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Tradition!
Traditions
are an important part of our learning experience. Every
family has its own traditions. I remember when I was a boy,
when our family would go on vacation we would always get
ready the same way. We would pack the car the night before
we were to leave, then go to bed, and then we would get up
very early in the morning (about 4AM) and be on our way. I
can remember looking out the window of our vehicle at the
moon before falling back off to sleep. It was the way we
would go on vacations. It was our tradition.
Countries can
also have traditions. In America we put out a flag on Flag
Day, we light fireworks on Independence Day, and we eat
turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
Similarly, a
religion will have traditions. Many
of the traditions in Christianity in practice became quite
different from the original custom.
Baptism, Communion, Speaking in Tongues, and Palm
Sunday all took on a different meaning when the original
custom was transplanted into the Greek culture.
After taking
a look at the historical record, I have concluded that the
early Church "Fathers" did exactly what you would
expect them to do. They did the best that they could at
understanding the concept of a Jewish Messiah through a
Greek perspective. That is all that they knew. This
new religion began to grow in the Gentile world, without the
Hebraic leaders of the faith (who had been killed) to guide
them. So they did their best, and what they didn't
understand, they gathered together to determine what they
believed was correct doctrine. Since they had no background
in the study of Torah, however, this proved to be a
difficult task.
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Rick Richardson with Israel President Moshe Katzav
Next Chapter:
What is Law? |
Did You
Know?
When Jesus was a small boy, the
two prominent Rabbis of the day (Hillel and Shammai)
discussed the proper way to light the Hanukkah menorah. From
this exchange we know that Jews in the first century
celebrated Hanukkah much like Jews today.
So Jesus
celebrated Hanukkah.
In fact the ONLY
place that the festival of Hanukkah is mentioned in the
Bible ... is in the NEW Testament in John 10:22 (the Hebrew
word for Dedication is "Hanukkah")
BUY THE BOOK
Origins of Our Faith
the Hebrew Roots
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The hem
of his garment
When the woman with the
issue of
blood reached for "the hem of his garment" she
was reaching for his tzit-tzit seen here hanging from the
tallit.
The Tallit with tzit-tzit
GROUP DISCUSSION
1)
What Family Traditions Do You Remember?
2)
What Church Activity Would Jesus be Unfamiliar With?
3)
Can Traditions be Both Good and Bad? Explain Your
Answer.
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