hokiewolf said:
Are Catholics Christians?
The Old Testament says that the chosen people of God are the twelve tribes of Israel, who descend from the 12 sons of Jacob (who was re-named "Israel"). The Old Testament never says that the chosen people are "jews".
The term "jews" originates from a term used to describe people who lived in the land of Judea...around the time of the Messiah. And the term "Judea" originates from only one of those twelves tribes/sons of Israel, Judah.
There were multiple ethnic groups of people living in the land of Judea at the time of the Messiah. Not just a remnant of Israelites...but also Edomites, Canaanites, Arabs, and others. I just cited the example of the Herodians (see Wikipedia link above), who were not racial Israelites, but rather descendants of Esau (Edomites) and Arabs. And if they very king of the land of Judea at that time was a non-Israelite, then what do you think that says about the majority of the population in the land at that time? The majority of those in the land of Judea at the time of the Messiah were not even ethnic Israelites. Most of the Pharisees were ethnic kinsmen of the Herodians, these non-Israelite descendants of Esau and Canaanites (the Edomites).
Most of the Israelites never returned to Palestine after being taken into captivity by the Assyrians (around 700 BC) and into Babylon (around 500 BC). Only a small remnant of Israelites returned to Palestine/Judea after the Babylonian captivity. The vast majority of Israelites migrated elsewhere in the world, and came to be known as the "lost tribes of Israel" . Over the centuries after their captivity, they primarily migrated north and west, over the Caucasus Mountain range and into Europe. This is why the European peoples are called "Caucasians", because they came from the Mid East and over the Caucasus Mountains.
The true biological descendants of the Israelites are actually the European peoples - specifically the Germanic, Anglo-Saxon peoples. Over the centuries, they "lost" and forget their ancestry and that they descended from the Israelites. But they "naturally" adopted the TRUE religion of the Old Testament, and the continuation of that true religion, in the message from the Messiah. They were receptive to that religion because they are the true descendants of the Israelites.
"Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." - John 15:19