Why do Christians worship the God of the Hebrews?

I rarely ever post on ATS, but since I've been reading the bible I've come upon many questions, and here's one of them.

I've found many instances in the Old Testament where God refers to the Hebrews as "HIS" people. This is just one example.

Exodus 3:7 KJV

7 And the LORD said , I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters ; for I know their sorrows;

18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come , thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go , we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

20 And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go .

21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go , ye shall not go empty:

22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

The God of the Hebrews doesn't care about any other people except the Hebrews. This God will go so far as to steal from, destroy and kill any people that aren't Hebrew.

So, why do Christians chose the Hebrew God to worship? If they believe that Jesus/God/holy spirit is one in the same, then they are worshiping a God who clearly only cares about his chosen people. Did this God have a change of heart, and if so, how do you know? You would think if this God created ALL mankind, he would not intentionally harm any of his creations.


I almost hate to even ask this on ATS because I don't want to start a huge Christian hate thread. That's not my intention at all, so please don't reply if you have nothing but hatred to spew. I'm not a Christian, but I'm curious and I think you should be able to maintain maturity and civility while discussing topics.

Simple answer to the OP's question: because religions, like technologies, entertainment, cutsoms, and other human activities, spread.

Why did the Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese adopt Buddhism, which started in India? Why did the North Africans or Indoneasians become Muslims, which started in the Arabian pennensula? Why did Roman soldiers in Northern England join the Cult of Mithras, which was probably inspired by Persian thought, or Cult of Isis, out of Egypt? Why did a large number of middle-class Americans in the 1970s become, say, Hare Krishnas? Because ideas spread and mutate and change. "Information wants to be free," they say. This was no less true millenia ago than it is today.

It's easy to exoticize and idealize a foreign religion because you can cherry-pick its attractive elements and ignore its more negative or tedious sides. New religions provide new ways of looking at timeless ideas when old religions seem exhausted, faded, jaded, corrupt, or just plain don't work anymore for whatever reason. Every time a new religion enters a new place, it mutates to adopt to local culture. Japanese Buddhism is very different from Thai or Tibetan Buddhism. Episcopalian Christianity, Ethiopian Coptic Christianity, Russian Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and U.S. Pentecostalism are all very different creatures, too.

In the specific case of Christianity, the Hebrew God was "internationalized" by the the theory that the "chosen ones" were no longer a small group of people or tribes, but rather anyone who accepted Christ. God was said to have offered a "New Covenant" through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this "new deal," so to speak, re-defined those who were chosen or saved to include anyone who accepted salvation through Christ. Variations of this idea have been used down through the ages to ease the spread of the religion into new areas.


[edit on 2/7/10 by silent thunder]

my parents are Christian and i have never thort about that thanks , and maby religon is like a big game of chinese wispers and now because its years later religon is every where and diffent people have said it in meny cultures

During the time of Christ there was not that many people on earth. After the time of Christ the Roman Church went around killing innocent people for not believing in their God. Even made Christianity the legal religion. So after you go around the globe killing people for not believing and making the new religion the main religion you get others to follow you through fear. Then those people have babies, their children have babies, and so on until you have Christianity as the new global religion.

Don't forget that Jesus was a Jew/Hebrew; the God he spoke of, according to the New Testament, was the same God of the Hebrews.

Christians are more likely to accept the new testament God, i.e. the loving forgiving God than the wrathful God of the old testament. I think that was one of Jesus' main message: God only saves his wrath and judgment for those who refuse to ask for forgiveness and live lives of sin.

I really can't believe how anybody could believe in the God of the old testament; Torture, wrath, murder, plague, disease, starvation, genocide; half the time this God sounds ironically more like a Nazi than a God.

God as i'm told to explain your question, chose a people to meant to to survive his wrath he wil exteminate mankind with. Mankind is punished because they learned about the existense of evil. they eat fruit from the tree of knowledge you know.
Simply aware of evil makes one to choose between them.
Hebbrew are to be demanded they never doubt.
If you not with him you;re against him. They shall not praise other gods because he 's a jelous god.

Chritians praise another god but the first christians were hebrew so the told their new gog is the son of the old.and even to be one.

This new god is told to be the oly way to be back in in touch with the old one. because when the time comes to punish peoply for knowing evil a few will live

Iroicly i'v heard of the most diehard believers to be the absolute toppers for the use of evil.

Everything contradicts the other.
Muslim also believe in the god of their eartfathers coincidently being the the same as those of hebrew and christian faith. But they say their god is another god

It's all so incomprehandable

Originally posted by Monts
I really can't believe how anybody could believe in the God of the old testament; Torture, wrath, murder, plague, disease, starvation, genocide; half the time this God sounds ironically more like a Nazi than a God.

If you caefully look into the actions of this OT God...
...you will realize that all the atrocities were pitted against hybrid species (Nephiyl)...
...and the hard laws toward His people were to caccoon them...
...and stopped them from being destoyed.

The Lord God of the OT is the Jesus of the NT but the circumstances are different.

Originally posted by bputman
During the time of Christ there was not that many people on earth. After the time of Christ the Roman Church went around killing innocent people for not believing in their God. Even made Christianity the legal religion. So after you go around the globe killing people for not believing and making the new religion the main religion you get others to follow you through fear. Then those people have babies, their children have babies, and so on until you have Christianity as the new global religion.

I agree with you...
...Jesus was mostly rejected as the Messiah by the majority of Jews...
...so Christianity became predominantly Gentile quite early...
...Greko/Roman concepts of law and worship shaped Christian history...
...but while messing things up they also preserved the documented history...
...so we can go back and work it out now...
...and the history is there to warn us of things that are coming.

There's a lot of interesting replies.

I know that Jesus was Jewish. I also know that the first Christians were Jewish.

I am going to continue reading the bible and try to draw my own conclusion, but it is very interesting reading your replies. Lots to think about.

May I suggest that you please read the New Testament... in fact, to grasp why...do some indepth studys of the Bible, maybe read a few commentaries. Look at a series of indepth videos...
Your question shows a lack of basic understanding of Christianity and it's Judaic roots. That's not a bad thing, you are merely beginning a journey of insight and enlightenment and peace.

Originally posted by Schleprock
so please don't reply if you have nothing but hatred to spew. I'm not a Christian, but I'm curious and I think you should be able to maintain maturity and civility while discussing topics.

S & F because of your respectful approach to the question and, apparent, receptiveness to opinions.

Unfortunately, I predict your request, quoted above, will be ignored, quickly. Sadly, there will be the usual cast of characters who will not be as respectful as you.

Also, it is very interesting to read the varied opinions presented in response to your question. Thanks for posting.