclamation and revival...The Golden Thread comes as a history, an argument, a treasure hoard." — The Wall Street Journal. It is a sweeping, resource-rich history of the ancient world and Christendom—designed for students and lifelong learners alike, and faithful to the enduring legacy of the Western tradition. This is Volume I of a two-part series tracing the story of Western civilization from antiquity to the modern age. Where do the threads that form the Western tradition originate, and how were they woven together over the two and a half millennia before A.D. 1500? What are the sources of our modern ideas about science, freedom, equality, law, good government, and virtue? These are the questions explored in The Golden Thread, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom. The story begins with the seminal culture of the classical Greeks and moves through the Hellenization of the east following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hankins then narrates the rise and dominance of Rome and the fusion of Greco-Roman and Judea-Christian cultures in the Christian empire of the fourth century AD. The volume follows the history of Christendom from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, charts its centuries-long rivalry with the Islamic world, and culminates in the emergence of European civilization in the Middle Age and Renaissance. Written by two of the most distinguished historians of our time. It includes nearly 1000 curated images—sculptures, paintings, and artifacts—from the vaults of the West’s finest cultural institutions. Readers are not merely told what happened, but shown what was created—page after page alive with the rich architecture, sculpture, music, and painting and maps that gave visible form to the West’s most enduring aspirations.

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How We Got the Bible

How We Got the Bible

by Timothy Paul Jones

Have you ever wondered who wrote the books in the Bible and how they ended up together? Has anyone ever told you that some books were cut out of the Bible or that the stories of Jesus in the Gospels can’t be trusted? In this book, dive into the fascinating account of the most amazing and best-preserved book the world has ever seen. Dr. Timothy Paul Jones gives easy-to-understand answers to popular questions on the Bible s reliability and accuracy. It explains how the Old Testament and New Testament came to us, the reasons the New Testament books were chosen, tell the compelling stories behind Polycarp, Serapion, John Wycliffe, and William Tyndale, provides fascinating facts about the Bible and definitions of popular terms.

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The Lessons of History

The Lessons of History

by Will and Ariel Durant

A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant. With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time. Juxtaposing the great lives, ideas, and accomplishments with cycles of war and conquest, the Durants reveal the towering themes of history and give meaning to our own.

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IMAGES:

Moses and Aaron with the Ten Commandments, by Aron de Chavez, c. 1675, Sephardi community in London [PD].

Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets, by Michelangelo Buonarroti, c. 1511, Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Vatican [PD].

God creating the Sun, the Moon and the Stars, by Jan Brueghel the Younger, 17th Century, painting, Unidentified location [PD].

Immaculata and God the Father, by Luca Mombello, c. 1560–1580, oil on canvas, Tosio Martinengo Gallery [PD].

Universium, Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, by Benjamin West, 1800, oil on panel, Art Gallery of New South Wales [PD].

Replica of the Ark of the Covenant, in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, photo taken 27 December 2006 [CC 2.5].

Herod’s Temple, photo of model, taken 31 December 2007, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel [PD Israel].

Moses on Mount Sinai, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, c. 1895–1900, oil on canvas, [PD].

King David playing the harp, by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622, painting, Centraal Museum, Ultrecht, Netherlands, [PD].

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70, by David Roberts, 1850, oil on canvas, private collection, [PD].

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