How did the jewish religion start?

Question

I was taught the Jewish religion stemmed from christianity way back when and expanded from there. We had someone say to us the other day that their ethnicity was Jewish. I thought Jewish people were people that prctice Judaism<--spelling? and if you were Jewish you were still from Israel or of another country, etc. Can someone clarify?

Answer 1

Judaism is a religion, not an ethnicity (though it has racial/genetic elements so it is also partially a race). It started as a form of monotheism when god revealed himself to abraham. It was refined through Abraham's family and became codified when god gave a set of laws to the hebrews whom he had taken from egypt. These hebrews adopted the laws (the mosaic code) and became the proto-jews (the term "Jew" developed from the southern kingdom of Judah which is what was left after the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled and lost).

We are still Jews today and Christianity is an offshoot of us, not the other way around.

Answer 2

First of all the Jewish religion came out of the Egyptian culture, and Christianity came out of Judaism. That having been said, The Jewish race was at one time a nomadic tribe of people that were united by a language (Hebrew) and the Jewish faith. Today, there are people of the Jewish race, that don't practice the Jewish religion, and also those who have converted to the religion, who are not descended from the original Jewish race.

Then there is the nation of Israel. Israel is a Jewish nation that was built by the UN after world war II. Most Israelis are Jewish but most Jews are not Israeli.

Hope that clarifies things.

Answer 3

The Jewish religion stems from Zoroastrianism Way Back When. They picked up most of their concepts in Babylonia,then tossed on a local tribal god. There's actually only about 5 or 6 million practicing Jews left. Smaller than the Bahai Faith. There is no such thing as Jewish "ethnicity". The idea they are a race is in equal measure Hitlerian and Zionist - not the only thing the two ideologies have in common.

Answer 4

Originally they weren't called Jews. They where Hebrews. Then when Jacob came along and had the vision of the ladder God changed his name to Israel. Israel had twelve sons from them stems the twelve tribes of Israel. The word Jew doesn't appear in the Bible until Esther 3:6. That's just before Job. Judaism is both a religion and an ethnicity. Unless you converted to Judaism which they actually try to discourage.

Answer 5

[Of (Belonging to) Judah].

A person belonging to the tribe of Judah. The name is not used in the Bible account prior to the fall of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. The southern kingdom was called Judah, and the people were called sons of Judah or the tribe of the sons of Judah. The first one to use the name Jews was the writer of the books of Kings, doubtless Jeremiah, whose prophetic service began in 647 B.C.E. (See 2Ki 16:6; 25:25.) After the exile the name was applied to any Israelites returning (Ezr 4:12; 6:7; Ne 1:2; 5:17) and, finally, to all Hebrews throughout the world, to distinguish them from the Gentile nations. (Es 3:6; 9:20) Gentile men who accepted the Jewish faith and became circumcised proselytes also declared themselves Jews. (Es 8:17) However, in the Hebrew Scriptures the expression “alien resident” may refer to one who had adopted the religion of the Jews (Jer 22:3), and even in the Christian Greek Scriptures such are distinguished at times by the term “proselytes.” (Ac 2:10; 6:5; 13:43) The term “Jewess” is used at Acts 24:24.

When Jesus was a young child, the astrologers came, inquiring: “Where is the one born king of the Jews?” (Mt 2:1, 2) On Jesus’ torture stake Pilate put the title “Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews.”—Joh 19:19.

Answer 6

God found favor in a man and his wife, Abram and Sarai. They had been married many years, and had remained faithful to God all this time, but they had no children. God made a promise to Abram that he would have many descendents.

When Sarai and Abram were 90 and 100 years old, God granted their wish for a child, Isaac.

Isaac grew up and had two sons, Esau and Jacob. They were fraternal twins, very different.

Jacob grew up and had 12 sons. These twelve sons became the fathers of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.

One young brother, Joseph, was special to his father, but was also special to God. The older brothers were jealous, and sold Joseph into slavery. He ended up in Egypt, a nearby country. God gave Joseph wisdom and the Egyptian leaders took a liking to him. He gained much power there in Egypt.

God told Joseph that a great famine was coming, and how to get the Egyptians to store up food for the next seven years, so when the famine came, there would be enough to keep everyone alive.

Sure enough the famine came. Joseph's family heard the there was food in Egypt, and they went there to get some. They did not recognize Joseph. Eventually he admitted who he was, and invited the whole family to stay in Egypt with him. They did, and settled there, and multiplied greatly.
Eventually, they became slaves to the Egyptians, and were kept in slavery 400 years.

Then, Moses came into the picture, and led them away to the promised land. On that 40 year trip, they got the 10 Commandments and a bunch of other laws and regulations to follow from God.

The 12 tribes are the families of the original 12 brothers. The whole family came to be known as Hebrews, or Jews.

Jewish religion is based on the 10 Commandments, and that bunch of laws and regulations God issued. Of course, they have evolved over the centuries, but that is the start.

Jewish Religion allowed anybody to join them, as long as they agreed to follow the laws.

Jewish heritage comes from being born to someone with DNA linking up to one of the 12 original brothers.

Now that little summary covered hundreds of years, so a lot of the details were left out, but does this help with your question?

Answer 7

That's a lie. Judaism(The Jewish Religion) did not stem from Christianity. Christianity Stemmed from Judaism.

*Hence, Christians thought Jesus was "The Messiah" which is a Jewish conception.

Answer 8

Judaism began with the teachings of the Pharisees. Judaism claims that the oral arguements of the Pharisees came from the oral law that was given to moses along with the written law. Below are a few quotes from Rabbis about their religion.
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“Pharisaism became Talmudism, Talmudism became Nedieval Rabbinism, and Medieval Rabbinism became Modern Rabbinism. But throughout these changes of name the spirit of the ancient Pharisee survives unaltered.”
Rabbi Louis Finkelstein in volume 1 of his publication “The Pharisees, The Sociogical Backgrand of Their Faith” (page XXI of the forward).
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"The return from Babylon and the introduction of the Babylonian Talmud mark the end of Hebrewism and the beginning of Judaism."

Rabbi Stephen F. Wise,
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"That sustained, systematic exposition, through on instance after another, of the right reading of the Torah in both its media come to Israel now as in the past in a single document, the Talmud of Babylonia . . . For "Judaism" is Rabbinic Judaism, and the Talmud of Babylonia is the authoritative statement of the Torah that Judaism embodies. The Talmud is the prism, receiving, refracting all light. . . In the language of the Torah itself: study of the Torah begins, as a matter of simple, ubiquitous fact, in the Talmud. . . the Talmud formed the starting point and ending point, the alpha and the omega of truth. . ."
from 205 of "Rabbinic Judaism" by Rabbi Jacob Neusner
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“. . . the Talmud is the accumulation of commentaries to explain the Mishnah - the Oral Law.”
from page 17 of “God Is A Verb, Kabbalah and the practice of mystical judaism” by Rabbi David A. Cooper
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“We cannot understand the Jewish religion at all unless we know the main teachings of the Talmud.”
from page 17 of “God Is A Verb, Kabbalah and the practice of mystical judaism” by Rabbi David A. Cooper- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“The religion of the God of Israel is Christianity. It has no root in the religion of Judaism which is the religion of the Talmud.”
From page 21 of JUDAISM’S STRANGE GODS by Michael A. Hoffman II, published by The Independent History and Research, Co. P.O. Box 849 Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83816 ISBN # 0-9703784-0-8
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“The predominance of the faulty idea that Judaism is the root of Christianity, is responsible for much of the paralysis and impotence in the Church today.”
from page 23 of “Judaism’s Strange Gods” by Michael A. Hoffman II
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“Strickly speaking it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a “Jew” or a contemporary Jew an “Israelite” or a “Hebrew”.
from: The 1980 Jewish Almanac, first sentence of the first paragraph of the first chapter, entitled “Identity Crisis” with the subheading entitled “ A Brief History of the Terms for Jew”.
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“We can learn much from the history of Jewish-Christian relations, but the one thing we cannot make of it is a discourse of community, fellowship, and understanding. How, then, do we make of it a tradition?”
from page xiii of introduction to “The Myth of the Judeo-Christian Tradition” by Arthur A. Cohen, Schocken Books, New York Library of Congress Catalog # 77-152766
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“This is not an uncommon impression and one finds it sometimes among Jews as well as Christians - - that Judaism is the religion of the Hebrew Bible. It is of course a fallacious impression. . . . Judaism is not the religion of the Bible.”
from pages 59 & 159 of “Judaism And The Christian Predicament”, by Ben Zion Bosker (New York, NY Alfred A Knopt, 1967)
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“The very name Judaism sharply differentiates it from other religions. Whereas Buddhism centers in buddha, Christianity in Christ, Mohammedanism in Mohammed, Judaism centers in no particular personality - but in the Jewish people themselves . . . while Christianity is based upon events in the life of Christ, Judaism is based on occurrences in the history of the Jews. Christians lookto Jesus Christ for their salvation and Godliness. In Judaism the center of gravity is in the Jewish people themselves. Jewish history records a continuous struggle against other nations and their religions . . . Judaism has grown out of the soul of the Jewish people and has been nourished by their life-blood. Hence it is not called Mosaism, rabbinism, but Judaism - after the Jewish people themselves.”
from page 2 of “Truth Tract No. 4 Judaism - The World’s Strangest Religion” by Dr. E.R. Fields, The Truth At Last P.O. Box 1211, Marietta, GA 30061
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I hope that these few quotes are helpful, I can recogmend the book "The Truth About Judaism and Judeo-Christianity" for a short read on the subject.

Answer 9

God created the world and the people. The first people knew God and God had been with them a long time. Abraham was one whom God chose to make decendants that would be called "His people". God told him to go to what is Isreal and gave him the land. Through Abrahams Son, Isaac, the covenant God had with Abraham was passed, and then to Jacob. God is called God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the bible. Jacob had 12 sons and these 12 Sons became the 12 tribes of Isreal. Through them are the Jewish nation. Out one of the tribes, Moses was chosen by God as His prophet to lead His people out of Egypt and through Moses God gave His commandments called the Law (Torah) . This Law is what the Jews follow to be right in the sight of God today known as Judaism.The Jews had prophets and men of God who wrote scripture. All the Jewish scripture together is called the Tanakh. Do you want to know about Christianity now?...lol

Answer 10

Abraham came to be the first person called a Hebrew in the Bible:

(Genesis 14:13) “13 After that a man who had escaped came and told A´bram the Hebrew. He was then tabernacling among the big trees of Mam´re the Am´or·ite, the brother of Esh´col and brother of A´ner; and they were confederates of A´bra. . .”

*** it-2 pp. 73-74 Jew(ess) ***

[Of (Belonging to) Judah].

A person belonging to the tribe of Judah. The name is not used in the Bible account prior to the fall of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. The southern kingdom was called Judah, and the people were called sons of Judah or the tribe of the sons of Judah. The first one to use the name Jews was the writer of the books of Kings, doubtless Jeremiah, whose prophetic service began in 647 B.C.E. (See 2Ki 16:6; 25:25.) After the exile the name was applied to any Israelites returning (Ezr 4:12; 6:7; Ne 1:2; 5:17) and, finally, to all Hebrews throughout the world, to distinguish them from the Gentile nations. (Es 3:6; 9:20) Gentile men who accepted the Jewish faith and became circumcised proselytes also declared themselves Jews. (Es 8:17) However, in the Hebrew Scriptures the expression “alien resident” may refer to one who had adopted the religion of the Jews (Jer 22:3), and even in the Christian Greek Scriptures such are distinguished at times by the term “proselytes.” (Ac 2:10; 6:5; 13:43) The term “Jewess” is used at Acts 24:24.

When Jesus was a young child, the astrologers came, inquiring: “Where is the one born king of the Jews?” (Mt 2:1, 2) On Jesus’ torture stake Pilate put the title “Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews.”—Joh 19:19.

Figurative Use. The apostle Paul, in arguing that the Jews were mistaken in their pride of fleshly descent and in relying on the works of the Law to find favor with God, said: “For he is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision that which is on the outside upon the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit, and not by a written code. The praise of that one comes, not from men, but from God.” (Ro 2:28, 29) Here Paul, by a play on the meaning of the name Judah, shows that the real basis for praise from God is being a servant of God from the heart, by spirit. This argument parallels his reasoning in Romans chapter 4, that the true seed of Abraham are those with the faith of Abraham. He further points out that in the Christian congregation nationality is of no consequence, for “there is neither Jew nor Greek [Gentile].” (Ga 3:28) The resurrected Jesus Christ spoke to the congregation at Smyrna, comforting them with regard to the persecution they were receiving, to a great extent at the hands of the Jews, saying: “I know . . . the blasphemy by those who say they themselves are Jews, and yet they are not but are a synagogue of Satan.”—Re 2:9.