Did Ahkenaten influence the Semites{Jews} to be monotheistic, or was it the other way around?
117973
B"H\nNeither.  It's one of those "Universal Conciousness" things.\n\nWhat is unique about Judaism is NOT that it was the first Monotheistic religion, but rather that it was the first Monotheistic religion TO STICK.\n\nTruth is TRUTH wherever you go, so of course throughout the world there are examples of those who went, "You know what, there's only ONE GD!"  However, these religions, by and large, didn't stick around very long, and that's the miracle of Judaism.  It has stuck around, and influenced the world to be Monotheistic, for 4-5 thousand years.  \n\nWow.  \n\nAnd, never-you-mind that during all that time everybody was trying to wipe us off the planet.  Pretty good track record, no?
879492
The ancient Hebrews are Jews; and we have many beliefs.  The most important one is the belief in ONE G-D; He is one, undivided, and has no blood relatives.
369200
Islam isn't really an "offshoot" of Judaism. And Judaism predates Islam by thousands of years.
1145306
not at all/ I STRONGLY believe that Jesus was  a kabbalist...\ncause the way he teaches in his parabels...\nand kabbalah is not a religion...\nplease learn all u can and then take your own conclusions...and dont be asking in here about kabbalah to people that dont even know, that  is not a RELIGION....\n\nKabbalah is the mystic of jewish is metaphisical teachings about our relation with the creator/creation and the cosmos...\n\nCause Kabbalah comes from the ''jewish people", therefore any cristian  will tell u that is not good,but the one in higher places, like a pastor or reverend know about KABBALAH but they wont include this for u to read/as even rabbi dont encourage all of their follower to read about kabbalah, and they have some reasons, not to....all related to mantain power.\n\nREMEMBER SOMETHING JESUS WAS ALSO JEWISH, he was born like one, live and learn like one, and die like one....and he was killed cause he came to UNITY US as one with THE ALMIGHTY, and let us know that he was our father our creator, that we were all brothers and sisters, love each other as you love yourself, is all about unity between men and his creator....but that was not good for the church where he was born at that time, so they did everything to kill him. SAME thing will do any church today to prohibit not to be united.Theres no need for more division between humans,JESUS never came here to make another religion, but at sometime it was convenient to unity the "roman empire"  divided by jesus followers and the ones who believed in many gods; so they saw the expansion of jesus followers and they took advantage of this to create one and one belief wich they spread thru the world known back then;  by force, how? with the cruzades...killinb people, towns, village and made them surrender into being catholic....this is no mistery for anyone who knows about history and dont want to be a fanatic....theres no ofense on talking about things that did happened the first "catholics" killed in the name of jesuscrist, just like DAVID and many prophets did in the old testament, they would go into a village kill the men, keep the woman and the animals, that is biblical knowledge, read it....\n\nWHATS important here is not to keep on dividing us, humans, anymore...because of religion, knowledge, race, believes, languages, politics, sexual preferences, profesion, social status, etc., etc.  Is about knowing what happened and dont repeat the same mistakes......again.\n\nWe are already divide AND  one of the many teachings of  KABBALAH wich means '"REVELATION" is precisely about knowing the POWER OF ONE, not many....remember what makiavelo said: undivided you shall win...thats a strategy of how many wars were won...lets dont continue this.\n\nJESUS  was taught with many books  as part of growing as a jewish man; those books today... where are they???they were burned in the inquisition by the catholic church....was the zohar one of them???? AS CRISTIAN AND BEING TAUGHT TO BE LIKE HIM WHY DONT WE LEARN HIS RELIGION TO BE JUST LIKE HIM WITH THE NEW KNOWLEDGE, HE SPREAD, WHY DONT WE READ THE TALMUD OR THE MISHNA, if we want to be like him....SORRY to say theres being to manipulation in the name of JESUS. And that is SAD.\n\nRead about history and make urself rich on knowledge that way you dont have to ask people who  know less...seek, and youll get answers....who said that????JESUS......be carefull of blinds guiding blinds....who said that???????JESUS...\n\nTHE KABBALAH is not something you read just like that. Is a higher wisdom that wil reveal itself as u are ready.\n\nthe ZOHAR or Book of Splendor is the main source about Kabbalah teachings.
526392
Although Judaism accepts converts from any race or people, nevertheless, most Jews today are not converts nor descendants of converts.\nThat being the case, most Jews are, in fact, Semetic thus may have a "semetic look".\n\nAs to someone's reference to the Khazars: that was a speculation by a historian in the book "The Thirteenth Tribe" by William Kunstler  (sp?) in that today's Ashkenazi Jews are descendants of converts from the Khazar tribe. Mainstream historians discount this.\n\nThus, this is what I will acknowledge. Jews are both part of a religion (whether they observe Judaism or not) and ethnicity. Judaism itself is a religion.
877446
Right. They all worship the One True God, written and spelled differently in Aramaic and in Arabic. All monotheistic religions are basically one and the same.
1124011
That is about my perception as well. As a Jew I cannot fathom how Christianity developed out of Judaism. The Christian god cannot be the same as in Judaism the difference are just to staggering.
1157990
Most of his major sayings aren't original.  The so-called "Golden Rule" was spoken by a Rabbi long before Yeshua was a gleam in his sky daddy's eye.  And the Greeks and Confucians before him.  Several of the beatitudes are also found in Psalms and Isaiah.  Not a sign of true original thought.
117264
It isn't.  The Jewish bible and its precepts were far more influential in the development of Western civilization.  Just look at all the universities with Hebrew lettering in their official seals.
914704
Jesus was basically and orthodox Jew from the West Bank. \n\nHe failed in trying to get a following during his lifetime -- only wound up with 12 country bumpkins from the Galilee. \n\nIt wasn't until centuries later that the religion of Christianity came unto its own, based not so much on what Jesus did/said, but on what Paul taught. \n\nThe teaching of Christianity such as the tripartite godhead, God as a man, the virgin birth, etc. are anathema to Judaism.
545737
Interesting question. Actually, when God came to Abraham and revealed to him that there's only one God He was bringing him back to the truth already known by people like Adam, Abel (Adam's son), Noah and others who preceded Abraham. So, really, Abraham was just one in a long line of monotheists who preceded him. But he was a major person in the promulgation of the truth of monotheism. So, although \nAbraham can, in a sense, be called a founder he did not originate the idea.
629154
Judaism:  The Religion of the Hebrews\n\nThe Jewish religion was unique in the ancient world because it was monotheistic.\n \nAlmost 2,000 years ago, many Jews were forced to leave their homeland in Palestine. This diaspora, or scattering of people, sent Jews to different parts of the world. Wherever they settled, Jews maintained their identity as a people by living in close-knit communities and obeying their religious laws and traditions. These traditions set Jews apart from other people. Yet they also helped them survive centuries of persecution. \n\nJudaism is numbered among the world's major religions for its unique contribution to religious thought as well as its influence on two later religions, Christianity and Islam. Both these faiths, which also emerged in the Middle East, were monotheistic. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all honor Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, and they teach the ethical world view developed by the Hebrews.
584198
Yes, because the Hebrews got their customs while in Egypt which is and always been in Africa. Their was no such thing As Jew at that time. That was much later, they were call Hebrews are children of Jacob before god change Jacob name to Yisrael.
762908
Christianity and jewish thoughts certainly conditioned the thoughts of Karl Marx and the Crusades that lasted from 1090s till 1260s had certainly influenced his conclusions on the general nature of organised religions in Europe. But apart from that there is nothing that warrants any comparison between the two.\n\nMarxism minus proletarian dictatorship is not Christianity, nor if Marxism starts believing in God it becomes Christianity.
716886
God "told" it to the Jews in Babylonian captivity during the Exile.  It is a creation account that uses the Babylonian creation myth--Enuma Elish--as its beginning point but reveals a more transcendent God who alone is Divine.
980148
No disrespect but I have never heard anyone think that the pharaoh Anknaten was Moses.I major in ancient history.,and I study Archeology. The only evidence there is about Moses does not call him by name.There are hieroglyphics on the walls in Egypt the depict a vast number of people leaving Egypt and show writings of some of the miracles.They are saying that it might have been Anknatens father who was the Exodus pharaoh and not Ramses the second. They are thinking that is why Anknaten believed in one god, the Aten.I will tell you this, a lot of archaeologists take a bible with them on some of their digs as a historical map of sorts. So in a sense, the bible is historical proof in a way.The site that guy gave you 2 answers before me is false. It is looking at things from a different point of view. I study American and well documented History and archeology.
840566
They may be all one and the same, especially when it turns out that all monotheistic religions bear a striking resemblence to Zoroastianism, perhaps the first monotheistic religion on paper that came about centuries before a codified version of Judaism did.