World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 40 стр.

         And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him,                       The origins of the Israelite people and their religion
    “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.               The historical facts appear to be that a number of tribes of diverse origin,
    The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had noth-          mostly Canaanite and speaking Aramaic, lived in the hill country of Palestine
    ing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up,          around 1200 B.C., some of them worshipping the god Yahweh among others. In
    and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his morsel,     the course of repeated wars against the “Sea Peoples” or Philistines living on
    and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to      the coast, the hill tribes developed a sense of national unity and eventually
    him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to          founded a united kingdom. Their religion gradually became monotheistic, cen-
    take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had            tering on the figure of Yahweh, and was enshrined in a series of sacred writ-
    come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man        ings. These writings recounted legends of earlier figures such as Adam, Noah,
    who had come to him”.                                                            Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, considered as the fathers of the united people, and
         Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said         stories of a period of slavery in Egypt and of redemption from it by the power
    to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;        of Yahweh – stories which, it must be conceded, modern scholars have largely
    and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and be-       been unable to verify – as well as the laws promulgated by Yahweh. The wor-
    cause he had no pity”.                                                           ship of a single God probably developed at about the same time as the nation
         Nathan said to David, “You are the man. Thus says the Lord, the god         was unified under a single king. According to the Bible the nation reached its
    of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the       widest boundaries during the reigns of David and Solomon, and was subse-
    hand of Saul; and I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives        quently divided into a northern and a southern half. The northern, termed Israel,
    into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if this      was destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C., and the southern,
    were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised          named Judah, was destroyed in the sixth century B.C. by the Babylonians, who
    the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten          carried the educated and administrative classes off into captivity in Babylon.
    Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife,       There some of these writings were brought together and edited in the authorita-
    and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the            tive collection known as the Pentateuch, Torah, or Books of Moses, the first
    sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me,          five books of the Bible. Over the following centuries further compilations of
    and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the      these and similar materials were made, until the Hebrew Bible came to take the
    Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I      form it now has, around A.D. 100.
    will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and
    he shall lie with your wives in the sight of the sun. For you did it secretly;                                 The Israelite view of life
    but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun”.                       Israelite religion was the first to develop the concept of a single personal
         David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord”. And Nathan          God who created and governs the entire world. The historic achievement of the
    said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.          Israelites lay not only in their monotheism, however, but above all in the char-
    Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the        acter they ascribed to this God. While the gods of other peoples are often cruel
    child that is born to you shall die”. And Nathan went to his house.              and unjust, given to the whole range of human crimes, the God of the Hebrew
                                   (2 Samuel 11,12; Revised Authorized Version)      people is just and holy, and demands justice and holiness of men.
                                                                                           This God, who bears the name Yahweh, showed especial love for the Isra-
Questions for discussion:                                                            elite people over the other peoples of the world by revealing himself to their fa-
   1. How would you describe David’s deeds against Uriah?                            thers, redeeming them from slavery in Egypt, and giving them political power
   2. What does Nathan mean by referring to them as “sin”?                           over the land of Palestine. In return he requires them to obey his commands.
                                                                                     These commands are both ritual and moral, and bear heavy punishments in this
                                                                                     life for transgressions. If they obey his commands, god promises them well-
                                                                                     being in this life. Thus Israelite religion in its traditional form is concerned with


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