新编西方文化教程(第二册)

　　《新编西方文化教程（第二册）》：　　There are two major components of western culture. One is myths of Greek and Rome, and the other is Judeo-Christian tradition. Judaism and Christianity are closely related. In fact, it was the Jewish tradition which gave birth to Christianity. Both originated in Palestine. Some 3,800 years ago the ancestors of the Jews-the Hebrews-wandered through the deserts of the Middle East. They were traveling merchants, moving from one reading post to the next. And that was how they came to be called "Hebrews,"which means "wanderers. " About 1300 B. C. , the Hebrews came to settle in Palestine. Their history was handed down orally from one generation to another in the form of folktales and stories, which were recorded later in the Old Testament, which later became the first part of the Christianity Bible.　　The Bible consists of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament."Testament" means "agreements"-namely, agreement between God and Man. The first five books are the most important, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, which are called Pentateuch. Genesis is a religious account of the origin of the Hebrew people, including the origin of the world and of man. As we know that, God created man Adam and Eve on the sixth day. They lived in the Garden of Eden, known as Paradise. Because Eve was tempted by the serpent, Eve and Adam ate the fruit in the middle of the Garden of Eden. They were driven out of the Garden of Eden. For many hundreds of years the family of man multiplied and spread over the earth. Because Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and passed on the knowledge of wickedness, man became more and more corrupt. God decided to put an end to the earth. The tale Noah's Ark is included in Genesis. The second book is Exodus. It is about a religious history of the Hebrews during the flight from Egypt. Around 1900 B. C. , there lived a descendent of Noah by the name of Abraham. God told Abraham that he and his people should worship the only true God, Yahweh. As a reward, God promised them the land of Canaan. Thus Abraham led the Hebrew to the Promised Land. Unfortunately a severe drought occurred about a hundred years later, which drove the Hebrews to Egypt. At the beginning, they were welcomed. But six hundred years later, they were forced into slavery. About 1300 B. C. ,Moses, the famous Hebrew leader, went to see the pharaoh to end the slavery and let the Hebrews leave Egypt. It took those forty years to go back to their homeland, Canaan. Shortly before they arrived at Canaan, Moses died. A new leader, Joshua, brought the people safely back to Canaan. But after Joshua's death, the tribes split apart. Fortunately Saul united the Hebrews again. He was succeeded by David, who established his political and religious capital, Jerusalem. His son, Solomon was known for his wisdom and wealth. He built the First Temple in Jerusalem, but it was destroyed by Babylon. People built the Second Temple. Today there only exits a part of wall, named Wailing Wall, which is 50 meters long and 18 meters high The third book is Leviticus. It is a collection of primitive laws. The forth book is Numbers. It is the account of the flight from Egypt with two censuses about the Exodus. And the last book is Deuteronomy. It is the final words of Moses to his people.　　The New Testament　　In the New Testament Jesus as the Son of God was sent to earth to live as humans live, suffer as humans suffer, and die to redeem mankind. After Jesus died, his two disciples, St. Peter and St. Paul began to preach to people in the Mediterranean region.The Roman Empire was important in the Mediterranean area. In 27 B. C. Octavius took supreme power as emperor with the title of Augustus. Two centuries later, the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent, encircling the Mediterranean, reaching Scotland in the north and spreading into Armenia and Mesopotamia in the east. The Romans grow tired of war and feared the collapse of the empire. And they admired the courage the Christian missionaries professed and the love, kindness and security that Christianity offered. By 305 A. D. , Diocletian gave up his effort to destroy the young religion. Soon a war between rivals for the throne followed and was won by Constantine. He, who believed that God had helped him in winning the battle, issued the Edict of Milan in 313. It granted religious freedom to all, and made Christianity legal.　　Christianity　　Christians looked for ways to hold their churches together. They borrowed the structure of the government of the Roman Empire to develop a church organization. By 300 A. D. each local church was called a parish and had a full time leader known as a priest.Several parishes were grouped together into a large unit called diocese, which was headed by a bishop. The most important bishops were called archbishops. And the archbishop of Rome began to claim authority over the other archbishops. As time went by diferences in practices as well as in beliefs arose between the Church in the western Mediterranean area and the Church in the eastern Mediterranean areas. By the way. in the 4th century the emperor Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium, renamed it Constantinople. After 395, the empire was permanently divided into West Roman Empire and the East Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire). But the West ended in 476. The East Roman Empire collapsed when Constantinople fell into the Turks in 1453. After 1054, the Church was divided into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the beginning the controversy between these two churches was mainly over the place of Christ in the trinity-Power (the Father) , Wisdom (the Son) and Love (the Holy Spirit).The former believes three in one, but the latter argues that they are separate. People in such countries as Russia, Greece, Serbia and Romania believe in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Another sect Protestantism is the result of religious movement in the 16th century, which swept over the whole of Europe aimed at opposing the absolute authority of the Roman Catholic Church and replacing it with the absolute authority of the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestantism are the three major Christian denominations.　　……