Noah about to be baptised. In medieval Christianity, Noah's three sons were generally considered as the founders of the populations of the three known continents, Japheth/Europe, Shem/Asia, and Ham/Africa, although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society – the priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In medieval Christian thought, Ham was considered to be the ancestor of the people of black Africa. So, in racialist arguments, the curse of Ham became a justification for the slavery of the black races. Isaac Newton, in his religious works on the development of religion, wrote
Keter Shem Tov Keter Shem Tov Keter Shem Tov, (, "The Crown of the Good Name") was the first published work of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism. The book was published in Zalkevo, 1794, more than thirty years after Rabbi Israel's passing. The book contains numerous, but brief, Hasidic interpretations of the Torah (Hebrew Bible). The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement had republished the work in a number of new editions. In "Keter Shem Tov", the Baal Shem Tov stresses the importance and esteem placed on the recital of Psalms. A complete edition of "Keter Shem Tov" (titled