This PPT based partly on: “A History of Western Civilisation” available at www.

cs.unc.edu/~weiss/COMP321/civilization.ppt

Fundamentals of Western Civilisation: Interpretations of

the Bible

Prof. Dr. Mark Williams

Fundamentals of Western Civilisation: Interpretations of the Bible

• The overall aim of this course is to empower students to become more confident and skilled in English language and communication skills through experiential understanding of the profound influence of interpretations of the Bible on Western Civilisation.

• Why did Western Civilisation, so weak before 1500, explode out of Europe to conquer the powerful Ottoman Turkish and then the rich and powerful Chinese Empire and eventually the whole world?

Notes about assessments• As part of the 40% assessment for your notebook, attendance,

and contribution to class, students will do well to make notes from each student groups PPT presentations to the class each week

• Also, students will do well to write 5 sentence (min.) answers to the question posed at the end of each teaching week’s PPTs

• All teaching week’s PPT can be downloaded from the SZU Class Dowload page of the website www.chinaclearwater.yolasite.com .

• Last week we posed the question “Why did Western Civilisation, so weak before 1500, explode out of Europe to conquer the powerful Ottoman Turkish and then the rich and powerful Chinese Empire and eventually the whole world?”

• The question for this week is on the last slide of this PPT.

The Spread of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (100,000–2,500BC)

Explosion of Western Civilisation (1500-2000AC)©

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Centres of Early Civilisation

Major Religious Book of Western Civilisation: The Bible

PSALM 137: SongBy the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept

when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for

mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall,

how they said, ‘Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!’

O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us!

Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

Bible: Genesis• Creation • Primeval History

– Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden– The Fall into Sin and Its Consequences– Sin leads to Evil (Story of Cain and Seth)– God's Response to Human Sin– The Great Flood

• Preparing for the flood• God’s Judgment and redemption

– The rising of the waters– The receding of the waters

• After the flood– A new promise and a new relationship– A new temptation– Spread of Nations – Tower of Babel Language Spread and Confusion

Bible: Genesis• Patriarchal History

– The Life of Abraham• Abraham's background and call • Abraham's faith and God's covenant• Abraham's final acts

– The Descendants of Ishmael– The Life of Jacob

• Jacob at home and abroad• Jacob at home again

– The Descendants of Esau– The Life of Joseph

• Joseph's career and migration to Egypt• Jacob's final days

• Joseph's final days

Bible: Genesis 1• 1 In the beginning, when God created the universe, 2 the earth

was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

• 3 Then God commanded, "Let there be light" - and light appeared. 4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness, 5 and he named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening passed and morning came - that was the first day.

• 6 Then God commanded, "Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places" - and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. 7 8 He named the dome "Sky." Evening passed and morning came - that was the second day.

• 9 Then God commanded, "Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear" - and it was done. 10 He named the land "Earth," and the water which had come together he named "Sea." And God was pleased with what he saw.

Bible: Genesis 1• 11 Then he commanded,

"Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit" - and it was done.

• 12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw.

• 13 Evening passed and morning came - that was the third day.

Bible: Genesis 1 …• 14 Then God commanded, "Let

lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin;

• 15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth" - and it was done.

• 16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.

• 17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth, • 18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from

darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw. • 19 Evening passed and morning came - that was the fourth day.

Bible: Genesis 1 …• 24 Then God

commanded, "Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small" - and it was done.

• 25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

Bible: Genesis 1• 26 Then God said, "And now

we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small."

• 27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,

• 28 blessed them, and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.

Bible: Genesis 1• 29 I have provided

all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat;

• 30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food" - and it was done.

• 31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came - that was the sixth day.

Time magazine (Dec. 18, 1995)

The Bible: Faith & History

1) Who wrote the bible?

2) Is it historical or mythical?

3) Is it a primary source?

4) “Ancient texts are very hard to read unless we know something about the world they were written in and for.”

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Why do we need to know how & why the Bible came about?

No original manuscriptsCopied by handwriting over centuriesTranslation & re-translation Incorporation of marginal commentsFolklore & legends of ancient civilizationsTransmitted by oral tradition before writtenNot intended as modern history or science Wide range of authors, forms, & periods

Complex product of evolution & change

Interpretation of the Bible

Mainstream ChristianityConservative Liberal Everything in Bible is fact moral/religious No errors in the Bible symbolic/mythical

Maximalists Minimalists Maybe Bible has fiction imaginative fiction core stories about actual events all stories mythic later books have more history no early stories

factual

Academic biblical scholars

Bible: New Testament: John 1-2

• 1 In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God.

Bible: New Testament: John 3-4• 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all

creation was made without him. • 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light

to people. • 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never

put it out.

Bible: New Testament: John• Prologue: The Word Became Flesh (1:1-18)• The Beginning of Jesus' Ministry (1:19-51)

– John the Baptist's Testimony about Jesus (1:19-34)– John's Disciples Follow Jesus (1:35-42)– Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael (1:43-51)

• Jesus' Public Ministry: Signs and Discourses (chs. 2-11)– Changing Water into Wine (2:1-11)– Cleansing the Temple (2:12-25)– Jesus Teaches Nicodemus (3:1-21)– John the Baptist's Final Testimony about Jesus (3:22-36)– Jesus and the Samaritans (4:1-42)– Healing of the Official's Son (4:43-54)– Jesus' Visit to Jerusalem at an Annual Feast (ch. 5)

Bible: New Testament: John– Feeding the 5,000 and Jesus' Claim to Be the Bread of Life (ch. 6)– Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles and Disputes over Who He Is

(chs. 7-8)– Healing of the Man Born Blind (ch. 9)– Jesus is the Good Shepherd (10:1-21)– Conflict at the Feast of Dedication over Jesus' Identity (10:22-42)– The Raising of Lazarus (ch. 11)

• The Passion Week (chs. 12-19)– The Anointing of Jesus' Feet (12:1-11)– Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem as King (12:12-19)– Jesus Predicts His Death (12:20-36)– Belief and Unbelief among the Jews (12:37-50)

Bible: New Testament: John– Belief and Unbelief among the Jews (12:37-50)– Jesus' Farewell Discourses and Prayer (chs. 13-17)

• At the Last Supper (chs. 13-14)– Jesus washes the disciples' feet (13:1-17)– Jesus predicts his betrayal (13:18-30)– Jesus predicts Peter's denial (13:31-38)– Jesus comforts his disciples (14:1-4)– Jesus is the way to the Father (14:5-14)– Jesus promises the Holy Spirit (14:15-30)

• On the way to Gethsemane (chs. 15-16)– The vine and the branches (15:1-17)– The world hates the disciples (15:18-25)– The work of the Holy Spirit (15:26;16:15)– The disciples' grief will turn to joy (16:16-33)

Bible: New Testament: John 1-4• Jesus' prayer (ch. 17)

– For himself -- that he be glorified (17:1-5)– For his disciples (17:6-19)– For all believers (17:20-26)

– Jesus' Betrayal and Arrest (18:1-11)– Jesus' Trials before Jewish and Roman Officials (18:12-40)– Jesus' Crucifixion (19:1-27)– Jesus' Death and Burial (19:28-42)

• Jesus' Resurrection (20:1-29)• Statement of the Gospel's Purpose (20:30-31)• Epilogue: Jesus' Recommissioning of the Disciples (ch.

21)

Contemporary biblical Interpretations based on scholarly textual analysis and historical research

• Some of the Bible consists of original stories, legends, poems, visions, predictions, prophesies, sermons, parables, loose historical material, folklore, etc, written by the stated authors

• Many respected biblical scholars state that the majority of the Bible was not written by the stated authors but written by later priests or scribes either making up new texts to support their religious, political or economic interests or adding on to the earlier myths, legends, stories, poetic visions, etc.

• The widely respected biblical scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies, University of North Carolina, says significant parts of the Bible are not only fictional additions but actually forgeries because the author lies in saying that he is some famous person (Like St Paul, or St Peter) so his text will be accepted or valued

Question for this PPT2 (answer in

your notebooks in min. 5 sentences)

• Why did Western Civilisation, so weak before 1500, explode out of Europe to conquer the powerful Ottoman Turkish and then the rich and powerful Chinese Empire and eventually dominate the whole world?