Study Guide for Test 2 Zoroastrianism 1 What are the date ranges for the birth of Zarathustra 660 BCE to 1500 BCE 2 Be familiar with some of the details of Zarathustra s life including clan and occupation Said to have been born into the Spitama clan clan of the nobility Had a wife and kids Worked as a priest 3 Be familiar with some elements of the pre Zoroastrian religion Consisted of animal sacrifice and ritual use of intoxicant plants 4 What is the name of the Zoroastrian scriptures Gathas which are a part of the Avestas 5 What are the Amesha Spentas You will need to be able to name all 6 the English translations Amesha Spentas Holy Immortals 1 Good Mind 2 Truth and Righteousness 3 Holy Devotion Loving Kindness and Serenity 4 Power and Just Rule 5 Wholeness and Health 6 Long Life and Immortality 6 Who is Ahura Mazda Hint It isn t a car Ahura Mazda Positive and creative energy The good creator God responsible for creating all that is pure and good 7 Who is Angra Mainyu A destructive spirit who opposes Ahura Mazda s creative energy 8 What is dualism Forces that are opposing but are also equal 9 At what age are children initiated into Zoroastrianism 10 What two things are children given at their initiation Ages 7 12 Sudreh shirt Kusti chord Judaism 1 What is the Tanakh Hebrew Bible 2 What is the Torah The first five books of the Tanakh 3 Who was Abraham and what is his significance for Judaism Abraham was the founder of Judaism 4 Be familiar with some of the significant events of Abraham s life as told by the scriptures The covenant with Yahweh God The birth of Ishmael by Hagar and Isaac by Sarah Sarah told Abraham to sleep with her handmaiden Hagar b c she had not had children yet Sarah gets mad and kicks Hagar and her son Ishmael out of the house Abraham enters into an agreement with God and Isaac is born by Sarah The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah City of evil and wickedness God said city could be saved if righteous people could be saved but none could be found so God eliminates the city The sacrifice of Isaac God called for the sacrifice of Isaac Abraham trusts God so he does as he s told and just has he s about to sacrifice his son God provides a Ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead 5 Who was Moses and what is his significance for Judaism Saved all Jews in Egypt 6 Be familiar with some of the significant events of Moses s life Born in Egypt when the Pharaoh decides to kill all boys of a certain age Moses is saved b c his mother sends him in a basket down the river Moses is found by the Pharaoh s daughter and raised as a noble Later on Moses becomes angry at the treatment of his people the Jews so he kills an Egyptian and then flees into the wilderness Moses sees a burning bush and hears God speaking from it saying Go free your people Returns to Egypt and demands that his people are freed Passover and the 10 plagues 7 What are some of the issues that make treating the Tanakh as an accurate historical record problematic 1 The Babylonian Exile The Babylonians conquered Israel Some stores in the Tanakh existed in early Babylonian writings Jews copied stories for the Babylonians and wrote them into the Tanakh 2 Inconsistencies between the tradition and text Tradition Moses is the author of the first five books of the Tanakh Text Inconsistent with this tradition 3 Genesis 12 6 Kananites in land Two different accounts of creation 8 Who were the first three kings of the ancient Jewish Kingdom 9 Which civilizations in order conquered the area inhabited by the ancient Jewish Kingdom 10 Be familiar with some of the elements of the Jewish interpretation of history The Jewish people are Yahweh s chosen people Yahweh expects the Jewish people to live in accord with Yahweh s laws Even the conquests of Israel are interpreted as relevant to the fact that the Jewish people are Yahweh s chosen people 11 Which Persian king allowed the Jewish people to rebuild the temple thus ushering in the Second Temple period of Judaism Cyrus the Great 12 The above king allowed the Jewish people to restore the temple but not the Jewish monarchy What is the significance of this fact This causes the beginning of the rise of a priestly class centered on temple worship and ritual Also saw a rise of the various scribes who begin to compile the Torah and the Tanakh 13 During the Second Temple period of Judaism the area was conquered by the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great What are some of the important developments in Judaism that take place at this time A new understanding of the Torah The rise of the idea of the traditions of elders which later developed into the idea of the Oral Torah Judaism as a religion becomes universalized The Maccabean Revolt 14 What are the four different sects of Judaism in New Testament times King Saul King David King Solomon Assyrians Babylonians Persians Greeks Romans Sadducees Pharisees Essenes Zealots 15 In what year was the second temple destroyed and who destroyed it 70 CE Due to a revolt by the Zealots 16 What are the implications of the destruction of the second temple Begins a new period in the history of Judaism Will contribute to the development of rabbinic Judaism in the following centuries 17 What is the Mishna Rabbi Judah Na Nasi s compilation of the oral traditions on the Torah 18 What are the six divisions of the Mishna in English 1 Seeds 2 Festivals 3 Women 4 Damages 5 Holy Things 6 Purities 19 What is the Gemara Who are the four groups responsible for the formulation and compilation of the Gemara Be able to say a little about each group Gemara is a commentary on the Mishna 1 Tannaim teachers the ones making these commentaries 2 Amoraim interpreters tried to bring unity to all of the various traditions 3 Seboraim casuists tried to do the same as the Amoraims by looking at the underlying 4 Stamaim anonymous men compile all together to make one larger work Mishna Gemara 20 What are the two versions of the Talmud and approximately when was each one completed principles Talmud Palestinian Talmud 450 CE Babylonian Talmud 550 CE Christianity 1 What makes the study of early Christianity problematic The essentially Jewish nature of early Christianity including Jesus himself Little is known about Jesus 2 What are some of the problems with determining who Jesus was The gospels are about out only source of information on the life of Jesus and they were written many years after the events were supposed to have taken place 3 What are some of the Christian doctrines that have
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