Monotheistic Religion

Annotations:

• Jesus is also known as the "Son of God". Jesus born in about 6 C.E., and no one really know exactly the day that Jesus die.

1. The birthplace of Christianity was at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. This was the homeland of the Jews, which was also known as Judea. The Roman military governor kept things in order and made sure that Judeans paid taxes to Rome, but the Romans usually left local businesses to the Jews themselves.
   1. Jews had their own sacred writings and in the writings were prophecies that one day God would deliver a savior to save the people on Earth. They called the savior, the Messiah, which means specially chosen by God.
   2. The New Testament in the Christian Bible tells the story of the life of Jesus. Among the New Testament, there are four gospels written by four of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew, Mark, John and Luke.
      1. According to the gospels, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a town called Bethlehem, which was Joseph’s (Mary’s husband) hometown. They traveled back to Nazareth afterwards where Jesus was raised as a carpenter. When Jesus was at the age of 30, a teacher known as John the Baptist said that Jesus was the savior that the Jews had been waiting for the Messiah. Jesus prayed in the wilderness for 40 days, before he started to preach in Galilee.
         1. At first, Jesus taught in synagogues, a place where the Jews worship, but the crowd got too big so Jesus began to teach in open areas. The followers of Jesus were known as disciples, who were mostly commoners. Jesus’ teaching emphasized on love and mercy and he spent most of his time with the poor and needy instead of the wealthy people. One way that Jesus liked to teach was through parables stories, which contained moral and religious lessons.
            1. The number of Jesus’ followers were becoming too big, the Romans were afraid that they might become trouble and lead a revolt, so with this reason, they decided to execute Jesus. Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, who told the Romans where they could find Jesus. So the Romans took Jesus to a hill outside of the city where they nailed him on a cross, crucifying him. Three days after the crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, this event was called the Resurrection.
               1. Most people who first converted to Christianity were the Jews. One very important person in Christianity called Paul, adopted the Christian faith and became a missionary. His goal was to convert non-Jews into Christian by spreading the teaching that Jesus was the son of God and only through him, may we enter heaven. Paul died when he was put in jail for his missionary work and was persecuted by the Romans for being a Christian.
                  1. The Roman’s thought that Christians were a big threat because of their increasing numbers. The Christians didn’t pray to any of the Roman gods and they continued to spread the word of Christianity, this made the Romans very angry and scared. So the Romans made it illegal to practice Christianity. Many Christians were persecuted for their faith but they died bravely, which gained them even more followers. In 312 C.E., a Roman emperor called Constantine had a dream about Jesus. The emperor believed that this vision was a sign that he would win the battle against his enemies if he believed in Christianity. He accepted the Christian belief and won the battle. So in 313 C.E., Constantine gave Christians the freedom to practice their own religion openly called the Edict of Milan. By 380 C.E., Christianity was known as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Annotations:

• The Jews are coming from the Hebrews.

1. All the laws are recorded in the sacred text called "Torah".

   Annotations:

   • The word Torah means the "Teaching of God".
   1. A man of God called "Abraham" lived near the city Ur in Mesopotamia around 1950 B.C.E.
      1. Abraham is also known as "Father of the Hebrews".
         1. According to the Torah, God told Abraham to move his family from Mesopotamia to Canaan. God also promised Abraham that He would make him the father of the great nation.
            1. Abraham obeyed God's word and spread the teaching of monotheistic to the Jews. Abraham became the "Father of many or the Father of Jews"
               1. God called upon another man, "Moses", to lead the Jews out of slavery in Egypt and back to Canaan, which is also called the "Promise land".
                  1. The Jews became the Egyptians' slaves and everyday they worked hard labor just to get a little food to feed themselves. Life was NOT easy. The Jews were under the orders of the Pharaoh. They plead for a way out. God heard their prayers and spoke to Moses. Moses was told to tell the Pharaoh to let the Jews go. The pharaoh was extremely stubborn and would not let them go. God sent down to Egypt ten plagues. But after each plague, the pharaoh's heart hardens again.
                     1. After escaping from Egypt, the Jews began to experience hunger and dehydration and they start to complain again. They became angry towards Moses and God, regreting to have left Egypt. Atleast they still had food there, they thought. Although God still supplied them with food, everytime they lack anything, they would get angry at God. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years as a punishment for not having faith in God.
                        1. After 40 years, they finally set foot in the promise land, Canaan. After many years, some set out to the east of the Jordan River in the Judean Hills where one of the Jews, David, created a Kingdom and ruled the city. He later had a son named Soloman, who was also a good man of God.
                           1. After King David died, his son, King Solomon, took over and became the King of Israel. King Solomon built the first temple of Jerusalem, which became the center of Jewish worship. He also built the Ark of Covenant. King Solomon not only started trading with other kingdoms but also began his kingdom’s own business, such as copper mining. In the Hebrew Bible, he said to God, “This all the peoples of the earth will know your name.” It means eventually God's name would be spread as far as the entire Earth.

                              Annotations:

                              • King Solomon was famous for his wisdom.
                           2. King David was famous for uniting the Jews into one and creating a holy city called "Jerusalem".
                     2. God told Moses to go up to a Mount Sinai and told Moses to write down 10 important rules that the Jews should follow. These 10 rules are known as the "Ten Commandments". It is firs engraved on two stone plaques. God told Moses that these will become Judaism's fundamental laws.
                        1. When the Jews were leaving Egypt, the pharaoh once again changed his mind and sent his armies to stop Moses from leading his people out of Egypt. God gave Moses the power to part the Red Sea and allowed His people to walk through it into safety. As the Egyptian army tried to cross it, God let down the water and they all drowned.
                     3. Plague 1 — water turned into blood; Plague 2 — frog invasion; Plagues 3 and 4 — insects and wild animals.; Plagues 5 and 6 — livestock disease and boils; Plague 7 — fiery hail.; Plague 8 — locusts.; Plague 9 — darkness.