Additional Flashcards
KAufman
Michael Ronayne
Historical Criticism: use of Scientific methodology in histroy.
- Emphasis on facts.
- Opposite of Narrative critisism which focus on Charachter, plot, word pattern. Facts= not so important to narrative critics. *still using the text as a starting point, however. there are no fairy god-mothers in the Hebrew bible for example.
Yahezkel Kaufman: Developed Revolutionary model. Polytheism vs Monotheism.
PAGANS- Polytheistic.
- Pagans saw gods as limited, not all powerful.
- Metadivine= divine matter out of which gods were born
- gods are subject to laws.
- mythology/theogany= life and death of gods.
- Fluid boundaries= gods interact with man.
- Materiality= gods seem to have more access to power, humans have limited access to said power.
- humans can do magic/divination.
cult- system of rituals
- good and evil= metaphysical realities.
- Salvation= humans are depraved, gods have no investment in humanity, humans at mercy of gods. *explain how this realization leads to salvation. or does it? is there any hope for humanity?
- divine matter- metadivine= amoral.
- no consience design in world.
Evil is a foundational reality.
HEBREWS- Monotheistic.
- God himself is source of all.
- God is unlimited, timeless, always was and is.
- No realm prior to God. Eternal.
- No people become Gods.
- No life after death.
- Magic is useless. Sin (*? explain).
- divination= farce.
- any magic in bible points to God.
- No evil rival to God.
- Evil/sin not supernatural.
Moral cosmos created by God.
- God is good.
Evil= consequence of human condition. *emphasize disobedience. God is not impersonal. God gives human traits so wo/men can understand God.
OT v. Hebrew bible
The Hebrew Bible is an attempt to be neutral, while the Old Testament favors the Christianity faith. The “Old” in the Old Testament leads to the argument that on some level these scriptures are just background information leading up to Jesus and the New Testament. The Hebrew Bible label is more appreciative to the Jewish faith, because of the obvious Jewish roots and how these scriptures still serve as their foundation for faith and identity today. *To resist calling the Hebrew Bible the “Old” is an attempt to move away and beyond a Christian framework of supercessionism–namely, that the New supercedes the Old. The Hebrew Bible isn’t seen as a prelude, it is seen as complete in itself.
Also, a difference between the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible is the Hebrew Bible contains 24 books, while the Old Testament consists of the same books, but they are arranged differently, and some have been divided resulting in more books in the Old Testament then the Hebrew Bible.
*expand on the ordering of the books. What does the Christian Bible contain that the Hebrew Bible does not? Why?
The foundational texts are different:
Jewish Bibles are based on the HB;
the OT section in Christian Bibles is arranged according to the order of books in the “Septuagint” (LXX), the ancient Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. (book of daniel being with the prophets). So there are more books bc the prophets are 12 seperate books.
Apocrypha/deutercanonical is synonymous with the 14 or 15 books of doubtful authenticity and authority. These writings are not found in the Hebrew Old Testament, but are contained in some manuscripts of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, which was completed around 250 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt.– but fragment in the dead sea scrolls.
Cane and Abel
According to the text Cain and Abel were the offspring of Adaam and Eve. Although they were cast out of the garden of Eden, they still comunicated with God through offerings and rituals. Abel, who was in charge of the land, offered God the best fruits that he had tended to. Abel on the other hand, who was in charge of the animals, offered God the best cattle he had as a sacrifice. In a nutshell, God likes Abel’s offering better and as a result Cain became jealous of his brother. Cain then murders Abel. There are different interpretations of this story by different authors. Luther, on one hand pushes the idea that humans were meant to procreate and sees this story as a result that God intended. God wanted humans to procreate, therefore they were ment to leave Eden and have Cain and Abel. Calvin, on the other hand, takes this story into account when he is trying to explain original sin. He justifies this because, like Adam and Eve had original sin, so does Cain in this story when he cold heartedly kills his brother.
**Note how various interpretations can significantly alter the way we read biblical passages. You might use the Abraham and Isaac story as a comparative example?– not who you expect theme!
Evolutionary v. rev
Evolutionary View (18th century to turn of 19th c.)
Often from a European perspective−colonization
As society became more civilized it’s thought that they moved towards a monotheistic view.
Polytheism (most primitive societies)
↓
Hemotheism (couple dominant gods and supporting gods, like Enuma Elish?)
↓
Monotheism (height of civilization)
Revolutionary Theory: Monotheism vs. Polytheism conflict by Yehezkel Kaufman in 1930s.
“Pagan” Religions:
Gods limited–>come from Metadivine, or primordial soup. God’s powers come from this stuff and also born out of this. Gods also not immortal.
Mythology/theogeny-birth stories
fluid boundaries between divine, human and material world (ex: Hercules becoming divine)
Power comes from materiality
Magic/divinization–>humans can access to their advantage
“cult”=system of rights
Good and evil are metaphysical realities: There are good & bad realms, existing from the same stuff.
Salvation: Gods dont’ get involved, only on their whim.
Amoral vs. Moral–>no preset design, get both good and bad. The metadivine stuff is just what is.
Kaufman’s take on the Monotheistic view:
There’s no metadivine stuff-God is the source of all being. Doesn’t get his power from a realm/source. There are also no birth/death stories b/c God is timeless and eternal.
He has nothing to do with nature but can bend it to his will. God is known through history instead. Can track how he interacted w/ Israelites b/c he expresses himself through nature.
Humans and the divine are completely different.
Magic in the Hebrew Bible is useless, and Kaufman says anytime magic is used it’s a sin. Things happen b/c God willed it to.
Foretelling of the future also isn’t real. It’s an attempt to reveal God’s secrets in ungodly way. But one can seek out oracle’s help to inquire about the future.
Relation to ancient texts are completely external.
There are no evil agents in another realm to compete w/ God, he has no rival. NO EVIL. Itis a result of a clash of will w/ God. Sin is a rebellion by people who are disobedient of God.
Material world is moral. God’s will is supreme law; we now have moral cosmos.
The God of Israel was not created unlike the Paegan Gods.
God is the only Good which is why we can’t just rename Metadivine world, “God”.
*note some counter examples to Kaufman’s theory. Why can we only take this model so far?
