Per the Bible, the early Christians (and Jesus/Yeshua, himself), specifically all but one author of the New Testament (Luke, a Greek physician who wrote the books of Luke and Acts), were Hebrew (or “Jewish” to use the less accurate/nuanced word in this case). However, they shunned the Rabbinical traditions, pharisaical “legalism,” and extra-scriptural rites and ceremonies, and were strict followers of Mosaic Law/Torah, per Jesus’ own guidelines and teachings.
When Jesus was executed and the Temple Veil torn in half, the sign was clear - the Temple in Jerusalem, specifically, the inner chamber, was no longer where God would abide. The “chosen” had killed His Son, blaspheming Him, rejecting His message, authority, and most egregiously, his role as the physical incarnation of the One True God.
What followed, according to scripture, subsequent to Christ’s resurrection and ascension, was a complete departure from even lip service obedience to “Jewish” control of The Temple Priesthood. Christ’s eleven (and shortly after, thirteen, including Matthias who replaced the traitor Judas and Paul) Hebrew apostles received special revelation as well as sign gifts that affirmed their office (miracles, healings, special knowledge they couldn’t have had naturally) and moved forward intent on leading their fellow Hebrew people to follow Christ and restore their relationship with the One True God.
For their efforts, they were maligned, assaulted, and executed by their Babylonian blood ritual “brothers,” who asserted that Jesus was a liar, the son of a whore, and was in hell, boiling in feces for eternity.
To sum up briefly, the authors of the Bible were mostly Hebrew, or “Jewish,” with the Old Testament being written in Hebrew, while the New Testament was written in Greek.
While I think my stance is pretty clear from my previous comments in this thread, I appreciate your levelheaded response and effortpost so I'll leave that part alone.
One more question though, I had always heard the Bible was originally written in Aramaic? Or maybe just parts? I'm not sure but maybe you're more familiar with where that fits in?
Aramaic was the spoken language. Koine Greek was the trade language of the era, and was used for written communications within the Roman Empire.
My own take is that since the New Testament was written some years after the death and resurrection of Christ, God’s decision to pen it in Greek wasn’t simply a logistical one, but a symbolic one. It demonstrated the hard break between the Hebrew language specific to one “chosen” race before the incarnation, elevation, execution, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and the general language of Greek used throughout the whole known world by all people.
Basically, as Israel had turned their backs on God, God turned his back on them as a nation, opening the doors to all men.
It also removed Israel and the structure of the Mosaic law from being the avenue by which man could reach God as symbolized with the necessity to learn Hebrew. Israel had been charged with the responsibility of being a nation of priests, serving God and acting as servants to all men, but failed to to do so, elevating themselves for wealth and power using the blessings they had been afforded.
Israel had been charged with the responsibility of being a nation of priests, serving God and acting as servants to all men
Ok, since we're back off the topic of language, I think it's fair that I ask if the part I quoted is a core belief of Christianity? As in this was the Christian God's intent before the events described in the New Testament?
(post is archived)