Religion
Finally. The intensity of traveling is starting to wear on you. The jet lag is weighing you down and the long hours are slowing becoming rewarding. You are in your last stop. Tomorrow you get to go home. You pack earnestly and stuff your notes in your bag. You can review them on the plane, you think, sweeping the room with your gaze and finally traipsing out the door.
You pull your notes out of your bag as the plane rises above the clouds, leaving Zion, Israel, the homeland, behind. This may just be the most interesting of the five religions you've had the chance to delve into.
You can trace Judaism back to Mesopotamia, in a time when polytheistic religions ruled with seemingly random and volatile gods. The chief god, though, in Israel, as Yahweh, according to the locals. But, Israelites worshipped other gods, too. This all changed when they were forced into captivity and they began to see Yahweh as their only true god, as benevolent, transcendent, and personal. Maybe it was all to get them through captivity, but either way, a covenant was formed that as long as the Jews were loyal to their one God, He would protect them above all else. The covenant was formed through Moses, who received the 10 commandments and officially began Judaism.
Both Judaism and Christianity include the idea of good and evil, where humans had the free will to choose between the two. (Satan and God). Related to this, a final judgement, the idea of a savior, and heaven & hell are present in both Judaism and Christianity.
The Hebrews came from a group of people who lived in the middle East and was led to Canaan by Abraham. A group went to Egypt. They were enslaved there and then, by some miracle, escaped and went back to Palestine. These people formed a nation, which split into Israel and Judah. The term "Hebrew" is used to refer to the descendants of the Jews.
And after a long and grueling, but somehow rewarding five days, your quest has finally come to an end.
You pull your notes out of your bag as the plane rises above the clouds, leaving Zion, Israel, the homeland, behind. This may just be the most interesting of the five religions you've had the chance to delve into.
You can trace Judaism back to Mesopotamia, in a time when polytheistic religions ruled with seemingly random and volatile gods. The chief god, though, in Israel, as Yahweh, according to the locals. But, Israelites worshipped other gods, too. This all changed when they were forced into captivity and they began to see Yahweh as their only true god, as benevolent, transcendent, and personal. Maybe it was all to get them through captivity, but either way, a covenant was formed that as long as the Jews were loyal to their one God, He would protect them above all else. The covenant was formed through Moses, who received the 10 commandments and officially began Judaism.
Both Judaism and Christianity include the idea of good and evil, where humans had the free will to choose between the two. (Satan and God). Related to this, a final judgement, the idea of a savior, and heaven & hell are present in both Judaism and Christianity.
The Hebrews came from a group of people who lived in the middle East and was led to Canaan by Abraham. A group went to Egypt. They were enslaved there and then, by some miracle, escaped and went back to Palestine. These people formed a nation, which split into Israel and Judah. The term "Hebrew" is used to refer to the descendants of the Jews.
And after a long and grueling, but somehow rewarding five days, your quest has finally come to an end.
