Introduction to Western Religious Tradition
Abrahamic Tradition
God
•Transcendent
–Not the universe nor part of it
–Beyond universe and separate from it
–Creation ex nihilo
–Not immediate; must be contacted
•Immanent
•Qur’an:
Sura 50:16:
We created man. We know the
promptings of his soul, and are closer to him than the vein of his neck.
•Personal
–Not like Brahman or Shunyata or Buddha-nature
–I-Thou relationship
–Communion not union
•No image
–Greek “sight” vs. Hebraic “hear”
–Word of God
–Christian exception: “Word became
flesh”
Creation
•Ex Nihilo
•Not emanation but “handiwork”
•God upholds it but is beyond it
–No mutual dependency
–God needs no help
•Worship: expression of loyalty
History
•“Heilsgeschichte”
Humanity
•Ex Nihilo; not part of God
•In God’s image but not divine
Salvation
•Problem: Sin, not suffering or
rebirth
•Universe is moral
•There are consequences
•Personal judgment
•Only deliverance from the consequences of sin: Submission to God
–Obedience
–Faith
–Emphases vary with and within traditions
The Hebrew Bible
Yahwism; Abrahamism; Mosaism
Patriarchs (Fathers, Ancestors, Forefathers)
•Abram/Abraham
•Isaac
•Jacob/Israel
•Joseph and his brothers
The Book of Genesis
•Pentateuch/Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy
•Traditionally ascribed to Moses—2nd Millennium bce
•Modern Scholarship: Documentary Hypothesis: made up of four documents
–Yahwist (J), 10-9th centuries bce
–Elohist (E), 9-8th centuries bce
–Deuteronomist (D), 7th century bce
–Priestly (P), 6-5th centuries bce
•Genesis written centuries after the events;
passed on by oral tradition
Early stories
•2 creation accounts (chs. 1 & 2)
•Adam and Eve and the serpent (ch. 3)
•Cain and Abel (ch. 4)
•Noah and the flood (chs. 5-9)
•
Patriarchal history begins with Abram/Abraham
•God’s love affair with his people
•Main image: ANE Marriage Covenant
•God = bridegroom
•people = bride
Begins with God’s call of Abram
•Gen. 12:1-3:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and
your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation and I will
bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one
who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.”
Main
Points
•God chooses, not humans
•No reason given, except electing love
Covenant (Berith; marriage contract)
•Chosen
people
•Not better than others
•Faced with responsibility
•Unilateral covenant
–king and vassal (Hittite/Assyrian Suzerainty Treaty)
–ANE husband and wife
Loyalty to God and God alone
•Abraham was polytheistic (
•Chosen by God to have God as his god and to be loyal only to God
•Loyalty and obedience = trust
•Promise: Many descendants
•Gen. 17:1-8: When Abram was
ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God
Almighty [El Shaddai]; walk before me and be
blameless. And I will make my covenant
between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to
him, “as for me, this is my covenant with you:
You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
•No longer shall your name be Abram [“exalted ancestor”], but your name
shall be Abraham [“ancestor of a multitude”]; for I have made you the ancestor
of a multitude of nations. I will make
you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from
you.
•I will establish my covenant between me and
you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be God to you, and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you,
and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the
Problem: Sarai/Sarah is barren
•Wrong solution: Sarai takes things into her own hands: Hagar and Ishmael
•Consequences: expulsion of Hagar
and Ishmael
•Promise is to come through Sarah
•Fulfillment: Isaac (“he laughs”)
Point of story
•Do not take things into your own hands but trust wholly in God
•The history of the People of God is not one of human activities but of
God’s activities
Patriarchal narratives illustrate terms of God’s covenant with his people
•Abraham: Fallible person (Gen.
12-25) but also model for faithfulness
•Gen. 22:1-2:
After these things God tested Abraham.
He said to him, “Abraham!” And he
said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your
son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
•Isaac (Gen. 21-24) “When the going gets tough, Isaac runs away”
•Jacob (“supplanter”; Gen. 25-50)
•God has chosen these people in spite of their weakness and called them
to trust and obedience
Jacob
becomes
•Gen. 32:22-31: The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
•When the man saw that he did not prevail
against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of
joint as he wrestled with him. Then he
said, “Let me go for the day is breaking.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be
called Jacob, but
•The bride of God is not simply an obedient wife
•A wife who demands and struggles for her rights
Joseph and his brothers (Gen. 37-50)
•God takes care of his people in spite of their
sin
•Gen. 50:19-20: “Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me,
God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is
doing today.”
The Beginning of Judaism
Torah
The Concept of Torah
nLaw or instruction
nTorah and Tanakh
nTorah
nNeviim
nKhetuvim
nCommentary/Oral Torah
nMishnah (c. 200 CE)
nTalmud (6th century CE)
nMitzvot
The Event of Torah: Moses and the Exodus
nEscape from
nWilderness Wanderings (Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy)
nSettlement of the Land (Joshua, Judges)
The Centre of Torah
nShema:
Basic message
nDeut. 6:4-5: “Hear, O
The Ten Words
nDeut. 5:6-21: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods
before me.
nYou shall not make for yourself an idol [pesel], whether in the form of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for
the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject
me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love
me and keep my commandments.
nYou shall not make wrongful use of
the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses
his name.
nObserve the Sabbath day and keep it
holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
Six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord
your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your
male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or
the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest
as well as you. Remember that you were a
slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there
with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God
commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
nHonour your father and your mother,
as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it
may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
nYou shall not murder.
nNeither shall you commit adultery.
nNeither shall you steal.
nNeither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.
nNeither shall you covet your
neighbour’s wife. Neither shall you
desire your neighbour’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or
donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
Tetragrammaton
nEx.
3:14-15: God said to Moses,
"I am who I am." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the
Israelites, 'I am has sent me to you.'"
God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The
LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, has sent me to you' :This
is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.“
nThe Name of God
nUnpronounced since 2nd century BCE
nReplaced with Adonnai (my Lord, my Lords) or Ha Shem (the Name)
n14: ehyeh (I am)
nv. 15 yhwh (Tetragrammaton
= perhaps Yahweh)
nkethiv (“written”): yhwh + qere (“spoken”): adonnay = Jehovah
nYahweh = some sort of form of "He is“
Signs of
the Covenant
nCircumcision
nSabbath
nKashrut
nDavid Kinsley:
“You can’t live the holy life, as it were, and live like ordinary men or
beasts. You can’t live the holy life and
remain unmarked; you can’t live this life as God’s bride unthinkingly or in the
disguise of the godless. The holy life
is not a random, sometime affair. You
don’t eat just anything, every day isn’t just like every other day, you don’t
wear your hair just any old way, you act in every thing you do with God and
his Law in mind.”
nPriestly Cult
nExpansions for practical national life
Prophetic Tradition
Former
Prophets
Political Background
lJudges
lMonarchy
–Saul
–David
l2 Samuel 7:11-16: “Moreover the Lord declares to you that the
Lord will make you a house. ‘When your
days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your
offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish
his kingdom. He shall build a house for
my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he shall be a
son to me. When he commits iniquity, I
will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human
beings. But I will not take my steadfast
love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made
sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever.’”
lSolomon
lDivided Kingdom, 922 BCE
–Judah
–Israel
lExile
–Israel, 722 BCE
–Judah, 587/6 BCE
Nabi/Ro’eh/Hozeh
lEssentially clairvoyants
lPracticed Ecstasy
l1 Samuel 10:5-6: As you come to the town, you will meet a band
of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre
playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you,
and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a
different person.”
l1 Samuel 19:18-24: Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel
at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. Saul was
told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in
a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of them, the spirit of God came upon the
messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. When Saul was told, he sent other messengers,
and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul
sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu; he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
lAnd someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” He
went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of
God came upon him. As he was going, he
fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth
in Ramah. He too stripped off his
clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that
night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul
also among the prophets?”
lAttacked assimilation to religions
of surrounding peoples (e.g., Elijah)
l1 Kings 18:27: At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry
aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is
meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is
asleep and must be awakened.”
Later Prophets
lWritten Prophets
lNational institution
lMoral Instruction rather than soothsaying
Message
lRemain in God’s covenant and enjoy
the benefits of a national existence in the land
lMoral righteousness and social justice rather than religious observance
lAmos 5:18-24: Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
lI hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings
and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of
your fatted animals I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the
melody of your harps. But let justice
roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
lMicah 6:6-8: With what shall I come before the Lord, and
bow myself before God on high? Shall I
come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of
rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for
the sin of my soul? He has told you, O
mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice,
and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
lExile and return
lMessianic Hope
lApocalyptic
Apocalyptic
lWhy do bad things happen to good people?
lDualism
–Cosmic conflict
–Good vs. Evil
–This age = evil
–Age to come = good
–Cataclysmic transition
lTriumphalist
–Usually by and for people under persecution or oppression
–Prophetic of final triumph over enemies
lHidden
–Pseudepigraphic
–Predictio ex eventu
–Symbols
–Esoteric calculations
Post-Biblical
Judaism
Situation in Life: Diaspora and Oppression
uMaccabees, 163 BCE
u
–Jewish War, 66-70 CE
–Destruction of
–Bar-Kochba, 132 CE
uChristianity, 325 – 18th century CE
Judaism in the 1st century CE
u
uSadducees
uPharisees
uEssenes
uZealots
uChristians
uDiaspora
uScholars (Pharisees)
uHellenists
uChristians
The Rabbis
uJohannan ben Zakkai and Yavneh
uCodification and commentary
uScripture (Tanakh)
uMassoretic Text
uRejection of Septuagint
uLiturgy
uOral Torah (Mishnah)
Talmud/Gemara (Teaching of Rabbis)
uAgada (stories of the sages)
uHalakhah (day to day task of living)
uMishnah, Bava Batra 2:1-5: A man may not dig a cistern,
nor may he dig a trench, vault, water channel, or washerman’s
pool, unless it is three hand’s-breadths away from his neighbour’s wall; and he
must plaster it with lime. . . . A man
may not open a baker’s shop or a dyer’s shop under his neighbour’s storehouse,
nor may he keep a cattle stall nearby . . . .
uA man’s ladder must not be kept
within four cubits of his neighbour’s dovecot, lest the martin should jump
in. His wall may not be built within
four cubits of his neighbour’s roof gutter, so that the other can set up his
ladder to clean it out.
Rabbinic Themes
u“Build a Fence around Torah”
uJewish self-definition (how to understand
destruction of the nation)
uMinority: retribution for sin
Evangelism
uR. Eleazar
said God scattered
uIsaiah 41:5-9: But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I
have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends
of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my
servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.”
Selections from Isaiah 53
uBut he was wounded for our
transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that
made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us
all.
uThe righteous one, my servant, shall
make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Torah = the spice of life
uThe emperor asked R. Joshua b. Hananiah, “What gives your Sabbath meat such an
aroma?” He replied, “We have a spice
called ‘Sabbath,’ which is put in the cooking of the meat, and this gives it
its aroma.” The emperor said, “Give me
some of this spice.” He replied, “For
him who keeps the Sabbath the spice works, for him who does not keep it, it does
not work.”
Modern Judaism
Background: Anti-Semitism
Classical
§distrusted because of their status as a people within the midst of another people
§Esther
§Antiochus
§
Historical/Christian
§Two rival sects
§The Christian problem
§Founder was Jewish
§Founder was crucified as a Jewish revolutionary
§Therefore tried to show that they were not
Jewish
§Triumphalism
Modern/Racial
§Social Neo-Darwinism
§Jewish Conspiracy theory
Mysticism/Kabbalah
§14th century Spain; Moses de Leon
§General Characteristics
§Aim: to achieve personal and intimate communion with God
§Knowledge of God = immediate, experiential, not through ideas
Areas of speculation
§Cosmology
§Nature of God
§Insight into the inner life of God
§Communion through contemplation
§Most important writing: Zohar (Book of Splendor)
Main Teachings (very basic)
§God = Ein Sof
§Cannot be known apart from emanations--10 Sefirot
§Speculations on
relations and interconnections of Sefirot
§Universe (Sefirot) is made up of Hebrew letters, which are all bound up in the Tetragrammaton (name of God)
Lurianic Kabbalah
§Isaac Luria (1514-1572) of Safed,
Galilee
§Zim Zum
(contraction)
§Kelim (vessels of light) = Sefirot
§The task
§All souls created with Adam
§Evil entered
§Separation of
good from evil
§Gilgul (sort of reincarnation)
§Kawwanoth (worship)
Philosophy
§Wedded Jewish theology and Aristotelian
rationalism
§Constructed arguments for the existence of God
§Theological systems
Moses Maimonides (Rambam)
§Advocated expansion of study of Talmud to include natural sciences and
metaphysics
§Made correct philosophical and theological doctrine the criterion for Jewishness
§Holiness = activating the mind to
imitate God by reason; therefore, reason is essential to true Judaism
§“Aristotle arrived at the highest
peak of knowledge to which man can attain, save for those who have been
vouchsafed an emanation of the divine spirit, so that they reach the stage of
prophecy, above which is no higher stage . . . [and] the works of Aristotle are
the roots and foundations of all works on the sciences.”
Traditional Groups
§Ashkenazic
§Sephardic
Hasidic
§18th century reaction to 17th century
persecution
§Orthodox
§17th century dress, with Torah-prescriptions
(hair locks, etc.)
§Based on Torah-Talmud + Kabbalah
§Shifted concern from metaphysical speculation
to mystical psychology
§“There is no place where God is not”
–All of life in God’s presence
–Complete trust in God’s goodness
–Sanctification of all things
§“The Holy One, blessed be He, requires the
heart”
–All of life = cleaving to God
–Ecstatic worship
–Worshipful attitude sanctifies all things
–Perfection through study, faith,
devotion
§Tsaddik (Rebbe):
Hasidic leader
–Completely righteous
–Extraordinary spiritual gifts
–“Living incarnation of Torah”
North American Denominations
Reform
§Early 18th century Europe; transferred to North America
§Sought to make synagogue worship more appealing to middle class Jews
§Considered that what God required at one time not binding at another
time (e.g. kashrut)
§Deemphasized ritual (coming back)
§Emphases:
–Devotion to One God
–Goals of peace and universal brotherhood
–Jewish cultural identity
–Originally rejected Zionism (now tend to embrace it)
(Neo-)Orthodox
§Reaction to Reform
§Maintain traditional practices and theology
§Embraced Zionism (unlike Hasidism)
Conservative
§Maintain traditional theology and practices
§More open to Biblical and Talmudic criticism,
and reinterpretation in the light of modern science
§More open to open participation
§Commitment to Jews as the People of God
§Embraced Zionism
Secular
Judaism
State of
§Secular movement and state: to be like other nations
§Results of anti-Semitic history =
Holocaust; therefore: “Never again”
§Only way to be accepted as a people: nation and homeland
Proclamation
of the State of
§The land of Israel was the
birthplace of the Jewish people. Here
their spiritual, religious, and political identity was formed. Here they first achieved statehood, created a
culture of national and universal significance, and gave to the world the
eternal Book of Books.
§Exiled forcibly from its land, the
people remained faithful to it in all the countries of the dispersion, never
ceasing to pray and hope for return and restoration in it of their political
freedom.
§Impelled by this historic and traditional
attachment, Jews strove throughout every generation to re-establish themselves
in their ancient homeland. In recent
decades they returned in their masses. . . .
§They reclaimed the wilderness,
revived the Hebrew language, built villages and cities, and established a
vigorous and ever-growing community, with its own economic and cultural life,
loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of
progress to all the country’s inhabitants, and aspiring toward independent
statehood. . . .
§The catastrophe which recently
befell the Jewish people—the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe—was another
clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness
by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State,
which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon
the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of
nations. . . .
§Accordingly, we, members of the
People’s Council, representatives of the Jewish people in the land of Israel
and of the Zionist movement are here assembled on the day of the termination of
the British Mandate over Palestine and, by virtue of our natural and historic
right and on the strength of the resolution of the General Assembly of the
United Nations, proclaim the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of
Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.
Christianity
Introduction: The Issue of “Basic Christianity”
Can we speak of such a thing?
Defining “Christianity”
ØDr. Litke’s Sunday
School Class: Age 13
ØThe Problem:
many versions of Christianity
ØThe Reason:
2000 years of division
Ø1st Century:
Jewish sect
Ø1st Century:
Major split between Jewish and Gentile Christianity; Gentile
Christianity dominates
Ø2nd Century:
Split between Orthodox/Catholic and Gnostic; Orthodox/Catholic dominates
Øc. 451 ce: First Major Division: Coptic schism
Øc. 1054 ce: Second Major Division: Roman Catholic vs
Eastern Orthodox
c. 1517 ce: Third Major Division: Protestant Reformation
ØLutheran
ØCalvinist
ØAnglican
ØAnabaptist
Ø17th through 21st Centuries: Protestantism has divided into virtually
innumerable denominations
ØWelcome to Dr. Litke’s
Sunday School
Is there any unity?
ØAll Christianity is centred around an
historical figure: Jesus of Nazareth
ØHowever, this person has been interpreted and re-interpreted
Jesus
ØBasic Christian position: God has revealed self in Jesus
ØBoth teachings and life
ØA person, not a book: Christian doctrine: NT is not the revelation of God, Jesus is; NT is an authoritative commentary on Jesus, the Word of God
John 1:1-4,14
ØIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
Heb. 1:1-4
ØLong ago God spoke to our ancestors
in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken
to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also
created the worlds. He is the reflection
of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all
things by his powerful word. When he had
made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on
high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is
more excellent than theirs.
Who was
Jesus?
ØMain source = New Testament; especially the
Gospels; there are always problems with historical sources
ØNot strictly speaking historical documents; not
biography or history writing; that’s why they are called “Gospels” = homilies
John 20:30-31
ØNow Jesus did many other signs in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. But these are written so that you
may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through
believing you may have life in his name.
The historical problem
ØMartin Hengel’s date
for the crucifixion: April 7, 30 ce.
ØGospel dates
lMark: c.
69 ce
lMatthew:
c. 75 ce
lLuke: c.
85 ce
lJohn: c. 100 ce
ØTherefore, c. 40 years till first Gospel: Possible assumption: the story of Jesus developed, much like
folklore, over this period of time
Bare bones historically verifiable description (or as best as we can figure)
ØVery short life (c. 33 years)
ØGrew up in
ØC. 30 years old became itinerant Rabbi for c. 3
years
ØCollected a following of disciples
ØCrucified by the Romans as a Jewish
revolutionary
ØDisciples claimed that he was raised from the dead (among other things)
What May Be the Central Message of Christianity
ØTo get this we must go as early as possible and as broadly as possible within the earliest sources
ØBasically Pauline
ØPerhaps as early as four years after the crucifixion a certain Jewish Rabbi was “converted” to Christianity: Paul. He speaks of what was passed on to him from those who were Christians before him.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
ØFor I handed on to you as of first
importance what I in turn had received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and
that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the scriptures.
ØNote “for our sins”
Note similarity to Apostles’ Creed
ØI believe in God the Father, Almighty,
Maker of Heaven and Earth.
Ø And
in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord;
Ø Who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary;
Ø Suffered
under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell;
Ø The
third day He rose again from the dead;
Ø He
ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty;
Ø From
thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
Ø I
believe in the Holy Spirit.
Ø I
believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints;
Ø The
forgiveness of sins;
Ø The
resurrection of the body;
Ø And
the life everlasting. AMEN.
The Sin
Problem
ØShares with Judaism and Islam
ØSalvation is from sin
ØSin stands between people and communion with
God
Sin is :
ØDeliberate disobedience
ØUnthinking disobedience
ØMistakes
ØJust not being quite good enough (i.e.
absolutely perfect)
How it is
dealt with
According to Jesus
ØLuke 18:9-14: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you
that I am not like other people:
thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my
income.‘
ØBut the tax-collector, standing far
off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying,
'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I
tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for
all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be
exalted.“
According to Paul
ØRomans 8:1-4: There is therefore now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of
death. For God has done what the law,
weakened by the flesh, could not do: by
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.
According
to the Fourth Gospel
ØJohn 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have
eternal life. Indeed, God did not send
the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be
saved through him.
Summary
ØHumans have a sin problem
ØSin is removed by God’s grace
through Christ
ØOne receives this grace through trust in Christ
The
Earliest Church
Resurrection Faith
ØActs 2:22-24,29-32: “You that are Israelites, listen to what I
have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man
attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders and signs that God did
through him among you, as you yourselves know--this man, handed over to you
according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and
killed by the hands of those outside the law.
But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was
impossible for him to be held in its power.
Ø“Fellow Israelites, I may say to you
confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day. Since he
was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put
one of his descendants on his throne.
Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’ This Jesus God raised
up, and of that all of us are witnesses.”
Imminent
Return
ØMark 9:1: “Truly I tell you, there are
some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the
ØMark
Paul’s Gospel
Influence
Undisputed letters
ØRomans
Ø1 Corinthians
Ø2 Corinthians
ØGalatians
ØPhilippians
Ø1 Thessalonians
ØPhilemon
Disputed letters
Ø2 Thessalonians
ØColossians
Deutero-Pauline letters
ØEphesians
Ø1 Timothy
Ø2 Timothy
ØTitus
ØMisattributed: Hebrews
Theology
ØSin
ØRom.
5:12: Therefore, just as sin came into the
world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all
because all have sinned . . .
ØRom.
6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ØRom. 3:23: Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Law
ØRecognition of
sin
ØRom.
3:19-20: Now we know that whatever the
law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be
silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For “no human being will be justified in his
sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge
of sin.
ØMakes sin
increase
ØRom. 5:20: But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied . . .
ØBecame a curse
ØGal.
3:10-12: For all who rely on the works
of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does
not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” Now it is evident that no one is justified
before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” But the law does not rest on faith; on the
contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.”
ØReleased through
faith in Christ
ØGal.
3:13-14,22-29: Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is
everyone who hangs on a tree”—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of
Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the
spirit through faith.
ØBut the scripture has imprisoned all things
under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe. Now
before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith
would be revealed. Therefore the law was
our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by
faith. But now that faith has come, we
are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all
children of God through faith. As many
of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no
longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are
one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong
to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Break with Judaism
ØTwo competing sects
ØThe Christian problem
lFounder was Jewish
lFounder was
crucified as a Jewish revolutionary
ØSolution: Christianity is not Jewish, and is pro-Roman
Patristic Christianity (100 – 451 CE)
From Outlaw to Establishment: Christianity gains political Power
Outlaw
ØPersecutions (64 – 305 CE)
ØCult of Martyrs
Ignatius
of
ØFor my part, I am writing to all the churches and assuring them that I am truly in earnest about dying for God—if only you yourselves put no obstacles in the way. I must implore you to do me no such untimely kindness; pay leave me to be a meal for the beasts, for it is they who can provide my way to God. I am His wheat, ground fine by the lion’s teeth to be made purest bread for Christ. Better still, incite the creatures to become a sepulchre for me; let them not leave the smallest scrap of my flesh, so that I need not be a burden to anyone after I fall asleep. When there is no trace of my body left for the world to see, then I shall truly be Jesus Christ’s disciple. So intercede with Him for me, that by their instrumentality I may be made a sacrifice to God.
Establishment: Christendom
ØConstantine (312 CE)
ØEdict of Milan (313 CE)
ØNicea (325 CE)
ØTriumphalism
lAll Romans had to be Christians
lPaganism outlawed
lConversion by force
lJews tolerated as an inferior religion: beginning of Ghetto
Crisis of Heresy
Gnosticism
ØSecret Gnosis (Knowledge) = Self knowledge
lPneumatic
lPsychic
lSarkic
ØThe Alien God and the Demiurge
ØThe Cosmic accident
ØThe Nature of Humanity
ØThe heavenly spheres and the Archons
ØDeliverance: Gnosis
ØChristian Gnosticism: the heavenly messenger
ØDocetism
ØKinds
lAscetic
lLibertines
Canon of the New Testament
ØOrthodoxy (“rule of faith”)
ØApostolicity
ØCreeds
Authority
ØOriginally appears to have been charismatic leadership
ØAuthority vested in the Bishop
ØApostolic Succession and Roman Pre-eminence
Clement of
ØNow, the Gospel was given to the Apostles for us by the Lord Jesus Christ; and Jesus the Christ was sent from God. That is to say, Christ received his commission from God, and the Apostles theirs from Christ. The order of these two events was in accordance with the will of God. So thereafter, when the Apostles had been given their instructions, and all doubts had been set at rest by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, they set out in the full assurance of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom.
ØAnd as they went through the territories and townships preaching, they appointed their first converts—after testing them by the Spirit—to be bishops and deacons for the believers of the future. . . . Similarly, our Apostles knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be dissensions over the title of bishop. In their full foreknowledge of this, therefore, they proceeded to appoint the ministers I spoke of, and they went on to add an instruction that if these should fall asleep, other accredited persons should succeed them in their office.
Irenaeus of
ØI can by
pointing out the tradition which that very great, oldest, and well-known
Church, founded and established at Rome by those two most glorious apostles
Peter and Paul, received from the apostles, and its faith known among men,
which comes down to us through the successions of bishops, put to shame all of
those who in any way, either through wicked self-conceit, or through vainglory,
or through blind and evil opinion, gather as they should not. For every church must be in harmony with this
Church because of its outstanding pre-eminence, since the apostolic tradition
is preserved in it by those from everywhere.
ØWhen the
blessed apostles had founded and built up the Church, they handed over the
ministry of the episcopate to Linus. Paul mentions this Linus
in his Epistles to Timothy. Anencletus succeeded him.
And after him Clement received the lot of the episcopate in the third
place from the apostles.
ØAdoption of Roman Diocesan system
ØPope: Leo I (440 – 461 CE)
ØMatt.
16:16-19: Simon Peter answered, “You are
the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter [Petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will
not prevail against it. I will give you
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Christian Orthodoxy
The Nature of God and Christ
The Council of Nicea (325): Trinity
ØNicene
Creed (Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan Profession of Faith,
381 CE):
ØI believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial [homoousion] with the Father:
Øthrough whom
all things were made. Who for us men and
for our salvation came down from heaven.
And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
suffered and was buried. He rose again
the third day according to the scriptures; and ascended into heaven: and is seated at the right hand of the
Father. And he will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead. And of
his kingdom there will be no end.
ØAnd in the
Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life:
who proceeds from the Father [and from the Son]. Who together with the Father and the Son is
adored and glorified: who spoke through
the prophets.
ØAnd in one
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I
acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come. Amen.
Council of
ØActio V. Mansi: Therefore, following the holy Fathers, we all
with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and
truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance [homoousios] with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at
the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood;
Ølike us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer [Theotokos]; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized IN TWO NATURES, WITHOUT CONFUSION, WITHOUT CHANGE, WITHOUT DIVISION, WITHOUT SEPARATION;
Øthe
distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the
characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one
person and subsistence [hypostasis], not as parted or separated into two
persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus
Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord
Jesus Christ himself taught us and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to
us.
The Test for Christian Orthodoxy: Nicean-Chalcedonian
ØTrinity
ØDual Nature of Christ
ØNot logically argued; simply affirmed
ØOriginal Sin
ØRomans 5:12:
ØTherefore, just
as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so
death spread to all because (eph’ ho– “in whom”—en
ho) all sinned
ØElection (Predestination)
ØSacramentalism
ØSacred Office
Medieval and Renaissance Christianity
Worldly Church
And
Worldly Church
l410 CE:
lEast remains until 15th century
l“Dark ages” in west until 1000 CE
lPolitical void filled by church
Gregory the Great (540-604 CE; Pope from 590 CE)
lMade treaty with the
lRejected Eastern emperor
lAppointed governors of
lClaimed
lGregorian Chant
lRoman Ritual
lElevation of clergy
–Celibacy
–Custodians of transubstantiation
lMarks of the true church =
–Holiness
–Unity
–Universality
–Sacerdotalism
–Apostolicity
lDuty of the state: support the true church
lOther lasting views
–Original sin: removed in baptism
–Sinful acts: expiated by works and penance
–Mass = repetition of Christ’s sacrifice—for living and dead
–Belief in purgatory necessary to salvation
Crusade and Inquisition
Crusades (1095-1212)
lBasically Political
lReligious Justification
lTotal failure (except, briefly, the first)
Pope Urban II and the Council of Clairmont (1095)
lPlenary indulgence
lCancellation of debts
lTax exemption
lFree land
Inquisition
lCathari and Waldensians
lJews
lWitches
lDominican Inquisition
lSt. Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221)
l“Order of Preachers”
lBlack Friars
Religious Justification
lDisease of the church
lBenefit to heretics in life to come
lSpiritual terrorism
Scholasticism
lBased on Plato and Aristotle
lRealism vs. Nominalism
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
lRationalist (Nominalist/Aristotelian)
lDescribing God
–Analogy
–Via Negativa
lProofs for the existence of God
–Movement
–Causality
–Possibility
–Contrast
–Teleology
Monasticism
lEarly Forms: Anchorites and “Athletes of God”
lBasil of Caesarea (c. 330-379)
St. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-544) and the Benedictine Rule
lDivine office
lDiscipline
lObedience
Mendicant Orders
lSt. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and the Franciscans (“Gray Friars”)
lDominicans
Mysticism
lNon-mediated relationship with God
lCommunion, not union
Famous medieval mystics
lBernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153): “Conscience of the Church”
lHildegard of Bingen (1095-1179) and Mechtilde of Magdeburg (1210-1280): “panentheism”
lMeister Eckhart (1260-1327): “pantheism”
lJohn Tauler (1300? –1361): “God born in the soul”
lJulian of Norwich (c. 1342-after 1413): “Mother Jesus”
lThomas a Kempis (1380? –1471): “Brethren of the Common Life;” “The Imitation of Christ”
The Eastern Schism (1054 CE)
Political differences
lDivided Empire
lPapal Prerogatives
lLanguage
–Greek = Mystical
–Latin = Legal
Doctrinal differences
lFilioque
lPurgatory
lMaterial life
lMass
lCelibacy
lBaptism
lIconography
lMystical deification
lHesychasm
The Third
l1453 = Constantinople fell to the Turks
lOrthodox headquarters shifted to Moscow
l“The Shekinah (Glory) has departed” (Ezekiel)
lTheory: Rome fell through corruption
lConstantinople fell through corruption
lOnly Moscow remained pure
lTherefore: Moscow is the Third Rome
Reformation
Christianity
Major Reformation Tenets (Primarily Lutheran)
lSalvation by faith alone (church is not the
custodian of salvation)
lUniversal priesthood of all believers
lReduction of sacraments from seven to two
Catholic
lBaptism
lEucharist (Mass)
lConfirmation
lPenance (Confession)
lMarriage
lHoly Orders
lExtreme Unction (Last Rites)
Protestant
lBaptism
lEucharist (Mass)
l(Confirmation)
l(Penance [Confession])
lScripture alone as authority (sola scriptura)
The Various
Reformations
Martin Luther (1483-1546)—(Lutheran)
lIndulgence controversy and the “95 Theses”
lWanted a real reformation
lSalvation by faith; therefore no indulgences
lUniversal priesthood of all believers;
therefore the temporal rulers can reform the church
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)—(Reformed)
lThrust of reform: efficiency and simplicity
lColloquy of Marburg, 1529; Luther and Zwingli
forever split over Eucharist
lDied in battle with Catholics, 1531
John (Jean) Calvin (1509-1564)—(Reformed; Presbyterian)
lBasic reforming thrust: Moralistic
lDoctrine:
“Grave, austere, inflexible logic”
lTotal Depravity
lUnconditional election
lLimited Atonement
lIrresistible Grace
lPerseverance of the Saints
English Reformation—(Anglican, Episcopal)
lBasically political: Henry VIII
lOstensible issue: Henry VIII’s
divorce
lReal Issue:
Who is the head of the church? (universal priesthood of all believers)
lDeclared monarch head of the Church of England
(to serve the Pope became treason)
lHenry excommunicated by Pope, 1535
lHigh church and Low church
Anabaptist (Radical) reformation
lThe reformers had not gone far enough
lThoroughly biblically-based practice
lRecover the true NT church (restorationist)
Beliefs: Seven articles of faith
lBeliever’s baptism (“affusion”
= pouring; later some adopted immersion)
lChurch = a-political
lNo “servitude to the flesh” = forms of worship
of Catholics and other reformers
lCongregational autonomy (“congregationalism)
lChristians have no share in worldly government
lNo bearing arms or coercion
lNo taking of oaths
Reactions
lCatholics burned them
lLutherans banished them on pain of death
lZwingli drowned them
Some direct
descendents of these groups
Catholic Reformation (“counter-reformation”)
The only real reformation
Council of
lTo reform abuses in the church—almost a total
success
lReaffirmed Catholic doctrine against the
Protestants
lTridentine Confession of Faith: all clergy had to affirm until Vatican II
lI, N, with steadfast faith believe
and profess each and all the things contained in the Symbol of faith which the
holy Roman Church uses, namely ‘I believe in One God, etc. [The Nicene Creed].’
lI most firmly acknowledge and
embrace the Apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions and other observances and
constitutions of the same Church. I
acknowledge the sacred Scripture according to that sense which Holy Mother
Church has held and holds, to whom it belongs to decide upon the true sense and
interpretation of the holy Scriptures, nor will I ever receive and interpret
the Scripture except according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
lI profess also that there are seven
sacraments. … I embrace and receive each
and all of the definitions and declarations of the sacred Council of Trent on
Original Sin and Justification.
lI profess likewise that true God is
offered in the Mass, a proper and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the
dead, and that in the most Holy Eucharist there are truly, really and
substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, and that a conversion is made of the whole substance of
bread into his body and of the whole substance of wine into his blood, which
conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I also confess that the whole and entire
Christ and the true sacrament is taken under the one species alone.
lI hold unswervingly that there is a
purgatory and that the souls there detained are helped by the intercessions of
the faithful; likewise also that the Saints who reign with Christ are to be
venerated and invoked; that they offer prayers to God for us and that their
relics are to be venerated. I firmly
assert that the images of Christ and of the ever-Virgin Mother of God, as also
those of other Saints, are to be kept and retained, and that due honour and
veneration is to be accorded them; and I affirm that the power of indulgences
has been left by Christ in the Church, and that their use is very salutary for
Christian people.
lI recognize the Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Roman Church as the mother and mistress of all churches; and I vow
and swear true obedience to the Roman Pontiff, the successor of blessed Peter, the
chief of the Apostles and the representative [vicarius]
of Jesus Christ.
lI accept and profess, without
doubting, the traditions, definitions and declarations of the sacred Canons and
Oecumenical Councils and especially those of the
Council of Trent; and at the same time I condemn, reject and anathematize all
things contrary thereto, and all heresies condemned, rejected and anathematized
by the Church. This true Catholic Faith
(without which no one can be in a state of salvation), which at this time I of
my own will profess and truly hold, I, N, vow and swear, God helping me, most
constantly to keep and confess entire and undefiled to my life’s last breath,
and that I will endeavour, as far as in me shall lie, that it be held, taught
and preached by my subordinates or by those who shall be placed under my
care: so help me God and these Holy
Gospels of God.
New
Catholic Piety
Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
lTotal obedience to the suffering of Christ by
total obedience to the Church
lIgnatius Loyola, Spiritual
Exercises, part ii,
para. 13:
That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the
Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which to our
eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be
black. For we must undoubtingly
believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the
Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to
Salvation, is the same . . .
l“Sacred Heart of Jesus”
lEducation
lMissionary
lRevived Inquisition (Office of Investigation
into Saints and Miracles
Mysticism
lSt. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
lSt. John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Modern Christianity
Reaction to
outside forces
lEnlightenment rationalism
lScientific theory (particularly Darwinism)
lBiblical Criticism
lOther religions
lEither retrenchment or accommodation
l(Usually both at different times)
Catholicism
Retrenchment
First
lFaith over reason
lPapal infallibility
Marian piety
lPerpetual virginity
lAssumption
lCo-redemptrix with
Christ
lImmaculate conception
Accommodation:
lOpenness to scientific and biblical critical
thought
lAcceptance of protestants and other religions
lStreamlined church government
Practice
lLay participation
lMass in vernacular
lSocial monasticism
lLowered dress codes
lCivil rights
Protestants
Accommodation: Protestant liberalism
Bible as a human book
lBeginning of biblical criticism (late
18th-early 19th century, Lutheran Germany)
lJesus wholly human
lAccepted Darwinism
lUnion Theological Seminary (1893, New York)
Practical
l“Broad Church Movement” (1805-1872, England)
l“Social Gospel Movement” (Walter Rauschenbusch,
1861-1918, U.S.)
lChristianity = social structure
l“all are sons of God”
l“Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man”
l“This Worldly, not Other Worldly”
Retrenchment
Christian experience—Inner Mysticism
lLutheran pietism
Evangelicalism
lJohn (1703-1791) and Charles Wesley (1707-1779)
l“Enthusiasm”
lMethodism
lRevivalism:
Style of services geared to emotional conversions (late 18th to late
19th centuries)
lHoliness movement (perfectionism)
lPentecostalism (began late 19th century)
lBased on experiential accounts of Book of Acts
l“Baptism of the Holy Spirit”
lGlossalalia
Doctrinal
lChristianity is rational
lApologetics
Fundamentalism
lRejection of modernism
lThe “Fundamentals”
lInerrancy (verbal inspiration) of scripture
lDeity and virgin birth of Christ
lBodily resurrection of Christ
lSubstitutionary blood of Christ
lVisible, pre-millennial return of Christ
lNeo-Orthodoxy (Karl Barth,
1886-1968): WWII; Faith over reason
Millenarianism
lTraditional:
Amillenialism
lLiberal:
Postmillenialism
lPre-millenialism
lDispensationalism
lAdventism
lJehovah’s Witnesses
Restorationism:
lChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Islam
Basic Islam
The Religion of the Book
•The Qur’an (Koran): Core of Islam; Holy of Holies
•“The true meaning of Scripture”—Wilfred Cantwell Smith
•God’s Words as revealed to Muhammad
Transcript of a tablet eternally preserved in heaven
•Utterly infallible and divine in the very words—article of faith for
pious Muslims
•No critical scholarship
•Can only be fully understood in flawless original Arabic
Corrects earlier Jewish and Christian scriptures which have been corrupted
•Overtly related to Judaism and Christianity
•Jews and Christians = “People of the Book”
•Restorationist
Basic message: Fatihah
•“In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
•All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,
•The Gracious, the Merciful,
•Master of the Day of Judgment.
•Thee alone do we worship and The alone do we implore for help.
•Guide us in the right path—
•The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray.”
God = Allah
•God of Jews and Christians
•El—El Shaddai—Elohim--Allah
•Strict and utter monotheism
•No other gods whatsoever
•No Trinity or any other division
•Wholly other
Shirk
•Worst sin of Islam
•No images or idolatry of any kind
•To associate anything else with divinity except the one true God
Islam =
•“Submission”
•Sala’am = Peace
•“Peace in Submission”
Muhammad
•La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammadan
rasula Llah
•“there is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is the apostle of Allah”
•Rasul
•Nabi
•“Seal of the Prophets”--Sunni
•Hadith:
Short narratives about the life of the Prophet, with answers to specific
questions
•Sunni and Shiite Muslims have
different collections of Hadith
A
Typical Hadith
•“Al Bukhari writes: Abdullah ibn al-Aswad told me: Al-Fadl ibn al-Ata told us: Isma’il ibn Umayya told us on the authority of Yahya ibn Abdullah ibn Sayfi that he heard Abu Ma’bad, the freedman of Ibn Abbas, say, “I heard Ibn Abbas say:
“’When the Prophet, the blessings of God be
upon him, and peace, sent Mu’adh to the
“’”You will come upon some of the People of the Book, so the first thing you will call on them to do is to profess the Oneness of God. When they have learned that, inform them that God has prescribed for the five ritual prayers a day. When they have made the ritual prayers, inform them that God has imposed zakat on their possessions, to be taken from the rich and given to the poor. When they have accepted all this, then take the tax from them, but leave them their most precious possessions.”’”
Who was
Muhammad?
•Just a man
•Caravan leader
•Makkah (Mecca)
•Quraysh
•Makers and sellers of images
•Keepers of Ka’ba
•February 610 CE: “Night of Power and Glory” (lunar month of Ramadan)
•Persecuton by Quraysh
Hijrah (Hegira)
•622 CE = first year of Islamic calendar
•623 CE = 1 AH
•“Withdrawing”
•Yathrib = Madinah (Medina), “The City”
•Ummah = first Muslim community
•630
CE = captured Makkah and Ka’ba
Shari’ah
•Muslim law
•Based on Qur’an and Hadith
•Shiite: interpretations of the
Imams
•Sunni: Sunna: tradition of the Caliphs and later members of
the Ulamma
•Fiqh = Jurisprudence
–Ijma = consensus
–Qiyas = case law
•Sunni Legal Schools
Five categories of actions for believers
•Obligatory
•Recommended but not obligatory
•Indifferent
•Disapproved but not forbidden
•Prohibited
Five
Pillars of Islam
1. Shahadah (confession)
•La ilaha illa Llah, Muhammadan rasula Llah (“there is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is the apostle of Allah”)
•Saying this makes one a Muslim, under the right conditions
•Must be stated verbally before the community
•You must understand clearly what you are saying
•You must believe it with all of your heart
•You must profess it until death
•You must be able to recite it correctly
•It must be recited without any hesitation
2. Salat (prayer)
•Five times per day (Ismailis only three times)
•Call to Prayer by Muezzin: “God
is most great. I testify that there is
no God but Allah. I testify that
Muhammad is God’s apostle. Come to prayer,
come to security. God is most great.”
•Mosque: “place of prostration”
•Imam = prayer leader
•Qiblah:
direction of Makkah (Mecca), marked by the Mihrab
•Wudu (Wuzu): ritual washing
•Prayer: selected Qur’anic verses
3. Zakat (Sadaqat): almsgiving
•2:216: “They ask thee what they shall spend. Say: ‘Whatever of good and abundant wealth you spend should be for parents and near relatives and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. And whatever good you do, surely Allah knows it well’.”
•social justice is tied inextricably to devotion
•Voluntary or 1/40th of income
4. Ramadan
•9th month of Muslim lunar calendar
•fasting from sunup to sundown for a lunar month
•2:184-186: “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.
•“The prescribed fasting is for a fixed number of days, but whoso among you is sick or is on a journey shall fast the same number of other days; and for those who are able to fast only with great difficulty is an expiation—the feeding of a poor man. And whoso performs a good work with willing obedience, it is better for him. And fasting is good for you, if you only knew.
•“The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down as a guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and discrimination. Therefore, whosoever of you is present at home in this month, let him fast therein. But whoso is sick or is on a journey, shall fast the same number of other days. Allah desires to give you facility and He desires not hardship for you, and that you may complete the number, and that you may exalt Allah for His having guided you and that you may be grateful.”
•2:188: “It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. Allah knows that you have been acting unjustly to yourselves, wherefore He has turned to you with mercy and afforded you relief. So you may now go in unto them and seek what Allah has ordained for you; and eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn. Then complete the fast till nightfall and do not go in unto them while you remain in the mosques for devotion. These are the limits fixed by Allah, so approach them not. Thus does Allah make His commandments clear to men that they may become secure against evil.”
5. Hajj (Pilgrimage)
•To holy city of Makkah: only Muslims can enter
•At least once per lifetime for all who are physically and economically
able
•Three days
•Ka’ba in Great Mosque: March around seven times and touch or kiss
the black stone
Unofficial
6th pillar (for some): Jihad
•“Striving in the path of God”
•Jihad of the Sword: Just War
•Herem = Hebrew
•2:191-194: And fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the transgressors.
•“And kill them wherever you meet them and drive them out from where they have driven you out; for persecution is worse than killing. And fight them not in, and near, the Sacred Mosque until they fight you therein. But if they fight you, then fight them: such is the requital for the disbelievers.
•“But if they desist, then surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.
•“And fight them until there is no persecution, and religion is freely professed for Allah. But if they desist, then remember that no hostility is allowed except against the aggressors.”
•Jihad of the Pen
•Greater Jihad: Inner Jihad
•Mujahid: fighter in the path of God
Muslim Diversity
The Islamic Tree
Shi’ite Emphases
•Ali = ONLY Rightly Guided Caliph
•6th Pillar: The Imam
•In every age God provides an infallible Imam who alone is entrusted by God with guidance of the community
•Divided according to veneration of particular Imams
•Hidden Imam
Ismaili Emphases
•Esoteric truth vs. exoteric truth
•Inner more important
•Living Imam
Sufism (Mysticism)
•Sufi = Wool
•9th to 11th century mystics
•Spiritual master = Sheykh
•Strong anti-traditional tendency: Seek direct experience of Allah without symbols (words) or rules and formalities
•Records: mostly poetry
•Dominant metaphor: love relationship
e.g., Abu Sa’id
•Shari’ah superfluous
•No pilgrimage to Makkah
•No interruption of dancing for prayer
Theme of
deification: fana
•(Rabi’a) “O my soul,
I searched from end to end: I saw in
thee naught save the Beloved; call me not infidel, O my soul, if I say that
thou thyself art He.”
•(Al Hallaj) “Thy
spirit is mingled in my spirit even as wine is mingled with pure water. When anything touches Thee, it touches
me. Lo, in every case Thou art I.
•“I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is
I: we are two spirits dwelling in one
body. If thou seest
me, thou seest Him, and if thou seest
Him, thou seest us both.”
•Al-Hallaj:
executed for blasphemy in 922 for stating: “I am the Truth.”
•Ibn Arabi
(1165-1240): “Idea of Muhammad”: Perfect man = manifestation of creative,
animating and rational principle of the universe
Dhikr
= “Remembering”:
Meditation practices
•Recitation (chanting) of names of Allah
•Controlled breathing
•Music and dancing (“Whirling Dervishes”)
•“Howling Dervishes”
•Darwish or Fakir
Philosophy and Theology
Philosophy
•Aristotelian with a mix of neo-platonism
•Western civilization owesw Islam for the
preservation of both
•No modern civilization without Islam
•On the other hand: Islam did not
receive these philosophers well
•Admired and used by Maimonedes and St. Thomas
Aquinas
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 980-157
•God = “first necessary being”
•God creating eternally
•Creation = God’s emanation
•Intelligence = God’s animating force
Ibn Rushd (Averroes), 1126-1198
•Qur’an = metaphor
•Reason needed to understand Qur’an
•Allah exist at the top of a continuum of beings
•No personal immortality: blending
Theology, e.g. Al Gazzali (1058-1111)
•Philosophy is contradictory and confusing and not helpful to Islam
•Can use reason to understand Qur’an
•But only after you have accepted the revelation without arguing
•Creeds
•Most unknown to Muslims
•Made Sufism more orthodox
Today’s main issues
•Islamicism: (Political) Establishment of Islamic states
•Traditionalism (Political/religious): renunciation of western corruption
•Liberalism (Political/religious): discerning core Islam from cultural accretions
Islam Today
Religion and Politics
The Misunderstanding
Accommodation and retrenchment
Western Thought
nProtestant reformation and
secularism
nThe sacraments
nThe Enlightenment
nSeparation of Church and State
nJohn Locke and Capitalism
nClass structure based on
economics—ethics of desert
nIslam not a part of these
developments
Islam
nMore traditional religion
nReligion = Culture
nThe effect of the Hijra (Hegira)
nNo separation of Church and
State
nIslam has social and political
aspects firmly engrained—distribution of wealth—ethics of need
Accommodation
nE.g.,
n
nSultans = “Caliph of Islam”
n“Sick man of
nKemal
Ataturk (1881-1938)
nWesternized secular state
nAbolished religious courts and
schools
nSecular law in place of Shari’ah
Retrenchment
nE.g.,
nIslamic Theocratic Monarchy
nSunni
nHouse of Sa’ud
and Wahhabi movement
nStrict literal and cultural
interpretation of Qur’an
nBut open to western
coexistence (political expediency)
nOld Persian Empire (until the
end of WW1)
nMonarchy—Shah
nVery westernized
nShi’ite
(twelver) majority
nAyatollah Khomeini (Ayat Allah—”Sign of God”—Imam?)
n1979 revolution = Shi’ite Islamic state
nPolicy of reform now (since
2001)
Ba’ath
nPolitical party
nPrimarily Sunni
nArab Islamic Socialism
nArab nationalism (uniting all
Arabs under one nation)
nConcern for justice and
distribution of wealth according to need
n= Islam
nAlso = socialism
nIslamic purity and socialist
policies
nShi’ite
majority
nSunni minority in charge
nBa’ath
nSaddam Hussein elected by Ba’ath party
nYeah, but . . .
nTotalitarian
nDestabilizing factor to
resurgent
n1980’s—Iran-Iraq war
n“liberated”
nOriginally Islamic state with
legal system based on English law—1947
nSince 1979 both English law
and Shari’ah
nTaliban
n“Students of Islamic Studies”
nExtremists from Wahhabi movement
nExtremely narrow
interpretations of Islamic law
nVirtually condemned by all
other Muslims (except a minority in
Principles of Islamic Resurgence since 1970’s
n1. Sahri’ah = law of
the state
n2. Theocracy = rule by Muslim scholars
n3. Wealth must be fairly distributed according
to Muslim law (need)
n4. Islam must resist western secularism and
immorality