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Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar?: Jewish Roots of Christian Worship - Softcover

Gould, Meredith

 
9781596271173: Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar?: Jewish Roots of Christian Worship
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1596271175 ISBN 13: 9781596271173
Verlag: Seabury Books, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

A desire and demand to know more about the Jewish legacy of Christian identity is growing among laity. A similar desire to foster interfaith understanding and dialogue is growing among leaders of local churches.

Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? seeks to meet these demands by providing information and insight about Judaism’s legacy as it is revealed in Christian rites, rituals, and traditions. Drawing upon scripture and historical sources, this book explains how Judaism has influenced the structure of liturgical worship; the design and décor of church sanctuaries; and how Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation find their roots in Judaism.

This book invites readers to develop a deeper understanding of Judaism, one that will enrich their Christianity and appreciation for their enduring Jewish heritage. Includes: questions for reflection; activities for individuals or groups; and easy-to-follow timelines.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Meredith Gould is a sociologist and author of seven books. In addition to writing about faith, she provides communications counsel to the healthcare industry. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Why is there a MENORAH ON THE ALTAR?

Jewish Roots of Christian Worship

By MEREDITH GOULD

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2009 Meredith Gould
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59627-117-3

Contents

Acknowledgments............................................................ix
Foreword...................................................................xi
CHAPTER 1 Reading Scripture...............................................1
CHAPTER 2 History Matters.................................................19
CHAPTER 3 Worship.........................................................37
CHAPTER 4 Baptism.........................................................57
CHAPTER 5 Holy Communion..................................................77
CHAPTER 6 Confirmation....................................................97
Afterword..................................................................113
APPENDIX A: Timeline: Christianity Emerges from Judaism....................115
APPENDIX B: Glossary of Hebrew Terms and Jewish Concepts...................119
APPENDIX C: Selected Documents on Christian-Jewish Dialogue................127
APPENDIX D: Recommended Resources..........................................147
Notes......................................................................149
Index......................................................................155

CHAPTER 1

Reading Scripture


Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105


If you've picked up this book, it's probably because the titlehas piqued your curiosity about the "Judeo" part of yourJudeo-Christian heritage and you want to learn more about it.To gear up for this adventure, you'll need to hunker down andread quite a bit of scripture. Promise: this will enhance yourappreciation of ... everything! Here, I'll not only suggest whatto read but how to read it. Your response to my counsel willundoubtedly be shaped by the Christian tradition in whichyou've been raised.

If you're a Roman Catholic, an invitation to read scriptureon your own might make you feel a bit nervous at first.Although generations of Catholics read missals while theMass was being celebrated, only relatively recently have in-the-pewCatholics become as engaged in scripture study astheir Protestant sisters and brothers. I can think of a numberof esoteric and practical reasons why.

Back in the thirteenth century, laity were flat-out forbiddento read scripture. Proclaiming the word of God and theprivilege of interpreting text became the exclusive right ofclergy. In part this had to do with literacy levels within thegeneral population; in part it had to do with the clericalismProtestant reformers railed against. While scripture had longbeen translated from Hebrew into Greek and then into Latin,it wasn't available in the vernacular to literate laity until thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries—for Protestants.

Celebrating the Mass in local languages after the SecondVatican Council (1962–1965) made scripture much moreaccessible. By the end of the twentieth century, Catholic laityhad become more engaged not only with liturgical activities,but also with running parish ministries. This served to generatean increased demand for Bible study. In addition, convertsfrom traditions anchored in scripture study were unwilling torelinquish that upon becoming Catholic. Today, many moreregular in-and-out-of-the-pew Catholics read and study Christianscripture on their own or within parish-based groups. Butfor cradle Catholics of a certain generation, the suggestionthat anyone might independently study, interpret, and understandscripture may be off-putting.

If you're a Protestant, an invitation to pay close attentionto scripture may seem like no big deal because you've beendoing it forever. You, however, might start feeling nervouswhen you encounter my suggestions about how to read scripture,especially if you were raised to view scripture as literal,rather than metaphorical.

So which books of the Bible will help you better understandthe subject matter of this book?


Which Scripture to Read

I'm exceedingly fond of saying that no Christian can possiblyunderstand how radical Jesus was without reading the Pentateuch—theFive Books of Moses.

As Christians, we believe that God became man and thatman was Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was born a Jew in a particulartime and place. He spoke in terms of, and with referenceto, the Torah. Like other teachers influenced by the Pharisees,Jesus posed questions, told stories, engaged in lively conversation,and at times became exasperated with his students.While gospel stories reveal how his disciples were generallyslow to grasp what he was saying, that didn't stop Jesus fromusing Hebrew scripture as the context and content of his lessons.You'll need to read at least some of this material. Andunless you learned Hebrew during Sunday school at HolyRedeemer of Gentiles Church, you'll read scripture in translation.I'll get to translation issues further on in this chapter.

Within the Pentateuch, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomyare especially important because they spell out the Law ofMoses presented in Exodus. There's a lot more to Jewish lawthan the Decalogue (Ten Commandments), and these booksreveal the other 603. That's right, there are 613 mitzvot (commandments)that shape the eternal and internal rhythms ofJewish spiritual life. If you can read only one of these threebooks, I recommend beginning with Deuteronomy because itrecapitulates much of what's in Leviticus and Numbers. Butplease make time to read Leviticus and Numbers, they're fascinating.These books will help you understand the origins ofChristian rituals having to do with purification and initiationdiscussed in Chapter 3 (Worship) and Chapter 4 (Baptism).

Plan to read Genesis and Exodus sooner rather than later.In fact, start there! Whenever anyone asks me where to beginreading the Bible, I always answer the same way: "With Genesis."This always produces a smile and sometimes gets alaugh—but I don't make this recommendation to be clever orartful with scripture. I recommend beginning at the beginningwith Genesis for a slew of reasons, including the fact thatevery possible instance of human bad behavior can be foundin this first book of holy scripture. In addition to mapping outthe story of creation and the earliest history of the ancientIsraelites, Genesis is so filled with crime, passion, sex, intrigue,betrayal, incest, murder, mayhem, gore, vengeance, and violencethat most of it is suitable reading for adults only. ReadingGenesis should also help you appreciate the derivativenature of soap operas.

Exodus reveals the significance of what biblical scholarsand theologians term the "Sinai Event"—when God chosethe Israelites "by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by amighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displaysof power" (Deuteronomy 4:34) and gave the Jews anidentity and commandments for living. Exodus is a bookabout God's personal, intimate, and durable relationship withhis chosen people.

Reading Exodus should help you understand why...

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Verlag
Seabury Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2009
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1596271175
ISBN 13 
9781596271173
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
162
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
preigu
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