Basic
Worldview:
104
Why Christianity?
Judaism
and Christianity Introduction and History
Judaism
and Christianity Introduction and History
History
of Judaism Continued
Scholarly
Objections and Historicity of Daniel (P. 1)
Historicity
of Daniel (P. 2) & Judeo-Christian Syncretism
A
Few Words on Gnosticism
Christianity
- A Sect of Judaism (P. 1)
Christianity
- A Sect of Judaism (P. 2) & Prophecy in Judaism
Is
Jesus the Jewish Messiah? (P. 1)
Is
Jesus the Jewish Messiah? (P. 2)
List
of Messianic Qualifications & the Resurrection of Jesus
(P. 1)
The
Resurrection of Jesus (Part 2)
Study
Conclusions and Overall Comparisons
Additional
Material
The
Sufferings of Eyewitnesses
Comparison
of Mystical Religions to Judeo-Christianity
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 1)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 2)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 3)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 4)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 5)
Rabbinical
Judaism Accepts Christian Interpretations (P. 6)
Introduction | Section 1
| Section 2 | Section
3
Introduction
At last, we have arrived at the last stage of our study. Having
previously examined and dismissed the various forms of Propositional
Mysticism and now having dismissed the claims of Islam, we
will now turn our attention to Judaism and Christianity and
demonstrate why the Judeo-Christian tradition should be accepted
by theists as the correct understanding of God.
We will begin our study of Judaism and Christianity by establishing
the historicity of each religion. After that we will proceed
with an examination of the evidence offered by Judaism and
Christianity to see if it substantiates their claims about
God, the universe, and man. The first step in this verification
of evidence will be very similar to the approach we took in
studying Islam.
In our study of Islam one of the fundamental questions that
had to be covered is whether or not Islam did come from and
complete the Judeo-Christian tradition as it claimed to. We
determined that Islam was not, in fact, compatible with this
tradition and this became one of our reasons for rejecting
its claims.
Likewise, in examining Judaism and Christianity we must first
ask whether or not Christianity is right to associate itself
with Judaism in the same manner that Islam associated itself
with the Judeo-Christian tradition. If Christianity cannot
be permitted by Judaism then we would have to reject its claims
as we did those of Islam. However, what we will find instead
is that Judaism not only permits Christianity, it requires
it. As we investigate this question we will simultaneously
be answering whether or not modern Judaism is correct in its
rejection of the New Testament Christian teachings.
Throughout this part of the verification process the Jewish
sacred scripture, known as the Torah (or Tanakh or Tanach),
will be our authority. The Jewish scriptures are contained
within the Christian Bible. Christians refer to the Jewish
Torah as the Old Testament. They are held by Christians to
be the divinely inspired Word of God.
(NOTE: The term Tanakh or Tanach is a Hebrew acronym, which
is used to refer to the Jewish scripture. The acronym is composed
from the three main sections of the Jewish Bible: the Torah,
Neviim, and Ketuvim. Torah means teaching. Neviim refers to
the prophets. And Ketuvim means writings. However, the term
"Torah" is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible,
alternately known as the Tanakh or Tanach.)
"Torah - in Judaism, in the broadest sense the substance
of divine revelation to Israel, the Jewish people: God's
revealed teaching or guidance for mankind. The meaning
of "Torah" is often restricted to signify the first five books
of the Old Testament, also called the Law or the Pentateuch...The
term Torah is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible.
" - Britannica.com
"Old Testament - the first part of the Christian Bible
containing the books of the Jewish canon of Scripture."
- Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
"Old Testament - Christian name for the Hebrew Bible, which
serves as the first division of the Christian Bible (see
New Testament). The designations "Old" and "New" seem to have
been adopted after c.A.D. 200 to distinguish the books of
the Mosaic covenant and those of the "new" covenant in Christ.
New Testament writers, however, simply call the Old Testament
the "Scriptures." - The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.
2001.
"Old Testament - Among contemporary Christians, the
Roman Catholic Church recognizes as deuterocanonical several
books that are consigned to the Old Testament Apocrypha by
most Protestant bodies, whose canon conforms to that of
the contemporary Hebrew Bible. There the books follow
the order of the Palestinian Hebrew canon, which appears to
have been adopted by c.A.D. 100, although most of the books
had clearly received canonical status well before this time."
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
"Old Testament - At the Reformation, Protestant bodies
withdrew recognition of the canonicity of those portions of
the Old Testament that appeared in the Vulgate but not in
the Masoretic canon, although the English church considered
them (i.e., the deuterocanonical books) suitable for instruction
and edification, but not for establishing or confirming doctrine.
To set these books clearly apart, the translators who produced
the Authorized Version (see Bible) assembled them in the Apocrypha
as an appendix to the Old Testament. Thus the Protestant
canon became exactly like the Masoretic, except that it
retained the order of the books as they appeared in the Vulgate."
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
Since therefore both Judaism and Christianity agree on the
authority of the Old Testament (or Torah) as God's word we
can determine, which one has a correct understanding of God's
Word by examining the Old Testament scriptures. In this way
we will determine whether New Testament Christian teaching
is the correct Jewish view or simply a Jewish heresy.
NOTE: Rather than referring to Christianity as the successor
to Judaism as some do, we feel it is more accurately to refer
to Christianity as a particular Jewish view among other Jewish
views. This is because Christianity was at its onset simply
a Jewish sect, started in Jerusalem by a Jewish man who taught
other Jewish men drawing on ancient Jewish teaching, and spreading
at first to a Jewish community who for several decades constituted
the majority of its membership. Additionally, as we will later
demonstrate there are and have been several major Jewish groups
and leaders who have believed in various known false Messiahs,
yet this belief has not led the Jewish community to reject
their Jewishness or to consider them non-Jewish. With this
in mind we will proceed with our study of determining whether
Christianity is the most legitimate and accurate Jewish understanding
or is simply a heretical Jewish sect.
NOTE: We have qualified Christian teaching with the words
New Testament in order to point out that what we are interested
in the authentic teaching of Jesus, His apostles, and the
early Christian community, which are preserved in the New
Testament. We are not interested in any form of Christianity
that has developed after the New Testament Church and teachings
and deviated from the original and authentic form of Christian
teaching and the Christian faith. At least one reason for
this is that the academic standard for historicity (which
we have consistently employed in this article series) necessarily
establishes the New Testament record of Jesus Christ as the
authentic record of his life and teaching. (For more on this
topic please see our articles on "The Foundation of Our Theology"
and the Introduction to the Church Ethic section of our website.)
After we have demonstrated that Christianity is not distinct
or prohibited by Judaism, but rather that the two are one
religion, with Christianity being a particular view within
Judaism, we will then go on to complete our study by answering
two questions simultaneously. The first is whether or not
Jesus is truly the Jewish Messiah. The second is whether or
not the evidence offered by Judeo-Christianity substantiates
its truth claims and thus, whether or not Judeo-Christianity
should therefore be accepted as accurate. Having now outlined
our approach we will proceed with our analysis of the historicity
of Judaism and Christianity.
The Historicity of Judaism and Christianity
As we begin our investigation of Jewish and Christian historicity
it is first useful to revisit the criteria for historicity
that we stated early on in this study. At that time we found
that historicity was defined as:
"Historicity - n (1880): historical actuality." - Merriam
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition
In order to determine what is required for figures and events
to be considered historical actuality we looked at several
non-controversial figures and events. To see what kind of
historical documentation was sufficient to conclude that a
person or event had lived or occurred in history we looked
at examples like Alexander the Great and the Gallic Wars.
In order to determine what it took to conclude that a writing
or a teaching actually originated with the author or teacher
it is accredited to, we examined the historical documentation
for Plato's Republic, Homer's Illiad, Aristotle's Poetics,
Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars, as well as the writings of the
ancient historians from whose records we owe a great deal
of our knowledge of ancient history. These historians included
Xenophon, Herodotus, Thucydides, Lucretius, Polybius, Tacitus,
Seutonius, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Flavius Josephus, Sophocles,
and Euripedes.
From our examination of the historical documentation behind
these historic, actual persons, events, and writings we discovered
the requirements that are used by historians to determine
if a person lived in history, if an event occurred in history,
or if a work of literature or could be attributed to a supposed
author. These requirements were:
1. That at least two copies of supposed original manuscripts
must survive into modern times.
2. Surviving copies of the original manuscripts must be written
within 1400 years or so after the figures and events they
describe.
3. The supposed original documents can be written by people
who were first, second, or third-hand witnesses to the events,
or who were more than two generations or even five hundred
years removed from the actual persons or events that they
are describing.
If the above three criteria were met, then a person is said
to be a historical figure, an event is said to have occurred
in history, and a work of literature, teaching, or philosophy
is attributed to the author it is credited to.
Because a specific recap of these historical examples will
be helpful as we look at the historical documentation for
Jewish and Christian figures, events, and writings, we will
list one now. Each entry in the list begins with:
a) the figure, event, or work of literature in question, followed
by...
b) the historical dating for when a person lived, an event
occurred, or a work of literature was written followed by...
c) the number of available historical documents, which inform
us of that event, followed by...
d) the length of time between the figure, event, or writing
and the origin of the available historical documentation followed
by...
e) the historical conclusion based upon the available documentation
1. a) Alexander the Great
b) lived: 356-323 B.C.
c) number of documents: five (2 are considered to be comprehensive)
d) These five documents, which tell us of the life and accomplishments
of Alexander the Great, were written at least 300-400 years
after Alexander lived.
e) Alexander the Great did actually live and accomplish what
he is credited with between 356-323 B.C.
2. a) Plato's Republic
b) written: 427-347 B.C.
c) number of documents: seven copies of this work
d) These seven copies of Republic were all written 1300 years
after Plato wrote the original.
e) Republic was actually written by Plato between 427-347
B.C. The ideas contained in Republic originated with
Plato.
3. a) The Gallic Wars written by Julius Caesar about
his campaign against the tribes of Gaul.
b) occurred in: 100-44 B.C.
c) number of documents: ten copies of this work
d) These ten copies were all written around 1000 years after
the Gallic Wars occurred.
e) The Gallic Wars actually occurred as recorded by Julius
Caesar in 100-44 B.C. Julius Caesar is the actual author of
The Gallic Wars. And though he was writing about himself
we accept that Caesar's description of the events is historically
accurate.
4. a) Aristotle's Poetics
b) written: 343 B.C.
c) number of documents: five copies of this work
d) These five copies were all written around 1400 years after
Aristotle wrote the original.
e) Aristotle wrote Poetics and it was written in 343
B.C.
5. a) The Illiad written by Homer
b) written: 900 B.C.
c) number of documents: 643 copies of this work
d) The most ancient fragments date from 500 years after the
original is said to have been written by Homer. However, most
of the copies date from nearly 1400 years afterward.
e) Homer is the author of the Illiad and it was written
in 900 B.C.
6. a) Anabasis (or March Up Country) written by Xenophon
b) written: between 431 B.C. and 354 B.C.
c)
d) The earliest manuscript of Anabasis that we have today
is dated to 1350 A.D.
e) Xenophon did write Anabasis during the 4th century
B.C. and his account of the events it records is accurate.
7. a) Herodotus' History
b) written: between 485-425 B.C. about events that took place
50-125 years earlier in 546-478 B.C.
c) number of documents: eight copies of his work
d) the earliest of the eight copies that we have was written
1400 years or so after the life of the author and the events
described.
e) Herodotus did write History in the 5th century B.C.
The events he describes did occur.
8. a) Thucydides' History
b) written: between 430-425 B.C. The events that he describes
took place 0-30 years before this.
c) number of documents: eight copies of this work
d) the earliest of these eight copies is from 1300 years after
the author and the events he described.
e) Thucydides did write History in the 5th century
B.C. and the events he describes did occur.
9. a) Lucretius' On the Nature of the Universe
b) written: between 99-55 B.C.
c) number of documents: two copies of his work
d) These copies were written between 1100-1400 years after
his life and writings.
e) Lucretius is credited as the author of On the Nature
of the Universe.
10. a) Polybius' History
b) written: between 240 B.C. and 122 B.C. His work, entitled
History records events that occurred between 220-168 B.C.
c)
d) The earliest copy of Polybius' History that we have today
is from 1100 years or so after Polybius and the events he
wrote about.
e) Polybius did write History. It was written in the
2nd century B.C. The events it describes did occur.
11. a) Tacitus' History (or Annals)
b) written: between 56-120 A.D. The period of world history
that Tacitus was writing about is from 14-68 A.D. meaning
events that took place 30-100 years before he recorded them.
c) number of documents: 20 copies of this work
d) The earliest manuscript we have of Tacitus' History comes
from 750 years after the events he describes occurred and
after Tacitus lived and wrote the original text.
e) Tacitus did write History. It was written in the
1st century A.D. The events it describes did take occur.
12. a) Seutonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars
b) written: between 70-130 A.D. The people and events he describes
took place between 50 B.C. and 95 A.D., 25-170 years before
he wrote of them.
c) number of documents: eight copies of this work
d) The earliest of the eight copies that we have of his work
are dated 750-1500 years after the events occurred.
e) Seutonius did write Lives of the Twelve Caesars
He wrote a history of the twelve caesars from Julius to Domitian.
13. a) Pliny the Elder's Letters
b) written: 110-112 A.D.
c) number of documents: seven copies of this work
d) The earliest manuscript that we have from Pliny is from
nearly 750 years after Pliny's life and the events he recorded.
e) Pliny the Elder is the author of Letters. Letters
was written between 110-112 A.D.
14. a) Plutarch's Parallel Lives of the Famous Greeks and
Romans
b) written: between 46-130 A.D. His work discusses persons
and events from 500 B.C. to 70 A.D.
c)
d) The earliest copy of this work that survives into modern
times is from 850-1500 years after the lives and deeds of
the persons Plutarch wrote of in his original and around 800
years after Plutarch himself lived.
e) Plutarch did write Parallel Lives of the Famous Greeks
and Romans.
15. a) Flavius Josephus' Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities
b) written: between 37 A.D. and 101 A.D. He wrote about events,
which occurred between 200 B.C and 65 A.D., 10-300 years before
he wrote of them.
c)
d) The earliest copies of these two documents date from around
900-1300 years after the events described and the life of
the author.
e) Flavius Josephus is the author of Jewish War and Jewish
Antiquities.
16. a) Sophocles' various plays and works of literature
b) plays written: between 496 and 406 B.C.
c) number of documents: We have 193 copies of his works
d) These 193 copies date from 1400 years after his life and
writings.
e) Sophocles is considered the author of these works of literature.
17. a) Euripedes' various plays
b) plays written: between 480-406 B.C.
c) number of documents: We have nine copies of his works
d) All nine of these copies are dated at least 1300 years
after his life and writing.
e) Euripedes is credited with having written the works attributed
to him.
The question of whether or not the figures, events, and writings
of the Jewish and Christian Bible can be said to have lived,
occurred, been written by the authors they are attributed
to and written when they are said to have written is simply
a question of whether or not the historical documentation
for these books fits within the standards that are employed
for the figures, events, and writings listed above.
If the figures, events, writings, and teachings of the Judeo-Christian
scriptures meet the three qualifications then we have to conclude
that they are historical. One of the most important aspects
of this is whether or not the books of the Judeo-Christian
Bible were written by their supposed author during the timeframe
they are said to have lived and wrote. So, without further
delay here are the three qualifications for historicity followed
by the historical documentation for the Jewish and Christian
scriptures.
1. That at least two copies of supposed original manuscripts
must survive into modern times.
2. Surviving copies of the original manuscripts must be written
within 1400 years or so after the figures and events they
describe.
3. The supposed original documents can be written by people
who were first, second, or third-hand witnesses to the events,
or who were more than two generations or even five hundred
years removed from the actual persons or events that they
are describing.
Historicity of Judaism
We will begin our analysis of Judaism's historicity with a
quote from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary and then follow
with an overview of Jewish history, including the main figures
and events along with their dates. After this we will be able
to compare the available historical documentation to see if
it meets the above requirements for concluding that these
figures and events are historical.
The history of the Jewish people is described to us in the
Jewish scripture, called the Torah.
"Torah - 1: the five books of Moses constituting the Pentateuch
2: the body of wisdom and law contained in Jewish Scripture
and other sacred literature and oral tradition 3:
a leather or parchment scroll of the Pentateuch used in a
synagogue for liturgical purposes." - Merriam-Webster's Online
Dictionary
"Torah - Hebrew name for the five books of MosesÑthe Law
of Moses or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
The Torah is believed by Orthodox Jews to have been handed
down to Moses on Mt. Sinai and transmitted by him to the Jews.
It laid down the fundamental laws of moral and physical conduct.
The Torah begins with a description of the origin of the universe
and ends on the word Israel, after the story of the death
of Moses, just before the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites.
In a wider sense the Torah includes all teachings of Judaism,
the entire Hebrew Bible and the Talmud." - Merriam-Webster's
Online Dictionary
The Torah describes figures and events that were orally kept
until the time of Moses.
"Judaism - In any case, the history of Judaism here
is viewed as falling into the following major periods of development:
biblical Judaism (c. 20th-4th century BCE), Hellenistic
Judaism (4th century BCE-2nd century CE), rabbinic Judaism
(2nd-18th century CE), and modern Judaism (c. 1750 to the
present)." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - The family of the Hebrew patriarchs (Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob) is depicted in the Bible as having had
its chief seat in the northern Mesopotamian town of Harran
Ñthen (mid-2nd millennium BCE) belonging to the Hurrian
kingdom of Mitanni. From there Abraham, the founder of the
Hebrew people, is said to have migrated to Canaan (comprising
roughly the region of modern Israel and Lebanon)Ñthroughout
the biblical period and later ages a vortex of west Asian,
Egyptian, and east Mediterranean ethnoculture. Thence the
Hebrew ancestors of the people of Israel (named after the
patriarch Jacob, also called Israel) migrated to Egypt, where
they lived in servitude, and a few generations later returned
to occupy part of Canaan. The Hebrews were seminomadic
herdsmen and occasionally farmers, ranging close to towns
and living in houses as well as tents." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - The initial level of Israelite culture resembled
that of its surroundings; it was neither wholly original nor
primitive. The tribal structure resembled that of West Semitic
steppe dwellers known from the 18th-century-BCE tablets
excavated at the north central Mesopotamian city of Mari;
their family customs and law have parallels in Old Babylonian
and Hurro-Semite law of the early and middle 2nd millennium."
- Britannica.com
"Judaism - Abraham (perhaps 19th or 18th-17th centuries
BCE) did not discover this God, but entered into a new
covenant relation with him, in which he was promised the land
of Canaan and a numerous progeny. God fulfilled that promise
through the actions of the 13th-century-BCE Hebrew leader
Moses: he liberated the people of Israel from Egypt, imposed
Covenant obligations on them at Mt. Sinai, and brought them
to the promised land." - Britannica.com
Although the history of the Jewish people begins with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob (later named Israel), who are the patriarchs
of their nation, the chief development of the people of Israel
begins with their Exodus from Egypt under Moses in the 14th
or 13th century B.C.
"Judaism - Date: 14th century 1: a religion developed among
the ancient Hebrews and characterized by belief in one transcendent
God who has revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew
prophets and by a religious life in accordance with
Scriptures and rabbinic traditions 2: conformity
to Jewish rites, ceremonies, and practices 3: the cultural,
social, and religious beliefs and practices of the Jews 4:
the whole body of Jews: the Jewish people." - Merriam-Webster's
Online Dictionary
"Moses - Hebrew Moshe Hebrew prophet, teacher, and
leader who, in the 13th century BCE (before the Common
Era, or BC), delivered his people from Egyptian slavery."
- Britannica.com
"Judaism - Tradition gives the following account of
the birth of the nation. At the Exodus from Egypt (13th
century BCE), YHWH showed his faithfulness and power by
liberating Israel from bondage and punishing their oppressors
with plagues and drowning at the sea. At Sinai, he made Israel
his people and gave them the terms of his Covenant, regulating
their conduct toward him and each other so as to make them
a holy nation. After sustaining them miraculously during their
40-year wilderness trek, he enabled them to take the land
that he had promised to their fathers, the patriarchs. Central
to these events is God's apostle, Moses, who was commissioned
to lead Israel out of Egypt, mediate God's Covenant to them,
and bring them to Canaan." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - The distinctive features of Israelite religion
appear with Moses. The proper name of Israel's God, YHWH,
was revealed and interpreted to Moses as meaning ehye asher
ehyeÑan enigmatic phrase (literally meaning "I am/shall be
what I am/shall be") of infinite suggestiveness. The Covenant,
defining Israel's obligations, is ascribed to Moses' mediation."
- Britannica.com
After they leave Egypt the people of Israel settle in modern
day Palestine along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea north
of Egypt (in roughly the same area as Israel is located today)
at around the 12th century B.C. There they fought and conquered
many of the previous inhabitants including the Philistines.
In time the twelve tribes of Israel petition to have a king
over them. Their first king, Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin
rules in 1020 B.C. However, Saul is soon replaced by David,
from the tribe of Judah, who establishes a Jewish dynasty
beginning in the year 1000 B.C. After his death, David appoints
his son Solomon to sit on his throne. During their reigns
the ancient kingdom of Israel peaks in prominence and power.
"Judaism - The loose, decentralized tribal league could
not cope with the constant pressure of external enemiesÑcamel-riding
desert marauders who pillaged harvests annually or iron-weaponed
Philistines (an Aegean people settling coastal Palestine
c. 12th century BCE) who controlled key points in the
hill country occupied by Israelites. In the face of such threats
to the Israelites, local, sporadic, God-inspired saviours
had to be replaced by a continuous central leadership that
could mobilize the forces of the entire league and create
a standing army." - Britannica.com
"Biblical Literature - It was during this period that
Israelite assimilation of Canaanite cultural and religious
ideas and practices began to be an acute problem and that
other invaders and settlers became a threat to the security
of Israel. One of the chief threats was from the Philistines,
an Aegean people who settled (c. 12th century BCE) on
the coast of what later came to be called, after them, Palestine."
- Britannica.com
"Judaism - The Benjaminite Saul was made king (c. 1020
BCE) by divine election and by popular acclamation after
his victory over the Ammonites (a Transjordanian Semitic people),
but his career was clouded by conflict with Samuel, the major
representative of the old order. Saul's kingship was bestowed
by Samuel and had to be accommodated to the ongoing authority
of that man of God. The two accounts of Saul's rejection by
God (through Samuel) involve his usurpation of the prophet's
authority. King David, whose forcefulness and religiopolitical
genius established the monarchy (c. 1000 BCE) on an independent
spiritual footing, resolved the conflict." - Britannica.com
"Biblical Literature - The monarchy was initiated during
the career of Samuel, a prophet of great influence and authority
who was also recognized as a judge and is depicted in varying
biblical accounts as either favouring or not favouring the
reign of a human king over Israel. In any case, he anointed
Saul, a courageous military leader of the tribe of Benjamin,
as king (c. 1020 BCE). Saul won substantial victories
over the Ammonites, Philistines, and Amalekites, leading the
tribes in a "holy war," and for a time the Philistine advance
was stopped; but Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in
a disastrous battle with the Philistines in central Palestine.
His successor, David, a former aide (and also his son-in-law)
who had fallen out of favour with him, at first took over
(c. 1010) the rule of Judah in the south and then of all Israel
(c. 1000)." - Britannica.com
"Samuel - flourished 11th century BC, Israel Hebrew
Shmu'el religious hero in the history of Israel, represented
in the Old Testament in every role of leadership open to a
Jewish man of his dayÑseer, priest, judge, prophet, and military
leader. His greatest distinction was his role in the establishment
of the monarchy in Israel." - Britannica.com
"Saul - flourished 11th century BC, Israel Hebrew Sha'ul
first king of Israel (c. 1021-1000 BC). According to the
biblical account found mainly in I Samuel, Saul was chosen
king both by the judge Samuel and by public acclamation. Saul
was similar to the charismatic judges who preceded him in
the role of governing; his chief contribution, however, was
to defend Israel against its many enemies, especially the
Philistines." - Britannica.com
"David - born, Bethlehem, Judah died c. 962 BC, Jerusalem
second of the Israelite kings (after Saul), reigning c.
1000 to c. 962 BC, who established a united kingdom over
all Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital. In Jewish tradition
he became the ideal king, the founder of an enduring dynasty,
around whose figure and reign clustered messianic expectations
of the people of Israel. Since he was a symbol of fulfillment
in the future, the New Testament writers emphasized that Jesus
was of the lineage of David. He was also held in high esteem
in the Islamic tradition." - Britannica.com
"Solomon - flourished 10th century BC Hebrew Shlomo
son and successor of David and traditionally regarded as the
greatest king of Israel. He maintained his dominions with
military strength and established Israelite colonies outside
his kingdom's borders. The crowning achievement of his vast
building program was the famous temple at his capital, Jerusalem."
- Britannica.com
"Biblical Literature - Under David's successor, his son
Solomon (reigned c. 961-922), Israel became a thriving
commercial power; numerous impressive buildings were erected,
including the magnificent Temple (a concrete symbol of the
religiopolitical unity of Israel); a large harem of foreign
princesses was acquired, sealing relations with other states;
the country was divided into 12 districts for administrative,
supply, and taxation purposes." - Britannica.com
After Solomon's death in the 10th century B.C. the kingdom
of Israel splits into two, the northern kingdom of Israel
and the southern kingdom of Judah. The prominence and power
declines as the people turn from the protocols of the covenant
enacted by Moses in the 13th century and they begin to incorporate
the customs of the peoples around them.
This historic decline and incorporation of pagan customs gives
rise to the Jewish prophets, who advocated a return to the
provisions of the Mosaic covenant and warned of strong consequences
if they remained unfaithful to their covenant with God. The
earliest of the prophets came in the 9th and 8th centuries
B.C. with Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah,
Micah. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micah are considered minor
prophets and are the authors of the smaller prophetic books
of the Jewish Bible. The Book of Isaiah is a much larger body
of work.
"Judaism - Every king of Judah is judged according
to whether or not he did away with all extra-Jerusalemite
places of worship. (The date of this criterion may be inferred
from the indifference toward it of all persons [e.g., the
9th-century-BCE prophets Elijah and Elisha and the Jerusalemite
priest Jehoiada] prior to the late-8th-century-BCE
Judahite king Hezekiah.) Another serious limitation is
the restriction of Kings' purview: excepting the Elijah-Elisha
stories, it notices only the royally sponsored cult; notices
of the popular religion are very few. From the mid-8th
century the writings of the classical prophets, starting with
Amos, set in." - Britannica.com
"Elijah - flourished 9th century BC also spelled Elias,
or Elia, Hebrew Eliyyahu Hebrew prophet who ranks with Moses
in saving the religion of Yahweh from being corrupted by the
nature worship of Baal. Elijah's name means "Yahweh is my
God" and is spelled Elias in some versions of the Bible. The
story of his prophetic career in the northern kingdom of Israel
during the reigns of Kings Ahab and Ahaziah is told in 1 Kings
17-19 and 2 Kings 1-2 in the Old Testament. Elijah claimed
that there was no reality except the God of Israel, stressing
monotheism to the people with possibly unprecedented emphasis.
He is commemorated by Christians on July 20 and is recognized
as a prophet by Islam." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - Dismay at the dissolution of Israelite society
animated a new breed of prophets who now appearedÑthe literary
or classical prophets, first of whom was Amos, an 8th-century-BCEJudahite
who went north to Bethel." - Britannica.com
"Amos - flourished 8th century BC, the first Hebrew
prophet to have a biblical book named for him. He accurately
foretold the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel
(although he did not specify Assyria as the cause) and, as
a prophet of doom, anticipated later Old Testament prophets."
- Britannica.com
"Amos - A native of Tekoa (now a ruin), 12 miles (19
km) south of Jerusalem, Amos flourished during the reigns
of King Uzziah (c. 783-742 BC) of Judah (the southern kingdom)
and King Jeroboam II (c. 786-746 BC) of Israel." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - Judah was subjected to such intense pressure
to join an Israelite-Aramaean coalition against Assyria that
its 8th-century-BCE king Ahaz chose to submit himself to Assyria
in return for relief. Ahaz introduced a new Aramaean-style
altar in the Jerusalem Temple and adopted other foreign customs
that are counted against him in the book of Kings. It was
at this time that Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem. At first
(under Uzziah, Ahaz' prosperous grandfather), his message
focussed on the corruption of Judah's society and religion,
stressing the new prophetic themes of indifference to God
(which went hand in hand with a thriving cult) and the fateful
importance of social morality." - Britannica.com
"Isaiah - flourished 8th century BC, Jerusalem Hebrew
Yesha'yahu ("God Is Salvation") prophet after whom the biblical
Book of Isaiah is named (only some of the first 39 chapters
are attributed to him), a significant contributor to Jewish
and Christian traditions. His call to prophecy in about
742 BC coincided with the beginnings of the westward expansion
of the Assyrian empire, which threatened Israel and which
Isaiah proclaimed to be a warning from God to a godless people."
- Britannica.com
"Judaism - The prophecy of Micah (8th century BCE),
also a Judahite, was contemporary with that of Isaiah and
touched on similar themes (e.g., the vision of universal peace
is found in both their books)." - Britannica.com
"Old Testament Literature - The Book of Micah, the
sixth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written
by the prophet Micah in the 8th century BCE." - Britannica.com
During the lives of these early prophets there were a few
kings of Israel and Judah who were faithful to the Mosaic
covenant, but many were not. Despite the efforts of these
few the consequences of unfaithfulness eventually came upon
the people of Israel beginning in the 8th century B.C. with
the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel. (Nahum
the prophet was active at about this time - roughly between
726-698 B.C.)
"Judaism - The westward push of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
in the mid-8th century BCEsoon brought Aram and Israel
to their knees. In 733-732 Assyria took Gilead and Galilee
from Israel and captured Aramaean Damascus; in 721 Samaria,
the Israelite capital, fell. The northern kingdom sought
to survive through alliances with Assyria and Egypt; its kings
came and went in rapid succession." - Britannica.com
"Galilee - In 734 BC much of Galilee's Jewish population
was exiled after the victory of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser
III over the Israelite kingdom." - Britannica.com
"Assyria - In the 8th cent. B.C. conquest was pursued
by Tiglathpileser III. He subdued Babylonia, defeated the
king of Urartu, attacked the Medes, and established control
over Syria. As an ally of Ahaz of Judah (who became his vassal),
he defeated his Aramaic-speaking enemies centering at Damascus.
His successor, Shalmaneser V, besieged Samaria, the capital
of Israel, in 722-721 B.C., but it was Sargon, his son, who
completed the task of capturing Israel." - The Columbia
Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
After the Assyrian conquest came the minor prophet Zephaniah
who lived and wrote between 642-611 B.C. Additionally, two
other major prophets who both authored books of the Bible,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, lived in the 7th century B.C. along
with Habakkuk, a minor prophet of the same time period.
"Judaism - According to Jeremiah (about 100 years later),
Micah's prophetic threat to Jerusalem had caused King Hezekiah
(reigned c. 715-c. 686 BCE) to placate God possibly an
allusion to the cult reform instituted by the King in order
to cleanse Judah from various pagan practices)." - Britannica.com
"Jeremiah - born probably after 650 BC, Anathoth, Judah
died c. 570 BC, Egypt Hebrew Yirmeyahu , Latin Vulgate
Jeremias Hebrew prophet, reformer, and author of an Old
Testament book that bears his name. He was closely involved
in the political and religious events of a crucial era in
the history of the ancient Near East; his spiritual leadership
helped his fellow countrymen survive disasters that included
the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC and
the exile of many Judaeans to Babylonia." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - Their mood finds expression in the oracles
of the prophet Habakkuk in the last years of the 7th century
BCE." - Britannica.com
"Judaism - Among the exiles in Babylonia, the prophet Ezekiel,
Jeremiah's contemporary, was haunted by the burden of
Israel's sin." - Britannica.com
"Ezekiel - flourished 6th century BC also spelled Ezechiel,
Hebrew Yehezqel prophet-priest of ancient Israel and the subject
and in part the author of an Old Testament book that bears
his name." - Britannica.com
"Ezekiel - Ezekiel's ministry was conducted in Jerusalem
and Babylon in the first three decades of the 6th century
BC. For Ezekiel and his people, these years were bitter
ones because the remnant of the Israelite domain, the little
state of Judah, was eliminated by the rising Babylonian empire
under Nebuchadrezzar (reigned 605-562 BC). Jerusalem surrendered
in 597 BC. Israelite resistance was nevertheless renewed,
and in 587-586 the city was destroyed after a lengthy siege.
In both debacles, and indeed again in 582, large numbers
from the best elements of the surviving population were forcibly
deported to Babylonia." - Britannica.com
"Ezekiel - Before the first surrender of Jerusalem,
Ezekiel was a functioning priest probably attached to the
Jerusalem Temple staff. He was among those deported in
597 to Babylonia, where he was located at Tel-abib on
the Kebar canal (near Nippur). It is evident that he was,
among his fellow exiles, a person of uncommon stature. Ezekiel's
religious call came in July 592 when he had a vision
of the "throne-chariot" of God. He subsequently prophesied
until 585 and then is not heard of again until 572. His
latest datable utterance can be dated about 570 BC, 22
years after his first." - Britannica.com
(Continued in next section.)