Christianity is (or at least was) the English of the Religious world...

[paladinstorm]

So... you may be familiar with the following quote:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James Davis

Comments

[chiave_trust]

If I remember correctly Paul is to blame for the original shift: in the early church there was huge debate over whether the new Christians should keep Jewish law for example (as you said, Jesus was Jewish, his original followers were Jewish...). The debate in the early church over the issues of kashrut and circumcision are preserved in Christian canon, with Paul proclaiming that - at least in his mission to the Gentiles - that Gentile converts did not first have to convert to Judaism and follow Jewish law.

[paladinstorm]

Indeed. It was really a sensible decision, since otherwise they probably weren't going to convince many, if any at all, to join the new faith. Ultimately such practice resulted in more gentile followers than 'Jews for Jesus', if you will, and we have what Christianity is today: a hodgepodge of 'adopted' customs and holy days. Much as the English language is a hodgepodge of 'adopted' vocabulary and rules.