Module 1 - Part 3: Texts and Contexts

Other parts of this module include:
Index  |  Part 1: Overview  |  Part 2: Explorations and Exercises  |  Part 4: Web Resources

The Origins of Monotheism

The Ten Commandments

The most explicit articulation of the noniconic religion is twice spoken by Moses, at the beginning and at the end of the exodus from Egypt, in the opening of the Ten Commandments, the first of which is a statement of the singularity of the Hebraic God rather than an actual commandment. The second commandment prohibits bowing down to false idols and by extension any effort to represent the divine as an image.

When the Renaissance artist Michelangelo sculpted a life-size statue of Moses with the Ten Commandments in his hands, he modeled the figure according to the idealizing view of the human body familiar from classical antiquity. The non-Judaic urge to create images led to the artist's rendering as a physical attribute the aura around the head of Moses described in the Bible when he descends from Mount Sinai with the tables of the law.

Images of Michelangelo's Moses.
– Link 1
– Link 2

Text of the Ten Commandments.
– Link 3

The beginning of the Gospel According to St. John (King James Version)

(Remember that St. John wrote in Greek, and that the Greek word for "word" is logos.)

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.

1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe.

1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.

1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received Him not.

1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.

1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me.

1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him.

Further reading

Mahfouz, Naguib. Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth. Trans. Tagreid Abu-Hassabo. New York: Anchor, 1998.

This fascinating novel, published in Arabic in 1985, may be compared with Mahfouz's short story Zaabalawi, which appears in Volume F of the Norton Anthologyof World Literature. In both the novel and the story, the author takes his readers on an intellectual quest in search of revelation. In the course of a long career, Mahfouz has done serious research into the world of the pharaohs and ancient Egypt. Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth brings to life a memorable group of characters, most of whom were actual historical figures whose careers were profoundly affected by their association with Akhenaten.

Boardman, Griffin, and Murray. The Oxford History of the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.

Hadas, Moses. A History of Greek Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 1950.