STUDY RELIGION 210 PDF - Religious Studies Exam Notes

Way to write during the exam Start with what can we know with more certainty, to things we know with less certainty. –hierarchy of knowledge. MATRIX OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEMORY Collective memory (On 3-4 generations) Past is consciously recalled and reshaped Cultural Memory (Remote pa...

Way to write during the exam Start with what can we know with more certainty, to things we know with less certainty. –hierarchy of knowledge. MATRIX OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEMORY Collective memory (On 3-4 generations) Past is consciously recalled and reshaped Cultural Memory (Remote past, of mythical origins). The past is referred to as a given tradition The concerned size is often a nation, a religion Social Memory A criterion is a rule of evidence, a pattern of argumentation →not a guarantee of authenticity The issue with Jesus is that we must understand him in his Jewishness, but we must also be aware that he is Jewish within Second Temple Judaism. Criterion of double dissimilarity: The criterion states that if a saying attributed to Jesus is different from both the Jewish traditions of his time and the early Church, it is likely to be from the historical Jesus. Criterion of multiple attestation: something is more likely to be attributed to Jesus, the more independent sources there are for the attribution. → Source-critical: e.g. Jesus speaks in parables → Form critical: e.g. Jesus’s family Criterion of unfulfilled prophecy: If a prediction is attributed to Jesus which does not come to pass, Jesus made the prediction. Criterion of developed language: if the tradition shows (signs of) discomfort with something attributed to Jesus–working to modify its implications–the attribution is more likely to be authentic. Son of Man Did Jesus call himself the son of man? If so, what did he mean? If not, what did he mean? Used in the Gospels to: talk about his ministry: what the SoM does on Earth presently. His future sufferings: A Superior force/ Glory that will come onto earth (in the future). Classics in History for HJR REIMARUS: Book: “Apologia or Defense for rational worshipers of God” The best way to disprove Christianity is to get at Jesus, i.e., show that Jesus was not who Jesus is believed to be. “Aims of Jesus” differed from those of Jesus’s disciples after his death. Believed disciples except for miracles Believed Christianity was a lie, since a revealed religion would not be possible to men. Was a deist (God created the world but left it works on its own). Reimarus studied the nature of the source, the aims of Jesus & his disciples, and the nature of his Jewishness. LESSING Book: “On the Aims of Jesus and of his Disciples” He studies sources, does not believe the gospels. STRAUSS Book: the Life of Jesus Liberal romantic. The studies of myths, i.e., the Gospels were a collection of myths. Mythos→tell stories of themselves to help members and nonmembers understand the community. People should stop studying Jesus because it distracts us from the beauty of the myths. SCHWEITZER Book: The Quest of The Historical Jesus Study of the escatology, i.e., the study of concerns about the end/termination. THEMES IN HISTORICAL JESUS God’s Kingship: The concept of Kingdom is falsely used. Mistranslation. Kingdom: land ruled by a King. kingship is the position of being a king. Kingdom of God is not a good translation; it is rather “kingship of God” that is correct, because we don’t know where the land is, but we know who the king is. It makes, therefore, more sense to talk about “Kingship.” Geopolitical units start with the person The concept of “Temple”: Second Temple The Temple=the body of Christ Destruction and recreation of the Temple (may refer to the actual ST or Jesus’body). Purity/Impurity a feature (a belief, an assumption) during Second Temple judaism→something in the universe that you could call “purity.” A concept that not only Jews could understand, but also non-Jews in the Mediterranean world. Impurity is not evil. It is a ritual requirement (when burying a body for instance). Commensality The practice of eating/fasting together Jesus practiced commensality differently than the Pharisees e.g.  Tool of power: can create asymmetry as a social grouping (if I am a good Pharisee, i can invite lesser good Pharisee, but they cannot invite me nor can I/ will I go). Pharisees tried to enhance their jewishness through commensality. The concept of marriage/marriage covenant A covenant is a formal promise. For men and women, getting married is akin to the relationship between God and Israel. Allowing divorce religiously/culturally–or if it is possible at least–means that God can divorce Israel too. Marriage/wedding is eschatoligical Miracles: Concept of miracles The hope for miracles was enhanced by two features -medical knowledge was low, yet some knew - others were perceived as agent of God. Closely tied to the concept of magic (magic in ST has a lot to do with theatricality, centered around money) Medicine was also closely tied to magic and miracles. Some people were very good at surgery (cesarian e.g). Some were perceived as “local expert” in miracles/healings. →the hope for miracles was enhanced by two features medical knowledge was low, yet some knew Performers were perceived as agent of God Abba (father) “Abba” means father in Arameic→how God is addressed. Jews referred to their father as Abba. Jesus referred to God as Abba, which means God was his Father. Jesus talks to God and only God as Father (“Abba”-->everyone calls God “our father” but not “father” like Jesus did) It is normal in both Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity to address God as “Father” STUDY GUIDE Rabbinic Judaism stars in 70 AD (destruction of the Second Temple). Being a priest is a function of heredity. A rabbi, on the other hand, can be trained. Dead Sea Scrolls: collection of jewish manuscripts. Found in Qumran Gentilee: non-jew Mark and Matthew’s gospels were written after 70 AD, ie, after the deconstruction of the Temple. Flavius Josephus was: a Jewish historian and scholar was born into a wealthy and aristocratic priestly family in Jerusalem. Josephus is the historian of the destruction of the Second Temple. →under Titus and Flavius Josephus (related to Flavian who conquered Judea). Called trouble makers sophistes. Judea Roman province from 6 AD. covering the whole area for present Israel and Palestine put together. Capital is Caesarea Maritima (were Romans were concentrated). Most jews living in this province would never meet a romans of their life. Jerusalem was governed by high priests Pharisees in Judea were a large group (around 6,000), though tiny compared to jews (jews were 1 million). Trying to be more jewish than most jews were. not really priestly. Pharisee studied the Torah and interpreted it in a way to sort of pay less to the Temple. Also studied the Torah to make it more practicable to the people. Jesus meeting with Pharisees=he wanted to meet Pharisees. Sadducees: are defined with their relationship to power and production. they don’t really believe in anything, just apply strictly the Torah. Sects with connections to the priests. Mikveh Traditionally observant Jews use the mikvah, i.e., a bath to achieve purity. Converts are required by Halakha (legal tradition) to undergo a ritual bath John The Baptist: Was executed by Herod Antipas He baptized jews he was interested in marriage laws. But he was executed for criticizing the King’s marriage. Jesus: There is numerous messiah, in numerous traditions. Jesus could not claim to be THE messiah (must come from someone else, afterwards). Was followed by a group of disciples, in which an inner groups[of disciples) was called the twelve. In the Twelve (representing the twelve tribes of Israel) there was an even smaller group immediately around jesus, caracterized by having nicknames ○ Jesus XII “Cepha means rock ○ Simon “Peter” ○ John/James “Boanerges” (means son of thunder).  Jesus has many disciples, but only referred to the twelve because of the 12 tribes of Israel (symbolic gesture). →in jesus day, Judea (1 tribe) Jesus was likely perceived as someone who could perform miracles. The most important thing that Jesus ever did was die. Mishna the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. first work of rabbinic literature Touching the Torah scroll makes hand ritually impure → you cannot read it unless you unroll the scroll, so your hands are impure. → It is not bad to be impure; it is a good thing to read the Torah. Aramaic was the popular language in Galilea Greek was the international language. Stoning was prescribed in the Torah because you did not touch the body (which would eventually die). linked to the idea of purity/impurity. It is impossible not to be impure if you crucify. Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Judaea who presided over the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Samaritans Ethnoreligious demographic majority in Sumeria. Falsely claimed to be Israelites, but not from Juda. Jews labeled Samaritans as inappropriate mixtures as Israel and not Israel at the same time. Samaritans read the same Torah that the Jews read. They have priests, but they have a different temple and are from a different tribe. Also Worship visible gods. →multiply attested that Jesus was surprisingly interested in Samaritans for a jew. Sophist (original meaning) – ”From the verb is derived the noun σοφιστής, sophistes, which originally meant "a master of one's craft" and later "a prudent man" or "wise man". The word for "sophist" in various languages comes from sophistes. The word "sophist" could be combined with other Greek words to form compounds.” (Wikipedia).  Q SOURCE →Q is the mysterious other source that they draw from to write their gospels →Q very likely existed. Gospels writers each copy differently from the Q source (perhaps!) Q is likely a written source