The Bible and Western Culture

By Dr. Sam Armato

I taught at the University of Southern California for 28 years. During that time I developed a number of courses including "The Bible as Literature," the first such course in the country. which subsequently proliferated in universities around the country. I taught the course for ten years, which attracted upwards of 100 students every semester, deepening my research and knowledge of the Bible and my insights into the Bible's influence on Western Civilization.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is the most obvious evidence of the Bible's artistic inspiration. Michelangelo spent years on his back producing his frescos depicting scenes of the Bible.
The ubiquitous presence of the Bible and its influence on virtually every facet of Western Civilization have no equal. Yet few are sufficiently familiar with the text to recognize its ubiquity.
This book intends to correct that innocence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477263891

Dr. Sam Armato

My career has educated me on the vastness of our country. I started out in Brooklyn, N.Y. where I attended elementary and high school. I was drafted into the U.S.Army in 1944 and spent two years in various army bases as well as in Germany. After being discharged I went to Columbia University under the G.I.Bill of Rights, received a Batchelor’s and Master’s degree there and then went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where I taught for three years. I then went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where I received my Ph.D. I was recruited by USC in Los Angeles to teach in the Comparative Literature and English Department and taught there since 1964. I lived in Manhattan Beach, CA. during that time and still reside there with my wife in close proximity to my three children all of whom have distinguished themselves in their respective fields of endeavor. My son Leonard is a brilliant lawyer and a Sports Attorney who has cultivated the image of Shaquille O’Neal into a multi-dimensional national personality. He was Shaquille’s manager for many years. Other clients include Ronnie Lott, Oscar De La Hoya, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. My son John Peter Armato is a distinguished Internist and is among the most important authorities on diabetes, its prevention and its cure. My daughter Antonina is a song writer producer who has written :chart” songs for Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez as well as Mariah Carey. My wife Nancy is an outstanding Real Estate Broker who knows the South Bay and Los Angeles in general better than anyone. We all live in Manhattan Beach, CA. Thus I have completed a continental pilgrimage from N.Y.C. to the Midwest and finally to California on the West Coast. Dr.Sam Armato

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© 2012 Dr. Sam Armato. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/16/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-6389-1 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-6390-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-6391-4 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012916487

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Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Definition

Themes And Topics To Develop

The Old Testament

What Is The Bible?

The Parts Of The Hebrew Bible

Archaeology And Biblical Studies

Mesopotamian Background Sources

Outline Genesis

Differences Between First And Second Creation Story

Four Major Sources Of The Pentateuch

Some Theories About The History And Evolution Of The Pentateuch

Prehistory Of Israel

The Themes Of The Pentateuch Tradition

Narrative Types In The Bible

Yhwh

Genealogy Of The Patriarchs

The Law Code Of Hammurabi

Historical Background To Deuteronomy

Moses

Origin Of The Horned Moses

Ten Commandments And Other Codes

Summary Of The Exodus And Conquest Account

Exodus As Epic

Hebrew God And Religion

The Ten Plagues

Judicial And Penal System

Murmurings And Counter-Revolutionary Behavior

Joshua And Judges

Thematic Connection Between Joshua And Judges

Outline Of Joshua

The Book Of Judges

Outline 1 Samuel

Outline 11 Samuel

Outline 1 Kings

Chronologies

Job

Outline Ecclesiastes

Glossary

The New Testament

Possible Religious And Philosophical Influences On Christianity

Introduction To The New Testament

Jesus Of History

Beliefs And Ideology Of The New Testament

Marcion And The Christian Gnostics (Second Century C.E.)

Donatist Church

The New Testament And The Hebrew Bible – The Old Testament

The Synoptic Problem

Some Literary Genres In The New Testament Literature

Some Poetic Expressions Of The Birth Of Jesus

The Parable

Differences In The Passion Among The Gospels

The Annunciation

Some Christian Signs And Symbol

Gospel According To Mark

Distinctiveness Of Luke’s Gospel

Characteristics Of Gospel

Matthew - A Schematic Outline

The Gospel According To Luke

Gospel According To John

Revelation

Select Bibliography On The Book Of Revelation

The Book Of Judith

666 And All That Gematria

Emperors Of Rome During Early Christian Era

References On Bible Origins And Comparative Mythology

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the students who attended my seven-week summer session in Italy. They unwittingly made me aware of their paucity of information of the biblical figures and episodes that are pervasive in medieval and renaissance art. When we visited museums and monuments each afternoon during the course, except for representations of David and Adam and Eve the students had difficulty identifying any other biblical figures.

It was clear that a comprehensive course in the bible was essential if future generations of students were to achieve cultural literacy of the western world. Subsequently I developed a course entitled The Bible As Literature and began offering it as a 4-unit elective in the comparative literature program. The course was well received and each semester drew upwards of 100 students.

Though some objections were raised especially by religious students who desired a more traditional Sunday school approach to the bible, I managed to gain acceptance of my approach to the bible as a cultural, not a religious document. My repeated assertions that my approach was neither anti- or pro-religious but pro-cultural ultimately found favor and objections dissipated.

The author

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BIBLE

The ubiquitous presence of the Bible in western culture has no equal. It has had a pervasive influence in the arts, painting, music, law, and morality. No other text, no other book rivals the Bible in its cultural presence. Yet few are aware of how definitively the Bible has shaped our legal system, our arts, our language and every other facet of our culture and even fewer have read it. The purpose of this book is to correct that omission. But first let us examine the impact the Bible has had on the multiple facets of our culture.

1. The Arts: The most obvious and perhaps the most famous depiction of biblical inspiration is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s fresco of the creation of Adam has been reproduced over and over again. It is an incomparable representation of God’s ability to awaken man by the transmission of life through his finger. And who can forget Da Vinci’s Last Supper? Or Michelangelo’s or Donatello’s David? Or Caravaggio’s multiple paintings of David and Goliath? Or the many representations of Judith and Holofernes (My favorite, Donatello’s in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence.) Or the numerous depictions of Adam and Eve i.e. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Durer, Titian, Brueghel, and a modern more sensuous one with Eve’s exposed pudendum by Gustave Klimt.

2. Music: From the medieval Gregorian chant to plainchant, as it is correctly named since pope Gregory had nothing to do with the creation of the plainchant, to modern pop with electric guitars, tambourines, and Flamenco music. In between are the compositions by such great composers as Bach, Beethoven, Monteverdi to Handel’s Messiah and the unforgettable Hallelujah chorus, to Mozart, and Berlioz and to Verdi’s exquisite ‘Requiem’. To his credit Pope Benedict objected to the interjection of modern music into the liturgy and urged a return to the Gregorian chant and traditional church music.

3. Public Morality and the law. Opposition to same sex marriages, homosexuality and abortion have been shaped by references to the Bible and by extension to God. The Ten Commandments have become the cornerstone of our morality and our legal system.

4. The Bible and the English Language. Absalem, Absalem, The Sun Also Rises, The Fire Next Time, The Sound and the Fury, Inherit the Wind. These are just a few of the book titles taken from the Bible. And if you think this is just a voice crying in the wilderness (John 1:23) or that I cast pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6) you’re certainly not the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13) and not the apple of my eye (Psalm 17:8) I hope I’m not the blind leading the blind (Matt. 15:14) or that my left hand doesn’t know what my right hand is doing (Matt. 5:3-4). By all means seek and you shall find Matt. 7:7) and after all your labors it would be acceptable to eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12:19). Clearly there’s a time and place for everything (Eccl. 3:1) but let us not Spare the rod and spoil the child. (Prov. 13:24). There is no question that the handwriting is on the wall (Dan. 5:5-6). The Biblical words and phrases permeate the English language almost on a daily basis is by now indisputable.

As I said above the purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a programmed, detailed scrutiny of this most influential text of western culture. One cannot be literate in our society without an intimate familiarity with the Bible. Such exposure will supply the rich background necessary to decipher the references, sometimes obscure, to this pervasive document. When God says Let us make man in our image, the ironic social implications of God’s statement are overwhelming. God, i.e. the Bible, has indeed made man in his image. It is recommended that the reader have a Bible on hand for ready reference.

The author

DEFINITION

Myth: Myths are a way of classifying and organizing reality. They organize the way we perceive acts and understand the world and ourselves. We need myths to answer the questions, Who am I? How do I fit into the worlds of society and nature? How should I live? …Myths try to show how everything considered merely profane and ordinary in itself is really sacred and extraordinary. (Barbara Sproul, PrimalMyths,2, 23). We will not be using the word myth to distinguish between historical truth and literary fabrication, though indeed the word frequently carries that connotation.

Read: Genesis CH. 1 – 11.

Some observations on rhetorical structure of the Bible.

Definitions: Narrative: Plot (order of events in the text – also known as recit) and Story (actual chronology of the events – also known as histoire).

Narrative technique: Much of Biblical narrative can be characterized as minimalist, only the bare essentials of an incident being recounted are presented to the reader.

See Erich Auerback, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, tr. Willard Trask Princeton, 1953) chap.1.

Duration: How much time and space is given to an event? (A narrative may elide an episode, elaborate on it, condense it, linger on it, etc.).

Frequency: How often does an event occur and how often is it told? (Does it occur once and told several times; does it occur several times but told only once; does it occur several times and told several times. Moreover, if the event is told several times, are there variations in the recounting?)

Perspective or Point of View: Does the narrator know more than the characters (Omniscient. Less than the characters (first person, auto diegetic, first person narrator who is also the main character, i.e., Dante in The Divine Comedy, Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man)).

Voice: What is the perspective of the narrator? What does the narrator presume about the listener or reader of the text?

Pharmakos or Scapegoat: This concept is present in Greek tragedy from the primitive religious perception of the nature of sin and its purgation. The belief holds that sin can be transmitted to another person or animal (the scapegoat) which is then sacrificed. In Ruth 2:1, Boaz says to Ruth, All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. Do these thematic parallels – leaving of parents, permanent departure from birthplace – permit us to see parallel roles in the history of the Hebrew people? Settling in the Promised Land, as did Abraham, does she also become the source of a multiple progeny? As the great grandmother of David, whose line shall continue forever, Ruth took on tribal and ethnic dimensions not unlike those of Abraham. We might also compare both stories to the myth of Odysseus, who leaves God and Abraham on the innocent suffering with the guilty. (Ch. 18) Sibling rivalry again: Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s emergence as Patriarch.

Story of Joseph.Cf-Deut. 25:5-10 with Tamar and Onan for law that a brother shall produce a child with dead brother’s wife.

Exodus and the Genealogy of Western Morals. Compare Ex. 20:5 and 34:7 with Deuteronomy 24:16 for first clear assertion that man is responsible for his sinful acts.

Exodus as Epic and as Revolution.

Definitions: What is an epic? What are the characteristics of revolution?

Read Exodus 1-23.20; 32-34; Numbers 10-14, 16-17, 20-24; Deuteronomy 32-34: These chapters present Moses’ assessment of exodus in his song (32) and his blessing of the Israelites (33) and finally his death (34).

Leviticus and the Law. The Holiness Code (17-26).

The Scapegoat motif. Read Lev. The Scapegoat motif receives its most famous expression is Isaiah 53 where it presumably heralds the crucifixion of Jesus.

⁴Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

Murmurings and rebellion against Moses.

Read Numbers 12; 16: 28-35; 22-24 (Balaam’s blessing), 25: 1-9 (consequences of worshiping Baal of Peor.) The plague that kills 24,000; the shattering of the tables 32:19 and the second set (34: 1-5). Moses (34-19). See Vulgate-quod cornuta esset-and Albright, The Natural Horned Face. Bulletin of American Schools or Oriental Research, New Haven, 94. 1944. pp. 32-5.

Circumcision discontinued – started again before entering Promised Land. See Joshua 5:2-10.

Deuteronomy. Punishment for the sinful, mercy for the repentant.

Read Deut. 4:25-31. Second Decalogue expanded – 5:1-34.

Lex talionis repeated – 19:21;Deuteronomist’s hypothesis of history of Israelites.

Read Deut. 28.

The Conquest of Canaan and the promise fulfilled.

Read Joshua.

Vacillation of Israelite’s Morality. The Rise and Fall of Judges.

Samuel, Israel’s last judge; Saul, Israel’s first king.

Read I Samuel 1-14.

Saul as tragic figure and the emergence of David (I Sam. 15-20).

David as fugitive among the Philistines. 1 Sam. 22:30-31

Saul and his three sons killed by Philistines (31), thus clearing David’s path to the throne.

David as king over Judah and Israel.

Read II Sam. 1-24.

David’s covenant (II Sam. 7:12-16).

Yahweh’s promise to keep David’s heirs on Israel’s throne forever.

Judah continues David’s line for some 400 years to the last Davidic king, Zedekiah, who is deposed and killed in 586 B.C. after serving as a puppet king for Nebuchadnezzar from 597 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jerusalem.

Read I Kings.

Decline of the aging David and the uncertain succession and reign of Solomon.

Read I Kings 1-11.

Rehoboam and the Great Schism. Read I Kings 12-13.

Intrigue, usurpation and assassination in Judah and Israel.The Assyrian conquest and the Babylonian captivity. Read II Kings.

Definition:

What is Wisdom Literature? Job and the limits of human understanding;

Ecclesiastes and the limits of human vanity…Vanitas Vanitatum, omnia vanitas

The ultimate erosion of Wisdom tradition

THEMES AND TOPICS TO DEVELOP

Samson as Pharmakos

Samson the Womanizer

Samson as Myth

Job: A Stepping Stone to Truth

The Laws of Moses

The Role of Sex and Sexuality in the Bible

Wealth and Poverty in the Bible

Women: Status in Hebrew Society

The Role of Foreign Women in the Bible

Slavery in Biblical Times

Messianic Prophecy

The Split from Judaism (Beginnings of Christianity)

Ancient Influences on the Flood Story

The Sinai Covenant

Saul’s Tragic Flaw

Ahab and Elijah: Expansionist and Isolationist

Sibling Rivalry

The Rise and Fall of Solomon

The Story of Saul…David…Moses

The Sacrifice of Isaac

The Structure of Parables

Influence of Sumerian Texts on the Bible

Paul’s Epistles

The Allegory of Hosea

Biblical Justice

A Comparison of the Gospels

People of the Bible: Philistines, Canaanites, Hebrews, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Assyrians

Primogeniture – Its deflected application in the Old Testament

Annunciation – Its Application in the Old and New Testament

Rejected Women

Rash Oath and its Analogues in other Literatures

Revenge – appropriate and excessive Illustrations

The Uses and Abuses of Deceptions – Disguises

Oaths and Curses

Genres: Poetry, History, Wisdom Literature, Apocalyptic, And Prophetic Literature

Hospitality as Theme

Deception as Theme

THE OLD TESTAMENT

WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

THE WORD BIBLE comes from the Greek ta biblia = the books, plural of biblion = book. The work ultimately derives from the name of the Phoenician port Bublos from which papyrus from Egypt was shipped to Greece.

The broadest general statement we can make about the Bible is that it is a book of scriptures, that is, holy writings, which is considered the sacred word of God by its believers. For Jews, the word Bible makes reference only to the Hebrew Bible, the part of the Bible Christians call the Old Testament. For Christians, the word Bible refers to the Hebrew Bible and the scriptures, which tell the story