The Jewish Roots of Christian Liturgy

Having the privilege to serve in the military has allowed this writer the opportunity to be exposed to the pluralistic society in a way which has exposed him to the beauty of the diversity enjoyed in American culture. One aspect of said diversity is the interaction which has taken place amongst the Christian and various world religions who also wear the same uniform in defense of America. It was the pleasure of the writer to attend a local synagogue in which his Jewish brothers and sisters welcomed him with open arms. The local congregation of Jewish believers went out of their way in order to ensure their newest visitor understood the flow of service and the significance of the ritual which took place on the first Shabbat or Sabbath of the month. The following essay will serve to detail the worship experience as well as how it and other beliefs of Judaism compare/contrast with the Christian faith.

Christianity teaches that God suffered and died on the cross for our sins. If you follow him and trust him you will live forever once you die. 2.2 billion people are christians which is 23% of the world’s population. Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century(patheos.com). The cross, the crucifix, and the Ichthys are the main symbols of christianity. The bible is a holy book of christianity there are also the new and old testaments. Women’s homes were used as a place to go to church. Women couldn’t be priests but they could join groups called widows or deaconesses. In 1910 two-thirds of the christians lived in Europe, today about a quarter of all christians live in Europe. Some holy days of Christianity are Easter, Lent, Palm Sunday, and Ash Wednesday. Judaism and Christianity are similar because they use the same holy book, the book is worded differently.

Finally, Jews and Christians interacted differently in their society. First, eating habits differed in both religions. Jews participate in kashrut, a diet that restricts eating any animal without cloven hooves or scales. Christians, however, don’t have any specific dietary laws to follow. Another difference is the significance of Passover, a 7-8 day Jewish holiday. During Passover, Jews celebrate the exodus out of Egypt by eating special meals, performing rituals, and praying. Christians have changed the Passover meal to a celebration of the Last Supper, or Jesus’ last meal before his crucifixion. Finally, a similarity in the Jewish and Christian society is the

Christianity was born and flourished in an empire where the common language was Latin and Greek. Two important people like Paul and Constantine further influenced and were a major part of the development of Christianity. The history of the Jews leading up to the time of Jesus had a major impact on the development of Christianity. “When Christianity was clearly identified as a distant religion, the new religion was considered by its members to be the fulfillment of Judaism rather than a new religion.” “Since Jesus was a Jew and preached to the Jews, Christianity was closely linked to Judaism.” The development of Christianity was due to several historical, political, and social circumstances.

During Christianity’s beginning in the Apostolic/Ante-Nicene Period, the most obvious changes took place while it also maintained some aspects of its Jewish heritage. Of course the first change away from Christianity’s Jewish past was the converting of Jesus’s followers to the Christian faith. This happened abruptly after Jesus’s death in 30A.D. Jesus’s teachings were accepted by many Jews and even some Gentiles, which led to

The earliest recorded text teaching Christianity has its roots buried deep within Judaism. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, created a new ideology of worship. The Messiah is the savior for all people and of all sins. Paul carried the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and establishment of churches enabled the spreading of the message throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity grew in acceptance; those that believed in the Messiah separated and began to worship on their own. This marked the beginning of the split of Judaism and Christianity.

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.

The context of this will be showing how Judaism and Christianity more similar than most people think. Three ways these two religions are the same are, both are monotheistic, how both share same holy city, and their beliefs to the “Good Life.”

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only provides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven.

Christianity might have remained a strictly Jewish sect if it were not for one man: Paul, who was considered the "father of Christianity."

The Last Supper (found in gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke) is the final meal that jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion. The Last supper was presented like a passover meal, traditional hymns were sung, and traditional prayers were spoken as Jesus passed around the matzot (passover bread). Among these Jewish traditions Jesus added the words while breaking the bread “This is my Body, which will be given up for you” and while passing around the wine Jesus said “This is my blood, which will be poured out for you”. From these words and actions, stems the creation of the Eucharist that we know today. In the view of the passover, Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, his blood covered the wood of his crucifix just as the sacrificial

Before the gospels and Pauline epistles, early church Christians related to the Old Testament as Scripture and viewed their Christian walk as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel from the Old Testament, which foretold of the coming age of the Messiah. The first New Testament Christians understood the importance of the Old Testament; it was their “Bible” they preached from. Just as in the early church, Christians today need the Old Testament for preaching and in which to reference and understand Christ’s purpose for why he came.

Christianity and Judaism are major world religions which, though they worship the same God, have marked differences which have caused two thousand years of strife and animosity between the two religions. In his book We Jews and Jesus, Samuel Sandmel likens the link between Judaism and Christianity to a type of parent-child relationship, saying, “Early Christianity was a Judaism; within a century after the death of Jesus it was a separate religion. It was critical of its parent, and hostile to it, and elicited from its parent reciprocal criticism and hostility.”1 Opposing views of Jesus Christ caused the initial rift between Judaism and Christianity and is the primary source of the tension between

Two practices important to Christian worship usually take place in churches. These practices are (1) baptism and (2) the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper. The ceremony of baptism celebrates an individual's entrance into Christianity. The Eucharist represents the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus shared with His disciples. Worshipers share bread and wine in the Eucharist as a sign of their unity with each other and with Jesus.

The nature of the worship facility consisted of communion and prayers of forgiveness and faith.