Monotheistic Religions

Annotations:

• This great civilization of Jewish people developed over hundreds and thousands of years. Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. The Israelites are the ancestors of the Jewish people and they are originally called the Hebrews. Judaism was a very influential religion in the world before and now too.

1. Important Leaders

   Annotations:

   • There are four figures that is very important to the Jewish religion. They are Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon. Sometimes people will separate David and Solomon. These leaders are very important because they developed Judaism in a very influential way and it affected the Jewish today.
   1. Abraham

      Annotations:

      • Abraham was originally called Abram and was born about 2000 B.C.E in Mesopotamia in a city called Ur. The people in Ur believe in many gods and Abram was the only one who believed in one god. This belief created the Jewish religion, Judaism and the special relation with God became the foundation of the faith of the religion.
      1. Covenant With God
      2. Descendants
   2. Moses

      Annotations:

      • Moses was a great leader of the Jewish people. Moses had two greatest accomplishments. He led the Jewish people that time out of slavery in Egypt and he also gave the Jewish people laws from the God to live by, which then became the fundamental laws of the Jewish faith. His accomplishments were very important to the Jewish people because it got them free and got the fundamental laws.
      1. Exodus from Egypt
      2. The Ten Commandments
   3. David and Solomon

      Annotations:

      • David and Solomon were both influential kings that ruled the kingdom of Israel. King David's time was about 1000 B.C.E and he was brave and he united the kingdom of Israel. David chose the capital city as Jerusalem. He also created a strong and organized government. King Solomon is David's son. He built the first temple in Jerusalem, also known as the Great Temple. The temple kept the Ark of Covenant that David brought to Jerusalem. Because of the two leaders, Jerusalem was one of the most important symbol to Jews.
      1. Expansion of the Israel Kingdom
      2. Great Temple Built
2. Central Teachings
   1. Monotheism

      Annotations:

      • Judaism was the only monotheistic religion at that time. Other religions were all polytheistic. Monotheistic means that there is only one god, and polytheistic means that there are more than 1 god in the religion. Usually there are a lot of gods, like the Greek religion and the Egyptian religion.
   2. Following Jewish Teachings

      Annotations:

      • Jews should follow the teachings in the Holy Bible and the Talmud. The Talmud is a set of Jewish writings that teaches about the Jewish religion. The Torah and the Talmud are both writings that taught Jews how to live a better life and what should be done and what shouldn't be done. The best laws are the Ten Commandments from God brought by Moses. They remain the fundamental laws of Judaism forever.
   3. Equality and Social Justice

      Annotations:

      • Judaism teaches Jewish followers that God said that all people are equal, rich or poor. They do not view Kings as gods like the Egyptian religion and other religions. The religion states that God teaches people to be equal and fair and there should be no arguments among the power of the people in the society. Many stories in the Holy Bible is about treating everyone equally.
   4. The Importance of Study

      Annotations:

      • It is important for Jews to study the Holy Bible and also the interpretations made by rabbis and teachers of the Jewish religion. It is important because the Judaism wants its followers to know what is right and wrong and do things that are good for them so that they can have a better life.
3. Preserving the Religion
   1. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai

      Annotations:

      • Rabbi Yohana ben Zakkai was a rabbi who wants to save the Jewish religion so much that he told Jews to surrender so that they can keep their religion. When Jerusalem fell, he became the center of Jewish education and other rabbis and him taught about the religion so he helped to preserve the religion a lot.
   2. New Teachers and Practices

      Annotations:

      • Rabbis and teachers developed new practices so that they can ensure that the religion is passed down safely without getting lost. One of the new practices was the synagogue. It was held so that people will remember to follow the Jewish religion and also pass it down to their descendants.

Annotations:

• Christianity is a religion that spread to the Roman Empire. This religion is based on the teachings of Jesus. Christians believed that Jesus was the son of god and he was sent by god to save the people. They refer Jesus as the Son of God or Jesus Christ. This is very important because this separated Christianity from Judaism. Jesus refer his followers as disciples and he taught them things, especially love and mercy. Another thing that separated Christianity from Judaism is that Christianity is a missionary religion but Judaism is not, all Jews are descendants of Abraham. This important religion in the world right now started in Judea, or modern-day Israel. It was the place that King David and Solomon ruled.

1. Jesus

   Annotations:

   • Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God and was sent by the God to be the Messiah. Unlike Jews, the Jews think that Jesus is not the Messiah nor the son of God. Jews are still waiting for the Messiah today. In Christianity, Jesus is probably the most important figure. He was hanged on a cross and it became an important symbol. The resurrection of Jesus brings tho the belief of the Salvation. Jesus used many parables to tell lessons, mostly about love and mercy. He gained followers and they became Ancient Christians. The Religion started years after Jesus's death, and those people are Christians.
   1. Jesus's Birth

      Annotations:

      • The birth of Jesus is described by the Gospel of Luke. The following story of Jesus's birth is accorded to Luke. Luke stated that Mary, Jesus's mother lived in Nazareth. An angel appeared there to tell Mary that she will have to name his son Jesus. Around this time, there was a head count going on in the area and Mary's husband had to go back to his birth place to be counted in Bethlehem. It was where Jesus was born. Mary, Jesus, and Mary's husband then went back to Nazareth where Jesus learned carpentry and grew up.
   2. Jesus's Life

      Annotations:

      • Jesus taught many things and his disciples were commoners, such as laborers and fishermen. Jesus did not spent his lives on the wealthy and rich, instead on the sick and poor and helped their lives. The teachings of Jesus was based on the traditional beliefs of Judaism. Jesus taught through different ways. One of his favorite was through parables, which are simple stories made up of morals. These made some of the Jews against Jesus, but Jesus continued to teach about the idea of love and mercy and how it is so important.
   3. Jesus's Death

      Annotations:

      • The Gospel said that Jesus went to the a dinner and explained that his enemies will come and kill him. After the dinner, he went to garden to pray. One of the disciples was called Judas, and he turned back on Jesus and reported where he could be found. Jesus was then led away by Roman Guards. The dinner was called "The Last Supper." There was a lot of followers in Jerusalem and the Romans feared that Jesus might revolt, so they thought that it was best if they killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross, which then became a very important symbol in Christianity. The Gospel said that 3 days later, Jesus rose from the dead and it is known as the resurrection.
   4. Gospels

      Annotations:

      • The accounts of Jesus's life and teachings are referred as the Gospels. There are four Gospels and was written by four different people, whose names are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gospels focused on Jesus's birth, life, and his death as well as what he said and taught about love and mercy, which is what Jesus focused on delivering it ot his disciples.
2. Central Beliefs

   Annotations:

   • There are many different beliefs among different groups of Christianity, but there are some basic central beliefs that still remain in most groups of Christians. The Holy Trinity and the Resurrection and Salvation is two of the most central beliefs that all Christians have.
   1. Holy Trinity
   2. Resurrection and Salvation
3. Spread
   1. Paul
   2. Constantine