Religion and Theology

God promised Adam and Eve life everlasting  life which pour forth from the Lord himself. However, when Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord, God forfeited the gift. God forced Adam and Eve out of paradise. God declared that man will live among the savages of nature, live by the fruit of his labor, and endure the hardships of mortal life (Hauer and Young, 2002). The God of old, however, did not abandon man to Satan. As His most precious creature, He provided men with guidance and hope.

From a theological perspective, man shares God sovereignty over nature. When God declared, Let us create man in our own image, God intended man to share in his eternal sovereignty. It was not merely a metaphor of morphology, but also of authority. Man is above the angels, for angels are created for man. The reason why Satan rebelled against God is man. Satan could not comprehend why such lofty creatures are placed before angels. Lucifers fall from grace was not merely an expression of envy, but also of pride. Pride destroyed both man and Lucifer, for pride is a rejection of the Triune God.

Adam and Eves descendants share their pain and suffering, but not their faithlessness. Abel served God by offering fruitful sacrifices. Enoch, the holy man, served God without reservations. Abraham, the father of a nation, was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac to God (if god wills). Job, despite suffering and pain, never doubted Gods wisdom and judgment. Noah called on to God for hope and guidance. God rewarded these men everlasting life and fame  indeed these men became men of the Lord.

A short reflection reveals that 1) the history of man is also the history of God, 2) God himself is the manifestation of history, 3) history is an expression of the Divine Majesty, 4) man is both the subject and object of history, and 5) the formalist nature of history rests on divine substance rather than on materiality. As Michael Schmaus (196788) argued

The focus of history is the self-efficacy of the Trinity. Man, as God steward, is the subject of history. God and man though are not equal beings. God is the source of sovereignty. Sovereignty is defined as the autonomy and action derived from power. Man derives his sovereignty from God because he is essentially Gods supreme image.

A Short History of the Near East
The most important body of water in the Near East is the Mediterranean Sea. Israel had no natural harbors and so the Mediterranean had minimal significance in the Old Testament. Babylon was located south of the Tigris River, bordering the modern-day Baghdad. In the Bible, Babylon was described as a corrupt and majestic city  the center of religious worship in Sumeria. The Second Babylonian Empire (under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar) stretched from the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. Assyria was located near the Zagros Mountains, northeast of the Tigris River. At its greatest extent, the Assyrian Empire stretched from Southern Anatolia to the borders of Egypt.

To the south was Egypt  divided into two kingdoms, the Upper Kingdom and the Lower Kingdom. Bisected by the Nile River which provided sustenance for a large and advanced civilization, Egypt was then one of the world powers in the region. During the reign of Ramses II, the Egyptian kingdom stretched from Syria to the mouth of Ethiopia. Directly to the north was Asia Minor. Anatolia had been settled by the Hittites, a people who introduced iron weapons to the region. The Hittites had seldom been mentioned in the Old Testament.

Palestine (Canaan) was located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. A long rectangular shaped land, it was bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, the Arabian desert on the east, and by Syria on the north. Palestine can be divided into four geographic regions that parallel each other 1) a relatively narrow coastal plane was mostly settled by non-Israelites, 2) the central highlands, a mountainous spine which runs through the center of the country, 3) the Jordan River valley, a deep cleft in the land which runs from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south, and 4) the Trans-Jordan plain, a relatively high and flat region to the Ease of the Jordan River.

It is quite hard to imagine that Biblical events happened in this region. The history of Israel corresponds to the history of the region. In the Old Testament, the old prophets provided short but compelling descriptions of foreign nations. The prophet Jonah described Assyria as a nation of warriors and learning. The prophet Ezekiel described Babylon as a city of pagan worship and malice. A short reflection reveals that 1) the history of Israel corresponds to the history of neighboring nations, 2) the region had a significant impact on the development of Judaism, 3) theologically, Israel was the center of monotheistic worship, and 4) Israel was by no means a weak nation (during the time of David, the Empire of Israel stretched from the Tigris River to the Sinai).

The Occupation of Canaan (the Age of Judges)
The Book of Joshua recounts the story of Israels settlement in the land of Canaan. The first half of the Book of Joshua describes the actual entry of the Israelites into the land and the early battles for control of key cities and region. The second half describes how the land was divided among the tribes of Israel.

The Book of Judges describes the continued struggles of tribal chieftains in the land to free the Israelites from recurrent oppression at the hands of surrounding people. The book is generally organized in regular cycles that mark the rise of new leaders. The stories of Gideon and the outcomes of his leadership, Samson and the struggle against the Philistines, and inter-tribal fighting in Israel occupy more than half of the book.

A short reflection reveals that 1) the judges were chosen by God himself, 2) the age of judges was a critical point in the history of Israel, because it defined the uniqueness of the nation itself, 3) Israel as a nation was fully realized during the age of judges, and 4) the judges were a substitute of royal authority.

The Historical Jesus
According to the scholar Rudolf Bultmann, the quest for the historical Jesus is impossible because of the inherent contradiction in material evidence. Bultmann though recognized that it is possible for a historical Jesus to exist. As he correctly observed

The crucial issue is identified in the question as to the continuity of the gospel in the discontinuity of the times and the variation of the kerygma, whether the proclamation of the exalted Lord through the Church is in some kind of recognizable continuity with the preaching of the historical Jesus, and consequently whether the exalted Lord is in continuity with Jesus of Nazareth (Bultmann, 1977119).
Bultmann provided scholars the necessary criteria (above-mentioned) for studying the historical Jesus. Other scholars believed that there was indeed a historical Jesus but never a mythical one. As Bultmann (1977121) argued

This conduct is neither that of a prophet nor that of a sage, but rather the conduct of a man who dares to act in Gods stead, by (as must always be added) calling near to him sinners who apart from him would have to flee from God.

Whether or not there is a historical Jesus is a matter of historical speculation. What matters is the effect of the mythical Jesus on the lives of men. A short reflection reveals that 1) the effect of Jesus on the lives of men is beyond spirituality, 2) it is perhaps difficult, but never impossible, to find the historical Jesus, and 3) the historical Jesus is the ultimate expression of materiality.