Lee Ann Powers
Student ID # 244053
Professor Kevin Rawls
Philosophy 104
February 5, 2007
Judaism and Jesus Christ
Judaism is the first of the world’s oldest religions to believe in only one god. God made a covenant of grace with Abraham, who is considered the world’s first Jew. He accepted God’s covenant by faith, and so by extension, the people of Israel (Barnes 88).
The Jewish people have been persecuted, forced into exile and dispersed for most of their history. Today there are Jewish people living in countries all over the world with several different religious branches having emerged, each with their own customs and traditions they have adapted over time. As a result, being Jewish can mean different things, such as merely being born to a Jewish woman, just being part of the culture without observing the Jewish laws or attending services, or by following a strict religious way of life daily (Langley 6, 44).
The Hebrew Bible is a record of God’s approach to His people. Israel was made to be a Holy People. Judaism is God’s quest for man, as more statements are found in the Bible about God’s love for Israel than about Israel’s love for God. There is no concept of a chosen God but there is the idea of a chosen people. It signifies not a quality inherent in the people but a relationship between the people and God (Pelikan 566).
The Hebrew Bible has no Old or New Testament. It consists of three books: the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. The written Torah is also know as the First Five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch, and is the word of God as revealed to Moses on Mt Sinai. In the life of a Jew the Torah functions as an instrument of salvation, as it provides the laws and instructions for daily life (Pelikan 349). There are 613 Co ...