WORD_SCRIPTURE
Judaism and Christianity as Fulfillment
Christianity is not a new religion but the fulfillment and spiritual interpretation of Judaism, rooted in the ancient promise made to Abraham. Paul's…
Related Bible passages
- Galatians 1:15-16
Related ideas
JudaismChristianityMessiahRevelationThe PromiseFulfillmentSpiritual InterpretationAbrahamic Covenant
The Nature Of God
Paul never forsook Judaism, but interpreted the meaning of the Old Testament through revelation. His one disappointment was that he could not convince his fellow religionists of the truth of what had taken place in him. He never converted in the sense of converting from Judaism to Christianity, or Catholicism to Protestantism. After the revelation, Paul understood that which was revealed to the prophets; for he discovered that the messiah which was to come, was himself, saying: "When it pleased God to reveal his son in me, I conferred not with flesh and blood." Christianity is not a new religion, but the fulfillment of Judaism. It's as old as the faith of Abraham, older even than the synagogue. The promise was fulfilled in the state of Judaism, interpreted to Jews, who then organized it into a separate religion; but there could be no Christianity without Judaism. Many a Christian would like to divorce the two books and put the Old Testament aside; but there could be no New Testament without the Old, for the New is only the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham.
Christianity is not a new religion but the fulfillment and spiritual interpretation of Judaism, rooted in the ancient promise made to Abraham. Paul's experience exemplifies this, as his revelation of the Messiah within himself was a deeper understanding of Judaism, not a conversion away from it. The New Testament fulfills the Old, making them inseparable.