Something to think about

God's Wife

http://news.discovery.com/history/god-wife-yahweh-asherah-110318.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

How to read Aland handout

Hey, in prepartion of my oral report I was wondering if anyone has a copy of the handout on how to read Aland. If so, can someone email me the handout. It will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Study Questions: Jewish Sects in the time of Jesus; Apocalypticism

1.Compare and Contrast Pharisees, Saducees, and Essenes in respect to the following:

1) Belief in afterlife/bodily resurrection

2) Attitude to oral law

3) Attitude to Jerusalem Temple

2.Explain: “Happy People Do Not Write Apocalypses” (Fredriksen, 81)

3.Be able to discuss Ehrman’s points in the following quote:

“Jesus was a Jewish man living in the first century of the Common Era in the Roman territory of Galilee. If we want to know about his life, we have to learn about his world….”[social and political context of first century Palestine] “ is more relevant for understanding the historical Jesus than for understanding the traditions that circulated about him in other parts of the Mediterranean some decades later.”

4.Question: Prophecy vs. Apocalypticism. Discuss differences in style, content, and world view. Give dates (by century) for each type of revelation; Give at least one extant example by name of each type.

5.Describe socio/political conditions that led to rise of sectarianism in the centuries from the 1^st c. BCE through 1^st c. CE.(end date was 70 CE). Describe basic characteristics of Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, Fourth Philosophy (=zealots, and sicarii) Galillean Charismatics

6.Identify:

Zadok/Zadokite line

apocalypticism

Roman Rule, Question 2 - Shay Bell

2.Explain the Roman witticism “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

Herod killed many his family members, including his son(s), because of their Hasmonean lineage. The quote is meant to be funny, because he follows the Jewish law that forbids him to eat pigs.

Roman Rule Study Questions

Questions on assignment:

1. What, if anything, do we know of Herod the Great’s alleged slaughter of Judean babies as told in Matt 2: 13-23? What is the argument against the historicity of this event?

2.Explain the Roman witticism “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

3.How do most historians evaluate (pros and cons) the reign of Herod?

4.How can we explain the fact that at the end of the Great Rebellion against Rome in 70 CE only two Jewish sectarian movements survived (through the present): the Pharisees (founders of what came to be called ‘Rabbinic Judaism”) and the followers of Jesus (founders of what came to be called Christianity)?

Another Question!

How can we find out why each of the books in the Apocrypha were left out of the Bible? I'd like to know the specific reasons.

Question!

Can someone explain the terms/phrases "legal traditions of the Pharisees" and "rabbinic Judaism" to me? I feel like I don't know enough about either group to understand.

Study/Writing Questions: MACCABEES

1.Be able to identify the following terms. Identifications must include:

a)fact(s) with dates as appropriate

b)context-relate specific term to larger historical or religious context

c))significance of term to study of Judaism and/or early Christianity

Antiochus IV Hannukah Gymnasion Ben Sira/ Ecclesiasticus

Hasidim Hellenization

Mattathias Judah Maccabee

2. Describe how the issue of Hellenization played out in the genesis of the Maccabean revolt.

3. What explanation do historians offer for the success of the Maccabean revolt?

4. Identify and describe 5 significant innovations/developments in Jewish practice or thought, occurring during the Hasmonean period. Which of these would prove especially significant in the teachings of Jeus accd. to the Synoptic Gospels?

5. 2 Maccabees 7 contains what maybe the earliest recorded story of martyrdom. Be able to recount the story and connect it to the new(pharisaic?) doctrine of resurrection.

question 5- Ashley Hill

 5.Describe some important characteristics of Hellenistic Judaism.
 Hellenistic Judaism was basically a marriage between Greek Philosophy and Jewish Doctrine. It main contributor was Philo of Alexandria. The bible was seen as philosophy. He like other Hellenistic Jews believed in the allegorically interpretation of the Jewish Scripture. According to them, God did not play an active role in the lives of human. He created the world his Word, Logos, which represented the "agent who ordered the world according to the divine law, nomos". Hellenistic Judaism  viewed the dietary laws allegorically so they were merely seen as aversion to unsavory moral characteristics associated with those unclean animals, not as a ban from eating them.  Additionally, the concept of circumcision was seen as the excision of sexual passion instead of the literal cutting of the penis. However, in some instances, such as laws concerning the Temple, the Bible should be read literally.

Hellenism Study Questions ~ Amber McRae #3

3. Describe some features (minimum 6) of Hellenistic culture.

Hellenism was a basically the mixture of Greek culture with that of the Ancient Near Eastern societies. Fredriksen described the beginning of their civilization as a mutual admiration for each others' cultures. However, gradually the domineering personality of the Hellenistic (Greek) culture overtook the others; yet, this was not a planned effect. The culture was simply so attractive that many converted on their own. Even the Romans, who conquered the Greeks, synthesized the Greek culture into their own. Their society was not as religious based as that of those around them. Instead the Hellenistic society was dedicated to scholarship. Their cities were set up in a manner consisting of a governing body, schools, and places to admire the arts; much like today's society. In regard to the religious aspect of their environment, they worshipped the gods of common Greek mythology. Hellenistic society merged this religion with many others because most had common basis in their polytheistic worship. They were also very concerned with humanitarianism and the universal goodwill. Here is where many rivalries with the Jews started because Jews refused to participate and assimilate because of their monotheistic backgrounds.