The Semites
Let us now turn to the Semites, Sophie. They belong to a completely
different culture with a completely different language. The Semites originated
in the Arabian Peninsula, but they also migrated to different parts of the world.
The Jews lived far from their home for more than 2,000 years. Semitic history
and religion reached furthest away from its roots by way of Christendom,
although Semitic culture also became widely spread via Islam.
All three Western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—share a
Semitic background. The Muslims’ holy scripture, the Koran, and the Old
Testament were both written in the Semitic family of languages. One of the
Old Testament words for “god” has the same semantic root as the Muslim
Allah. (The word “allah” means, quite simply, “god.”)
When we get to Christianity the picture becomes more complicated.
Christianity also has a Semitic background, but the New Testament was
written in Greek, and when the Christian theology or creed was formulated, it
was influenced by Greek and Latin, and thus also by Hellenistic philosophy.
The Indo-Europeans believed in many different gods. It was just as
characteristic for the Semites that from earliest times they were united in their
belief in one God. This is called monotheism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
all share the same fundamental idea that there is only one God.
The Semites also had in common a linear view of history. In other words,
history was seen as an ongoing line. In the beginning God created the world
and that was the beginning of history. But one day history will end and that will
be Judgment Day, when God judges the living and the dead.
The role played by history is an important feature of these three Western
religions. The belief is that God intervenes in the course of history—even that
history exists in order that God may manifest his will in the world, just as he
once led Abraham to the “Promised Land,” he leads mankind’s steps through
history to the Day of Judgment. When that day comes, all evil in the world will
be destroyed.
With their strong emphasis on God’s activity in the course of history, the
Semites were preoccupied with the writing of history for many thousands of
years. And these historical roots constitute the very core of their holy scrip-
tures.
Even today the city of Jerusalem is a significant religious center for
Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. This indicates something of the common
background of these three religions.
The city comprises prominent (Jewish) synagogues, (Christian)
churches, and (Islamic) mosques. It is therefore deeply tragic that Jerusalem
should have become a bone of contention—with people killing each other by
the thousand because they cannot agree on who is to have ascendancy over
this “Eternal City.” May the UN one day succeed in making Jerusalem a holy
shrine for all three religions! (We shall not go any further into this more prac-
tical part of our philosophy course for the moment. We will leave it entirely to
Hilde’s father. You must have gathered by now that he is a UN observer in
Lebanon. To be more precise, I can reveal that he is serving as a major. If you
are beginning to see some connection, that’s quite as it should be. On the
other hand, let’s not anticipate events!)
We said that the most important of the senses for Indo-Europeans was
sight. How important hearing was to the Semitic cultures is just as interesting.