Religions in the Bible

[kevb0444]

Hi...a quick question. I was once told by a preacher (born again christian) that there were no religions in the Bible (King James) Is this true? I said about the Jew's and he said they are a people not a religion. If he was wrong and there are, can i have chapter and verse for them so i could see.

[alijangra]

Christianity??

[kevb0444]

Well i thought that as well, but he said Religion is man made thing and christianity is not man made but the faith in the word of the Gospel!!!

[dancealot13]

It is noted that Jesus was a Jew, but Im pretty sure it wasn't mentioned that Jesus as Jewish. Good question.

[alijangra]

So he claims Christianity is not a religion? Really??

Im not a practising christian, although I do have strong beliefs due to my upbringing. I went to church until I was 16 and my dad is a christian. I have always thought of it as being a religion. But thats my opinion.

[Clanad]

Not sure what you mean by religions, but if it is meant there are no religions mentioned by name in Scripture, then he's mistaken... Acts 11:26, says believers were first known as Christians (literally, little Christs) at Antioch.
As well, the Old Testament is replete with references to the Cannanite fertility religions of Ashteroth (Asherah)... one that comes to mind is 2 Kings 21:4-7... this is but one of many.
Elijah's confrontation with the 450 prophets of Baal is yet another (1 Kings 18:36-37).
As Far as Jews are concerned, they can be either a race or religion or both... If reffered to as a race, they are usually, not always, a member of the religion by default...

[Lonnie]

In the days of Jesus, Jews were both a religeon, and a nationality, their country was Judea.

In todays world, a Jew is known as such for the religeon only, the Jewish state is Israel, so any national, regardless of religeon, is an Israeli.

[Clanad]

I agree, Lonnie, however, as you know, Jews are still recognized as a race of people rather than a nationality today...

[Lonnie]

Your absolutely correct Clanad, its a misconception, but thats the way it is.

[dancealot13]

Kevb0444 is saying that the Jewish religion did not come into play untill AD. Before Christ/Jesus....people were just Jews from Judea there wasn't a Jewish religion before Christ.

[dancealot13]

If Im wrong, which I may very well be. How could there be a Jewish religion before the birth of Jesus? Now, maybe the Jewish Religion we know today, that includes Jesus, is not the same as the Jewish religion that existed before the birth of Christ.

[Lonnie]

We seem to be diversifying a little, and I welcome Clanad to come on after me, however,

Jews. as I said, were called that because they lived in Judea, I could go back as far as you want, but i'll stay in Judea for now.

Jesus was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, and died as a Jew, Christinity, eg, the faith that worship him as divine, did not come int being until Jesus had died, it couldn't, because the crucifixion and resurrection was needed to fulfill one of the prophesies.

[dancealot13]

I understand that. But how was 'Jewish' also considered a religion before the christ?

[dancealot13]

sorry- before the birth of christ?

[Clanad]

Jews, or more accurately People of the Book, first came into being with the covenant initiated by Yahweh with Abraham at least 4,000 maybe 4,800 years ago and is considered the birth of the religion aspect. However, properly, the term most fitting for these Semitic peoples of ancient Ur of the Chaldees was Hebrew. Contemporary records as well as Egyptian records mention the Haiburu. The first descendant of Abraham (nee Abram) to which the term Jew is attributed is a grandson of his son, Jacob (later changed by Yahweh to Israel) named Judah. . This would still have been thousands of years before the Christ. Lonnie's reference to fullfilment of one prophecy by Yeshua is actually near 300... but that's another discussion...

[Lonnie]

dancealot13, bear with me, 'The Christ', as you called him, is, as you must know, Jesus, who, as I said, lived and died as a Jew, no such thing as Christianity, so to the Jews, then and now, there never has been a 'Christ',

I'm not too sure how to answer your question, except that I could tell you how Judaism came about, and what it evolved from, but it was there long before Jesus.

[dancealot13]

Ok, so Jesus/Christ, has nothing to do with the Jewish relgion. I was mistaken, thinking that Jesus the savior was in the Jewish Religion, that is why I was confused as to how it could exist before the birth of Jesus. I get it now though. Thanks.

[Clanad]

But dancealot, Yeshua Ha Mashiach was very much "in the Jewish religion", which is what Lonnie has been trying to get across to you, I think.
For centuries, the arrival of Messiah had been prophesied. Yeshua met all of the requirements, but the Jews of the day, especially the leaders in the Temple at Jersusalem were looking for a Messiah that would immediately deliver the nation of Israel from the opression of Rome. They didn't get the concept Yeshua tried to teach them. Regardless, He was always and still is a Jew. He said in Matthew 7:17 and elsewhere "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill it."

Paul (nee Saul of Tarsus, a self-described "Hebrew of Hebrews") clearly wrote, " I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile". (Romans 1:16).

A growing movement among Jews, even in Israel, is the Messianic movement wherein many Jews have come to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah (Ha Mashiach). So there has not been a real separation in the intent of Yahweh between Jews and Christians. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. (and the U.K.) so strongly support the nation of Israel. Early in Genesis Yahweh promised "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you" (Genesis 12:3). The existence of Israel today is proof enough of that... in my opinion...

[Lonnie]

Thanks for coming to my rescue Clanad, I was beginning to pull my hair out.

[dancealot13]

Im not articulating myself well. I apologize. I have been refering to Jesus from a Christian standpoint, not a Jewish standpoint. That is why we were not on the same page. I understand everything you both said. Jesus was a Jew, but Jews don't believe Jesus as their savior like Christians do. Jews believe their savior is yet to come. true? I hope so. If not Ill shut up, and read more about it. I don't mean to frusturate everyone.

[Clanad]

There you go, dancealot! The crux of the situation is summed in Luke 19:44 where Yeshua says on Palm Sunday while overlooking Jerusalem "... And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
His sorrow was especially true in that the High Priest, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin and Saducees all should have known, from Daniel 9:24, that Messiah could only come in the 490 year time frame detailed there. They missed it, but He didn't... right on time as always...
Thanks for your interest...