Judaism Reflection

“And God said let there be light, and there was light…” according to the Genesis story, an entity which bears no tangible face or bodily structure created the world with nothing more than a swift tongue. It bore the shape of the earth, the plentiful bounty of the soil, the beauty of animals, and the wonder known as humanity all within the time span of seven days. It created the notion of societal law, moral principle, and a reverence for a deity by loyal subjects. And it instituted a harsh rule of law which instigated the idea that if any part of you, mind or body, were to disobey it, you would be punished in the now and in the after. Nonetheless, the Christian telling of how our world came to be, although following a path negligent of the

The dynamic nature of Judaism offers a successful living religion as a result of its strongly withheld characteristics. Through essential characteristics such as central beliefs, sacred texts, writings, ethical teachings and rituals and ceremonies, Judaism offers a dynamic nature and liveable religion that connects an individual and society with its roots. The way this living religion advances and grows is because of its dynamic characteristics as a whole. Importantly, these characteristics combined form the true nature of the religion rather than separately.

In Genesis God created the earth in six days and declared rest for the seventh day. On day one, God created light to part it from darkness, calling the light “day” and the darkness “night”. On day two, he created the sky, allowing him to create land and sea on day three. God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night" on the fourth diurnal (Fairchild, 2013). These elements would also serve to establish days, season, and years. On the fifth day God created all the organisms on the land, sea, and sky and made sure they would flourish.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. …the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In the Christian faith the world was created by God in the sequence of seven days. Throughout those days he made light and darkness, water and sky; he made the animals of the water and the animals

Throughout Genesis 1-11, one of the main subjects covered is the natural world. Genesis 1 in particular provides crucial information for understanding the origin of the natural world. In the first verse of the entire Bible (Genesis 1:1), the reader is immediately told that “God created the heavens and the earth.” Additionally, the reader is informed that “there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31), showing that God’s work of creation took six days. Because I believe that God created the world in six literal days, the foundation of my worldview is entirely different than the foundation of an atheist’s worldview. When I look at the world around me, I do not view everything around me as the product of random chance and evolution; instead, I see everything around me as the handiwork of God.

God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He separated the light from the darkness he called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” God called the vault “sky.” God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their

Jesus is the fulfillment of Judaic prophecies; he is the new Moses imparting the new Law of Love.

Have you ever noticed that when people talk of Jews, at least in a protestant church, that the Israelite legalism, rituals, dress and hair standards are the first things to mind? The topic of Judaism may come with stereotypical opinions and “Christian Judgement” that are without merit or understanding. Judaism, by a Christian worldview, had to change after Pentecost, since the animal sacrifice to atone for sin Christ completed on the Cross. However, Judaism does not accept this truth of Christ and His work on the cross, but Judaism remains in the world. So, what was this change in Judaism and when did it take place? There have been numerous fluctuations within Judaism, only the theme constructed in this essay has its foundations around the most important facet of Judaism- the Temple. With the Temple in the forefront of this essay, we will discuss the modifications that Judaism went through, at what time, different perspectives that the destruction of the Temple had, and how the Christian sect views these vagaries. The Temple destruction of A.D. 70 converted the Jewish faith in its singular fashion, while, at the same point, the Jewish faith never had a total change by always changing throughout time.

In Genesis, the first book of The Bible the Christian and Jewish creation story is told. God spoke and his Word was done. He made the heavens and the earth. He made light and drove away the dark. On the earth he created the waters and lands and man and beast.

Judaism is practiced by almost half of the country and is one of the oldest and biggest monistic religions. The laws they follow come from the Torah which comes straight from the Hebrew bible. This paper will consist of Jewish traditions regarding food preferences and avoidances, death/dying, communication, and grieving.

I learned a lot of facts about Judaism that I had previously been ignorant to. I had no idea that we (Christians & Jews) maintained the same bible (The Old Testament) but that we interpreted certain events differently, such as Adam and Eve. “In Judaism, each and every human being is free to choose good or evil because each person stands before God in the same relationship that Adam and Eve did” (Esposito 77). I was unaware that Judaism did not believe in “original sin.” I had no knowledge of the fact that Jews did not believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. I found it interesting how Jews have split into separate groups – Reform Jews, who believe that Judaism is a cultural inheritance and that neither the laws nor beliefs are

Genesis 1:1-11, are very important scriptures that demand that we take a look back at our history when we begin to discuss human origin, relationships and civilization. It is here that we find answers to what has been a debate for many. Author, Lim (2013) states that, “In Genesis the days of creation begin with sunset because God is not bound by and does not emanate from natural forces such as the sun”. This is shown true in the verses simply explaining the creation of everything including the land the water the heavens, the moon, the stars, air and sea. Amazingly, he also created the separation of darkness and light and every living creature of the earth, including man, and he saw that it was good. This further proves that God is the ruler and judge of everything.

From Eden to ashes, the cold hearted truth, has and will remain, that every person will at some point in his/her life suffer. Judaism teaches the common belief that all human beings are condemned to suffer because of the original sin with which all of mankind is stained and because of the sins they have committed. The centuries old battle between sin and sinner and good and evil is traced back to the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, and eventually the evil of sin blossoms in the story of Cain and Abel. Judaism teaches God is an omnipotent deity whose will is absolute and whose word is eternal. But, why did an all-knowing God create mankind only to be condemned to suffer because of a sin he knew was to happen? Although Judaism’s theodicy illustrates

There were many arguments that early Christians made towards Judaism which involved both theological and geographical aspects of Jerusalem. Early Christians, after Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, formed very strong opinions towards the religion of Judaism. They believed that Jews were to blame for the death and murder of their Savior, Jesus Christ, and that the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE was their Divine Punishment from God. Along with this belief, Christians also argued that the Jewish covenant had been passed to the church, so God was now with the Christians instead of the Jews.

entering the general area of the synagogue, it looked like a school or a daycare, and then entering they had a simple directory for the main office for the school they held. When entering the building they had three areas where service could be held. When asked we were led, to what appeared to be, the smallest of the service rooms. Before entering the service they had a mini gallery of art pieces, such as sculptures, paintings, and specially designed emblems that they used for worship.