Judaism & Christianity

Judaism & Christianity

Jewish History B.C.ETraditional Dates • 1800-1600 Abraham, Isaac & Jacob • 1400 Enslavement in Egypt • 1300 Moses, the emancipator & lawgiver leads exodus from Egypt • 1312 Torah given on Mount Sinai • 1200 Canaan conquered • 900 1st Temple under Solomon • 930 Kingdom divided • 722 Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported its people (10 lost tribes) • 586 Judea conquered and 1st Temple destroyed—Babylonian exile • 510 Return from exile • 300 Alexander the Great conquers Judea • 165 Revolt of the Maccabeans b/c Antiochus Epiphanes prohibited the observance of the Sabbath, circumcision and studying Torah

Jewish & Chrisitian History C.E • 1st Century Christianity was a movement within Judaism • 70 Romans destroy the 2nd Temple (part of the Wall remains, called the “Wailing Wall”) • 103 Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome, remaining Jews deported from Palestine—Beginning of Jewish Diaspora • 312-337 Constantine extends Imperial tolerance & support of Christianity • 1940 Holocaust • 1948 State of Israel proclaimed

Founders • Judaism: • Abraham (c. 2000 BCE), Isaac, Jacob (Patriarchs) • Moses (c. 1200 BCE) • Christianity: • Jesus (1 CE), Paul

Scriptures & other Texts • Judaism: • Tanakh (Hebrew Bible aka Old Testament), Torah (1st 5 books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy) • Torah Canonized about 400 BCE, other 21 books c 1 CE • Talmud (compendium commentaries “midrashim” of Rabbis on the 613 commandments “Mitzvot” in the Torah) 400BCE-200 CE • Christianity: • New Testament • 27 books canonized c. 350 CE

Judaism & Christianity Shared Doctrines • Ethical Monotheism • Jewish Messiah “Anointed one” (descendent of King David who will rescue the Jewish people, restore them to the land, and bring peace and harmony to the world) • Christian Messiah is very different (descendent of David & God incarnate whose death atones for human sin) • Resurrection (vs. Platonic dualism & “immortal soul”)

Distinctive Doctrines • Judaism: • “Chosen” People of God • 613 commandments (mitzvah) • Emphasis on this life, views on afterlife are left vague • Christianity: • “Faith and works”—Paul rejected notion that Christians must first convert to Judaism (Jerusalem 50 CE) • Trinity (Chalcedon 451 CE) • Christology (Jesus is fully God and fully human--Nicaean Creed 325 CE)

Groups • Judaism: • Orthodox • Conservative • Reformed • Hasidism (mystical) • Christianity: • Eastern Orthodox (“orthodox”=“Proper belief”) • Roman Catholic 1053 CE (“catholic”=“universal” in Latin) • Protestant 1517 CE • “Mainline”—Anglican, Lutheran, United & Presbyterian (reformed) • “Evangelical”—Baptist, Pentacostal, Adventists, non-denominational

Major Intellectual Defenders • Judaism: • Philo (b. 20 CE) • Maimonides (b. 1138), Guide for the Perplexed • Christianity: • Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (13th cent) • Martin Luther (16th cent) Founder of Lutheran church • John Calvin (16th cent) Founder of “reformed” churches

Biblical Literalists & Fundamentalists • Generally believe in the “inerrancy” of the Bible and that it should be read in a way that interprets words in their plain and most obvious sense • Reject other ways of interpreting the Bible • Eg. 45% of Americans believe that “God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years” • “Fundamentalism”—late 19th century movement founded by group of evangelical intellectuals at Princeton University

Mainline Church View of Scripture • “In the 20th century, the Roman Catholic Church and most ‘mainline’ Protestant denominations have held that scripture is “the human witness to the primary revelation that occurred in the lives of the prophets and the life and person of Christ” (i.e. the written text is not infallible) • Unlike the U.S., the majority of Christians in Canada and European countries are “mainliners” who accept “metaphorical” and other literary ways of interpreting of scripture

Judaism & Christianity