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Sozomen

Sozomen

Salminius Hermias Sozomen (c. 400- c. 450) was a historian of the Christian church. Variations on his name include Sozomen, Salamanes or Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus. He was born around or before 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza.

Family and Home

He came from a wealthy Christian family of Palestine. What he has to tell us of the history of South Palestine was derived from oral tradition. He appears familiar with the region around Gaza, and mentions having seen Bishop Zeno of Majuma, the sea-port of Gaza.

Grandfather

Sozomen wrote that his grandfather lived at Bethel, near Gaza, and became a Christian together with his household, probably under Constantius. A neighbor named Alaphrion was miraculously healed by Saint Hilarion who cast out a demon from Alaphrion. Sozomen's grandfather and Alaphrion, along with their families, became zealous Christians. These were the beginnings of Christianity in that location. The grandfather became within his own circle a highly esteemed interpreter of Scripture. The descendants of the wealthy Alaphrion founded churches and convents in the district, and were particularly active in promoting monasticism. Sozomen himself had conversed with one of these, a very old man. He tells us that he was brought up under monkish influences and his history bears him out.

Persecution

During Sozomen's childhood, the family experienced many years of persecution under Julian. His grandfather persisted at scriptural interpretation even in the time of persecution. At one point, they even had to flee to safety from the persecution for a period of time.

Education

Sozomen seems to have been brought up in the circle of Alaphrion and acknowledges a debt of gratitude to the monastic order. His early education was directed by the monks in his native place. It is impossible to ascertain what curriculum he followed in these monastic schools, but his writings give clear evidence of the thoroughness with which he was grounded in Greek studies. As a man he retained the impressions of his youth, and his great work later was to be also a monument of his reverence for the monks in general and for the disciples of Hilarion in particular.

Lawyer

As an adult he acquired training as a lawyer. He studied law in Beirut. He then went to Constantinople to start his career as a lawyer. While thus engaged he conceived the project of writing a history of the Church.

First work

Sozomen wrote two works on church history. His first work covered the history of the Church, from the Ascension of Jesus to the defeat of Licinius in 323, in twelve books. His sources for it included Eusebius of Caesarea, the Clementine Homilies, Hegesippus, and Sextus Julius Africanus. Although he mentions this first work in his later work, it is not now extant; no known copies exist.

Historia Ecclesiastica

Sozomen's second and longer work was a continuation of the first. He planned to continue the history of Eusebius, covering the period between 323 and 439. The period actually covered in his work ends at 425. He wrote it in Constantinople, somewhere around the years 440 to 443. He dedicated this work to Emperor Theodosius the Younger.

Contents

The nine books of which it is composed begin with Constantine and come down to the death of Honorius (423). The books are arranged according to the reign of the Roman Emperors:
- I and II: the reign of Constantine (323-37)
- III and IV: the reigns of his sons (337-61)
- V and VI: the reigns of Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens (361-75)
- VII and VIII the reigns of Gratian, Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius (375-408).
- IX: the reign of Theodosius the Younger (408-39). The existing ninth book is incomplete. In his Dedication of the work, he states that he intended cover up the seventeenth consulate of Theodosius, that is, to 439. The extant history ends about 425, so about half a book appears to be missing. Scholars disagree on why the end is missing. Albert Guldenpenning supposed that Sozomen himself suppressed the end of his work because in it he mentioned the Empress Aelia Eudocia, who later fell into disgrace through her supposed adultery. However, it appears that Nicephorus, Theophanes, and Theodorus Lector did read the end of Sozomen's work, according to their own histories later. Therefore most scholars believe that the work did actually come down to that year, and that consequently it has reached us only in a damaged condition.

Sources

Sozomen borrowed heavily from other sources for his work.

Socrates Scholasticus

The source for about three-fourths of his material was the writings of Socrates Scholasticus. The literary relationship of these writers appears everywhere. Valesius asserted that Sozomen read Socrates, and Hussey and Guldenpenning have proved this. For example, Socrates, in I., x., relates an anecdote which he had heard, and says that neither Eusebius nor any other author reports it, yet this anecdote is found in Sozomen, I., xxii., the similarity of diction showing that the text of Socrates was the source. The extent of this dependence cannot be accurately determined. Sozomen used the work of Socrates as a guide to sources and order. In some matters, such as in regard to the Novatians, Sozomen is entirely dependent on Socrates.

Other Sources

But Sozomen did not simply copy Socrates. He went back to the principal sources used by Socrates and other sources, often including more from them than Socrates did. He used the writings of Eusebius, the first major Church historian. The Vita Constantini of Eusebius is expressly cited in the description of the vision of Constantine. Sozomen appears also to have consulted the Historia Athanasii and also the works of Athanasius including the Vita Antonii. He completes the statements of Socrates from the Apologia contra Arianos, lix. sqq., and copies Athanasius' Adv. episcopos AEgypti, xviii.-xix. Rufinus is frequently used. Instructive in this respect is a comparison of Sozomen, Socrates, and Rufinus on the childhood of Athanasius. Rufinus is the original; Socrates expressly states that he follows Rufinus, while Sozomen knows Socrates' version, but is not satisfied with it and follows Rufinus more closely. The ecclesiastical records used by Sozomen are principally taken from Sabinus, to whom he continually refers. In this way he uses records of the synods from that of Tyre (335) to that of Antioch in Caria (367). For the period from Theodosius I, Sozomen stopped following the work of Socrates and followed Olympiodorus of Thebes, who was probably Sozomen's only secular source. A comparison with Zosimus, who also made use of Olympiodorus, seems to show that the whole ninth book of Sozomen, is mostly an abridged extract from Olympiodorus. Sozomen used many other authorities. These include sources relating to Christianity in Persia, monkish histories, the Vita Martini of Sulpicius, the works of Hilarius, logoi of Eustathius of Antioch, the letter of Cyril of Jerusalem to Constantius concerning the miraculous vision of the cross, and Palladius. He also used oral tradition, adding some of the most unique value to his work.

Critique

The work of Sozomen is interesting and valuable for many reasons. In the first place he pays more attention than any of the older historians to the missionary activity of the Christians, and to him we are indebted for much precious information about the introduction of Christianity among the Armenians, the Saracens, the Goths, and other peoples. The history is especially rich in information regarding the rise and spread of monasticism, and the labours of the early founders of monasteries and monastic communities. The history as a whole is fairly comprehensive, and though his treatment of affairs in the Western Church is not full, his pages abound in facts not available elsewhere and in documentary references of the highest importance. The spirit and interest of Sozomen's history is clearly apparent; he follows the thread of the narrative of Socrates but seeks to improve upon and to excel his original by elegance of diction, and by the use of excellent sources of which he makes skilful use. Sozomen made a painstaking effort to be acquainted with all the sources of information on the subjects which he touched, and he had a passionate desire for the truth. Generally he follows his authorities closely, some times almost literally; when they differ, he occasionally gives the various versions. The historical exposition is altogether impersonal; Sozomen assumes (III., xv.) that the task of history is to assemble facts without adding anything to them, hence he indulges in little criticism and usually adopts the views of his sources. This he does to such an extent that he has been charged with Arianism and Novatianism. In reality, in accord with his legal training, he has no opinion in theological questions; at the same time he was thoroughly pious and a great admirer of monasticism. In his attitude towards the Church, in his treatment of the Scriptures, and in his views of the hierarchy and ecclesiastical order and dignity, he is always animated by feelings of submission and respect. He was filled with a profound conviction of the Providential purpose of Christianity, and of its mission, under Divine guidance, for the regulation of the affairs of mankind. In doctrinal matters he aimed constantly at being in thorough accord with the Catholic party, and was a consistent opponent of heresy in all its forms. But, while he maintained a constant attitude of hostility to Arianism, Gnosticism, Montanism, Apollinarianism, etc., he never assailed the leaders of these heresies or allowed himself to indulge in bitter personal attacks. "Let it not be accounted strange", he says, "if I have bestowed commendations upon the leaders or enthusiasts of the above-mentioned heresies. I admire their eloquence and their impressiveness in discourse. I leave their doctrine to be judged by those whose right it is" (III, xv). Because much of Sozomen's work follows Socrates, he has been criticized as attempting to compose a better church history than that of Socrates, but only being partially successful. He frequently offers additional material but rarely improves upon his prototype. Sozomen did not track chronological data as closely as Socrates. There are many faults and shortcomings in his work. Of many of these he himself was conscious, but it was not in his power to correct them. Frequently it was hard for him to know the truth because of the mass of divergent evidence with which he had to deal, frequently there was not enough evidence, but in every case he aimed at expressing the truth and at making his work serve some useful purpose in the defence or elucidation of Christian ideas.

Publication

The work of Sozomen was first printed (editio princeps) by Robert Estienne at Paris in 1544, on the basis of Codex Regius, 1444. There are later editions by Christophorson and Ictrus (Cologne, 1612). A noteworthy edition was done by Valesius (Cambridge, 1720), who used, besides the text of Stephens, a Codex Fucetianus (now at Paris, 1445), "Readings" of Savilius, and the indirect traditions of Theodorus Lector and of Cassiodorus-Epiphanius. Hussey's posthumous edition (largely prepared for the press by John Barrow, who wrote the preface) is important, since in it the archetype of the Codex Regius, the Codex Baroccianus 142, is collated for the first time. But this manuscript was written by various hands and at various times and therefore is not equally authoritative in all its parts. There is an excellent English translation by Hartranft, with a learned though somewhat diffuse introduction, in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, II (published New York, 1890). This text is available on-line at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. ------- Sources: Category:Ancient Roman Christianity Category:Roman era historians Category:Patristic historical writings

400

:For alternate uses, see Number 400.

Events


- First invasion of Italy by Alaric (probable date).
- The Vandals start their westward trek from Dacia and Hungary (approximate date).
- Construction (and therefore occupation) at Great Zimbabwe begins (approximate date).
- Earliest date of human occupation on Easter Island (approximate date).
- Chrysanthemums are introduced to Japan (approximate date).

Births


- Hydatius, bishop of Chaves
- Salvian, Christian writer (approximate date)

Deaths

Category:400 als:400 ko:400년

450

Events
- August 25 - Marcian proclaimed Eastern Roman Emperor by Aspar and Pulcheria.
- Saxons, Angles and Jutes invade Britain (traditional date). Births
- Thrasamund, king of the Vandals Deaths
- 28 July - Theodosius II, East Roman Emperor (after falling from his horse while hunting)
- November 27 - Galla Placidia
- Socrates Scholasticus, church historian Category:450 als:450 ko:450년

ChristianIty

Christianity

Palestine (region)

Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين Filasṭīn or Falasṭīn, Greek: Παλαιστίνη Palaistinē, Latin: Syria Palæstina, Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina or ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the banks of the Jordan River, plus various adjoining lands to the east. Many different definitions of the region have been used in the past three millennia (see also definitions of Palestine).

Boundaries and Name

definitions of Palestine Egyptian writings refer to the region as R-t-n-u (for convenience pronounced Rechenu). Several names for the region are found in the Bible: Eretz Yisrael "Land of Israel", Eretz Ha-Ivrim "land of the Hebrews", "land flowing with milk and honey", "land that [God] swore to your fathers to assign to you", "Holy Land", and "land of the Lord". The portion of the land lying west of the Jordan was also called "land of Canaan" during the period in which it fell under the control of Egyptian vassals traditionally descended from Canaan the son of Ham. After the division of the Jewish kingdom into two the southern part was called "land of Judah" and the northern part was called "land of Israel". The name "Palestine" comes from the Philistine people, who are first recorded by the ancient Egyptians as P-r/l-s-t (conventionally Peleset), one of the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt in Ramesses III's reign. "Palestine" (Hebrew פלשת Pəléšeth, P(e)léshet) is used in the Bible to denote the coastal region inhabited by the Philistines, whose five principal cities were Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, and Ashkelon. Usage of the term, usually in the form "Syria Palestina", to denote the inland areas as well was common among Greek writers as early as Herodotus. Josephus, however, apparently intended by the name only the land of the Philistines. The Philistines (meaning "invaders" in Hebrew) were subjugated by David; however, by Amos' time they had regained their independence. They are no longer mentioned by Assyrian times.

5th century B.C.E.

The term "Syria Palaestina" is first recorded by the 5th century B.C.E. Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote of the "district of Syria, called Palaistinêi", and later Ptolemy and Pliny (who alludes to a region of Syria that was "formerly called Palaestina"), to refer to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean; it is generally accepted that the region they referred to extended further inland than the domain of the Philistines.

Roman times

In 135, the Roman emperor Hadrian changed the name of the Roman province of Syria Judea to Syria Palaestina, which is the Latin version of the Greek name, and it became an administrative political unit within the Roman Empire, following the fall of a Jewish revolt led by Bar Kokhba in 132-135. In approximately 390, Palaestina was further organised into three units: First, Second, and Third Palaestina. Palastina Prima consisted of Judea, Samaria, the coast, and Peraea which the governor residing in Caesarea. Palaestina Secunda consisted of the Galilee, the lower Jezreel Valley, the regions east of Galilee, and the western part of the former Decapolis with the seat of government at Scythopolis. Palaestina Tertia included the Negev, southern Jordan — once part of Arabia — and most of Sinai with Petra the usual residence of the governor. Palestina Tertia was also known as Palaestina Salutaris. This reorganization reduced Arabia to the northern Jordan east of Peraea. Roman administration of Palestine ended temporarily during the Persian occupation of 614-28, then permanently after the Arabs conquered the region beginning in 635.

Arab rule

Petra The new Arab rulers divided the province of ash-Sham (Syria) into five districts. Jund Filastin (Arabic جند فلسطين, literally "the army or military district of Palestine") was a region extending from the Sinai to south of the plain of Acre. At times it reached down into the Sinai. Major towns included Rafaḥ, Caesarea, Gaza, Jaffa, Nablus, Jericho, Ramla and Jerusalem. Initially Ludd (Lydda) was the capital, but in 717 it was moved to the new city of ar-Ramlah (Ramla). (The capital was not moved to Jerusalem until much later, when the organization into Junds was already breaking down.) Jund al-Urdunn (literally "Jordan") was a region to the north and east of Filastin. Major towns included Tiberias, Legio, Acre, Beisan and Tyre. The capital was at Tiberias. Various political upheavals led to readjustments of the boundaries several times. After the 10th century, the division into Junds began to break down and the Turkish invasions of the 1070s, soon followed by the Crusades and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, completed that process. From the 11th to the 19th centuries we have instances that Filasṭin did not refer to the land of Palestine but to its by then defunct capital ar-Ramla.
- See also the [http://www.mideastweb.org/palcaliph1.htm Mideastweb map of "Palestine Under the Caliphs"], showing Jund boundaries (external link).

Muslim division into districts

After Muslim control over Palestine was reestablished in the 12th and 13th centuries, the division into districts was reinstated, with boundaries that were frequently rewritten. Around the end of the 13th century, Palestine comprised several of nine "kingdoms" of Syria, namely the Kingdoms of Gaza (including Ascalon and Hebron), Karak (including Jaffa and Legio), Safad (including Safad, Acre, Sidon and Tyre) and parts of the Kingdom of Damascus (sometimes extending as far south as Jerusalem). By the middle of the 14th century, Syria had again been divided into five districts, of which Filastin included Jerusalem (its capital), Ramla, Ascalon, Hebron and Nablus, while Hauran included Tiberias (its capital).

Ottoman rule

After the Ottoman conquest, the name disappeared as the official name of an administrative district but remained in popular and semi-official use. Many examples of its usage in the 16th and 17th centuries have survived [Gerber]. During the 19th century, the "Ottoman Government employed the term Arz-i Filistin (the 'Land of Palestine') in official correspondence, meaning for all intents and purposes the area to the west of the River Jordan which became 'Palestine' under the British in 1922" [Mandel, page xx]. Amongst the educated Arab public, Filastin was a common concept, referring either to the whole of Palestine or to the Jerusalem sanjaq alone [Porath].

20th Century

In European usage up to World War I, the name "Palestine" was used informally for a region that extended in the north-south direction typically from Raphia (south-east of Gaza) to the Litani River (now in Lebanon). The western boundary was the sea, and the eastern boundary was the poorly-defined place where the Syrian desert began. In various European sources, the eastern boundary was placed anywhere from the Jordan River to slightly east of Amman. The Negev Desert was not included. [Biger] Under the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, most of Palestine was envisioned as an international zone not under direct French or British colonial control. [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/sykes-picot-1916.gif]

British Mandate

1916 Main article: British Mandate of Palestine Formal use of the English word "Palestine" returned with the British Mandate. During this period , the name "Eretz Yisrael" (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל) was also part of the official name of the territory. Between 1920 and 1922, Palestine was defined by the San Remo Conference as the area bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and a short stretch of Red Sea coastline between the latter two. These borders include all of present-day Israel, the West Bank. the Gaza Strip, and Jordan. [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/pal-mandate-sremo-1922.gif][http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/palmanda.htm]. However, the final text left the borders unspecified (note in particular Article 25.) After Transjordan was split off from Palestine in 1922, the term Palestine referred to the segment west of the Jordan river [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/pal-transjrdn-1922.gif] (see History of Palestine, History of Jordan). Even before the Mandate came into legal effect in 1922 (text), British terminology applied the word Palestine to the part west of the Jordan River and Trans-Jordan (or Transjordania) to the part east of the Jordan River. This terminology was applied consistently during the Mandate period and it is difficult to find any official documents that use any name other than "Palestine and Trans-Jordan" when referring to the whole area of the Mandate. Nevertheless, the fact that "Palestine" was once considered to include lands on the east side of the Jordan River continues even today to have significance in political discourse. Between 1922 and 1947, the term "Palestine" referred to the geographical region bordered by (Trans-)Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and the Mediterranean Sea [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/pal-transjrdn-1922.gif] [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/images/israel03.jpg].

UN Partition

text Main article: 1947 UN Partition Plan Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, Palestine was to be divided into two states of approximately equal size, one for Jews and one for Arabs, as well as the city of Jerusalem, which was to be administered by the UN [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/images/israel04.jpg]. The Palestinian Arabs and the Arab states rejected the partition plan, and attacked the newly declared state of Israel in 1948. An independent Arab Palestine was declared by a Palestinian National Congress meeting in Gaza in September 1948; it defined its borders as those of the British Mandate, and its capital as Jerusalem[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/peace%20process/guide%20to%20the%20peace%20process/why%20was%20-independent%20palestine-%20never%20created%20in%201]. A week later, the Jordan-backed rival First Palestinian Congress convened in Amman and denounced the Gaza "government".

Current status

Amman Amman Amman Following the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and neighboring Arab states, Palestine disappeared as a distinct territory. The territory previously known as Palestine was occupied by Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/images/israel05.jpg] [http://www.dartmouth.edu/~gov46/israel-post-armstice-1949.gif] In the course of 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israel captured an additional 26% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan river and annexed it to the new state. Known as al-Nakba (the catastrophe) to Palestinians, the 1948 war resulted in the destruction of over 500 Palestinian villages and the exodus of over 700,000 refugees. Jordan captured about 21% of the Mandate territory (which became known as the West Bank), including parts of Jerusalem that included the old city and eastern environments and separated the city into West and East Jerusalem. The Gaza Strip was captured by Egypt. After 1948, the term "Palestine" was regularly used in political contexts. Various declarations, such as the 1988 proclamation of a State of Palestine by the PLO referred to a country called Palestine, defining its borders with differing degrees of clarity. Most recently, the Palestine draft constitution refers to borders based on the West Bank and Gaza Strip prior to the 1967 Six-Day War. This so-called Green Line follows the 1949 armistice line; the permanent borders are yet to be negotiated. Furthermore, since 1994, there has been a Palestinian Authority controlling varying portions of historic Palestine.

Literature


- Mariam Shahin, Palestine - a Guide, Interlink Books 2005
- Gideon Biger, Where was Palestine? Pre-World War I perception, AREA (Journal of the Institute of British Geographers) Vol 13, No. 2 (1981) 153-160.
- Guy Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems (1890; reprinted by Khayats, 1965)
- N. J. Mandel, The Arabs and Zionism before World War I (University of Califormia Press, 1976)
- H. Gerber, "Palestine" and other territorial concepts in the 17th century, International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol 30 (1998) pp 563-572
- Y. Porath, The emergence of the Palestinian-Arab national movement, 1918-1929 (Cass, 1974)
- B. Doumani, Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus 1700-1900 (UC Press, 1995)

See also


- Land of Israel covers roughly the same region, with a different focus
- State of Palestine
- State of Israel
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Arab-Israeli conflict
- Greater Israel
- Greater Syria Category:Palestine

Bible

The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, "(the) books", plural of βιβλιον, biblion, "book", originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning "papyrus", from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity ("The Bible" therefore actually refers to at least two different Bibles). It is thus applied to sacred scriptures. Many Christian English speakers refer to the Christian Bible as "the good book" (Gospel means "good news"). For many people, their Bible is the revealed word of God or an authoritative record of the relationship between God, the world, and humankind. Both Bibles have been the most widely distributed of books. It has also been translated more times, and into more languages, than any other book. The complete Bible, or portions of it, have been translated into more than 2,100 languages. It is said that more than 5 billion copies of the Bible have been sold since 1815, making it the best-selling book of all-time. Because of Christian domination of Europe from the late Roman era to the Age of Enlightenment, the Christian Bible has influenced not only religion, but language, law and, until the modern era, the natural philosophy of mainstream Western Civilization. The Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution in Europe and America brought skepticism regarding the divine origin and historical accuracy of the Bible and Bible prophecy. Scholars such as Professor Peter Stoner and Dr. Hawley O. Taylor have argued that Bible prophecy is of a remarkable nature and did not happen by mere chance. Skeptics counter, however, that there have been notable figures like Porphyry of Tyros and the scholar Gustave Holscher who have made criticisms of Bible prophecy. With that being said, many still view the Bible as a great work of literature, including important reflections on morality, and dramatic love poetry such as the Song of Solomon. Although the term "Bible" is most often used to refer to Jewish and Christian scriptures, "Bible" is sometimes used to describe scriptures of other faiths. Thus the Guru Granth Sahib is often referred to as the "Sikh Bible". In the early years after the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, it was sometimes known as the "Golden Bible". The word "bible" (in lower case) is also used to refer to any tome which incorporates comprehensive and/or authoritative coverage of its subject. As the original meaning of the word indicates, the Jewish and Christian Bibles are actually collections of several books, considered to be inspired by God or to record God's relationship with humanity or a particular nation.

The Hebrew Bible

God.]] The Hebrew Bible (also known as the Jewish Bible, or תנ"ך, Tanakh in Hebrew) consists of 24 books. Tanakh is an acronym for three parts of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim.

Torah

The Torah, or "teaching" is also known as the five books of Moses, thus Chumash or Pentateuch (Hebrew and Greek for "five," respectively). The five books are:
- I Genesis (Bereishit בראשית),
- II Exodus (Shemot שמות),
- III Leviticus (Vayikra ויקרא),
- IV Numbers (Bemidbar במדבר) and
- V Deuteronomy (Devarim דברים) The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and people.
- The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world, and the history of God's early relationship with humanity.
- The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel), and Jacob's children (the "Children of Israel"), especially Joseph. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt
- The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, the greatest Hebrew prophet, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. His story coincides with the story of the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai, and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation would be ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses. Traditionally, the Torah contains 613 mitzvot, or commandments, of God, revealed during the passage from slavery in the land of Egypt to freedom in the land of Canaan. These commandments provide the basis for Jewish law Halakha and are elaborated in the Talmud. The Torah is divided into fifty four portions which are read in turn, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, each Sabbath. The cycle ends and recommences at the end of Sukkot.

The Two Torahs

By the Hellenistic period of Jewish history, Jews were divided over the nature of the Torah. Some (for example, the Sadducees) believed that the Chumash contained the entire Torah, that is, the entire contents of what God revealed to Moses at Sinai and in the desert. Others, principally the Pharisees, believed that the Chumash represented only that portion of the revelation that had been written down (i.e. the Written Torah or the Written Law), but that the rest of God's revelation had been passed down orally (thus composing the Oral Law or Oral Torah). Orthodox Jews today believe that the Talmud consists of the Oral Torah committed to writing.

The Four Sources

Although Orthodox Jews generally believe that the Torah was given to the Children of Israel at Sinai "Min Hashamayim", from the heavens — that is, that God actually dictated the words of Torah to Moses atop Mount Sinai — most Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, as well as many liberal Christian scholars, now accept the Documentary hypothesis. This theory posits that the Written Torah has its origins in earlier sources who lived during the time of the monarchy, labeled J (Yahwists), E (Elohim), D (Deuteronomists), and P (Priests). These in turn may go back to oral traditions and/or drew on (and sometimes parodied) earlier ancient Near Eastern mythology. The documentary hypothesis posits that these four distinct traditions (or sources) are evident in the Torah. Julius Wellhausen, who in the late 1800s gave this hypothesis a definitive formulation, suggested that these sources were edited together or redacted during the time of Ezra, perhaps by Ezra himself. Jewish scholars who accept the documentary hypothesis differ as to whether these sources were or were not divinely inspired, and differ over the nature and extent of their obligation to the 613 commandments and the body of law represented in the Oral Torah, although each branch of Judaism recognizes both the Written and Oral Torahs as central to Jewish tradition, whether it be conceived of as sacred, national, or cultural. The documentary hypothesis has not been without its critics. For example, evangelical Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, and Gleason Archer, have sharply criticized and rejected the documentary hypothesis using various lines of argumentation, as has the critical scholar R. N. Whybray.[http://www.equip.org/free/DW035.htm][http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/moses.html][http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0404W3.htm][http://answering-islam.org.uk/Campbell/s3c1.html]

Nevi'im

Nevi'im, or "Prophets," tells the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy, its division into two kingdoms, and the prophets who, in God's name, judged the kings and the Children of Israel. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judea by the Babylonians, and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Portions of the prophetic books are read on the Sabbath (Shabbat). The Book of Jonah is read on Yom Kippor. According to Jewish tradition, Nevi'im is divided into eight books. Contemporary translations subdivide these into seventeen books. The eight books are:
- I. Joshua or Yehoshua [יהושע]
- II. Judges or Shoftim [שופטים]
- III. Samuel or Shmu'el [שמואל] (often divided into two books; Samuel may be considered the last of the judges (his sons were named judges, but rejected by the people) or the first of the prophets; it was he who negotiated on behalf of the Children of Israel with God to anoint a King)
- IV. Kings or Melakhim [מלכים] (often divided into two books)
- V. Isaiah or Yeshayahu [ישעיהו]
- VI. Jeremiah or Yirmiyahu [ירמיהו]
- VII. Ezekiel or Yehezq'el [יחזקאל]
- VIII. Trei Asar (The Twelve Minor Prophets) תרי עשר
  - 1. Hosea or Hoshea [הושע]
  - 2. Joel or Yo'el [יואל]
  - 3. Amos [עמוס]
  - 4. Obadiah or Ovadyah [עבדיה]
  - 5. Jonah or Yonah [יונה]
  - 6. Micah or Mikhah [מיכה]
  - 7. Nahum or Nachum [נחום]
  - 8. Habakkuk or Habaquq [חבקוק]
  - 9. Zephaniah or Tsefania [צפניה]
  - 10. Haggai or Haggai [חגי]
  - 11. Zechariah Zekharia [זכריה]
  - 12. Malachi or Malakhi [מלאכי] The Torah and the Nevi'im have an epical quality, although they have no human hero (Moses and David are, in many ways, anti-heros; one may consider the Children of Israel collectively to be the hero of the epic, or, if one must chose a single character, God)

Ketuvim

Ketuvim, or "Writings," were, according to critical scholars, mostly written during or after the Babylonian Exile and were among the last books to be canonized. According to Rabbinic tradition, many of the psalms in the book of Psalms are attributed to King David; King Solomon wrote three books: Song of Songs in his youth, Proverbs at the prime of his life, and Ecclesiastes at old age; and the prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. The Book of Job is the only Biblical book that centers entirely on a non-Jew. The book of Ruth tells the story of a non-Jew (specifically, a Moabite) who married a Jew and, upon his death, the ways of the Jews; according to the Bible, she was the great-grandmother of King David. Five of the books, called "The Five Scrolls" (Megilot), are read on Jewish holidays: Song of Songs on Passover; the Book of Ruth on Shavuot; Lamentations on the Ninth of Av; Ecclesiastes on Sukkot; and the Book of Esther on Purim. Collectively, the Ketuvim contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the stories of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the Babylonian exile. It ends with the Persian decree allowing Jews to return to Judea to rebuild the Temple. Ketuvim contains eleven books:
- I. Tehillim (Psalms) תהלים
- II. Mishlei (Book of Proverbs) משלי
- III. `Iyyov (Book of Job) איוב
- IV. Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs) שיר השירים
- V. Ruth (Book of Ruth) רות
- VI. Eikhah (Lamentations) איכה [Also called Kinnot in Hebrew.]
- VII. Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) קהלת
- VIII. Esther (Book of Esther) אסתר
- IX. Daniel (Book of Daniel) דניאל
- X. Ezra (often divided into two books, Book of Ezra and Book of Nehemiah) עזרא
- XI. Divrei ha-Yamim (Chronicles, often divided into two books) דברי הימים

Translations and editions

The Tanakh was mainly written in Biblical Hebrew, with some portions (notably in Daniel and Ezra) in Aramaic. Some time in the 3rd century BC, the Torah was translated into Koine Greek, and over the next century other books were translated as well. This translation became known as the Septuagint and was widely used by Greek-speaking Jews and, later, by Christians. It differs somewhat from the Hebrew text as standardized later (Masoretic Text). From the 800s to the 1400s, Rabbinic Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes compared the text of all known Biblical manuscripts in an effort to create a unified standardized text; a series of highly similar texts eventually emerged, and any of these texts are known as Masoretic Texts (MT). The Masoretes also added vowel points (called niqqud) to the text, since the original text only contained consonants. This sometimes required the selection of an interpretation, since words can differ only in their vowels, and thus the meaning can vary in accordance with the choice of vowels to insert. In antiquity other variant readings existed, some of which have survived in the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea scrolls, and other ancient fragments, as well as being attested in ancient versions in other languages. Versions of the Septuagint contain several passages and whole books additional to what was included in the Masoretic texts of the Tanakh. In some cases these additions were originally composed in Greek, while in other cases they are translations of Hebrew books or variants not present in the Masoretic texts. Recent discoveries have shown that more of the Septuagint additions have a Hebrew origin than was once thought. While there are no complete surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew texts on which the Septuagint was based, many scholars believe that they represent a different textual tradition from the one that eventually became the basis for the Masoretic texts. The Jews also produced non-literal translations or paraphrases known as targums, primarily in Aramaic. They frequently expanded on the text with additional details taken from Rabbinic oral tradition. See below for a partial list of contemporary English translations.

The Christian Bible

targum The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the Masoretic text as the basis for translations into Western languages from Saint Jerome's Vulgate to the present day. In Eastern Christianity, translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. Some modern Western translations make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic text that seem to have suffered corruption in transcription. They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in texts discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. (For more information, see the entry on Bible translations).

The Old Testament

The collection of books that the majority of Christians (including members of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches) call the Old Testament include not only the 24 books of the Jewish Tanakh, but also certain deuterocanonical books preserved in the Greek of the Septuagint. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven such books (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch), as well as some passages in Esther and Daniel, that are not included in the Jewish Scriptures. Various Orthodox Churches include a few others, typically 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, 1 Esdras, Odes, Psalms of Solomon, and occasionally even 4 Maccabees. Protestants in general do not recognize these books as truly part of the Bible, though they may print them along with the books they do recognize.

The New Testament

The New Testament is a collection of 27 books with Jesus as its central figure, written in Koine Greek in the early Christian period, that almost all Christians recognize as Scripture. These can be grouped into:
- The Synoptic Gospels
- The Gospel of John
- The Acts of the Apostles
- The Pauline Epistles
- The General Epistles
- Revelation - John "the divine", traditionally identified as John the Apostle.

Original language

Most scholars believe that all of the New Testament was originally composed in Greek. The three main textual traditions are sometimes called the Western text-type, the Alexandrian text-type, and Byzantine text-type. Together they comprise the majority of New Testament manuscripts. There are also several ancient versions in other languages, most important of which are the Syriac (including the Peshitta and the Diatessaron gospel harmony) and the Latin (both the Vetus Latina and the Vulgate). A few scholars believe in Aramaic primacy - that parts of the Greek New Testament are actually a translation of an Aramaic original, in particular the Gospel of Matthew. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representing the original, while most take a more critical approach to reconstructing the original text.

Historic editions

The earliest printed edition of the New Testament in Greek appeared in 1516 from the Froben press. It was compiled by Desiderius Erasmus on the basis of the few recent Greek manuscripts, all of Byzantine tradition, at his disposal, which he completed by translating from the Vulgate parts for which he did not have a Greek text. He produced four later editions of the text. Erasmus was a deeply religious Roman Catholic, but his preference for the textual tradition represented in Byzantine Greek text of the time rather than that in the Latin Vulgate led to him being viewed with suspicion by some authorities of his Church. The first edition with critical apparatus (variant readings in manuscripts) was produced by the printer Robert Estienne of Paris in 1550. The type of text printed in this edition and in those of Erasmus became known as the Textus Receptus (Latin for "received text"), a name given to it in the Elzevier edition of 1633, which termed it the text "nunc ab omnibus receptum" ("now received by all"). On it the Churches of the Protestant Reformation based their translations into vernacular languages, such as the King James Version. The discovery of older manuscripts, such as the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, led scholars to revise their opinion of this text. Karl Lachmann’s critical edition of 1831, based on manuscripts dating from the fourth century and earlier, was intended primarily to demonstrate that the Textus Receptus must finally be rejected. Later critical texts are based on further scholarly research and the finding of papyrus fragments dating in some cases from within a few decades of the composition of the New Testament writings. It is on the basis of these that nearly all modern translations or revisions of older translations have, for more than a century, been made, though some still prefer the Textus Receptus or the similar "Byzantine Majority Text".

The canonization of Scripture

For Judaism, it is commonly thought that the canonical status of some books was discussed between 200 BC and around 100 AD, though it is unclear at what point during this period the Jewish canon was decided. To the books accepted by Judaism as Scripture, Christianity subsequently added those of the New Testament, the 27-book canon of which was finally fixed in the 4th century. As indicated above, Christianity also mostly considers certain deuterocanonical books to be part of the Old Testament, though Protestantism in general accepts as part of the Old Testament only the books in the canon of Judaism and uses the term Apocrypha for the deuterocanonical books. The Protestant Old Testament has a 39-book canon– the number varies from that of the books in the Tanakh because of a different way of dividing them – while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books as part of the Old Testament. For details, see Books of the Bible. Canonicity is distinct from questions of human authorship and the formation of the books of the Bible, questions discussed in the entries on higher criticism and textual criticism.

Biblical versions and translations

In scholarly writing, ancient translations are frequently referred to as 'versions', with the term 'translation' being reserved for medieval or modern translations. Information about Bible versions is given below, while Bible translations can be found on a separate page. The original texts of the Tanakh were in Hebrew, although some portions were in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of much of the Bible into Greek, and the Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic version of the Bible. Early Christians produced translations of the Hebrew Bible into several languages; their primary Biblical text was the Septuagint. Translations were made into Syriac, Coptic and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament. The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text, or Vetus Latina, which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible. The ever-increasing number of variants in Latin manuscripts induced Pope Damasus, in 382, to commission his secretary, Saint Jerome, to produce a reliable and consistent text. Jerome later took it on himself to make a completely new translation directly from the Hebrew of the Tanakh. This translation became the basis of the Vulgate Latin translation. Though he also translated Psalms from Hebrew, the earlier Septuagint-based version, slightly revised by him, is the text that was actually used in Church and is included in editions of the Vulgate. This includes the deuterocanonical books, also revised by Jerome, and became the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church. See Origin and Growth of the English Bible for a chart on how the English Bible came to be.

The Introduction of chapters and verses

; see Tanakh for the Jewish textual tradition. The Hebrew Masoretic text contains verse endings as an important feature. According to the Talmudic tradition, the verse endings are of ancient origin. The Masoretic textual tradition also contains section endings called parashiyot, which are indicated by a space within a line (a "closed" section") or a new line beginning (an "open" section). The division of the text reflected in the parashiyot is usually thematic. The parashiyot are not numbered. In early manuscripts (most importantly in Tiberian Masoretic manuscripts, such as the Aleppo codex) an "open" section may also be represented by a blank line, and a "closed" section by a new line that is slightly indented (the preceding line may also not be full). These latter conventions are no longer used in Torah scrolls and printed Hebrew Bibles. In this system, the one rule differentiating "open" and "closed" sections is that "open" sections must always begin at the beginning of a new line, while "closed" sections never start at the beginning of a new line. Another related feature of the Masoretic text is the division of the sedarim. This division is not thematic, but is almost entirely based upon the quantity of text. The Byzantines also introduced a chapter division of sorts, called Kephalaia. It is not identical to the present chapters. The current division of the Bible into chapters and the verse numbers within the chapters have no basis in any ancient textual tradition. Rather, they are medieval Christian inventions. They were later adopted by many Jews as well, as technical references within the Hebrew text. Such technical references became crucial to medieval rabbis in the historical context of forced debates with Christian clergy (who used the chapter and verse numbers), especially in late medieval Spain. Chapter divisions were first used by Jews in a 1330 manuscript, and for a printed edition in 1516. However, for the past generation most Jewish editions of the complete Hebrew Bible have made a systematic effort to relegate chapter and verse numbers to the margins of the text. The division of the Bible into chapters and verses has often elicited severe criticism from traditionalists and modern scholars alike. Critics charge that the text is often divided into chapters in an incoherent way, or at inappropriate points within the narrative, and that it encourages citing passages out of context, in effect turning the Bible into a kind of textual quarry for clerical citations. Nevertheless, even the critics admit that the chapter divisions and verse numbers have become indispensable as technical references for Bible study. Stephen Langton is reputed to have been the first to put the chapter divisions into a Vulgate edition of the Bible, in 1205. They were then inserted into Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in the 1400s. Robert Estienne (Robert Stephanus) was the first to number the verses within each chapter, his verse numbers entering printed editions in 1565 (New Testament) and 1571 (Hebrew Bible).[http://www.fuller.edu/ministry/berean/chs_vss.htm][http://www.theexaminer.org/history/chap6.htm]

See also


- Islamic view of the Bible
- Adam and Eve
- List of alleged inconsistencies in the Bible
- The Bible and history
- Bible translations
- Bible chronology
- Biblical archaeology
- Biblical canon
- Biblical inerrancy
- Books of the Bible
- Dating the Bible
- Gutenberg Bible
- History of the English Bible
- Jewish Biblical exegesis
- Letters from the Earth, by Mark Twain
- Metanarrative
- New Testament view on Jesus' life
- Origin and Growth of the English Bible
- Study Bible
- Tanakh
- Ten Commandments (ethical)
- Ten Commandments (ritual)
- Jesus

References


- Anderson, Bernhard W. Understanding the Old Testament (ISBN 0139483993)
- Dever, William B. Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did they Come from? Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003. ISBN 0802809758.
- Head, Tom. The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0789734192.
- Miller, John W. The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994. ISBN 0809135221.
- Silberman, Neil A. and colleagues. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0684869136.
- [http://www.geocities.com/stonerdon/science_speaks.html Peter, Stoner Science Speaks, Chapter 2: Prophetic Accuracy, Chicago, Moody Press, 1963 (online version available)]
- Taylor, Hawley O., "Mathematics and Prophecy," Modern Science and Christian Faith, Wheaton,: Van Kampen, 1948, pp.175-183.
- Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, subject: prophecy, page 1410, Moody Bible Press, Chicago, 1986
- Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, subject: Book of Ezekiel, page 580, Moody Bible Press, Chicago, 1986
- Heline, Corinne, New Age Bible Interpretation, 1954, New Age Bible & Philosophy Center, Santa Monica (CA), [http://www.campusi.com/ta_New_Age_Bible_Interpretation_by_Heline.htm 7 volumes]

External links


- [http://www.BibleGateway.com/ BibleGateway.com] (NIV, ESV, etc.)
- [http://biblestudytools.net/ BibleStudyTools.net] (NRSV, NKJV, etc.)
- [http://www.sacredbible.org/ SacredBible.org] Latin Vulgate
- [http://www.unboundbible.org/ UnboundBible.org] Languages other than English
- [http://bible.tmtm.com/ Bible Wiki] The Bible as a Wiki
- [http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/ Skeptic's Annotated Bible] A critical view of the Bible, using the unedited text of the King James version Category:Holy scripture Category:Metanarratives Category:Religious texts zh-min-nan:Sèng-keng ko:성서 ms:Bible ja:聖書 simple:Bible

Monasticism

Monasticism (from Greek: monachos—a solitary person) is the religious practice of renouncing all worldly pursuits in order to fully devote one's life to spiritual work. Many religions have monastic elements, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Jainism, though the expressions differ considerably. Those pursuing a monastic life are usually called monks or brothers (male), and nuns or sisters (female). Both monks and nuns may also be called monastics. In alphabetic order:

Buddhist monasticism

Main article: Buddhist monasticism The order of Buddhist monks and nuns was founded by Gautama Buddha during his lifetime of over 2500 years ago. The Buddhist monastic lifestyle grew out of the lifestyle of earlier sects of wandering ascetics, some of whom the Buddha had studied under, and was initially fairly eremetic in nature. Monks and nuns were expected to live with a minimum of possessions, which were to be voluntarily provided by the lay community. Lay followers also provided the daily food that monks required, and provided shelter for monks when they were needed. After the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic movement. The practice of living communally during the rainy vassa season, prescribed by the Buddha, gradually grew to encompass a settled monastic life centered on life in a community of practitioners. Most of the modern disciplinary rules followed by monks and nuns- the Patimokkha- relate to such an existing, prescribing in great detail proper methods for living and relating in a community of monks or nuns. The number of rules observed varies with the order; Theravada monks follow around 227 rules. There are a larger number of rules specified for bhikkhunis. The Buddhist monastic order is theoretically divided into two assemblies, the male bhikkhu assembley, and the female bhikkhuni assembly. Initially consisting only of males, the Buddhist monastic order grew to include females after the Buddha's step-mother, Mahaprajapati, asked for and received permission to live as an ordained practitioner. Monks and nuns are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Buddhist community. First and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Buddhism. They are also expected to provide a living example for the laity,and to serve as a "field of merit" for lay followers- providing laymen and women with the opportunity to earn merit by giving gifts and support to the monks. In return for the support of the laity, monks and nuns are expected to live an austere life focused on the study of Buddhist doctrine, the practice of meditation, and the observance of good moral character. Buddhisms in Tibet]] A monk, known as a Bhikkhu in Pali or Bhikshu in Sanskrit, first ordains as a Samanera (novice) for a year or more. Novices often ordain at a very young age, but generally no younger than 8. Samaneras live according to the Ten Precepts, but are not responsible for living by the full set of monastic rules. Higher ordination, conferring the status of a full Bhikkhu, is usually given only to men who are aged 20 or older. Nuns follow a similar progression, but are required to live as Samaneras for a longer periods of time- typically five years. The disciplinary regulations for monks and nuns are intended to create a life that is simple and focused, rather than one of deprivation or severe asceticism. Celibacy is of primary importance in monastic discipline, being seen as the preeminent factor in separating the life of a monk from that of a 'householder'. Depending on the tradition and the strictness of observation, monastics may eat only one meal a day, provided either by direct donations of food from lay supporters, or from a monastery kitchen that is stocked (and possibly staffed) by donations from lay supporters.

Christian monasticism

Main article: Christian monasticism Monasticism in Christianity is a family of similar traditions that began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modelled upon Scriptural examples and ideals, but not mandated as an institution by the Scriptures. Christianity While most people think of Christian or Catholic monks or nuns as "something to do with living in a monastery", from the Church's point of view the definition of a monk/nun is one who lives under a rule and an abbot/abbess, the focus of the particulars of the life does not necessarily entail living in a monastery or performing any specific activity, rather the focus is on an ideal called the religious life, also called the state of perfection. This idea is expressed everywhere that the things of God are sought above all other things, as seen for example in the Philokalia, a book of monastic writings. In other words, a monk or nun is a person who has vowed to follow not only the commandments of the Church, but also the counsels (e.g., vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience). The words of Jesus which are the cornerstone for this ideal are "be ye perfect like your heavenly Father is perfect." Christian cenobitic monasticism as it is mainly known in the West started in Egypt. Originally, all Christian monks were hermits, and especially in the Middle East this continued to be very common until the decline of Syrian Christianity in the late Middle Ages. But not everybody is fit for solitary life, and numerous cases of hermits becoming mentally unstable are reported. The need for some form of organized spiritual guidance was obvious, and around 300 Saint Anthony the Great started to organize his many followers in what was to become the first Christian monastery. Soon the Egyptian desert abounded with similar institutions. In the West the rules for monastic communities were set a few generations later by Saint Benedict of Nursia who created the Rule of Saint Benedict at his monastery in Monte Cassino, it would become the most common rule throughout the Middle Ages, spawning many other Religious Orders, and it is still in use today. Religious Orders The idea caught on, and other places followed:
- Mar Awgin founded a monastery on Mt. Izla above Nisibis in Mesopotamia (~350), and from this monastery the cenobitic tradition spread in Mesopotamia, Persia, Armenia, Georgia and even India and China.
- St. Sabbas the Sanctified organized the monks of the Judean Desert in a monastery close to Bethlehem (483), and this is considered the mother of all monasteries of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
- Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai was founded in the Sinai desert by order of Emperor Justinian.
- St. Benedict of Nursia founded the monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy (529), which was the seed of Roman Catholic monasticism in general, and of the order of Benedict in particular.

Hindu monasticism

Roman Catholic ascetic) are often seen meditating in padmasana (lotus pose). Used with permission from www.kamat.com]] In Hinduism, monastic tradition varies somewhat from sect to sect. Historically this path has been open to males only, but some traditions now accept female renunciates as well. Hindu monks are called Sadhus and in most traditions are easily recognized by their saffron robes. Vaisnava monks shave their heads except for a small patch of hair on the back of the head, while Saivite monks in most traditions let their hair and beard grow uncut. A Sadhu's vow of renunciation typically forbids him from:
- owning personal property apart from a bowl, a cup, two sets of clothing and medical aides such as eyeglasses;
- having any contact with, looking at, thinking of or even being in the presence of women;
- eating for pleasure;
- possessing or even touching money or valuables in any way, shape or form;
- maintaining personal relationships.

Islamic monasticism

Dervishes -- the name given to initiates of sufi orders -- believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. Many of the dervishes are mendicant ascetics who have taken the vow of poverty. Though some of them are beggars by choice, others work in common professions; Egyptian Qadirites, for example, are fishermen. There are also various dervish brotherhoods who trace their origins from various Islamic holy-men and teachers, especially Ali and Abu Bakr. They live in monastic conditions, superficially similar to Christian monk brotherhoods. Various sects and subsects have appeared and disappeared over the centuries. Whirling dance, which is the practice of the Mevlevi sect in Turkey, is just one of the physical methods to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb) and connection with Allah. Rifgites, also called the howling dervishes, cut themselves with knives, handle red-hot iron and eat hot coals or live serpents, depending on the subsect. Other groups include Bektashites, connected to the janissaries, and Senussi, who are rather orthodox in their beliefs. Other brotherhoods and subgroups chant verses of Qur'an, play drums or dance vigorously in groups, all according to their specific traditions. Each brotherhoods uses its own garb and methods of acceptance and initiation, which may be rather severe.

Jain monasticism

Jainism has two branches, each has a slightly different take on monasticism. Digambara monks do not wear clothing; however, they do not consider themselves to be nude -- they are wearing the environment. Digambaras believe that practice represents a refusal to give in to the body's demands for comfort and private property -- only Digambara ascetics are required to forsake clothing . Digambara ascetics have only two possessions: a peacock feather broom and a water gourd. They also believe that women are unable to obtain moksha. As a result, of the around 6000 Jain nuns, barely 100 are Digambaras. The Shvetambaras are the other main Jainist sect. Svetambaras, unlike Digambaras, neither believe that ascetics must practice nudity, nor do they believe that women are unable to obtain moksha. Shvetambaras are commonly seen wearing face masks so that they do not accidentally breathe in and kill small creatures.

Monasticism in other religions

Sikhism specifically forbids the practice of monasticism. Hence there are no Sikh monk conclaves or brotherhoods. Manichaeism had two types of followers, the auditors, and the elect. The elect lived apart from the auditors to concentrate on reducing the material influences of the world. They did this through strict celibacy, poverty, teaching, and preaching. Therefore the elect were probably at least partially monastic. Scientology maintains a "fraternal order" called the Sea Organization or just Sea Org. They work only for the Church of Scientology and have signed billion year contracts. Sea Org members live communally with lodging, food, clothing, and medical care provided by the Church. Ananda Marga has both monks and nuns (i.e. celibate male and female acharya's or missionaries) as well as a smaller group of family acharya's. The monks and nuns are engaged in all kinds of direct services to society, so they have no scope for permanent retreat. They do have to follow strict celibacy, poverty and many other rules of conduct during as well as after they have completed their training. Yungdrung Bön is believed to have a rich monastic history. Bön monastaries exist today, however, the monks there practice Bön-Buddhism.

See also


- Order (religious)
- Monastery
- Pachomius—early example of monastic organizer
- Rule of St Benedict

Further reading


- Johnston, William M. (ed.). 2000. Encyclopedia of Monasticism. 2 vols., Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
- Zarnecki, George. 1985. The Monastic World: The Contributions of The Orders. pp. 36-66, in Evans, Joan (ed.). 1985. The Flowering of the Middle Ages. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.

External link


- [http://swami-center.org/en/chpt/jesusteaching/page_31.shtml Monasticism] Some ideas about what is monasticism accompanied by excerpts from the New Testament and Apocrypha.
- [http://st-takla.org/Links/Coptic-Links-04_Monasteries.html Links to Coptic Orthodox Monasteries of Egypt and the world] Category:Religious behaviour and experience Category:Christianity Category:Islam Category:Buddhism Category:Concepts in Hinduism Category:Jainism Category:Asceticism



Hilarion

St. Hilarion was an anchorite who spent most of his life in the desert according to the example of Saint Anthony of Egypt.

Early Life

Hilarion was born in Thabatha, south of Gaza in Palestine of pagan parents. He successfully studied rhetorics with a Grammarian in Alexandria. It seems that he was concerted in Alexandria. After that he shunned the pleasures of his day, theatre, circus and arena and spent his time attending church. According to Jerome, he was a thin and delicate youth of fragile health.

Beginnings of Monastic Life

After hearing of St. Anthony, whose name "was in the mouth of all the races of Egypt" (Jerome), at the age of fifteen, he went to live with him in the desert for two months. As Antony's hermitage was busy with visitors seeking cures for diseases or demonic affliction, he went home together with some monks. At Thabatha, his parents having died in the meantime, he gave his inheritance to his brothers and the poor and left for the wilderness.

His Time at Majoma

Hilarius went to the area southwest of Majoma, the port of Gaza, that was limited by the sea at one side and marshland on the other. It was the abode of robbers. With him he took only a shirt of coarse linen, a cloak of skins given to him by St. Anthony and a coarse blanket. He led a nomadic life, subsisting only on died figs, eaten after sunset. After he was beset by carnal thoughts, he reduced his diet to the juice of herbs and less figs. Cold showers not being available, he took to praying, singing, the hoeing of the soil and the production of baskets made from rushes. Although he was quite starved, "so wasted that his bones scarcely held together" (Jerome) he still had visions of naked women, voluptuous meals, chariots and gladiatorial contests. Often he heard voices, of infants or of domestic animals, which he identified as demons. He finally built a hut of reeds and sedges, in which he lived for four years. Afterwards, he constructed a tiny low ceilinged cell, "a tomb rather than a house", where he slept on a bed of rushes, recited the bible or sang hymns. He never washed his clothes, changed them only when they fell apart and shaved his hair only once a year. He was once visited by robbers, but they left him alone when they learned that he did not fear death (and had nothing worth stealing, anyway), promising to mend their ways. Jerome gives a detailed account of his diet:
- from 20-23: half a pint of lentils moistened with cold water
- 23-27: dry bread with salt and water
- 27-30: wild herbs and roots
- 31-35: six ounces of barley bread, and boiled vegetables without oil After that, he suffered from signs of malnutrition, his eye-sight grew poor, his body shrivelled and he developed dry mange and scabs, so he had to slightly modify his diet.
- 35-63: six ounces of barley bread, and boiled vegetables with oil
- 63-80: six ounces of water, boiled vegetables with oil and a broth made from flour and crushed herbs, taken after sunset After he had lived in the wilderness for 22 years, he became quite famous in Palestine. Visitors started to come, begging for his help.

Miracles

His first miracle was when he cured a woman from Eleutheropolis who had been barren for 15 years. Later, he cured blindness, raised children from the dead, healed a paralysed charioteer, expelled demons. He even cured horses affected by evil magic and tamed a mad Bactrian Camel. Eleutheropolis

Monastery

In time, a monastery grew around his cell, which was so beset by visitors, especially females, that Hilarion fled. After numerous adventures, always beset by enthusiastic visitors seeking his help, Hilarion died in Cyprus in 371 AD.

Sources

His life has been written by Jerome in 390 AD at Bethlehem. According to Jerome, bishop Epiphanius of Salamis, had already described his virtues in a well known letter, which has not been preserved.

External Sources


- http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3003.htm The life of St. Hilarion Category:Saints

Beirut

Beirut (, transliterated Bayrūt - the French name, Beyrouth, was also commonly used in English in the past) is the capital, largest city and chief seaport of Lebanon. Beirut is the home of about 1.8 million people (2.1 million if the surrounding metropolitan areas are included), and is the commercial, banking and financial center of the region. Beirut was known as "The Paris of the East" prior to the civil war because of its cosmopolitan atmosphere. This city is slowly regaining that reputation as a result of major reconstruction. Beirut is set to host the Winter Asian Games in 2011 and Jeux de la Francophonie (Francophone Games) in 2009. It may also serve as the location for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is headquartered in Beirut. The International Labor Organization (ILO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) both have regional offices in Beirut covering the Arab World. The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) is headquartered in Beirut.

Religion

Beirut is one of the most diverse cities of the Middle East, as it is shared by Christians (Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Roman Catholics, Protestants), and Muslims (Sunni and Shi'ite) as well as a minority of Druze. Most of the Jews of Beirut emigrated to the USA when the Lebanese Civil War started in 1975 and now predominantly live in Brooklyn, New York. Beirut was torn apart during the Lebanese Civil War and was divided between the Muslim West Beirut and the Christian East. The city today has been re-united and rebuilt.

Colleges and Universities

In Beirut there are twenty-one universities including the [http://www.balamand.edu.lb University of Balamand], American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University (originally the first women's college in the Middle East), Université de Saint-Joseph, Global University, Haigazian University, Lebanese University, American University of Science and Technology, Middle East University, Beirut Arab University and the Middle East Canadian Academy of Technology (MECAT).

Geography

Backed by the Mount Lebanon mountains, Beirut is situated on a spur where the narrow coastal plain projects into the Mediterranean Sea. Beirut is located at 33°54' North, 35°31'59" East (33.90, 35.5333). [http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html]

Transportation

The city's airport, situated in the southern suburbs, was previously known as Beirut International Airport; in 2005 it was renamed Rafic Hariri International Airport in honour of the assassinated former prime minister. By land, the city has frequent bus connections to other cities in Lebanon and major cities in Syria; the latter are also served by service taxis. Buses for northern destinations and Syria leave from Charles Helou station in the north of the city, near the port; those for the south and the Bekaa Valley leave from Cola intersection in the south of the city centre. Internal transport is served by a number of bus routes and taxis, which most often operate as service taxis on fixed routes but are also available for private hire. The city suffers from considerable traffic congestion at peak hours. There are two public transportation companies in Beirut, the government owned and operated Office des Chemins de Fer et des Transports en Commun (OCFTC) and the privately owned and operated Lebanese Commuting Company (LCC). There has been some talk about restoring the country's rail lines which would include the relaunch of rail travel between Beirut and Damascus in Syria. The city is also home to the largest port on the Eastern Mediterranean. The Port of Beirut is aiming to become a major port in the region for transporting goods to Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and the Gulf states.

Tourism

Port of Beirut Before the war Beirut was a popular international tourist destination dubbed the Paris of the Middle East, with many international hotels and a thriving nightlife. In recent years the city has started to rebuild its tourist industry, with major construction and restoration works in progress in the ruined city centre, and a new marina. While rural areas are slightly more conservative, Western dress, including shorts and short skirts, are the norm in Beirut, except in religious buildings. In addition to the city itself, a number of archeological sites are within reach, including Baalbek and Byblos, which claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. In winter, skiing is possible in the mountains at resorts such as Faraya Mzaar Kfardebian.

History

Faraya Mzaar Kfardebian Originally named Bêrūt "The Wells" by the Phoenicians, the first historical reference to Beirut dates from the 15th century BCE, when it is mentioned in a cuneiform tablet that is one of the "Amarna letters." The most ancient settlement was on an island in the river that progressively silted up. The city was known in antiquity as Berytus (see also List of traditional Greek place names); this name was taken in 1934 for the archaeological journal published by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut. In 140 BCE, the city was taken and destroyed by Diodotus Tryphon in his contest with Antiochus VII Sidetes for the throne of the Seleucid monarchy. Beirut was soon rebuilt on a more regularized Hellenistic plan, renamed Laodicea in Canaan, in honor of a Seleucid queen. The modern city overlies the ancient one and little archaeology had been accomplished until after the end of the civil war in 1991; now large sites in the devastated city center have been opened to archaeological exploration. A dig in 1994 established that one of Beirut's modern streets, Souk Tawile, still follows the lines of an ancient Hellenistic/Roman one. Mid-1st century BCE coins of Berytus bear the head of Tyche, goddess of fortune; on the reverse, the city's symbol appears: a dolphin entwines an anchor. This symbol was taken up by the early printer Aldus Manutius in 15th century Venice. Under the Romans it was enriched by the dynasty of Herod the Great, then made a colonia in the late 1st century CE. Beirut's school of law was widely known at the time. Two of Rome's most famous jurists, Papinian and Ulpian, both natives of Phoenicia, taught at the law school under the Severan emperors. When Justinian assembled his Pandects in the 6th century, a large part of the corpus of laws were derived from these two jurists, and Justinian recognized the school as one of the three official law schools of the empire (533 CE). Within a few years, as the result of a disastrous earthquake (551), the students were transferred to Sidon. Beirut passed to the Arabs in 635. As a trading centre of the eastern Mediterranean Beirut was overshadowed by Akko during the Middle Ages. From 1110 to 1291 it was in the hands of Crusader lords. No matter who was its nominal overlord, whether Turk or Mamluk, Beirut was ruled locally by Druze emirs. One of these, Fakr ed-Din Maan II, fortified it early in the 17th century, but the Ottomans retook it in 1763 and thenceforth, with the help of Damascus, Beirut successfully broke Akko's monopoly on Syrian maritime trade and for a few years supplanted it as the main trading centre in the region. During the succeeding epoch of rebellion against Ottoman hegemony at Akko under Jezzar and Abdullah pashas, Beirut declined to a small town (population about 10,000), fought over among the Druze, the Turks and the pashas. After Ibrahim Pasha captured Akko in 1832, Beirut began its early modern revival. In 1888 Beirut was made capital of a vilayet in Syria, including the sanjaks Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Akko and Bekaa. Beirut became a very cosmopolitan city and had close links with Europe and the United States. Beirut became a centre of missionary activity, which was generally very unsuccessful in conversions (a massacre of Christians in 1860 was the occasion for further European interventions), but did build an impressive education system. This include the Syrian Protestant College, which was established by American missionaries and eventually became the American University of Beirut (AUB). Beirut became the centre of Arab intellectual activity in the nineteenth century. Provided with water from a British company and gas from a French one, the city thrived on exporting silk grown on nearby Mount Lebanon. Aft