The Christianity of today developed in the first century C.E
out of Judaism, and is based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of
Yeshua, or Jesus Christ as he is known in English. The life of Jesus is
narrated in the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament. But before
Jesus was born basic Christian beliefs about God still existed; they just
hadn’t been formalized into Christianity, and of course Jesus did not yet exist.
Pentateuch
lifehopeandtruth.com
Christian beliefs stem from the ancient Jewish scriptures of
the Torah, which make up the first five books of the Old Testament called the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the book of Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This was the original Hebrew Bible, and is generally recognized by
all Christian denominations. Traditional belief is that the Torah was written
by the Israelite leader Moses, and that parts of it were dictated to him by God,
which is why they are also referred to as the Five Books of Moses. But there is
also long standing belief that the Pentateuch had many authors, due to the
differences in style between the books, the description of Moses’ own death and
burial, and other discrepancies between the texts; but that is another story
entirely!
Regardless of who wrote the first five books
of the Old Testament, it tells the history of God’s creation of earth and of
humans; the stories of the ancestors of God’s chosen people, the Israelites;
the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt and their beginnings in Israel,
including God’s “laws” telling them how to build their society; and Moses’
final days, death, and burial. Included in God’s “laws”, from the book of
Exodus, are the 613 commandments that Gods uses to tell his people how to lead
a happy and fulfilled life, and have a proper relationship with God. These
commandments fall into categories that became know as the Ten Commandments, and
are taken very seriously by most Christians. The Ten Commandments discussed in
this blog are generally accepted, but keep in mind they do vary between denominations.
Sources:
Patheos.com
bbc.co.uk/religion
Infidels.org
Lifehopeandtruth.com
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