HONO 3185 Hellenistic Age Religion

This course will introduce students to the evolution of Jewish religious perspectives, thought, texts and history from the destruction of the 1st Temple (586 BCE) to the beginnings of early Christianity (325 CE). The Hellenistic Period is when Greeks, Romans, Jews and eventually early Christians confronted “modernity”. This was due to emerging concepts including the role of the individual in religion, the end of prophecy, the role of women in religion and the universal hope for a better time. The rich literature of this period will be our guide, as we read from the texts including - late Bible, Jewish Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls (Jewish sect from Qumran), Josephus (Jewish historian), Philo (Jewish philosopher), Rabbinic Wisdom Literature (Pirkei Avot), Midrash (rabbinic tales and fables), and selected logoi of Jesus (NT and the Gnostic texts of Thomas). We will discuss themes of Judaism and change, religious creativity, theology and mysticism (Gnosticism, Mithra and other cults), the role of the prophets, the beginnings of the rabbinate, the powerful role of women, the function of Messianic hopes, and the end of time.

Credits

3.00 units

Cross Listed Courses

RLGN 3185