Dictionaries define "Judaism" as The monotheistic religion of the Jews, since the founding principle of Judaism was the unique belief in One ethical God. This was the teaching which was spread by Abraham, and has continued since then. From Judaism, belief in One God has spread through the Western world. It was unlike idolatry, which had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior.
Quote:
"I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation ... fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations" (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States).
"Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights, but we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both Divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and of collective conscience, and social responsibility" (Paul Johnson, Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity).
At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the world was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities and lacking moral character; with their rites accompanied by things such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
Link: How Abraham founded Judaism
It is important to note that all of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.
Almost certainly.
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Because they came from different places
He was raised Jewish, but became a born-again Christian from the late 1970s to the early 1980s.
Ideas and beliefs were spread to different cultures
Traditional Judaism sees marriage as something instituted by God; something to be valued and encouraged. It is central to any traditional Jewish community, as the traditional family is the building-block of the Jewish community. Jews are encouraged to marry in their early twenties and have children.
Um, no. Permanent settlements were made long before monotheism. In fact, cities were built under polytheism beliefs.
The early peoples settled in one place and needed to find more food
Early peoples of the Americas got tools by crafting them from natural materials like stone, wood, bone, and shells. They used techniques such as chipping, grinding, and polishing to shape these materials into tools for hunting, farming, and other activities. Over time, these tools became more advanced as their technology and craftsmanship improved.
Most Jews at the time, and for centuries afterward, never heard of Jesus. But for those who did, the Christian narratives quote him as saying things that are not in keeping with Jewish tradition and beliefs. The primary tension between early Christians and Jews was whether or nor Jesus was the Messiah.
The early apostolic church was entirely Jewish in all its forms and manifestations.
The early Christian community were all Jewish. You had to be Jewish to become Christian.