A11602683
Below you will find three passages, discuss what the context is and what major issue in Jewish history they illustrate:
The passages below describe the impact of Hellenism on Jewish history and tell the story of the emergence of Christianity. The Hellenistic period began following Alexander the Great’s conquest in 334 BCE and continued culturally till almost the seventh century CE. During this period, the Jews incorporated Hellenistic thoughts with their Judaic traditions; this is made evident in the passage on Philo of Alexandria. Philo–a Hellenized Jew–has no problem incorporating his religion with elements of Greek philosophy. He takes a passage from Genesis: “Moses tells us that man was created after the image of God and after …show more content…
The Letter of Aristeas is believed to have been composed during the second century BCE and scholars have generally categorized it as a piece of “creative fiction”. Despite not being a factual account of an historical event, the letter tells the broader story of Jews living in the Hellenistic world. In the story, Ptolemy II orders for the laws of the Jews [the Hebrew Bible] to be translated into Greek so that he could have a copy of it in his library. This simple story reveals that Jews lived comfortably in the Hellenistic world yet their own traditions were not compromised; this is made evident by the fact that Demetrius of Phalerum, the library’s keeper, describes the Jews of using “a peculiar script and speak a peculiar language.” In other words, the author of this text wants to emphasize that though the Jews were absorbed into Greek culture (ie. spoke Greek, dressed like a Greek), they retained their old traditions as well as their Jewish …show more content…
During the Second Temple period, Christianity, also known as the “Jesus Movement”, was originally one of the sects of Judaism. The beginning of the process of separation between Christianity and Judaism is often credited to Paul the apostle. Paul claims to have been originally a zealous Jew who persecuted Christ and his followers, until one day, he receives a divine message from God, who tells him to spread the word of Christ. The letters to the Romans, composed around 56 CE, shows that Paul is likely to have been influenced by Philo’s earlier writings on the body and the soul. Paul writes in Romans 9:1-9 that “not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants”. In this seemingly obscure statement, Paul establishes the differences between the Jews of the old and outdated covenant and the new Jewish Christians (at this point, they are not yet referred to Christians yet). Through his reference to Abraham and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, Paul establishes Isaac, the younger son who was born through promise, as the “new Israel” while Ishmael is considered the “son of flesh” and is used in an allegorical way to describe Jews, who are concerned with matters of the flesh (ie. circumcision). It is clear that Paul is a product of the Hellenistic world in which he lives in; his
Below you will find three passages, discuss what the context is and what major issue in Jewish history they illustrate:
The passages below describe the impact of Hellenism on Jewish history and tell the story of the emergence of Christianity. The Hellenistic period began following Alexander the Great’s conquest in 334 BCE and continued culturally till almost the seventh century CE. During this period, the Jews incorporated Hellenistic thoughts with their Judaic traditions; this is made evident in the passage on Philo of Alexandria. Philo–a Hellenized Jew–has no problem incorporating his religion with elements of Greek philosophy. He takes a passage from Genesis: “Moses tells us that man was created after the image of God and after …show more content…
The Letter of Aristeas is believed to have been composed during the second century BCE and scholars have generally categorized it as a piece of “creative fiction”. Despite not being a factual account of an historical event, the letter tells the broader story of Jews living in the Hellenistic world. In the story, Ptolemy II orders for the laws of the Jews [the Hebrew Bible] to be translated into Greek so that he could have a copy of it in his library. This simple story reveals that Jews lived comfortably in the Hellenistic world yet their own traditions were not compromised; this is made evident by the fact that Demetrius of Phalerum, the library’s keeper, describes the Jews of using “a peculiar script and speak a peculiar language.” In other words, the author of this text wants to emphasize that though the Jews were absorbed into Greek culture (ie. spoke Greek, dressed like a Greek), they retained their old traditions as well as their Jewish …show more content…
During the Second Temple period, Christianity, also known as the “Jesus Movement”, was originally one of the sects of Judaism. The beginning of the process of separation between Christianity and Judaism is often credited to Paul the apostle. Paul claims to have been originally a zealous Jew who persecuted Christ and his followers, until one day, he receives a divine message from God, who tells him to spread the word of Christ. The letters to the Romans, composed around 56 CE, shows that Paul is likely to have been influenced by Philo’s earlier writings on the body and the soul. Paul writes in Romans 9:1-9 that “not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants”. In this seemingly obscure statement, Paul establishes the differences between the Jews of the old and outdated covenant and the new Jewish Christians (at this point, they are not yet referred to Christians yet). Through his reference to Abraham and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, Paul establishes Isaac, the younger son who was born through promise, as the “new Israel” while Ishmael is considered the “son of flesh” and is used in an allegorical way to describe Jews, who are concerned with matters of the flesh (ie. circumcision). It is clear that Paul is a product of the Hellenistic world in which he lives in; his