Judaism and the Rise of Christianity
I. History .
A. Logos ( chronicled “facts”).
B. Mythos (cultural values and “experience”).
C. As “linear” (past-present-future; time as “going somewhere”).
D. As arena of divine action; as medium of human experience.
II. The Nature of God.
A. Ethical Monotheism (radical monotheism/human dignity).
B. “I Am” (Exodus 3.1-15).
1. YHWH (from HYH, “to be”): “The One Who Causes To Be.”
C. Aniconicism (Isaiah 44).
D. Humankind in “the image of God.”
III. Covenant.
A. Apodictic and Casuistic Law (recall the Hammurabic Code).
B. The Vertical Path: divine chosenness (#s 1-4).
C. The Horizontal Path: egalitarian responsibility (#s 5-10).
D. Yisrael: The One who Wrestles with God.
IV. The Hebrew Scriptures.
A. The Tanakh.
1. Torah: The Instruction (The Law).
2. Nevi'im: The Prophets (Monarchic History).
3. Khetuvim: The Writings (Wisdom Literature).
4. Historicized fiction (mythos placed in historical context): accounts of creation, the Fall, the patriarchs, or certain aspects thereof (“way back then”).
5. Fictionalized history (logos given flesh-and-blood character, often larger-than-life): accounts of the conquest, the history of the Israelite Monarchy, and the prophets.
V. Kings and Prophets.
A. “We want a king like the other nations!” (I Samuel 8).
1. Saul: 1020 - 1000 BCE
2. David: 1000 - 961 BCE
3. Solomon: 961 - 922 BCE
B. The consequences of kingship: David and Bathsheba (II Samuel 11-12).
C. The Prophets ("one who speaks for someone else"): Hosea, Amos, et al.
VI. The Experience of Exile and Suffering.
A. The divided monarchy (922 BCE): Israel and Judah.
B. Conquest by foreign powers.
1. Assyria conquers Israel: 722 BCE.
2. Babylon (after conquering Assyria) conquers Judah: 586 BCE.
C. Lamentation as faith.
VII. Identity vs. Assimilation.
A. The Diaspora:: “How do we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137, p. 290).
B. The Return to Jerusalem (c. 538 BCE, via the Persians, who conquered the Babylonians) and the demand for purity (Ezra 9.1-2; Neh. 13.23-27).
C. Ruth: “Where you go, I will go...”
D. Jonah: “Go to Nineveh, that great city...”
VIII. “Inter-Testamental" Period (3rd c. BCE-1st c. CE)
A. Hellenization (recall Alexander the Great and the spread of Greek culture/language
B. The growth of Jewish messianic consciousness
C. The Mysterion ("the Mysteries")
1. Dionysus, Mithras, Isis
2. Ties to Christian ritual and sacrament.
IX. 1st Century Palestine: The Jesus Movement.
A. Who was Jesus?
1. “The Jesus of History” and “The Christ of Faith.”
B. What was his message?
1. The Pharisees.
2. The centrality of the table.
3. Covenant and grace.
X. Early Christian History.
A. Peter and the Jews - Paul and the Gentiles.
B. The ekklesia (“the assembly”).
C. The legal church: 313 CE.
1. The “second fall?”
D. The Council at Nicaea: 325 CE.
1. Orthodoxy vs. heterodoxy.
2. Arguing over an “iota:” homo-ousia vs. homoi-ousia.
3. The filioque clause: “and from the Son...”
E. The only church: 391 CE.
1.Via Universalis (“the universal door”).
XI. Early Christian Art and Architecture.
A. The basilica.
1. Narthex, Nave, Apse: progressive transcendence.
B. Depiction of the human form.
XII. Christian Literature.
A. The “New Testament.”
1. Euangelion (gut-spiel; god spel): “the good news.”
a. The Synoptics, “Q,” and John.
b. The order and placement of the gospels.
2. The Acts of the Apostles (by the author of Luke).
3. The Epistles: Paul and “Pauline.”
4. The Apocalypse of John (“Revelation”).
a. “The mark of the Beast” (666) and Hebrew numerology:
50 6 200 50 200 100 60
N O R (e) N R (a) S (ai) K
XIII. Early Christian Philosophy
A. Augustine and Platonic philosophy
1. Greek and Roman influences ("Connections" box, p. 219)