World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 17 стр.

                               The Christian Bible                                                                   UNI T T H REE
      At the time of Jesus the definitive form of the Hebrew Bible had not yet
been agreed on. For the Sadducees the only authoritative scripture was the Five        Part I
Books of Moses. The Pharisees recognized in addition the books of the Proph-                                                 Judaism
ets, and after the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 the Pharisaical view pre-           Judaism is the religion of the ancient Hebrews and their descendants the
dominated. The remaining books, called the “Writings”, such as the Psalms,             Jews, based, according to the Old Testament, on a covenant between God, the
were added about the end of the first century.                                         transcendent creator of the world, and Abraham about 2000 B.C., and the re-
      The Christians accepted the Jewish Bible as the “Old Testament”. At first,       newal of the covenant with Moses about 1200 B.C. God delivered the Israelites
following the Pharisees, this contained only the Law and the Prophets. When            out of their bondage in Egypt and chose them to be a light to all mankind. Juda-
the Jew added the Writings, the Christians did too.                                    ism rests on the concept of one eternal invisible God, whose will is revealed in
      In addition the Christians produced their own writings. The first Christian      the Torah and who has a special relationship with the Jewish people. The Torah
writings to be circulated widely were the letters of Paul to the various Churches      comprises the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), which contains the
he founded, which they would pass on to others. The first was the letter to the        history, laws, and guide to life for correct behaviour. Besides those living in Is-
Church of Thessalonica, written about the year 50. The lives of Jesus, which we        rael, there are large Jewish populations today in the USA, the former Soviet
call the Gospels were written somewhat later, the earliest being the Gospel of         Union, the UK and Commonwealth nations, and in Jewish communities
Mark, written perhaps about the year 70. The last writing to be accepted as part       throughout the world. There are approximately 18 million Jews, with about
of the Christian Bible was the “Second Letter of Peter”, written perhaps about         9 million in the Americas, 5 million in Europe and 4 million in Asia, Africa,
the year 135.                                                                          and the Pacific.
      Around the year A.D. 180 the list of books was finally settled, after some            The Talmud, which is next in importance to the Hebrew Bible, combines
debate. Christians considered these books authoritative and divinely inspired,         the Mishna, rabbinical commentary on the law handed down orally from 70 AD
and they were called the “New Testament”. Since the Church produced the Bi-            and put in writing about 200, and the Gemara, legal discussions in the schools
ble, and decided what books should be recognized as belonging to it, the atti-         of Palestine and Babylon from the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Haggadah is a
tude of the Church at this time was that the Church was superior to the Bible.         part of the Talmud dealing with stories of heroes. The Midrash is a collection of
The rule or criterion of the true faith was not in the first instance the Bible, but   commentaries on the scriptures written in 400–1200, mainly in Palestine. Along
the faith of the Church.                                                               with the Torah they are regarded as authoritative sources of Jewish ritual, wor-
                                                                                       ship and practice.
Task 1. Read and discuss.                                                                   The synagogue is the local building for congregational worship (originally
                                                                                       simply the place where the Torah was read and expounded); its characteristic
                                                                                       feature is the Ark, the enclosure where the Torah scrolls are kept. Rabbis are
                                                                                       ordained teachers schooled on the Jewish law and ritual who act as spiritual
                                                                                       leaders and pastors of their communities; some devote themselves to study. Re-
                                                                                       ligious practices include circumcision, daily services in Hebrew, observance of
                                                                                       the Sabbath (sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday) as a day of rest, and,
                                                                                       among orthodox Jews, strict dietary laws. High Holy days include Rosh Hasha-
                                                                                       nah marking the Jewish New Year (first new moon after the autumn equinox)
                                                                                       and, a week later, the religious fast Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Other
                                                                                       holidays are celebrated throughout the year to commemorate various events of
                                                                                       Biblical history.
                                                                                            In the late Middle Ages when Europe and Western Asia were divided into
                                                                                       Christian and Islamic countries, the Jewish people also found itself divided into
                                                                                       two main groups. Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, namely in Germany and

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