Simon Schama's "Story of the Jews"

Simon Schama (who is Jewish), the great British Historian who hosted the 15-part BBC television documentary series "A History of Britain" broadcast between 2000 and 2002 has produced his 5 hour "Story of the Jews" .

"In the Beginning" first episode of "The Story of the Jews" is online if you didn't watch or record the first two sessions on PBS.

Nareed may like to know that the first personality highlighted is one of the most famous of the self described "Godless Jews", Sigmund Freud and the obsession of the last part of his life. Moses and Monotheism was the last of his 21 books.

Perhaps FrGamble will tell us how the history of "replacement theology" is taught as part of his priestly training. As most people know, the relationship between Jews and Christians has been incredibly hostile for much of the last two millenia. Theologically, that is difficult to sustain, as Christians have a bible which describes Jews as the "chosen people". Jesus is, of course, a devout Jew. The concept of "replacement theology" allowed Christians to persecute the Jews.

"For you are a holy people to YHWH your God, and God has chosen you to be his treasured people from all the nations that are on the face of the earth."


Supersessionism, fulfillment theology, are other words describing replacement theology. You should note that I asked the father to comment on the "history of replacement theology" on the assumption that it is not taught today. However, I could be wrong. Perhaps there is a non-violent interpretation taught in the Catholic church.

Quote: Pacomartin

Nareed may like to know that the first personality highlighted is one of the most famous of the self described "Godless Jews", Sigmund Freud and the obsession of the last part of his life.

I'm not what you'd call a fan of Freud. He's better as comic fodder ;)

Quote: Nareed

I'm not what you'd call a fan of Freud. He's better as comic fodder ;)

At the age of 80, in "Moses and Monotheism" Freud hypothesizes that Moses was not Hebrew, but actually born into Ancient Egyptian nobility. Freud contradicts the Biblical story of Moses with his own retelling of events claiming that Moses only led his close followers into freedom during an unstable period in Egyptian history and that they subsequently killed Moses in rebellion and later combined with another monotheistic tribe in Midian based on a volcanic God. Freud explains that years after the murder of Moses, the rebels regretted their action thus forming the concept of the Messiah as a hope for the return of Moses as the Saviour of the Israelites. Freud said that the guilt from the murder of Moses is inherited through the generations; this guilt then drives the Jews to religion to make them feel better.

At his advanced age, he received a lot of ridicule that undermined his reputation.

It reminds me a little of Isaac Newton who published "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" at the age of 45. But Newton lived to age 84 (pretty amazing for early 18th century). At the end of his life, he also began his greatest works (in his own mind).The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728) and Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (1733) – were published after his death. He also devoted a great deal of time to alchemy. Similar to Freud, most scholars view his last works with derision.

Quote: Pacomartin

At his advanced age, he received a lot of ridicule that undermined his reputation.

And yet penis envy is taken seriously. <roll-eyes>

Quote: Pacomartin

this guilt then drives the Jews to religion to make them feel better.

WAY too much nose candy for this boy for sure. Not to mix metaphors here, but a very convenient homolog to his use of a stimulant to defeat his depression.

To be honest I had never heard of "replacement theology" before you mentioned it. St. Paul will sometimes talk about the old branch being cut off and a new branch of the Gentiles being grafted unto God through Christ, but I believe in the hopes of having the rightful branch of Israel who never lose their special election to eventually be reattached as well. John Paul II addressed a group of Jewish men and women as "our elder brothers and sisters in the faith." I really like that thought.

While never really hearing the words together, "fulfillment theology" I imagine would be the understanding that St. Paul didn't really stop being Jewish, but rather his Jewish faith was completed or fulfilled in Jesus Christ. I do think that as a good Jew, a Pharisee even, Paul believed that Jesus was the Messiah and therefore never thought at some point he stopped being Jewish and became a Christian.

Quote: FrGamble

To be honest I had never heard of "replacement theology" before you mentioned it. St. Paul will sometimes talk about the old branch being cut off and a new branch of the Gentiles being grafted unto God through Christ, but I believe in the hopes of having the rightful branch of Israel who never lose their special election to eventually be reattached as well. John Paul II addressed a group of Jewish men and women as "our elder brothers and sisters in the faith." I really like that thought.

"Replacement Theology" may be a phrase more associated with the anti-semitism of Martin Luther than the Catholic church. Luthur was explicit in thinking that the Jews had been replaced as the chosen people.

Jesus, in his lifetime, doesn't seem to have traveled more than 120 miles in north south from Jerusalem to Sidon, Lebanon (25 miles south of Beirut). In Sidon he made his famous quote: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

I saw this on Tuesday on PBS. Fascinating stuff.

Quote: boymimbo

I saw this on Tuesday on PBS. Fascinating stuff.

Schama refers to a people whose mark on the world has been out of all proportion to its modest numbers.

If you were to remove from our collective history, the contribution Jews have made to human culture, our world would be almost unrecognizable. There would be no monotheism, no written Bible, and our sense of modernity would be completely different. So the history of the Jews is everyone’s history too and what I hope people will take away from the series is that sense of connection: a weave of cultural strands over the millennia, some brilliant, some dark, but resolving into a fabric of thrilling, sometimes tragic, often exalted creativity.

The "What ifs" of history are a lot of fun but nostly an intellectual excercise.

Think of Greece. Had it not existed, would we not have democracy, fact-based medicine, geometry, science, drama? Hard to say, right? Hard to believe.

Monotheism is a tough one, though. It's very unusual even today. I don't mean to cast aspersions on anyone's faith, but the cult of saints, and Mary and even Jesus, is a kind of substitute polytheism. Instead of a god each for different things, there is a chief god with an ever-growing body of under-gods, sort of, one can pray to. I think that's one reason Christianity was able to win over the Romans and other polytheists.

Anyway, Judaism is strictly monotheistic. Jews may mention Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses in their prayers, but no one every prays to them. Only to Jehovah (wink!). It would be very itneresting to know how this came about. Of course I don't believe the story about God and Abraham (remember, there is no real god).

Here and there some people worshipped one god exclusively, but believed plenty others existed as well. it wasn't uncommon, either, to worship one set of gods, yet believe in the gods of other people as well. One standard tactic Alexander employed in each conquest was to very publicly offer a sacrifice and worship to the gods of the people he just conquered.

So strict monoh¿theism, in which one is atheistic as regards other gods, was very rare in ancient times.