Religions that Descended from the Hebrew Bible Quiz

Answer: Rabbinic Judaism

The Hebrew Bible is what Jews call the Tanakh and what Christians call the Old Testament. "Hebrew Bible" is simply an unbiased title. The first five books are called the Torah. The Hebrew Bible tells the story of the Hebrews / Israelites / Jews. You can read about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, and others in the Bible. When it comes to Biblical Judaism, the temples were important.

During the time of Moses, about 1,300 BCE, the children of Israel used the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.

During King Solomon's reign, about 1,000 BCE, the first temple was built. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The second temple was built around 516 BCE by Zerubbabel. The Romans then destroyed it in 70 CE.

Although what we call Rabbinic Judaism was officially developed after the destruction of the temple, its roots go back to second-temple Judaism, especially the sect of the Pharisees, who valued the Oral Law. Jews began to use rabbis and synagogues in about 300 BCE, but the main focus was still the temple, not the synagogue. While the New Testament mentions rabbis and synagogues, the Hebrew Bible doesn't. This is because, again, they had the temple, and they also had high priests.

The building of a third temple in the Messianic age is the hope of certain religious Jews, as well as part of Christian Zionist / dispensationalist theology.

Answer: Samaritanism

Samaritanism developed after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel around 722 BCE. When the Assyrians invaded Israel / Samaria, they took many of the Israelites to Assyria, while some remained in the land and intermarried with Gentiles, producing the Samaritans. The ones taken to Assyria became known as "the lost tribes of Israel", but this is a misconception. There have never been lost tribes because there were members of all tribes living in Judea, the southern kingdom, even before the northern kingdom fell, according to the Hebrew Bible.

As for Samaritans, they claim to be true Israelites and claim to follow the original religion of the Israelites before it was corrupted in Babylon. The Samaritans reject Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and most of the Hebrew Bible. They believe that Mount Gerizim is the true location for the temple, and they have their own version of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

The New Testament shows the hostility between ancient Jews and Samaritans. The Jews viewed them as "half-breeds", therefore ethnically impure, and heretical. Even Jesus made distinctions between Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans (Matthew 10:5).

DNA studies show that Jews, Samaritans, and Mandaeans are related, which makes sense. There are only about 900 living Samaritans today.

Answer: Messianic Judaism

Because the original followers of Jesus were Jews who believed that he was the Messiah to restore Israel, it is sometimes argued or suggested that they were Messianic Jews. In fact, many kept the Law of Moses even after accepting Jesus. This would include the followers of the Apostle James, and even the Apostle Peter was hesitant to accept Gentiles into the church or to eat unkosher foods originally. As the Apostle Paul said, "Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too" (Romans 3:29, NIV). Paul's question implies that it was never a question of if God was of the Jews--the question was if God could be of the Gentiles too. It is amazing and unfortunate how in some churches today we have the opposite question!

When Christianity (or a version of it) became the official religion of the Roman Empire around 300-400 CE, anti-semitism became common. Even more sadly, anti-semitism found its way into Christianity even as early as 200 CE. Even some of the Protestant Reformers remained anti-semitic. They taught that the Jews were no longer God's people and that there would never be a literal Messianic reign in Jerusalem or earthly kingdom. They taught that the church was the "new Israel" and that all of Messianic prophecies were fulfilled symbolically in the church instead of literally with the nation of Israel. This is called replacement theology. The Jews were also persecuted for centuries.

The modern Messianic movement is a way to mend some of the wounds from the past, or at least that's how some Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians who support Israel feel. It allows ethnic Jews to continue to keep their Jewish culture and religion to a certain extent, and it allows others to connect to them. In Europe, the Messianic movement began in the 1800s. In the United States, it became popular in the 1960s.

While both Messianic Judaism and Christian Zionism / dispensationalism maintain a future for Israel, and that the Jews are still God's chosen people, Orthodox Jews aren't usually happy about the evangelism of the "Jews for Jesus" movement, and "Jews for Judaism" is a countermovement.

The Catholic Church as well as certain Protestant denominations have apologized for their history of anti-semitism.

Answer: Christianity

Acts 1:6-12
New International Version
Then they gathered around him and asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?'

He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'"

That was a conversation between the eleven original apostles (Judas Iscariot killed himself) and the resurrected Jesus according to the book of Acts.

The first Christians were of the Jewish sect of the Nazarenes, also called "The Way", according to Acts 24.

Christianity split from Judaism in about 200 CE. Tensions were strong between Jews and Christians because of differences in theology as well as the growing number of Gentiles joining the church. Originally Jews (or some of them) persecuted Christians and then Christians persecuted Jews. It seems that some of those early Christians forgot about Jesus' messages about love and forgiveness, as well as the Bible's statements about a future for the Jewish nation. Even Jesus said to forgive the Jews while on the cross (Luke 23).

A central belief of Christianity is the Trinity, the belief that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While some groups claim to be Christian and reject the Trinity, they fall outside of the traditional creeds. As a result, Christianity is usually understood to be Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Catholicism, and the various Protestant denominations. And I'm trying to be unbiased here. There are Protestants who are convinced that Catholics aren't real Christians (not because of the Trinity, but because of other doctrines) and vice-versa.

Besides the Trinity, other essential Christian beliefs are that Jesus was the Son of God, who was born of the virgin Mary; He was crucified and resurrected for the sins of humanity.

Going back to the theme of the Hebrew Bible, Christianity is based on the belief that God made a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31). The church partakes of this covenant through being "grafted-in" (Romans 9-11).

Answer: Mandaeism

I actually never heard of Mandaeism before. No offense if you are one. Scholars disagree when Mandaeism was founded. Some say that it formed around 300 CE, while others believe that it is much older, and broke-off from second-temple Judaism. If it separated from Judaism, there is good reason, because Mandaeism doesn't recognize Abraham or Moses as prophets. Mandaeans most likely evolved from Nasaraeans, a heretical, gnostic Jewish sect that rejected the Law of Moses and practiced vegetarianism (the Law of Moses says to consume the Passover lambs).

Followers of Mandaeism have their own holy books, such as the Ginza Rabba, the Qulasta, and the Mandaean Book of John and reject most of the Bible. However, they consider Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, and Enoch prophets and they respect John the Baptist as the final prophet. They believe that they are descendants of some of John the Baptist's early followers, but they reject Jesus. They believe that Jesus is a deceiver and a false prophet, somewhat ironic for being followers of John the Baptist. They believe that Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist but then went into error. I should clarify that they get most of their information about John from their own text and not from the New Testament. For example, they don't believe that John was executed; rather they believe that he ascended into Heaven.

While Jews trace their origins to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Mandaeans believe that Adam was the first Mandaean. While Mandaeans originated in Judea / Israel, they now live primarily in Iran and Iraq.

Answer: Islam

Mohammed founded Islam around 600 CE in Saudi Arabia. Many Jews and Christians have no problem with the belief that Muslims, or more accurately, Arabs (not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs) are descendants of Ishmael. However, the religions differ significantly and don't agree:

Jews and Christians affirm that Isaac was Abraham's covenant son and the son that Abraham almost sacrificed. According to Christianity, the Jews are God's chosen people and Gentile Christians are "grafted-in" to the covenant. Muslims teach that Ishmael was the chosen son and the son that Abraham almost sacrificed.

There is conflict over Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock established on the site of the Temple Mount.

While Jews don't believe that Jesus resurrected, most accept that Jesus was crucified. Muslims don't believe that Jesus was crucified.

Like Jews, Muslims don't subscribe to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity or the belief that Jesus is God or the Son of God. However, like Christians, Muslims do believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. At the same time, they reject most other Christian beliefs. They believe that the angel Gabriel visited Mohammed and gave him new revelation (years after the New Testament stated that Gabriel visited Mary and Christianity was formed).

I am not trying to be offensive; just pointing out the differences in the religions.

Prior to Islam, most Arabs were polytheistic and followed pagan religions.

Fun fact: Bible scholars believe that the land of Midian was Saudi Arabia. While Ishmael and Midian were distinct sons of Abraham according to the Hebrew Bible, the Ishmaelites and the Midianites were closely connected to each other, to the point that, by the time of Joseph in Genesis, the Israelites viewed them interchangeably.

Answer: Karaism

The roots of Karaism, or Karaite Judaism, date back to around 100 or 200 BCE. However, it wasn't until 900 CE that the official movement began. Unlike most modern Jewish sects, which are Rabbinical and observe the Talmud or the Oral Law, Karaite Judaism only accepts the Written Law as described in the Hebrew Bible. The Oral Law began to be very important in second-temple Judaism, around 500 or 600 BCE, but there were always some Jews who objected to it. For example, the Sadducees rejected the Oral Law.

By the way, yes, Samaritanism, Messianic Judaism / Christianity, and Mandaeism also reject the Talmud, but these religions are no longer considered to be sects of Judaism, even if they once were, so Karaism is the only appropriate answer here.

Answer: Druzism

Druzism, or the Druze religion, has its own holy book called the Epistles of Wisdom. They also regard the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Koran as holy books. While the Druze religion emerged out of Shia Islam, it has also been influenced by Christianity, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, and other religions, such as Pythagoreanism. The Druze consider Abraham, Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus as prophets, and believe that Jesus is a messiah, but don't believe that he is divine or the second member of the Trinity.

The Druze people live primarily in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Answer: Rastafarianism

Rastafarianism, or Rastafari, developed in Jamaica in the 1930s. It is related to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, and it is considered a political movement just as much as it is a religion. Rastas, the followers, refer to God as "Jah". While they believe that they are the Israelites of the Bible, they also believe that common translations have been corrupted, and many, though not all, believe that Haile Selassie was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

Answer: Hebrew Roots

The Hebrew Roots movement shouldn't be confused with Messianic Judaism, because they have several differences. For the most part, Messianic Judaism conforms to traditional Protestant theology. While Messianic Jews observe the holy days of the Hebrew Bible (Passover, Rosh Hoshana, etc.) and might follow Jewish dietary laws for culture, the Hebrew Roots movement maintains that following the Law of Moses is a requirement for all believers, including Gentiles.

Messianic Jews affirm the Trinity, while many in the Hebrew Roots movement reject the Trinity.

Basically, the Hebrew Roots movement teaches that Christianity has been corrupted by pagan influences for almost 2,000 years. Followers believe that Sunday was never meant to be the day of worship, but rather that believers must keep the Sabbath, which is Saturday. They teach that the church is an extension of Israel and that God never intended to nail Jewish law to the cross. They often say that Christmas and Easter are "pagan" and many also believe in the Sacred Name movement. According to such, "Jesus" is a pagan and blasphemous name for the Messiah. Believers must say "Yehoshua" or similar variations. While Messianic Jews may also say the Hebrew name of Jesus or do similar things or have other similar beliefs to the Hebrew Roots movement, the tell-tale difference is that Messianic Judaism was meant to fight off the anti-semitism and replacement theology in church history, and it doesn't force Torah observance on anyone, let alone Gentiles.