(9) The Rise of Judaism. (1) The history of the Old Testament closes with the return from Bahylon, but fortunately the literature which it comprises gives us somc light on thc period from thc exile to the advent. The movement which Ezra had startcd went on with increased force. Gradually the literature of the nation was gath ered into a collection, to which, however. addi tions were made up to within a century and a half of the Christian era. The love of the Scriptures, and especially the law which had now been put into one collection. the Pentateuch, grew in the hearts of the people. as salvation was more and more believed to be found in its possession. One finds expression of this feeling in the psalms of the period (e. g., cxix).
(2) Closely related to the pride in :he Scriptures was that inspired by the temple and its services. No other nation had such possessions as these. ;Ind all the world might well envy the Jew these Divine gifts. Thus Judaistn came to be more an4 more the religion of a book and a building. The Torah and the Temple were the visible symbols of the faith. Nor must it be forgotten that a high order both of religious conduct and of happiness resulted from this two-fold culture.
(3) Absolute monotheism had now been at tained. There could be no remnant of a belief in other gods. But if Jahveh was the god of Israel and also of all the world, what was the relation of Israel to that world, and how was God himself disposed toward these other nations? From the time of the exile there had been two tempers of mind regarding other nations, as has been already stated. Both find expression in post-exilic days. The date of the books of Joel and Jonah is still an open question, but both may be confidently placed within the limits of this period. (See Jou.) The former voices the conservative view. The nations exist only for the sake of Zion. When trouble visits the land, Jahveh is called into activity by a solemn fast, and at once prom ises to take vengeance on the nations for their treatment of the chosen people. What are all these nations compared with Judah and Jerusa lem? War is declared against them; Egypt and Edom shall be desolated, and all Zion's foes shall perish. Even the beautiful promise of the out pouring of the Divine spirit refers to Israel alone as its recipient. In striking contrast with this attitude is that of the author of Jonah, a book much misunderstood and ridiculed, but one of the most precious in the Old Testament. Jonah rep resents the narrow and ungracious spirit of those Jews who have no desire to give a tnessage of salvation to other nations. In contrast with the noble-minded mariners and the repentant Nine vites, he plays but a sorry part. (See Jo/stmt.) The book is a forceful protest against the nar rower phases of post-exilic Judaism.
(4) But this very conception of God compelled the Jew to adjust the heathen to the Divine and all-ruling law in some manner. Two methods were open. The one was that of proselyting, e., admitting the heathen to covenant privileges un der the law, through compliance with certain prescribed forms, viz., circumcision, baptism, and
the offering of sacrifices. The opening of this door gave rise to an earnest missionary propa ganda, especially in the century before Christ. But there were those who looked with disfavor on any efforts to widen the embrace of the national faith, and, while proselytism did not absolutely cease, it lost its force after a time. The second view as to the heathen, or gentiles, was that they should be conquered and brought into subjuga tion at Lhe period of Messianic supremacy yet ahead. Probably this was the more prevalent view, growing naturally out of the lofty ideas regarding the law and the temple, and the privi leges they conferred on the chosen people.
(5) At what period the synagogue came into being, or when Pharisees and Sadducees first arose, remains uncertain ; at some time before the Maccabean movement, at any rate. Perhaps as important was the influence of Hellenism upon Jewish thought. Alexander's conquests produced a wide diffusion of Grcek ideas, and perhaps no people were more profoundly affected by them than the Jews. This was especially true outside of Palestine. The Dispersion, i. e., those Jews who lived in other parts of the world, Persia, Asia Minor, and Europe, were less under the influence of the conservative party than the Jews of the Holy Land. But even in Jeru salem the liberalizing (tendency manifested it self in a decided manner, and it is impossible to say to what lengths it might have gone had not another force interposed. Antiochus IV, called Epiphanes (see ANTIOCH us), the overlord of Pal estine, whose capital was at Antioch, impatient of Jewish customs and religious services in Jerusa lem, attempted to force the process of Hellenizing upon the people, and by his profanation of the temple drove the people to a frantic uprising un der the leadership of the Maccabees. (See MAC CABEES.) In this struggle the older conservatism asserted itself, and a decisive break with Hellen ism occurred. That reaction persisted as perhaps the most effective force which the Judaism of the period presents, viz., the Pharisees. The most in teresting souvenir of that struggle is the book of Daniel, written about B. C. /65, and intended as an encouragement to the warriors in the struggle, by its portrayals of heroism and deliverance gath ered around the character of Daniel in the captiv ity, and the prophecies of eventual victory put into his mouth. (See DANIEL.) ThiS period is also marked by the appearance of Chronicles, a work which reconstructs the his tory from the priestly point of view, reading back into remote times conditions and ideals which, as a matter of fact, were post-exilic. Other books of the time were Ecclesiastes, Sirach, Judith, To bit, Enoch, Maccabees, etc. (See APOCRYPHA.) In this period the belief in a future life took form, with the doctrine of rewards and punish ments, the belief in a being called the adversary, or Satan, and the more definite forms of the Mes sianic hope.