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Judaism

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1. What influences has Judaism had on the history and development of western society, and who are some important people in Jewish history who have helped to bring about these influences? References please!

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This solution discusses some of the influences that Judaism has had on the history and development of western society, as well as who some of the key people are in Jewish history who have helped to bring about these influences. References and supplementary article on understanding Jewish influences are also provided.

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1. What influences has Judaism had on the history and development of western society?

Judaism is both the religion and culture of the Jewish people. Jewish civilization includes historical, social, and political dimensions in addition to the religious. The word "Judaism" derives from the Greek Ioudaismos, a term first used in the intertestamental period by Greek speaking Jews to distinguish their religion from hellenism (see 2 Macc. 2:21; 8:1; 14:38). In the NT the word appears twice (Gal. 1:13 - 14) in reference to Paul's prior consuming devotion to Jewish faith and life (see more detail on early Judaism and it roots in Christianity at http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/judaism.htm).

- There is a striking point that runs through Jewish history as a whole. Western civilization was born in the Middle East, and the Jews were at its crossroads. In the heyday of Rome, the Jews were close to the Empire's center. When power shifted eastward, the Jewish center was in Babylon; when it skipped to Spain, there again were the Jews. When in the Middle Ages the center of civilization moved into Central Europe, the Jews were waiting for it in Germany and Poland. The rise of the United States to the leading world power found Judaism focused there. And now, today, when the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward the Old World and the East rises to renewed importance, there again are the Jews in Israel. http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/impactofthejews.htm

- Beginning in the ancient world, Jewish populations have repeatedly attained a position of power and influence within Western societies. MacDonald (see attached article) argues that Judaism impacted the Western society through the unique qualities of the Jewish people. For example, the Jewish background traits conducive to influence: ethnocentrism, intelligence and wealth, psychological intensity, aggressiveness, with most of the focus on ethnocentrism. He presents an interesting argument http://theoccidentalquarterly.com/vol3no2/km-understanding.html

- Judaism always had enormous effects on the western world, such as attaining wealth, prominence in the media, and eminence in the academic world and the legal profession. Jews are highly organized, cohesive, and effective groups. They were also of high intelligence, including the usefulness of intelligence in attaining wealth, prominence in the media, and eminence in the academic world and the legal profession. http://theoccidentalquarterly.com/vol3no2/km-understanding.html

- The wars between the Romans and the Jews resulted in dispersing the Jewish nation to the four corners of the world. In the dispersion, the Jews fiercely resisted national and religious assimilation. Christianity found no more rabid adversaries in its path and despite all its efforts did not succeed in converting them. The fall of the Roman Empire increased the isolation of Judaism, which constituted the sole heterodox element after the complete triumph of Christianity in the West. http://www.marxists.org/subject/jewish/leon/ch1.htm
- The Jews of the Diaspora, in the epoch of the barbarian invasions, did not at all constitute a homogeneous social group. On the contrary agriculture, industry commerce were widely prevalent among them. It was the ...

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