Judaism originated around 1800 B.C.E and strived until 70 C.E. The Hebrews were originally lived in Mesopotamia and around 1950 B.C.E, they moved to Canaan, modern day Israel. Most of the Jewish records are found in the Torah. The Torah is a book sacred to the Jews; it's their Bible. The Torah consists of the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible which, for Christians is the New Testament.
Abraham is considered the father of the Hebrews. Abraham was chosen by God to move his family to Canaan. God told him in return, he would make Abraham the father of a great nation. Abraham did just that and that is why he is considered the father of the Jews. Cool, huh? Not so much. God tricked him into killing his own son, Isaac and Abraham agreed, then God changed his mind and sent an angel to stop Abraham from killing his son. It sounds like it would be a good movie. A good, good, movie. Like a 67 on Rotten Tomatoes.
NOW LETS TALK ABOUT MOSES! So, Moses was chosen by God to BRING THE HEBREWS OUT OF EGYPT FROM SLAVERY! Now that, my friends is a daunting task. Well, it took him around 45 years to do so but you know the saying: "Success is better late then early." (Nobody said that) Anyways, the pharaoh did not agree at first and Moses (using the power of God) Set 10 plagues upon Egypt. The Pharaoh finally gave in and let Moses go. Then he changed his mind again (Like God did when he tricked Abraham) and Moses did the trick of the year: Parting the Red Sea. The Pharaoh probably died of hypothermia and well, Moses got away! But hey, remember it took him 40 years of wandering and introducing the 10 commandments, rules the Hebrews had to follow. Anyways, Moses is the guy you want to call of your in desperate need of a wave to surf on at the beach!
David and Solomon were the ancient equivalent to modern day Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Except David does not go to the dark-side and they both rule the galaxy but you get it. They were the father and son rulers of the ancient Jews. David helped make Jerusalem a holy city and even killed this 7 foot tall giant as a kid. David had a son named Solomon. Solomon helped the Jews build their first temple. They finally had a place to worship their god and practice their holy rituals.
These 4 men had set the standard for Judaism and the people after them followed. The torah, the temples and the people are what really kept this religion alive.
Christanity
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A main difference Christianity has from Judaism is that the Christians believe that Jesus was the messiah that was spoken about in the Old Testament. The Jews believe that the Messiah God spoke about has not arrived yet. Jesus was proclaimed the Messiah the Jews were looking for but many were not convinced. Those who were convinced later were classified as Christians. This is were Christians started to brach off from Judaism.
According to the New Testament, God sent an Angel Named Gabriel to contact Mary and tell her that the baby she was pregnant with as the son of God. Mary agreed to take the child in and raise him well. Jesus grew up in Nazareth and was Jewish. Jesus at age 30 was baptized by John the Baptist. After being proclaimed the Son of God Jesus started to preach and teach in parables. He quickly gained a following and these followers were called disciples.
Jesus's teachings caught the attention of the Roman Empire. Jesus's teachings conflicted with the rules the Romans had established and the Romans grew fearful he would lead a revolt. The Romans nailed him to the cross. This was a common way to Romans killed people. It was said that 3 days later, he ressurected from the dead. This is how many more people followed Jesus. His followers were punished by fed to wild animals and set on fire. This lead more people to think these Christians were brave and many more Romans followed the example of Jesus. By 380 BCE, Christianity was the main religion of the Roman Empire.
Christianity has now become one of the world's most popular religions. The impact it had not only on the Roman empire was great from a banned religion to a big following on 300 years, that is a big difference. It was even the main religion of the Roman empire due to the fact Constantine and other emperors started too practice the religion too. Now, it is prominant and you don't need to be decended from Abraham to be Christian, anybody can join. That is what makes it so special.