Birth & Early Life of Christianity

This paper discussest the birth and early life of Christianity, which began as a sect of Judaism when Jesus started his journeys and teachings around the age of 30. The basic stories around the Christian belief are fairly familiar. First there is the birth in a stable, then the family flees from King Herod to live in obscurity in Egypt until they move back sometime later. At about the age of 30, Jesus follows his cousin, John, and is baptized as a purification right and then goes into the desert for 40 days to be tempted by Satan. Shortly after, he begins traveling around Jerusalem and Galilee gathering followers and disciples while teaching basic principles and questioning basic assumptions about Judaism. Up to this point, he is not very different from other teachers and prophets within Judaism. In fact, for several years after Jesus' crucifixion, Christianity remains mostly a sect within Judaism, although most Christians decided to live in inclusive communities, sharing their goods and meeting in one another's homes to worship. Because of this early association, Judaism and Christianity evolved some very similar practices, including singing, with some similar sounding type chants, similar affirmations of faith, and similar feast type celebrations.

For example, in Judaism, congregations recite the Shema, ("Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God is One God) from Deuteronomy, while Christian congregations recite the Lord's Prayer, taken from Matthew, as an affirmation of fa

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Category: Philosophy - B