REL1300 Study Guide Exam 4 Terms with an asterisk designate a possible short response candidate Zoroastrianism 1 Zoroaster also known as Zarathustra Founder of the religion and was originally trained by a priest Convinced the prince to convert to his religion because he healed his horse The religion became official religion of the Persian Empire Slain by a soldier during a political movement going on at the time 2 Avesta text that was compiled in the 9th and 10th Centuries Consists of 7 parts arranged by topic Zoroaster mostly wrote it Yasna is the most important part 72 chapters and contain the Gathas which are the hymns The Gathas are considered the very words of the prophet Zoroaster and all other scriptures are based on these 3 Ahura Mazda Supreme Deity wise lord Emanates two spirits the Beneficent Spirit and the Evil Spirit 4 Dakhma death right of passage tower of silence Dead person is buried in a sadre The body then rots while the vultures eat the flesh The bones are then crushed and put down a well This is done as to not contaminate the elements which is based on Zoroastrian ethics of the sacredness of the four elements 5 Parsis group of Zoroastrians that fled from Persia modern Iran to India during Islamic conquest in the Middle East 6 sadre and kusti Sadre is the sacred shirt that young Zoroastrian boys and girls receive when they are old enough to enter into the religion 7 in India 10 in Iran Kusti is the sacred thread or belt which they also receive upon entering the religion It must be tied and untied at least 5 times a day as a form of prayer It is made up of 72 threads which represent the 72 chapters in the Zoroastrian Scripture Yasna They must wear these two things at all times except for bathing for the rest of their lives It is wrapped around the person s body when they die 7 Jasans also known as feasts that take place each month Each jason falls on the day that bears the name of that particular month It is in honor of the Ameshna Spenta or Yazad that the month belongs to The Farvardin jason is the most popular feast days It is a ten day long feasts and it is said that departed spirits visit their descendants during this time Judaism 1 Exodus most important event in Judaism Time when Moses delivers the Israelites from bondage in Egypt They then wander in the Wilderness for 40 years trying to reach their homeland which was promised to them by God 2 Babylonian captivity In 586 BCE the southern nation called Judah which was made up of the remainder of David s people the Jews were either captured or destroyed by the Neo Babylonian Empire Jerusalem as a whole was destroyed as the temple was torn down However during the captivity the Jews faced certain theological changes o YHWH became mobile making him just as accessible in Babylon as in o God is the true God of all people not just Jews o God no longer spoke through a prophet but through a book introduced Jerusalem by Ezra 3 Diaspora developments diaspora refers the voluntary and involuntary scattering of Synagogues were built so the people would have a place to worship away from Jews Jerusalem Rabbis were introduced as the voice of God to teach the Torah to the people Among the gentiles they refused to work on the Sabbath Practiced Kosher laws and male circumcision Most gentiles looked down on them for these practices Text was complied so the scattered people would have a text to hold them together 4 Talmud commentary on the Torah most of which was written by the rabbis Has two parts Mishnah and Gemara The Gemara has contains little details about every day life There are two Talmuds Babylonian and Palestinian The Babylonian one is more influential and longer and is the Talmud that most refer to today Most important non biblical material in Judaism 5 Kabbalah Mystic tradition of Judaism Kabbalistic Number The Jewish Messiah will be an earthly ruler from the line of David 6 Zohar most outstanding compilation of Kabbalistic material Concerned with themes such as the nature of God theory of the emanations from gods Cosmology creation of humankind and angels existence of evil and work of angels in the world Author is unknown 7 Torah Jewish text that is the same as the Pentateuch first 5 books of the Hebrew bible Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Considered the interpretation of the Law and is interpreted by the rabbis and sages The people are guided by the Torah because they are all scattered from their home land 8 Ashkenazim and Sephardim Sephardim are the Jewish refugees from Spain and Portugal Developed their own language of Spanish mixed with random Hebrew words Developed their own liturgy and pronunciation of Hebrew Ashkenazim are the Jews of Eastern Europe Spoke Yiddish Middle High German and Hebrew and wrote w the Hebrew alphabet Accounted for the highest concentrated population of Jews residing in Poland UT OH 9 Zionism Began with the Dreyfus case Alfred Dreyfus was a Jew convicted of treason and imprisoned on Devil s Island Herzl brought to light that Jews would never be treated equally until they had their own homeland Movement involves Theodor Herzl pleading to Jewish state for Palestine to be their homeland This movement sewed the seeds for the rebuilding of Palestine which would later be Israel Jewish city of Tel Aviv eventually founded in 1909 10 Passover begins on the fifteenth of March April and lasts for 8 days honoring the During the Exodus the people smeared blood on their door so the angel of death Exodus would pass them 11 Bar and Bat Mitzvah Bar Mitzvah is the male version of the celebration that occurs when a boy becomes a man at the age of 13 Bat Mitzvah is the female version of this 12 Orthodox Reform and Conservative Judaism Orthodox largest group of Jews that are the most traditional o Worship on Sunday Hebrew service kosher laws cover heads separate men and women during service Reform attempts to be modern Most common in US and Europe o Friday services conduct service in vernacular common language of congregation women don t cover head nor are they separated from men during service women are also allowed to be rabbis Conservative medium ground modern and traditional o Worship on Sunday women cover head interested in Hebrew material and scientific findings regarding Judaism Christianity 1 The Gospels record of Jesus s birth and adult life Is located in the New Testament of the Holy Bible Matthew Mark Luke and John Mostly focused on the last few months of Jesus life Presents Jesus s
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