World Religions
Historically normative events set trends in communities. In the religious spectrum, these are events that effect followers and bloodlines throughout history and without having to supplement with current context. I take a look at the historically normative events for the three largest religions in the world: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These events are identified, appreciated, and often celebrated in their respective religions. For some, it sparked an entire religion, for others it defines their lineage and their journey through history. Time mustn’t be a contributing factor as that would negate the “historical” part of historically normative events. These events are pillars of their communities, and must be understood if one is to truly understand the religions in their entirety.
For Judaism, there is an undeniable importance held in the Exodus. The Exodus is immensely important to all kinds of Jews. Whether it be specified with the declaration of the Ten Commandments, or the idea of freedom from slavery and suffering in the desert. For Jewish people, this event is the beginning of the bloodline of Jewish people (people who ethnically are Jews, but perhaps may not be religiously Jewish) and those who are spiritually Jewish. This can be supported by both spiritual and unspiritual because these events are historical. In many communities, it is difficult to agree on a set of events with historical record backing them up. These events are often interpreted differently by different communities, and also often paired with a lack of documentation or historical context. I would really like to emphasize the word “historical” here. When historians critically read sacred texts, there is an attempt to relate these texts to historical development (such as movements of people, draughts, other major recorded events) which leads these historians to things called “historical layers,” which “[remain] essential to the historical study of biblical writings” (Esposito). As it states in World Religions Today, “[the] difference between pre-modern and modern is the difference between sacred story and secular story.” Fundamentalist and Orthodox Jews live their lives based on the exclusion of historical context in their scripture. They fear that trying to tie these sacred texts to a specific time might diminish the word of God. Modernist Jews are just the opposite, where context and time are unavoidable pieces of the puzzle. As a contrast, Modernist Jews may not have as much mysticism in their spirituality as perhaps a more Fundamentalist Jew. Hasidism, for instance, are extremely devout Jews who live under great interpretation of mysticism. For Reformists, the historical normative events remain unchanged despite their views on a traditional Jewish living being vastly different. Conservative Judaism, unlike our definition of conservative policy in American government, fall somewhere in-between Orthodox Judaism and Reform Judaism. These Jews “[see} Jewish life as the life of a historically ethnic people that included but was not limited to the religious dimension” (Esposito).
In America, yet another major branch of Judaism sprouted in the 1930s, Reconstructionism. This is likely the largest groups of Jewish people I have had contact with throughout my life here in the mid-west. Reconstructionist Jews saw Judaism as “not in supernatural terms, but the embodiment of the ideals and group identity” (Esposito). These are Jewish people who identify deeply with the bloodline of Judaism, but live more-or-less on the outskirts of spiritual Judaism. The practice of religious traditions (like Yom Kippur) were done so in protection of tradition and preserving their identity and vitality as Jewish-heritage peoples. Even these, the least “spiritual” of major Jewish “denominations” seek out these historical normative events to preserve their lineage and where they have come from, even if they do not see the spiritual and religious practices in quite the same light as some of the other branches. Judaism is an extremely rich culture and very unique in many aspects of their culture and history as the oldest of the 3 main religions in the modern world. It’s so important that we keep this in mind as we dive into other religions.
Because Christianity is not an ethnicity, the historically normative events are harder to pin down. There was written records for this time, of course, but because there are so many denominations of Christianity interpreting biblical record differently, we have to paint with a broad stroke. Christianity is what it is today because of a man named Jesus. Jesus, claiming to be the son of God, raised a Jew, spent his life teaching and performing miracles and spreading the word of God. Eventually the Roman Empire decided Jesus was causing too many issues and as punishment, he was crucified. After what I imagine was a good amount of suffering, Jesus died and was buried in a cave with a large stone blocking the entrance. After 3 days, the stone was removed and it was found that Jesus’ body was gone. Jesus reappeared, alive, and made his ascension into heaven to join his parent, God. It is safe to say that the main historically-normative event for Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The entire premise of Christianity is to thank God for his/her sacrifice of their son to save the souls of those who followed. While some Christians (outliers, they be) do not necessarily believe in the Resurrection, it would simply be impossible do determine any other characteristic that defines Christianity and is a pillar of that religious community. Again, the lack of heritage and culture surrounding this religion’s history makes it a little more difficult to narrow down to a specific event or two, but the Resurrection was the straw that broke the camels back for many non-believers and truly sparked Christianity.
Early Christians embraced the ideas of the Resurrection. As Christianity spread in the first few centuries after Jesus, the main points of contention between sects was how to move the story and message of Jesus into “terms non-Jews could understand” (Esposito). It was decided later that it would be heretical to consider Jesus was strictly divine and was “a god who only appeared to be a ‘flesh and blood’ human being and therefor could not really have died on the cross, nor would it have been necessary for him to arise from the dead” [italicized for emphasis] (Esposito). As we move further away from the time of Jesus, we see the appearance of sacraments and festivals. While there are many, I want to point out the early adoption of holy communion and acceptance of the Holy Eucharist. Communion is the blessing of a sort of bread or food and wine to represent the God’s body and blood. The night before Jesus was crucified he broke bread and shared wine and it became a symbol for the sacrifice Jesus made for everyone and his resurrection shortly after. For Catholics, communion is taken at every religious ceremony. In other denominations it may be taken once a month, there are many variations of this. Even the largest Christian holiday on the calendar is Easter and Lent, which is spent celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and his sacrifices in the days and months leading up to his crucifixion. As the reformations began happening in 16th century, the overwhelming theme was that Christ had died for humanity’s sins. The only thing that changed was, like with Judaism, how living in the light of God was “best.” While many of the surrounding practices and beliefs changed around Christianity over the centuries, the one true historically normative event was and still is the death and resurrection of what is interpreted by followers to be the Son of God.
Islam’s own historically normative event, I believe, can be selected down to hijra. Hijra is the emigration from Mecca to Medina. This became “a turning point in Muhammad’s life and in Islamic history” (Esposito). This became such a central point in Islam that Muslims adapted it into their calendar. “The central significance of hijra and the birth of the Islamic community led to Muslims” changing their calendars to mark this change at Medina (Esposito). Muhammad, much like Jesus of Christianity, was a prophet. This change of community was also so historically normative that it is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every Muslim must make the same trip Muhammad did (at least once in their life, if they are financially and bodily abled). Hijra marked the globalization of Islam. It was not Muhammad’s goal to create a new religion, but simply reform current tribal religions. Very unlike Christianity which has many interpretations, Islam has a relatively strict set of belief systems. Because hijra is a pillar of Islam, one cannot practice Islam without it (and four other requirements). Even with the splits of Islam like Sunni and Shiah who interpret leadership within the Islamic community different, they all are united by the Prophet Muhammad and their faith in Allah. If we could divine Muhammad as an event himself, it would be easy to indicate him as the one and only historically normative event for Muslims throughout the centuries.
Unfortunately (fortunately?), Muhammad was the center of or created many historically important events to Islam. Because we must find a limited number of historically normative events that effect all Muslims regardless of space or time, it is easily settled that the trip to Mecca, hijra, greatly defines the spread of Islam and shapes a large part of spiritual devotion in the life of Muslims. “Just as Muslims are united five times each day as they face Mecca in worship, each year believers make the physical journey to this spiritual center of Islam, where they again experience unity, breadth, and diversity of the Islamic community” (Esposito). Islam is the youngest of the major religions, so there has been little deviation from its core values from only 1500 years ago. Hijra was such a special event, and the annual emigration – hajj – is so unique to Islam. Christians do sometimes trace the steps of Jesus through Palestine, but this annual tradition that all Muslims follow is unlike anything in any other major religion.
Without these events, it is hard to imagine the world and the cultures we live in now. These events have precedence. Christianity would likely have remained a secularly Jewish. Islam would be missing a pillar. Judaism as a religion wouldn’t have materialized, and Judaism as a heritage would have been entirely thrown into a different direction likely containing more slavery. These events are history changing, and studying these events helps us understand religions on a deeper level. Being able to transcend time and recognize the importance of these historically normative events add layers to what may be foreign religions and concepts to people outside of each sector.
Sources:
Esposito, John L., et al. World Religions Today. Oxford University Press, 2015.