Judaism

Origins:

o   Judaism is a one of the three Prophetic Monotheistic Religions in the world, the other two are Christianity and Islam.

o   It is Prophetic as there were numerous Prophets who predicted the coming of a Messiah, Monotheistic as they believe in one God – mono (one) Theology (belief/ study of God.)

History:

o   Jews are an ancient people of around 3000 years old, their history is told in the Bible and is traced back to Abraham of around 1900 BC (before common time era).

o   The Jews have been known as Jews, Israelites and Hebrews. (Jesus was a Jew, however the Jews accept Jesus as wise man, but not the chosen Messiah as Christians believe, hence Judaism predates and heavily influences Christianity, but is not part of Christianity.)

Abraham:

o   Abraham is one of the first recorded leaders of the Hebrews in the Bible. He was a wealthy man who was called by God to leave his land and move from Ur to Canaan, or Israel as it is called today.

o   Abraham heard the call of the Lord top stop believing in Pagan Gods (like God of wind, God of Mountain, etc) and he followed God’s request and led his people from Mesopotamia to Canaan. This journey is recorder in the book of Genesis. We can map his journey here: http://www.biblemap.org/Haran