Western Civilization. Paul R. Waibel

Western Civilization - Paul R. Waibel


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They begin with the presupposition that the Bible does not contain reliable evidence for historical events in the history of ancient Israel.

      The debate centers around two possible dates for the Exodus. One, that favored by most historians, is c. 1270 BC, during the reign of Rameses II (r. 1279–1213 BC). The second, favored by some biblical scholars, is c. 1446 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep II (r. c. 1450–1425 BC). There are good arguments for and against each one. Given the importance of the event in the history of both Judaism and Christianity the debate is unlikely to ever be resolved.

      Around 1024 BC, the 12 tribes united as a kingdom. Saul (d. 1010 BC) of the tribe of Benjamin in Israel was chosen king and anointed by Samuel (fl. c. 1000 BC), who, according to rabbinical literature, was the last judge and the earliest of the Major Prophets. Saul was succeeded by his son‐in‐law, David (c. 1040–c. 970 BC), who completed the conquest of the Canaanites and the Philistines. David established a united kingdom of Israel with its capital at Jerusalem. Israel reached its greatest geographic extent under one of David's younger sons, Solomon (c. 970–931 BC).

      Solomon's reign was the “golden age” of Israel. Great prosperity allowed Solomon to engage in a number of impressive building projects, including a very elaborate temple and temple complex in Jerusalem. Jerusalem under Solomon was a very cosmopolitan capital city. Foreigners journeyed to Jerusalem to witness the splendor of Solomon's court. The Old Testament records an account of the queen of Sheba (kingdom of Saba in present day Yemen) who “came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones” (1 Kings 10:2, ESV). Solomon's wealth was not measured in just gold and silver, but in the size of his harem. According to 1 Kings 11:1‐3, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Following Solomon's death in 931 BC, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria and the kingdom of Judah with Jerusalem as its capital.

      The Hebrew people understood themselves to be in a covenant relationship with Yahweh. They were to remain separate from the other nations. They were not to worship other gods, intermarry with foreigners, or mix other cultures with their own. They were, in a word, to remain holy. They failed.

      Solomon's building projects brought many skilled laborers to Israel. Israel became the center for much of the trade in the Middle East. The wealth gained from trade brought with it foreign cultural influences. Solomon concluded marriage alliances with foreign states, including Egypt. Not only did he intermarry with women from among the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, all of which were forbidden under the covenant with Yahweh, but he committed idolatry by constructing for them places where they could worship their gods. Solomon, himself, joined in worshiping the foreign gods.

      The roots of Western Civilization, that is, those core values or principles that distinguishes it from other civilizations, are found in its Judeo‐Christian and Greek heritage. These include the emphasis on reason, the unique value of the individual, and the conviction that there is meaning and purpose for both history and the individual.

      Central to Judeo‐Christianity is the belief that God created human beings in his own image, distinct from the rest of creation. Since God created an orderly universe, not a universe of random chance, and created human beings in his image, they are able to use reason to understand how the universe works, or as the English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561–1626) said, “capable of thinking God's thoughts after him.” But the Hebrews did not create scientific thought, that is, the scientific method. That awaited the Greek philosophers who sought to understand reality beginning with reason alone. The Hebrews were concerned with knowing God and his will for them, not philosophical speculation.

      The Hebrews believed that although God was sovereign over all of his creation, he endowed human beings with a free will. Each individual was not only empowered with the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, but obligated to do so: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life …” (Deuteronomy 30:19, ESV). God alone was the source of what was right or wrong, good or evil. Choosing to obey God's will resulted in blessings; choosing to disobey resulted in death:

      If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you … But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.

      (Deuteronomy 30: 16‐18, ESV)

      The Hebrews had an explanation for the existence of evil. It was not the result of the capricious or whimsical will of finite gods who were themselves subject to fate. Rather, evil resulted from the willful choice of the individual to reject God's moral law and act as if autonomous.

      Just as the nation of Israel was God's chosen people bound to him by a covenant, so too was the individual. According to the covenant between God and Abraham, the Hebrew people were to make God's moral law known to all the nations of the world by their obedience. There is both parochialism and universalism implied in the covenant. On the one hand, it is a covenant between God and his Chosen People. On the other hand, it is a covenant between God and all humanity. The prophet Isaiah gives a vision of a time when all the nations (i.e. all people groups) of the earth will come to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:2).

      The Hebrew prophets reminded the people that because they were chosen to know God's Law, they had a responsibility to be on the side of justice. They reminded the people that tolerating injustice violated God's Law and would bring upon them God's righteous wrath. Injustice violated the dignity of the individual (both male and female) who bore the image of God, and injustice was therefore an affront to God himself. By reminding the people that their freedom of will impacted the present and the future, the prophets held out the vision of a messianic age free of poverty and injustice. The belief that human beings were able to construct a better world order became one of the core values of Western Civilization.


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