The Judeo-Christian Tradition

Travel to Israel

Ancient Greece and Rome are two sources of Western democratic ideals.

A third source is the Judeo-Christian Tradition

The ancient HEBREWS had, by about 1000 B.C. established the State of Israel…also know as Judea.

They were the first people to believe in monotheism…the belief in one God.

Judeo-Christian Tradition

They set down their laws and traditions in a sacred book…The Bible, or The Torah….it is also known as The Old Testament.

The Hebrews, or Jews as they would become known as…they came from Judea.

They believed in one God, a God that is perfect, all-knowing, all powerful, and eternal.

Earlier peoples…like the Greeks and Romans…believed in many gods.

The Hebrews/Jews believed that it was God’s wish for people to live moral lives.

Judeo-Christian Tradition

The Hebrew scriptures…the Bible…state that human beings are created in God’s image.Meaning within each human being is a divine spark…soul…which gives everyone a dignity that cannot be taken away.

Greeks and Romans - human beings had dignity because they had the ability to reason.

Hebrews - each person had dignity simply by being a child of God.

Hebrews believed that God had given humans moral freedom…the capacity to choose between good and evil. Each person was responsible for the choices he or she made.

And that’s why God gave the Hebrews the 10 Commandments…to live a moral life.

The spiritual leaders of the Hebrews were the prophets…messengers of God…attacked war, oppression, and greed.

Believed all people have the right to be treated with justice and dignity.

Responsibility of every person to denounce injustice and oppression and the community should assist the poor and unfortunate.

The prophets hoped that life on earth could be improved, that poverty and injustice need not be accepted…

And, every individual was capable of living to a high moral standard.

In the first century a Jewish Rabbi…teacher…named Jesus was traveling throughout Israel preaching. Israel had been conquered by the Romans and had become a province of Rome…no longer an independent state. The Romans changed the name of Israel to Palestine…after the Philistines, Israel’s enemy. Jesus adopted much of the Prophets’ moral outlook. Like them, he believed human beings were God’s children and were judged according to high moral standards. Like them, he spoke out against injustice. Like them, he saw morality as the essence of Jewish faith…

“..do unto others only what you would have done to yourself”

Jesus…the story in a nutshell

The early Christians were Jews. Unlike the other sects of Jews, the Christians were evangelists…they wanted to spread their beliefs to all people. Christian missionaries worked throughout the Roman Empire to convert people to Christianity.

And so, from the Judeo-Christian tradition there emerged several ideals that have been crucial to the shaping of a democratic outlook…

The sacred worth of the individualThe duty of the individual and of the

community to combat oppressionAnd the equality of people before God.

Jesus…the story in a nutshell

The Holy City of Jerusalem is perhaps the most significant, and almost certainly the best-known religious city on Earth. In no other single place can you find such a concentration of sites sacred to not just one, but three major world religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This compact ancient city, surrounded by a 465-year old wall, and home to one that is among the holiest of Jewish sites, never fails to amaze visitors with the extraordinary religious history contained – and very much alive – within.

Tour of Jerusalem

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock

The Western

Wall

Solomon’s Temple

Three of the ideas from the Judeo-Christian tradition that have shaped American democracy are:The sacred worth of the individualThe duty of the individual and community

to combat injustice and oppressionThe equality of people

ON YOUR OWN: Read “Hebrew Law and Morality” and

answer the questions at the bottom. Read the beginning of the Declaration of

Independence

Democratic Ideas & Values Derived from Judeo-Christian Tradition

COLLECTIVE BRAIN:Discuss the answers at the bottom of the “Hebrew Law and Morality” reading. Brainstorm a LIST of examples from the text that exemplify the ideas listed below.The sacred worth of the individualThe duty of the individual and community to combat injustice and oppression

The equality of people

COLLECTIVE BRAIN:For the Declaration of Independence,

brainstorm a LIST of examples from the text that exemplify the ideas listed below.The sacred worth of the individualThe duty of the individual and community to combat injustice and oppression

The equality of peopleComplete the chart together (put your

names at the top!).For a 10, you must also list at least one

historical example and one modern example of each idea in American society.