HIST 2070 Lecture 7: Unit 07 - Judaism 1
27 Jun 2018
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Unit 07 introduction:
The next three units will be focused on a related group of religions that have been identified as
the "peoples of the book" - all three are religions that place a sacred book at or close to the center
of their definition of religious faith
These three religions are often times referred to as the Abrahamic faiths - all three religions had
origins in the part of the world we call the Middle, or Near East
Abraham and Moses:
Some historians posit an earlier "Israelite" religion that later became "Judaism" - this attitude
displays a misunderstanding of the nature of historical changes as it involves religion and faith
Religion does not exist well within the modern western view that all existence is susceptible to
categorization - religion deals with ultimate truth and with the relationship of humanity to
ultimate truth
Most faiths believe that truth inheres in gods/goddesses or in supreme being/single god -
Judaism was the first religion to find ultimate truth, and therefore ultimate reality within one God
Timeline
oAbraham and the Patriarchs ca. 3000 - 1700 BC
The Hebrews first appear in history with Abraham who lived in the
Mesopotamian City of Ur (modern day Iraq), ruled by a people called the Chaldeans
In the biblical tradition, Abraham worshipped a god he named El - it is not
certain at this point whether Abraham and his immediate descendants worshipped El
alone, or as their favoured god from among many others
In the traditional narrative, Abraham has a son Isaac, whom God ordered
Abraham to sacrifice - when it became obvious that Abraham would obey God even in
this, God stopped him
In Islam, Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his other son, Ishmael - this incident
was intended to teach a fundamental precept of all three religion of the book:
obedience to God
Obedience lies at the heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - this is a
creed that is God-centered; rather than self-centered as in Buddhism, or
Taoism, or socially directed as in Confucianism
Jacob, Isaac's son, had twelve sons who began the twelve tribes of Israel - these
are known as the patriarchs
oMoses and Exodus ca. 13th century BC
The Jews became strictly monotheistic under Moses - here they developed the
tradition of referring to god as YHWH
The Jews are to be the "chosen" people of God, that is, God will communicate
to humanity particularly through the Jews
What can academic history say about this tale?
oFirstly, Moses is an Egyptian name - yet, there is no documentary record of any subject
race escaping Egypt at any point in its history
oThis was the period called by us as the New Kingdom - when Egyptians had recovered
control from a period of invasions and foreign rule - they did employ large numbers of slave
or near-slave labour to build forts and fortified settlements along their north-eastern border
to prevent further invasions
oWhile we have no direct evidence of Moses, the traditional story does fit the known
historical content
The ten commandments
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
These three religions are often times referred to as the abrahamic faiths - all three religions had origins in the part of the world we call the middle, or near east. Some historians posit an earlier israelite religion that later became judaism - this attitude displays a misunderstanding of the nature of historical changes as it involves religion and faith. Religion does not exist well within the modern western view that all existence is susceptible to categorization - religion deals with ultimate truth and with the relationship of humanity to ultimate truth. Most faiths believe that truth inheres in gods/goddesses or in supreme being/single god - Judaism was the first religion to find ultimate truth, and therefore ultimate reality within one god. Timeline: abraham and the patriarchs ca. The hebrews first appear in history with abraham who lived in the. Mesopotamian city of ur (modern day iraq), ruled by a people called the chaldeans.
