7.1 History of Education: What was the Hebraic-Christian Education System? What can we Learn from it?

CHAPTER 7

HEBRAIC-CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

7 a i). Give accurate context of the Hebraic-Christian education system

1. Introduction

In the last lesson, we discussed Athenian and Spartan education and noted the Graeco-Roman legacy for education today.  In this lesson, we will discuss how the course of human civilization has been influenced by Hebrews in terms of religion. We shall also describe how Christianity became a driving force of human history through its immense influence on educational thought and practice.

2.  Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Compare Hebraic and Christian educational
• Identify the contributions of Hebraic-Christian education to the course of human

3. Content

• Hebraic Civilization

The ancient land of the Hebrews or Habiru, variously referred to as the ‘children of Israel’, Palestine, Canaan, “the Promised land”, a “land flowing with milk and honey”, and Israel extended from Damascus to the Sinai desert and the Negev. Ironically, its Southern part was an arid rocky land with hardly any rain, with only the coastal plains having an adequate water supply.

The importance of old Palestine was its religious history, unparalleled worldwide, which made it to become the Christian “Holy Land”. The Hebrew were monotheistic believing in only one God, Yahweh, the “blower” or the “feller”, the “Thunderer of the wilderness”. The effect of sustained monotheism was Judaism, a religion that saw the actions of human beings as divinely inspired, with Yahweh demanding individual righteousness.

Before the eventual conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews, the Canaanites had developed an impressive civilization, building important cities like Jesus, later Jerusalem. Due to the centuries-long wars over Palestine by the Hebrews, the constant conquest, and counter-conquests, and mingling with the Senates (the original inhabitants of Palestine), the population of Canaan became heterogeneous from the early times.

The History of the Hebrews is legendary and occupies an important place in world history. The Hebrews believed in Divine Providence and intervention and thus saw the hand of Yahweh behind every calamity or pestilence. They were the founders of the systematic study of history, believing as they did that history was purposeful, with no recognition of chance events and situations.

Note:  Hebraic civilization is central to the vexing question of the legitimacy of both the Palestinians and Israel’s claims in the Middle East.

Question: What is the Hebraic interpretation of history?

Activity:   Using your knowledge of Hebraic Civilization discuss the role of Yahweh in regulating human behavior.