Religions of the Middle East

1. Religions of theMiddle East Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Monarchy, Captivity, Diaspora, Job, Afterlife, Rabbinic & Modern Judaism

2. First Midterm Exam • Tu 10/21 at 3pm to Tu 10/28 at 7pm • CEN 456 lab, Cottage Grove Center or approved proctor • See syllabus for further details

3. The Monarchy • Under Judges Israel was a loose confederation of tribes • Secular explanation: no united military defense, no standing army • Religious explanation: God was punishing them for worshiping idols

4. Saul • First King - tall, charismatic, good commander, but insubordinate • Makes a sacrifice reserved for Levites (Priests) • Botches the Amalekite genocide • Resorts to necromancy • Commits suicide, body mutilated, cremated

5. David • Good King, makes Saul look like a false start • Promised an everlasting Kingdom, model for the Messiah • Sin with Bathsheba results in personal and political consequences • Samuel’s parable of the pet lamb

6. Solomon • Asks God for wisdom, given riches as well • Weakness for foreign women, builds temples to their gods • Because of his Father, retains Kingdom, but his son loses it • 922 B.C. Israel split into Northern and Southern Kingdoms

7. The Divided Kingdom • Secular explanation: Reheboam’s rash threats, regional conflicts and resentment over Solomon’s building projects • “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!” • Religious explanation for split: God is punishing Solomon for idolatry

8. Successive Conquest • The Split of the Kingdom into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms in 922 B.C. • Israel falls to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. • Judah falls to the Babylonians in 587 B.C. • The Babylonian Captivity

9. Successive Conquest The Babylonian Captivity • Temple system and sacrifice less important • Emphasis on study of scripture and prayer on Sabbath at local house of worship (synagogue) • Importance of Teacher schooled in Scripture & Tradition (Rabbi)

10. Successive Conquest • The Persians Defeat the Babylonians, Jews return to Judah, rebuild Jerusalem • The Greek Conquest and Maccabean Revolt • Hanukkah • Roman Rule • Rebellion and the Diaspora 70, 130 A.D. • The Holocaust and Restoration of Israel in 1948

11. Did God keep his promise to David and Solomon? • Promised an “everlasting” kingdom • Conditional promise? • Later Jews (and Christians) came to believe the promise would be fulfilled by a descendent of David who would restore a united Kingdom of Israel (the Messiah)

12. The Messiah • Hebrew for “annointed one”, sign of being chosen by God, of God’s spirit, royalty • Military leader like the Judges who would deliver Israel from their enemies and establish an everlasting Kingdom • Developed over time as empire after empire conquered Israel

13. The Babylonian Captivity(587-538 BC) • No Temple, so no animal sacrifices (afterwards less important) • Worship in private homes centered around study of scriptures and prayer (become Synagogue system) • Rising importance of a Rabbi (“teacher”) to interpret scripture • Talmud Begins

14. The Afterlife in Early Judaism (2000 BC - 538? BC) • The dead go to Sheol (“the grave”) • No conscious experience good or bad • Eternal rest unless you break God’s law and conduct a séance (necromancy)

15. Later Judaism538? BC to Present • Bodily Resurrection • Persian Zoroastrian Influence • Ezekiel’s Vision - Valley of Dry Bones • Questions about God’s Justice • Daniel 12:2 ONLY unambiguous reference in entire Tanakh

16. Job • Early view: Punishment for sin • Later view: Test from God, Satan

17. Job • Why do bad things happen to good people? • Wager between God and Satan • Satan borrowed from Persians? • Only TWO other references in Tanakh • 1 Chronicles 21:1, (cf. 2 Sam 24:1) • Zechariah 3:1-2 • Is. 14:12-22 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 refer to the Kings of Babylon and Tyre, not Satan

18. Why do bad things happen to good people? • A test of our faith from Satan • We can’t hope to understand God’s ways; we should just trust and obey • No corporate responsibility • Rejection of misfortune as a manifestation of divine wrath? (Deuteronomy 28)

19. The Holocaust • The theme of Job writ large • 6 million Jews killed, most in gas chambers • Garnered international sympathy • Israel made a nation after WW II without it?

20. Judaism • Meaning in History • God works through the Nation of Israel and the Jewish people • Human problem = sin (willful disobedience to God’s commands) • Solution: Concentrate on one group of people, give commands and enforce them. Animal sacrifices early on, later repentance only

21. Major festivals • Passover (Exodus celebration) • Shavuot (Pentacost - Law given 50th day after Passover) • Sukkot (Wilderness Wandering - Tablernacles) • Purim (Saved from Persians by Esther) • Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) • Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) • Hanukkah (Festival of Lights, independence from Greeks/Seleucids)

22. The Talmud • Commentary on The Law • Theology, Demonology, Practical Application (e.g. how to keep Sabbath) • Opinions of Rabbis from the Babylonian Captivity on • Authoritative but not inspired

23. Four Branches of Judaism • Orthodox • Conservative • Reformed • Reconstructionist