Dharma

Should Christianity be termed an "Abrahamic" religion?

1) Jesus, patrilinearly, is not descended from David, since he had supposed "virgin birth" so his priesthood cannot even be attributed to Melchezdek(sp?) who blessed Abraham.

2) Jesus claims he is greater than Abraham, "before Abraham, I AM"

3) Besides this, Christianity is quite different in worship than Judaism or Islam.

Christmas (December 25), Easter (pre-Christian Goddess), are not related to Judaism at all. The name of God used is Christ which is more Greco Roman than Hebrew.


Besides the fact that Abraham is sometimes mentioned by the disciples and later Paul, Christ himself thought himself to be superior to Abraham...so again, why is Christianity designated as Abrahamic?

Toto

Because Christianity has historic connections to Judaism, and people like to make categories. (You can see these connections in the New Testament.)

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have something in common that they do not have with Buddhism, Taoism, animism, etc. Abrahamic is as good a word as any.

Dharma

Not good answer, the Canaanites had historical connections with Judaism -- they even worshipped the same Gods, but they are deemed pagan and certainly not Abrahamic.

Again what are the connections? The disciples and Paul seem to miss Christ himself saying he is better than Abraham, "BEFORE ABRAHAM, I AM" , in other words Abraham came from Christ. So then you must accept according to what Christ said, that Christ is the father of Judaism and Islam...so perhaps Judaism and Islam should be called Christianity?

Wallener

Is existence of this claim justifiable? The NT phrase is a rehash ( or misquote) of a Septuagint Psalm, maybe no claim at all in there.

Easter is built on Pesach (Passover) and Channukah, in one of those blinding coincidences, begins on the 25th day of Kislev. It lasts eight day - eight days after Dec. 25 is secular New Year. Could be a coincidence, certainly...

Toto

The connection there is not that the Canaanites derived their beliefs from Judaism. Besides, they are dead and gone, and we don't have to worry about categorizing them.

Of course, this categorization derives from a view of history that accepts most of the Hebrew Scriptures as having some historic validity, and which emphasizes the supposed monotheism of the Jews, which we now know is mythological.

If Judaism and Islam accepted Jesus' statement, they would be Christian. :Cheeky: But they don't.

Besides, the statement attributed to Jesus refers to the cosmic pre-existent Christ who is identified with the Logos. Abraham was still a signficant human to Christians.

Dharma

Again, you should stand by your own translations. It is amazing that Christianity has had so many translations and you claim ALL of them to be incorrect.

No, Easter is named after a pre-Christian non-Judaic Goddess and has nothing to do with Passover.

Christmas is associated with a pre-Christian sun festival, the birth of the new sun...etc. and was actually a Roman holiday.

Wallener

Easter happens at the same time as Passover, and is based on events that happened during Passover. IIRC, the first "easter" recorded in Acts is explicitly called Passover. The name itself has no derivation from Pesach (as far as I know), but the holiday itself is intimately linked to Pesach.

Wallener

Equivalent starting dates and both being "light" festivals could, of course, be nothing but coincidence. Most cultures had/have a mid-winter psyche-boosting festival, there are bound to be lots of coincidental matches in many directions.

Dharma

Interesting info...can you provide the scriptural passage or number?

Remember Passover is the liberation of Israelites from Egypt, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ (resurrection of the Sun, or spring Sun) and Easter is generally associated with Spring celebration (bunnies, eggs and harvest) of a landed, farming people.

Also the Christian day of worship is SUNday, NOT Saturday. The Sun cult is quite evident in Christianity, which is why these days in particular are HUGE holidays. Again, Easter itself is named after an Anglo-Saxon Goddess.

Chili

You are correct. Passover is our Christmas and Judaism cannot have Easter if their Messiah has not been.

Also, Jesus traced his lineage back to Adam to God and is therefore not Abrahamic by definition. Based on this is it impossible to be anti-Semitic unless one makes this erroneous connection.

Edited to add that a bigger problem emerges here with regard to the validity of Christianity as a valid religion if the condition of being Christian is the end of both Judaism and Catholicism alike wherein Jews are waiting for the first and Catholics for the second coming (while Christian-ity claims to have it already).