What do they say and what does it mean today?
This is the first of a series of articles that are largely intended for the JCS (Jewish Cultural Society) 7th Grade Class and is an overview. The general orientation is secular, that is that I espouse a "real world" view focusing on recorded events rather than traditional comparisons of belief systems.
I feel that it is important to give this disclaimer at the beginning, but let me also differentiate between secularism and atheism of agnosticism. I believe that every individual must find their own path to the Infinite, to wisdom. That path may be within an organized religion, or not. It may lead to belief in God or in a philosophy or not. What matters to me are the consequences in this world. If it makes you a better person, capable of improving the world, then it is good.
Having said that, I try to present my views with the utmost respect for each religion. It is my belief that man has no innate moral values and that religions formed the "carrot" and the "stick" for creating and enforcing all ethical conduct. Be moral and you go to Heaven. Be other than moral and, well, you don't. As such they are an important, perhaps the most important, part of our history.
I call on a number of sources, including "Who Wrote The Bible" by Richard Elliott Friedman, "Judaism Beyond God" by Sherwin T. Wine and "The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels. I have recently discovered (although I have not read it) "Who Wrote The Gospels" by Randel McCraw Helms. But these texts are worthless unless you have spent some time reading the Torah, The New Testament and the Quran.
Each of these texts is not only an ethical tract, but a historical one as well. They recount events that were supposed to have happened and provide the rationales for some of the ethical lessons (for example, The Lord saved the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, so you must obey him now.) The belief in these documents caused other event to happen.
It begins in the desert. It always seems to begin in the desert. Look at the Middle East, that tiny area where three continents come together. It is remarkable, to me, that such a small area should be home to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. Perhaps the desert does produce wisdom. Each of these men and the writings about them or by them (in the case of Mohammed) reshaped our modern world.
We begin with Judaism, the oldest of the three Western faiths and the fount from which the others sprang. The foundation of Judaism is the Torah, sometimes referred to as the Five Books of Moses. Additional writings include The Nevi'im or Prophets and the Kethuvim or Writings. For a full listing, see http://www.jewfaq.org/torah.htm.
These books were not written by Moses (couldn't be as they speak of events that happened after Moses' death,) but were written by multiple, human authors over a period of centuries. The events that they speak of happened in some cases long before the author wrote them down. Each of the many author's views were effected by the events of their lives. So, for example the tale of Saul, first of the Hebrew Kings, was written by priests loyal to his enemy and replacement King David.
Many religious people have disputed the several authors theory. But.....in Chapter 1 of Genesis the order of earthly creation is plants, animals, man and women. Chapter 2 tells the same story, but the order is man, plants, animals and woman. At one point in Genesis, Noah sends a dove out to seek for dry land. The story is also retold with the bird being a crow or raven.
The point is not to argue details, but to point out that the Bible is a history of a people, written over time. When the authors were the priests of Moses, they told stories in such a way as to elevate their position. Authors have political agendas. Moreover, remember that the Bible was written time and time again by scribes. Who is King Josiah, for example? The Bible only uses the words "None arose like him" to describe two men- Moses and Josiah. Could the author have been living in the court of King Josiah? Could the reason that the coming of King Josiah, a relatively minor monarch, is prophesied in Deuteronomy supposedly three hundred years before, be because someone put his name there to flatter him?
Having said that the Bible is a human story, what is the tale that it tells? The Bible and the Jewish religion is a tribal religion. All religions have creation tales and Judaism is no exception. All mankind shares common ancestry from Adam and from Noah. Judaism begins with Abraham, the Patriarch of the Semitic peoples. Both Jews and Arabs are descended from him, through his sons Ismael and Isaac. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and then relents when Abraham and Isaac acquiesce to his wishes. God provides a ram for sacrifice instead and tells Abraham that there is now a special compact or relationship between Abraham and his descendants and the Lord of the Universe. See http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/HEBREWS/GENABRAH.HTM for one reference.
There are several important lessons to this story. One is that there is a special relationship of the tribes of Israel to God. This is important in uniting the peoples. They are the Chosen people, by virtue of sacrifice and compact. The mark of this special relationship is circumcision. "He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs." The twelve tribes have a common and illustrious ancestor. An important thing to bear in mind when the tribes threatened to fall out with each other.
God does not command the Jews to sacrifice their children. That is very different than the Baal worshipers, who lived close by and who did sacrifice their children. Historically, it should be pointed out that we believe that the Egyptians also practiced circumcision and the Jews may have learned the practice from them.
But the story of Abraham was one that was capable of uniting the tribes by saying that the descendants of Abraham have a special place in this world and the world to come and that they are markedly different from other Semitic peoples.
The story of Joseph tells how these people came to dwell in the land of Egypt and to survive and make a home for themselves by virtue of their wit. (Joseph's explanation of Pharaoh's dream.) The story of Moses tells how the Jewish people came to leave Egypt, after much suffering there, and were given land by divine providence. That the land in question had occupants and that the Jews had to fight for this homeland. But because of the compact made with Abraham, the Jews triumphed over every adversity. By the time of David, they had conquered cities and made the land their own. Jerusalem becomes the capital because it, like Washington D.C. in the time of the American colonies, was considered neither part of the northern land of Israel nor the southern land of Judah. See http://www.bible-history.com/maps/israel_judah_kings.html for a map. These lands were united during the kingships of David and his son Solomon, but divided into separate kingdoms under Rehoboam, Solomon's son. The Bible kept the Jewish people from fractionalizing.
Whether God gave Moses two tablets with Ten Commandments, whether Moses broke those tablets over the Golden Calf created by his brother Aaron, whether the remnants of those tablets were kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple in Jerusalem is moot. Read the literal Ten Commandments themselves: http://www.bible-researcher.com/decalogue.html
Certainly there were important moral values that have meaning today. "Thou shall not murder." It doesn't say "Kill" by the way. But what is the moral relevance to "thou shall not covet your neighbor's female slave?" The commandments have been reinterpreted by theologians throughout history. Perhaps the Commandments form the basis for modern morality, but they are not the sum of it.
So, the power of Judaism is the ability to hold what was once twelve tribes,but has now evolved into people of every race and color, together. But when the world changed, as mighty empires arose such as the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, those same elements that were successful in the past, assured the downfall of the Jewish people and made the Diaspora inevitable.
That Judaism promises special favors to the descendants of Abraham becomes problematical when the non-descendants are more numerous. Imperial Rome, for example, had a road map whereby a conquered barbarian could one day become a Citizen. It was always tied to service to the state. But a Roman could not become a Jew, no matter how much he wanted to. Oh, today we have conversions in Judaism that are accepted by all but the most Orthodox. But in say 70 A.D.? Even today, Judaism is different than Christianity or Islam in that we do not proselytize. It is not core to Judaism. The primary way to become a Jew is to be born to a Jewish mother. That is both a weakness and a strength.