The Jews had a more modern religious system than the pagans who dominated the ancient world. They had only one God, he was so abstract you weren't allowed to say his name, he was the Creator of the world, and he represented the highest order, good and justice.
You still made sacrifices, but unlike the pagans, this wasn't done at shrines all over the place, but in the temple in Jerusalem, and as a result, it was not a commonplace event. It was a special one.
For Christians, Jesus represents the next step forward in this theology. For them, Jesus is not only the Son of God, but he is God, and just as importantly, fully human.
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The world was full of sin, man was imperfect, and a sacrifice was needed to be made to God. That sacrifice should be the most perfect possible, and once it was made, it would be made forever, and through that sacrifice the world would be saved.
What better and more perfect sacrifice than God's own son, who is also God himself, taking the role of victim on himself voluntarily?
Jordan Peterson describes the Bible as the first "hyperlinked text." It's a neat description for a set of books that intricately reference each other in many places, and no character in the Christian Bible is more hyperlinked than Jesus.
How many times do the Gospels say, "This was done, so that the scripture might be fulfilled …"?
Judaism is a covenantal religion. There is the old covenant where God agrees that he will be the Jews God and they will be his people.
And then there is the new covenant of the Christians where God enters into this exclusive relationship with anyone who will follow, or believe in, Christ.
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The Apostles and their followers were impelled to share this with the world.
By the 4th century, Christianity was so significant that Emperor Constantine found the need to regularise it at the councils, including the Council of Nicea. His successor, Theodosius, made Nicene Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Which is how we Europeans came to inherit this worldview.
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