Christianity Through Jewish Eyes

By NABIL ONSY

It is natural for every believer in a religion to seek to know the point of view of other religions regarding his religion, so he deals with moderate ones among them with moderation, and takes caution and caution against haters, opponents, and haters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: NABIL ONSY
• Release date: May 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224470068

Book preview

Introduction

It is natural for every believer in a religion to seek to know the point of view of other religions regarding his religion, so he deals with moderate ones among them with moderation, and takes caution and caution against haters, opponents, and haters.

The sources we translated from call the Christian religion Christianity and not Christianity.

This book is quoted from various Hebrew and Jewish sources and we have nothing to do with it. If it contains praise (of Jewish figures) or disparagement (of Christian figures) or falsification of the facts, then it is not ours and has nothing to do with it, and God forbid we intend to mislead or obscure the reader, but it is honesty in Translation .

Nabil Onsy

A tour in the history of the Christian religion

Christianity is one of the three main monotheistic religions, and it is the religion with the largest number of believers in the world.

The Christian religion arose in the Land of Israel about two thousand years ago, and it revolves around the personality of Jesus of Nazareth. During the first four centuries AD, and especially after Christianity transformed to become the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, Christianity became the dominant and prevailing religion in Europe and the Western world. . During the colonial period (from the end of the Middle Ages until the middle of the twentieth century), Christianity expanded to reach the places of settlement in which European colonies were established, and most Christians today are residents of countries outside the Western world. The number of Christians is currently estimated at about 2.1 billion Christian believers.

While it is similar to other religions, and far from religious doctrine, Christianity is also a means of domination and control. In different periods, it was also used for sovereign purposes (related to power).

The functional structure in Christianity strongly and strongly emphasizes the use of religion as an instrument of authority, independent of religious doctrine. Over the years, Christians divided into different factions against the backdrop of arguments about the pillars of the faith, the character and entity of the Christian religious institution, as well as the issue of customs, traditions, and methods of rituals and religious rituals.

Name of religion

The name of the religion in the Hebrew language is apparently derived from the name of the city of Nazareth. Nazareth is the city where Jesus resided with his family for most of his life, according to Christian literature (although he was born in Bethlehem, according to them). There is a similar title for Christians that also appears in the Qur’an among a group of Muslims, namely Christians.

As for the Christians themselves, they call themselves (Christians) (for example in English: Christians, as well as in most European languages) or (Christians). These names are derived from the ancient Christian belief that Jesus was the Messiah and Savior.

In Greek and most European languages, Jesus is called: Christos (Χριστός), which is a literal translation of the Hebrew word (משיח Mashiah or Messiah) (and in the Old Testament, Mashiach is one who was anointed with holy oil or anointing, indicating that he was crowned king).

The emergence of the Christian religion

Each of the three religions narrates in detail the emergence of its group of believers. In the history of the emergence of each of the three believing sects, a special place was devoted to one figure: thanks to the leadership of Moses, whom God chose, he transformed the multitude of slaves who came out of Egypt into the people of Israel, and thanks to him also the people of Israel obtained the Torah; As for the group of Christian believers, it grew up around the belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, and the Son of God. The Islamic nation was created by the Prophet Muhammad in the wake of the divine revelation that he expressed.

Ancient Christian history is not fully known. It is based on what is written in the Gospels (the books of the Annunciation) of the New Testament, except that these books are not historical books, and their main mission is to encourage people to believe in the new religion. There are other sources, which are the writings of Roman historians and the writings of Joseph ibn Mattityahu (Josephus Flavius). But the information contained therein is also incomplete, and there are historians who doubt the credibility of the texts concerned with Christianity in the works of Yosef Ibn Matityahu.

The New Testament Gospels narrate that Jesus, the founder of the religion, was born in the city of Bethlehem, located in the Judean Mountains, in the last days of Horde’s rule. His original Hebrew name was apparently Yeshua.

His father is Joseph, who, according to the New Testament, is considered a descendant of King David, but he lived in Nazareth, located in Galilee, and was a carpenter by profession. The feast of Joseph the Carpenter (Jesus’ stepfather, given the theological hypothesis that his mother was conceived by the Holy Spirit) is corresponding to 3/19 of each year.

As for the mother of Jesus, her name is Mary (in European languages: Maria). She is considered by Catholics to be the Mother of God. Gabriel gave her the good news of Christmas in Nazareth. She was conceived by the Holy Spirit, gave birth to her child in Bethlehem, and ascended to heaven in Jerusalem (according to another story - in Ephesus). The tomb of Mary is the Church of Santa Anna = the house in which she was born, Dormition = deep sleep, station 4 + 13, the churches of the Annunciation + the Fountain in Nazareth. The Annunciation is celebrated on 12/25, the ascension to heaven on 8/15, and her birth on 9/8.

Maryam’s mother’s name is Hanna, and she was born in Sabouri. Maryam's father's name is Jehoichem, and he was also born in Saburi.

The Gospels narrate that Mary did not become pregnant by her husband, but rather by the Holy Spirit, and thus she retained her virginity and virginity despite her pregnancy. Since she is called in Christianity as (the Virgin Mary) (or the Virgin or the Holy Virgin), she occupies a second place in her importance to Jesus himself, as she is the only woman who did not lack the old sin in order to become pregnant, and she also carried in her womb the Son of God.

Joseph, who initially suspected that his wife had become pregnant by another man, wanted to divorce her, but he saw in a dream that his wife had become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and therefore it was forbidden for him to divorce her. As long as this was the case, he embraced the child and thus became the father of Jesus.

According to the New Testament, the wise men who came from the East (the Magi, that is, the wise men of the Zoroastrian religion, and in other Gospels they are called kings) to visit the newborn brought with them gifts because they considered him the new king of the Jews and attached great importance to his birth. When King Hordus heard about this, he ordered the killing of all the children in Bethlehem, but Joseph took the initiative and fled with his family to Egypt, and thus saved the child.

It should be noted that while Jesus is attributed in the New Testament to the family of David, Hordos was a king of the Hasmonean dynasty.

It should be noted that Jesus was born after the death of Hordus, and it seems that the Hordus in question here (or what is meant here) is Hordus Archelaus, the son of King Hordus.

When Hordos died, Joseph returned with his family to the Land of Israel. When Jesus became more powerful, he began to preach, and he also gathered disciples around him, but the great transformation in his life began when he met John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was an ascetic and hermit monk, and his day was 6/24. He baptized Jesus in the Jewish palace in the Jordan. He rebuked Hordos Antiphes for marrying Herodias, who divorced his brother. Hordos’ daughter, Shelomit, asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter - so he was killed while in prison and buried in Aspastia. . In Ain Karam, the Church of John is located in the mountains, next to the ruby ​​stone and the Monastery of John in the Desert. His head was resting in the Russian Church of the Ascension. Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist. He was preached that his wife would conceive a great son while he was serving as a high priest in the temple, and he was struck dumb and mute.

Christianity was crystallized by Paul

According to the Christian doctrine, which developed and crystallized in particular at the hands of Paul (Saul the Tarsi), Jesus is the Son of God (also called the Lamb of the Lord) who descended to save humanity through his death. According to that doctrine, his crucifixion at the hands of the Roman governor Fontius Pilate came as atonement for the sins of humanity and for the ancient sin.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus rose from his death three days after his crucifixion, and ascended to heaven some time after that. According to Christian belief, he will return again to save the world in the last days (which is the event called "Abu Calypsa/the scene of the Day of Resurrection).

At the beginning of their journey, the Christians were scattered into groups. In 180 AD, an official central church was established. Over the years, the history of Jesus’ life - that is, the gospels - and the messages of his apostles to the sects of believers were included in the book of the New Testament, where they represent the pillars of the Christian faith along with the book of the Old Testament or the Tanakh.

The first Christians were the Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of Tanakh (who was mentioned in the Old Testament). During the first century AD, the activity of the Apostles - which is the title of the twelve disciples whom Jesus chose to spread his law - and especially Paul led to the gradual spread of Christianity among pagan societies and peoples throughout the Roman Empire.

It was Paul who described the crucifixion of Jesus as the event that saved all of humanity (not just the Jews), thus allowing Christianity to transform from a Jewish sect into an alternative religion to Judaism. Another apostle, Saint Peter, also went to Rome after Jesus appointed him as head of the church and he converted to become The first metropolitan or bishop of Rome. Due to its great importance, the bishops of Rome (the popes) became leaders of the Christian world, and Rome itself became its spiritual center.

Towards the end of the first century AD, the events and history of Jesus and the beginning of Christianity were recorded in the books of the Gospel, which very late became the four books with which the New Testament begins.

Christianization of the Roman Empire

Starting from the first century AD until the end of the third century AD, Christians were pursued by the authorities of the Roman Empire, among other things during the rule of the Caesars: Nero (37-68 AD), Domitius (51-96 AD), Decius (201-251 AD) and others. .

During the fourth century AD, Constantius Caesar of the Roman Empire decided to stop persecuting Christians and eventually converted to Christianity, but near his death. This is the event that gave Christianity the status of the official religion in the Roman Empire. The year (313 AD) is considered the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church, which ruled without borders in Europe during the next thousand years, during the Middle Ages, where the priesthood took the position of authority (the career ladder) and was led by the Pope, the head of the church.

During his reign, Constantius moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome - which until then had served as the unshakable religious center of Christianity - to Constantinople, which sparked a dispute and conflict between the two capitals regarding the right of priority and spiritual preference.

On the initiative of Constantius, church conferences also began to be held (the first conference was the Conference of Nicaea (325 AD), followed by the First Conference of Constantinople (381 AD), the Conference of Ephesus (431 AD), and other conferences. These conferences were the ones that crystallized the law (I am a believer) (Credo or Creed). ) Christianity, and defined the pillars of the Christian doctrine, the powers or authorities of the church, the powers of its leaders, and the Holy Scriptures.

In the middle of the fourth century AD, Caesar Julian also tried to resume pagan worship, but in the days of Caesar Theodosius I (392 AD), this worship was completely prohibited and Christianity was imposed on the inhabitants of the empire.

The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD (which symbolized the end of common religious and political unity) increased religious conflicts between Christians in the east of the empire and those in its west. By the end of the fifth century AD, the unity of Christianity was destabilized in a way that led to its division into the Eastern Orthodox Church (whose center was in Constantinople), which refused to recognize the full spiritual authority of the Pope, and into the Western Catholic Church (whose center was in Rome).

In the following centuries, the power and influence of the Church intensified throughout the world. The Catholic Church was active in Gallia (possibly France), Germany, and Britain, while the Orthodox Church brought the good news of Christianity to the Slavic peoples.

Towards the end of the first millennium, the papacy and the Church combined great political power, with the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire. It included within the empire's borders most of the main regions of Europe and parts of western Europe, and at different periods of time it encircled most of the mainland European region located west of Russia, with the exception of France.

The Pope had an essential mission in coronating the Caesar of Rome, and the rulers of the empire were forced to work with the same advice and sometimes in accordance with his orders.

In the year 1054 AD, differences in interpretations regarding the basic conception of religion and the increasing authority and power of the Pope led to a final problem between Rome and Constantinople and to an official division between the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

Byzantine period 324-638 AD

The transition from the Roman period to the Christian-Byzantine period was not accompanied by devastation and destruction as happened in the period that preceded it. In the year 324 AD, when Christianity became the official religion of the Byzantine Kingdom, the Christians tried to give this expression in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sanctified for Christianity, as many events related to the development of the Christian religion took place there: Jesus walked in its streets with his disciples and predicted its destruction. The Christian story tells of the wondrous works (miracles) that Jesus performed in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, he was arrested and tried on charges of rebellion against the kingdom, where he was crucified and buried. In Jerusalem, according to the Christian belief, Jesus rose from his death and ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives, east of the Temple Mount.

Caesar Constantius the Great was the one who declared Christianity the religion of the empire and gave Jerusalem a special status and importance. Jews were prohibited from settling in the city at the beginning of the Byzantine period, but near its end a Jewish sect crystallized there again. Various sources dating back to that period attest to huge construction projects in the city. The most important source of our information about Jerusalem in the Byzantine period is the Medba map. It is a map of the Land of Israel drawn in mosaics (small colored pieces of marble and other things arranged on top of each other in different shapes) on the floor of a church dating back to the sixth century AD. The mosaics were discovered in the city of Medba, which is located in eastern Jordan.

Jerusalem appears on the map, described as a city surrounded by a wall, with a wide colonnaded street crossing it along its length from north to south.

We can also see on the map many churches that were built to commemorate the various events that occurred in the life of Jesus. They built the main church around his grave, which is the Church of the Resurrection. It was built within ten years, and was opened in the year 335 AD. After that, during the Byzantine period, churches were also built in the Mount Zion area, as well as in the Silwan area and in the Beit Hisda basin. As for the largest church, it was built by Caesar Justinian in the sixth century AD, which is the Church of Haniah and the New Church of Mary.

Some of the streets of Jerusalem during that period are also known to us today. During archaeological excavations, some parts of Hakardo Street were discovered, and many remains of luxurious buildings from that period were found. Some buildings are still there, with certain changes also at a very late period, and even to this day. From other buildings, very small remains were discovered.

In the year 614 AD, the Persians occupied the country, and they caused harm to the Christian population. They demolished and burned with fire the buildings of the Christian religion in all the countries. And so they also did to Jerusalem. The Persian occupation continued for 14 years, and it was a difficult period of decline and deterioration in the history of Jerusalem. After that, Caesar Heraclius tried to restore and repair the city, but his efforts were fruitless. He was the last Byzantine ruler in Jerusalem. 10 years after the city was liberated from the Persian yoke, it was occupied by Muslims.

The fall of the Roman Empire in the year 476 AD, which marked the end of citizenship or the dedication of life to joint religious-political service, multiplied the religious and other differences between Christians in the east of the empire and those in its west, and by the end of the fifth century, the unity of Christianity was shaken and undermined in a way that led to To its division into the Eastern Orthodox Church (whose center is in Constantinople), which refused to recognize the full spiritual authority of the Pope, and into the Western Catholic Church (whose center is in Rome).

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the priesthood was largely subject to the upper class, and clergy were appointed in many cases by notable nobles. Over time, the church accumulated wealth, power, and independence from ordinary authority, overturned the facts, and possessed a great ability to influence even the upper class, the nobility.

To deepen its control, the Catholic Church established Christian evangelization: a movement aimed at introducing the Christian religion among non-Christian peoples, and whose activities throughout history led to the spread of Christianity throughout the world.

Christianity in the Middle Ages

The most important division in Christianity is called (skisma), which means division or division in the Greek language. It occurred in the 11th century AD with the separation of the Roman Catholic Church, whose center is in the Vatican City located in Rome, from the Byzantine Orthodox Church, whose center is in Constantinople (Byzantium, present-day Istanbul). . The two churches separated for doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political and geographical reasons.

With the transfer of the Roman ruler and political confidence from Rome to Constantinople, a division arose in the religious mood of the empire. Because of the ruler's habit of being authorized and authorized in both religious and non-religious matters, a division eventually arose between the bishops - those who followed the Pope from Rome and those who followed the ruler in Constantinople.

In the year 1096, the Church, led by Pope Urban II, initiated the First Crusade to conquer the Land of Israel from the hands of Muslims and wage war on the infidels. The Crusades (8 in number) continued alternately (intermittently) until 1270 AD. The most glorious period in the history of Christianity was the 11th to 14th centuries, especially in the days of Innocentius III at the beginning of the 13th century: where clericalism crystallized and the orders of priests and monks were established, which were subject to basic supervision and transformed over time into a major institution in the religious and cultural entity of Europe.

In the days of Innocentius III, the Fourth Lateran Congress was held, which was one of the greatest Lateran conferences. At that conference, difficult and severe decisions were taken against the Jews with the aim of restricting them and pushing them to convert to Christianity (as they were subjected to the stigma of restricting their freedom of movement, prohibiting the employment of Jewish workers, and restricting their economic deals). In 1231, the Inquisition was established - courts established by the church to try those accused of disbelief under penalty of severe torture (members of Christian sects, apostates who returned to Judaism, witches, and Jews).

The Crusades were a series of campaigns between the 11th and 13th centuries called for by Christian popes. It began as attempts to occupy Jerusalem from Muslims and place it under Christian authority, but it turned into regional wars. The participants in these campaigns are called crusaders.

After the Byzantine Tsar Hesius I pleaded for help to defend his kingdom against the Seljuk Turks, Pope Orphan II called on all Christians to join the war against the Turks, and that it would be counted as atonement for their sins. The armies of the Crusaders set out towards Jerusalem, which is considered the first Crusade, and on their way they plundered and plundered some cities. In 1099, Jerusalem was occupied, and the Jewish and Muslim populations were wiped out. As a result of the First Crusade, several Crusader states were established, led by the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The first Crusades unleashed an unprecedented wave of violence, which was represented on the Jewish islands throughout Europe, and violence against the Orthodox Mu'tazila Christians in the East.

In the wake of the Crusades, some military methods emerged for monastic knights, who made their goal the defense of the Crusaders in the Holy Land and the pilgrims to the holy places.

Toward the end of the Middle Ages, there was a decline in the status and moral