OK, so Christian's God was around before Jesus. Does that mean...?

Question

...that Christians used to be Jews? Then Jesus came along... Some people decided Jesus was worth following (Christians) and some did not (Jews)?

TIA. Just trying to figure out the history, if you will. (Genealogy of religion?)

Can anyone recommend any good websites to find info like this? (Google has not been my friend today.)

Answer 1

GOD IS THE SAME GOD FOR MANY RELIGIONS INCLUDING CHRISTIANITY, JUDISM, AND MUSLIM. HOWEVER, WHEN JESUS STATED HE WAS THE SON OF GOD MANY JEW BELIEVED HIM AND CHOSE TO FOLLOW FORMING CHRISTIANITY.

WWW.BELIEFNET.COM

IS A GREAT SITE!

Answer 2

There was a great article in National Geographic called "Abraham: the father of three religions" (FYI, they mean Judaism, Christianity and Islam). You may want to see if you can find a copy at the library if your internet isn't working.

The practices that were set in place for the Jews before Jesus came were in preparation for his coming. You will note that Jews today are still waiting for their Messiah. The thing is that some Jews did not believe Jesus was Him because they were so set in their Laws they could not see Him for who He was. You can't say that Christian's used to be Jews, but that some Christians are descendents of Jews. It isn't only Jews, but also the gentiles that became Christians during and after Jesus' time on earth. Jesus was a Jew.

Answer 3

Read the latter half of Paul's book to the Romans, and especially Galatians. It explains well why many of the Christians do not consider themselves Jewish.

Anyway, it is traced back to Abraham. Abraham had two sons, Ismael, the eldest, who is considered the ancestor of the Arabs (and hence most of the Muslims) and the younger son Isaac, who the Jews trace themselves back to. The Bible says Isaac was the one God would establish his covenant with, the Qurran says it was with Ishmael. Anyway, since the endless laws could not save the Jews, they needed a sacrifice, and the Messiah was promised to be the final sacrifice since no sacrifice of man was worthy enough. Christians believe Christ is the Messiah. The earliest Christians were Jews, i.e. Matthew, Mark, John, Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and several others. The only non-Jew in the Bible was Luke, and he was from Syria (Luke was a convert of Paul)

Anyway, much of your question can be answered in the New Testament itself. The Jewish priests rejected Christ. Christ and the priests did not get along well. John especially documents the relation between Jesus and the priests, but Matthew does a lot too.

At first, the Jews were bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jews)

Now the Christians (Gentiles for the most part) are trying to bring the Gospel back.

Answer 4

Jesus was a Jew. His followers were Jews. However, in the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus came and fulfilled all of the prophesies. Even though Jesus's followers were now technically Christians, the term didn't come right away.

However, there are still Jews to this day. Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Savior. They are still waiting for the Savior to come. They do not believe in the New Testament of the Bible. Therefore, they are still considered Jews, while followers of Christ are Christians.

Answer 5

Yes, in a way.

The Old Testament defined Judaism, then the New Testament brought in Christianity, and the Muslims followed who are cousins of the Jews and Christians and are instructed to love all people of the Book and to respect all prophets sent by God. So there is a progression where all tribes are branches off the same tree.

Also, the same way Christianity reformed Judaism, by reintroducing the spirit of the law to set followers free from enslavement by the letter of the law, Buddhism similarly reformed Hinduism by liberating followers from the rigid caste system that kept people's thinking bound by old beliefs.

The Bahai faith also came out of Islam to reinvent and expand on teachings to make them more universal. I believe all religions are like different languages for the law, even secular systems such as the natural laws reflected in the Constitution, and the point is for natural laws and divine laws to be rejoined in one spirit of truth, which is represented in Christ as rejoining man and God, or human laws with divine.

In pre-historic times before the Bible, the power of God and Creation as the source of Life were depicted without words using symbols for the earth and Mother Nature. Wisdom is also an older archeotype for God, which is female, and associated with the Moon or Eastern traditions. The Eastern philosophies and religions, like the Greek ethics, are more in line with "natural laws" of the gentiles or secular world. As the Greek teachings on ethics were later reconciled with Catholic theology through the works of Aquinas on Aristotle, the same has been done with Buddhist and Christian teachings, aligning the more secular teachings on the human spiritual process with the divine laws in the Bible that use collective symbolism to describe human spiritual history.

Since Buddha prophesied the coming and return of a Maitreya Buddha to fulfill the process bringing final enlightenment, I would equate this with the coming of the spirit of truth before the return of Christ with the Holy Spirit.

You may not find a single website that ties all religions together as one spiritual progression the way I see it, but the Bahai teach that each religion was like a history lesson presented at a certain place in time, and together all the knowledge can be assimilated through the different cultures and traditions. That is the closest I have found.

For a website on Buddhism fulfilled in Christianity:
http://www.bebaptized.org/buddha.htm

For a poem on how the male and female based religions have taken historical turns and are seeking reconciliation and balance in Christ:
http://www.houstonprogressive.org/genocide.html

You may not find that written out, as most people either align with one group or another, and very few seek a position objective or universal enough to explain how they fit together as one without leaving something out. Good luck!

Answer 6

Yes,Jews were first(following Old Testiment law).Jesus was sent because back in that time,they were sacrificing animals to God to forgive sins,and when Jesus died on the cross(the ultimate sacrifice),Jews wouldn't have to do that anymore,and then they became Christians,living by the new law(New Testiment).
Now,the Jews knew that Jesus was going to come.It was God's plan.But when Jesus came,some Jews refused to believe it was true.They must have expected Him to relieve the world of its evil and what not,when He was really there to teach God's word.It doesn't make sense to me,because Jesus fufilled the prophecy.He did everything God said He would do,but people still didn't believe it.

Answer 7

Yes. Well, basically. The Christian Bible contains the Old Testament, which is made up of books studied by those who follow Judaism. Christians (such as myself) believe that Jesus was the Messiah, who's coming was foretold in the Old Testament. Jews believe that the Messiah has yet to come.

Answer 8

I don't know about good websites, but Christians did used to be Jews.

Christianity didn't spread to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) until the Apostle Paul came along and argued successfully that men didn't need to be Jewish before they became Christian.

Up until then, if a Roman wanted to become a Christian, he had to convert to Judaism, which included a circumcision. Which made Christianity VERY uninviting.

Answer 9

Jesus has been around eternally. The original translation in Genesis says "We will make God in our image." The trinity has existed forever, but it was not until 2000 some years ago that Jesus became flesh and blood.

God says in the old testament that he will make a new covenant, which will overwrite the one made with Abraham. He promised a Messiah to save the people from their sins. Instead of animal sacrifices for purity, Jesus was the lamb sacrifice to atone for the sins... (you probably know this)).

The Jewish people believe that Jesus was not God in human form and the Messiah has not come yet.

The Chirstians believe that Jesus's death allows us to get into heaven, if we believe and accept his gift.

Answer 10

I suggest you read the bible... Not as a religous ritual... but just for the information. Read just the book of Genesis it will have enough infomation about Adam and Eve, their children, Cain and Abel and Seth. Then Noah and the flood and the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who god changed to Isreal who is the father of the Jews. You can read the Bible online at www.Bible.com in several different translations

Answer 11

Originally Christianity was a sect of the Jewish religion know as "The Way". Eventually Christianity became a separate religion. There are a lot of good links on the Free Stuff page @ http://web.express56.com/~bromar/ where you can find more detailed answers to your questions as well as the Answer button on the main page.