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Jesus’s own teachings come from Judaism, and specifically mostly from Rabbi Hillel. However, Christianity’s teachings *about* Jesus mainly come from Paul who was very Hellenised.
Judaism has no concept of Original Sin, no concept of Hell except as where demons live, and little interest in the afterlife. It has no concept of being “saved” or of anything to be saved from, and no desire to expand itself. It has no devil (in Judaism “the Satan” is an employee of God). It has a unisex God, not a male one - it speaks of God the Father (because there are no neuter terms in Hebrew) but also of the womb of God. It has no idea of incarnation. Most of that stuff comes from the Greeks and Romans, who thought you weren’t anybody unless your daddy was a god.
A lot of modernish Christian celebrations, especially Hallowe’en, Christmas, Easter and St Bridget’s Day, come from Celtic-style paganism.
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Your summary captures several real historical influences, but some points are broadly accurate while others are oversimplified or debated. Here’s a clearer breakdown:
Jesus of Nazareth was unquestionably rooted in Second Temple Judaism. Many of his ethical teachings parallel earlier Jewish traditions, including teachings associated with Hillel the Elder — especially the Golden Rule, compassion, and emphasis on intention over ritual formalism.
Paul the Apostle did play a major role in shaping Christianity as a universal religion beyond Judaism. His writings show strong engagement with the Greek-speaking Roman world, and many scholars agree that Christianity became increasingly Hellenized through concepts drawn from Greek philosophy and culture.
Judaism does differ significantly from Christianity in theology:
No doctrine of “Original Sin” in the later Christian sense.
No central emphasis on eternal damnation.
Less focus on salvation-from-sin theology.
Stronger focus on covenant, law, ethical living, and communal life in this world.
However, Judaism does contain concepts of:
afterlife or resurrection in some traditions,
judgment,
spiritual evil,
and figures like ha-satan (“the adversary”), though not usually as an independent cosmic enemy equal to God.
The claim that Judaism has “no devil” is partly true only compared to later Christian dualism. In the Hebrew Bible, Satan functions more as an accuser or tester under divine authority than a rebel ruler of hell.
The statement about God being “unisex” reflects an interpretive/theological reading. Hebrew grammar often uses masculine forms for God, but Jewish mysticism and scripture also use maternal imagery — compassion, womb (rechem), nurturing presence, and the feminine aspect of divinity in the Kabbalah idea of the Shekhinah.
Christianity’s doctrines of incarnation (“God becoming man”), salvation, and divine sonship did emerge in interaction with both Jewish messianic ideas and the wider Greco-Roman religious environment. But historians debate how much came directly from Hellenistic influence versus developments already possible within Judaism itself.
Many Christian festivals absorbed or merged with earlier local traditions:
Christmas incorporated timing and symbolism overlapping with Roman winter festivals.
Easter contains some pre-Christian seasonal symbolism in parts of Europe.
Halloween has connections to Celtic festivals like Samhain.
Saint Brigid's Day blends Christian and older Celtic elements.
The broader historical picture is that Christianity emerged from Judaism but evolved within the multicultural Greco-Roman world, absorbing Jewish, Greek, Roman, and later European cultural influences over centuries.
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