Nancy-Yes, Christianity is an extension of the Old Testament but, in trying to be fair to all, the leadership of the Jews at that time were corrupt and in their fear of Jesus really being the king of the Jews, they were instrumental in having Him crucified. Some Christians, even today, hold all individual Jews responsible for the death of Jesus. This, of course, is wrong in my opinion. It is my understanding that you and Alan worship Jesus as the Son of God and as Lord and Savior. That is all I need to welcome you into the Christian family. The fact that you and Alan, in effect, minister to Jews, who are still of the OT faith, and proclaim the glory of Jesus as the Son of God, is what I consider to be, an added bonus to the Christian Faith.
I would say, however, that all of Christianity is not a Roman religion. The first Christians did not come from Rome. The church spoken of by Jesus was not founded in Rome. The church of Jesus does not refer to any mere edifice of brick and steel but the church is in the hearts of the believers. Jesus said, I do not remember the scripture by the identifying numbers, that all those who believe in Him are Saints. The practices of the church in Rome are not appreciated by most of the Christians that I know and because of the Vatican being little more than a political state, is causing many, many people to leave their ranks and join those of us who abide by the bible and not by what has been said by the leadership of the Roman church. |
