I have one week left on my trip. I’ll be back in the US next Wednesday.
I have a question for you all – and feel free to poll other friends and family. I’m very curious.
If you have been to Israel, what did you get out of it.
If you haven’t and want to, what do you hope to get out of it?
I’m asking because I really didn’t have any expectations for my trip – I was on my own expedition to discover Israel. I have a pile of books, including the Bible, and all of you that are following along.
Question for Catholics
You’re have to excuse my simplemindedness here, but I also have a question for my Catholic friends.
What is your understanding of the history of the Catholic church (origin)?
I’m asking because I’ve read the official history and I’m missing some very important context that the quick histories aren’t explaining.
What I have read so far is that the Catholic church credits Jesus directly with the commissioning of the church and the apostle Peter was the first Pope, linking to Matthew 16:18.
Jesus, despite being God, was born as Jewish, knew the Torah and followed all customs and traditions of being Jewish. The disciples were all also Jewish and followed Jewish customs and traditions as well. So, I would expect the Catholic church to look and act more like a Jewish synagogue, unless it was altered to appeal to Romans? I’m curious to hear what you have learned.
My Takeaway…
Israel is a Holy city – there are churches, synagogues, and mosques all over the place. Everyone wants to own a piece of Israel and own the most holy of lands to keep for themselves. There is also evidence of less scrupulous sorts of people that want to keep others away from the holy lands and to hide history because it tells the wrong story about God’s creation and God’s chosen people.
What’s Next?
I have a few thousand pictures and a few hundred videos (not an exaggeration…) to go through and pull out stories, so you can look forward to all of that!
Sorry, did I say Holy? I meant Holly. Israel is a Holly place.