Principles to be Gleamed
When studying the Hebraic perspective of the Scriptures, a number of principles manifest themselves early on. To the degree that these principles have been ignored by "mainstream Christianity," their re-introduction into the consciousness of Christianity is valuable.
It goes without saying that Yeshua was born as a physical Jew, into a Jewish society. In fact, all of the Apostles, the 120 original disciples who received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2, and the first 3000 converts that day were likely all Jews too (whether physically born Jews or Jewish converts).
Thus, the audiences who listened to Yeshua preach most of the time were Jews, and sometimes his teachings reflected their particular beliefs and culture. To the extent that those beliefs and that culture are different from our own, it is helpful to understand those differences to get the full meaning at times of what Yeshua was saying, or the full implication of events surrounding his ministry.
The Old Testament was, indeed, a "Hebraic" document, written in the Hebrew language. To the extent that someone unfamiliar with the nuances of that language (as it reflected the ancient Hebrew/Israelite and later Jewish culture) might misunderstand certain figures of speech, styles of writing, and types of literature common among the Hebrews, it is helpful to have information about these matters.
The Body of Believers, the Body of Christ, was not a new pagan religion, but of the religion of the Old Testament, Biblical Judaism. The guidelines by which Believers understand the will of God for their lives are, for instance, based on the Torah (instructions) that was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Yeshua and the writers of the New Testament quoted the Old Testament extensively as authoritative when seeking to establish the basis for many of their teachings. Some facets of the historical religious system that eventually came to be called Christianity have indeed been affected over the centuries by the influence of Gentile, pagan beliefs, and customs. The careful student of the Scriptures should be able to identify those elements of their own belief system and observances which are based clearly on the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, and those elements which are man-made additions. What they choose to do with this understanding is certainly between them and their God. But they can only make informed decisions if they have accurate information.
It is our intention to assist those who desire to find the truth so that they may walk in it. We have no other real agenda except to find the truth. We will ask hard questions and we will examine the Scriptures as faithfully as we can. May this work be of benefit to all those seeking the truth.
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