REL 203: Religions of the Middle East

Class Notes For Tuesday 04/09/02

Reading Assignment #3 Handout and Questions (Due 4/11)

Old Testament=Hebrew Bible (testament-covenant or agreement)
Tanakh: entire Hebrew Bible
1st Five Books=Torah(law)
The Law of Moses
The Law
Penteteuch: literally-the 5 scrolls
Talmud=commentary on the Torah

3 Parts of the Tanakh
Torah: 1st five books
Prophets: 5 major 2 minor
Writings: Psalms, Book of Job-Proverbs, history books (wisdom literature)

Questions answered-

Why it will stop raining eventually
Rainbow, sign of God's promise to not flood the entire earth again
Why God doesn't just start over-humans by nature are inclined to evil
Why Canaan was given to the Jewish people

Canaan cursed because his son Ham makes fun of his father in a compromising position (respect for elders very important, especially towards your father)

Corporate (group) Responsibility:
if you screw up not only will you be punished but your children and their children and so on will also be punished, and this affect of punishment might not only extend within your own family
Groups responsibility to keep everyone in line

The Tower of Babel
explains why people speak different languages and have different nations

God renamed Abram/Abraham
Abram=father
Abraham=father of many

Abraham and Sarah=Isaac (son)

Abraham and Hagar=Ishmael (son) (settled in Nothern Arabia)

Muhammad-founder of Islam 600 A.D.
Muslims: members of Islam religion
Muslims claim Ishmael is the father of the Arabs
Ishmael-wild ass of a man, will be at odds with all people and all of his kin
-Explains why Jews and Muslims don't get along

Covenant of Circumcision(sp?)
God will make Abraham a mighty nation, Abraham promised to circumsize all male descendants

Sodom and Gomorrah:
"evil" cities
sin of homosexuality
cities were destroyed
Yahweh appears in human form and haggles with Abraham and gets lectured by him (anthropomorphic)
God has to send messengers to the cities to see if it's really that bad (anthropomorphic)

Sacrifice of Isaac
-Obedience to God
To be continued at next class meeting.