Chapter 11: God’s Eternal Character

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Abraham gave birth to Ishmael and then Isaac. Through Isaac the Hebrew nation developed as a distinct Jewry culture. Jesus Christ was a Hebrew and his genealogy is traced back to Abraham through his son Isaac.

Through Jesus Christianity developed as a second distinct religious culture. Through Ishmael the Arab nations developed as a third distinct culture.

Three distinct written works of God emerged and are related to one another according to Christian and Islam scriptures. The Hebrew Torah was

the first to emerge. It is the first five books in Hebrew Scripture and is also called the Pentateuch, written by Moses in about 1400 B.C. The Torah combined with other Hebrew Scripture, totals 39 books and forms the “Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text,” 10 issued in 1916 by Jewish

scholars. This is a standard in American Judaism. The complete list of Jewish Scripture written in Hebrew is also referred to as the Tanakh. In addition to actual Scripture, there is the Jewish Talmud, which consists of ancient Rabbinic writings in the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Talmud

forms the basis of religious authority for traditional Judaism.

Christian Bibles11 uses the same 39 books of the Jewish Bible in its Old Testament; but it alters the order of those books. It may also use either

an original Greek or Hebrew manuscript in its many translations. This new order and one or more different Greek or Hebrew manuscripts form the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. Judaism is based specifically on the Torah and other Hebrew Scripture as well as the Talmud. Following the Old Testament

writings, Christ’s disciples wrote the New Testament. Whenever the word Scripture is used in the New Testament, it is a direct reference to the Jewish Holy Scriptures. For example, when Paul wrote that the Bereans searched Scriptures to see if he was telling the truth, it was the Jewish Holy Scriptures that were being searched for the “truth of God’s Word.” Therefore, Apostle

Paul specifically acknowledged that his teachings on God were consistent with the teachings in Jewish Holy Scripture, which is the Old Testament.

Christianity is based on both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore,

Christians claim to respect and acknowledge the basis of Judaism as written in the Old Testament Hebrew and Greek books. Christians therefore have acknowledged that the God of the Hebrews in the Old Testament is the same God that they worship. In addition to the many Bible translations, countless