C.E. - a designation of time meaning "Common Era." This designation recognizes that the nations of the world now tend to follow the same calendar and dating scheme but that not all nations or religious faiths recognize Jesus Christ as divine or as the savior of humankind. The use of C.E. rather than A.D. ("Anno Domini" or "In the year of our Lord") allows people of different religious faiths to find common ground for productive discussion and scholarship without allowing the theology of one to dominate.

CASUISTIC LAW - a term referring to a specific type of law in which both the law and the punishment for breaking the law are given. Often casuistic law is presented in the form "if ... , then ..." Examples of casuistic law in the Hebrew Bible are Lev. 17:10, 20:1-27; Deut. 21:18-21. See also Ten Commandments

CHIASM, CHIASTIC STRUCTURE - in a chiasm an account or poem moves step by step through a structure of themes to reach a central point and then moves back through the structure in reverse. A typical chaistic structure would be diagrammed as follows:

A

B

C

B'

A'

In the above example the account would begin with a discussion of A, then B, and finally end up at C, the central point of the account. The author would then move back through B ending again at A perhaps adding to the discussion of B and A or bringing those discussions or events to an acceptable close. An example of a chiastic structure in the Hebrew Bible is the Jacob narrative.

CIRCUMCISION - the practice of removing a male's foreskin. The practice dates back to at least the third millennium B.C.E. and is probably far older. Many western Semitic peoples in Syria and Palestine practiced circumcision. Israel was unique in that males were circumcised on the eighth day after birth (Gen. 17:12) rather than at a later time such as puberty. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:9-14).

CLAIRVOYANCE - refers to the ability to see things that others might not be able to see. The seers of Israel were gifted with clairvoyance. Often they were able to see deep, spiritual truths that were crucial for their nation and the world. At other times they were simply able to see the location of objects (1 Sam. 9:6-21)

COSMOGONY - the study of the beginning of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible cosmogony and cosmology (see below) are closely related. See also Cosmology Study Notes

COSMOLOGY - the study of the form and structure of the universe. In particular cosmology seeks to make the universe a meaningful and comprehensible. In the Hebrew cosmogony and cosmology are closely related. See also Cosmology Study Notes

CUBIT - the standard unit of measure in the Hebrew Bible when determining length. A cubit was the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. In modern measurements a cubit would be roughly 18 inches or half a yard or, more roughly, half a meter.

CULTIC PROSTITUTE - In the past scholars commonly held and taught that both women and men were employed by the fertility cults of Palestine to have sexual relations with worshipers in an effort through sympathetic magic to cause the gods to provide fertility to the land and the people. It was assumed that sexual relations among worshipers would encourage the gods to have sexual relations. The earth and its inhabitants would then benefit from the gods' fertility. Male and female cultic prostitutes were assumed to be important functionaries in the fertility cults and were often seen as equal in status to priests. That idea has been overstated. Cultic prostitution did exist but in another form entirely. When a person performed acts of prostitution and gave the money or goods received for those acts to the temple, that was cultic prostitution. Deut. 23:17-18 forbids any Israelite from being a cultic prostitute in order to pay a vow to the temple implying that such actions were known, if not commonplace, in the Ancient Near East. The Ancient Near East knew of sexual debauchery in worship as did the Israelites. Exod. 32:6 states that the worshipers of the golden calf ate, drank, and then "played" or engaged in sexual relations. For Israel neither sexual relations nor their rewards were to be part of worshiping God.

CUNEIFORM - the writing system in which characters are made by using a reed stylus to impress weedge-shaped marks on a soft writing surface. The term itself is the Latin term for wedge-shaped. The most common writing surface was clay. More than 99 percent of the surviving examples of cuneiform from the ancient world are on a clay medium. Cuneiform could also be impressed on wax-covered boards, chiseled on stone, engraved on metal, or painted or scratched on wood or ceramic. Cuneiform was used from around 3100 B.C.E. to 100 C.E.

Photograph of a clay cylinder of Nabonidus
from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art
(c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97