Understanding the Relation Between Judaism and Christianity

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

Judaism and Christianity each have their own beliefs and traditions, with Judaism being a religion that shaped Christianity as it is today. Both religions were shaped by the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament, which is considered by many to be the biblical law of God (Molloy, 2009). Christians however, consider that in the New Testament with the arrival of God in human form, that our sins were forgiven. In its earliest stages, Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism. Jesus and his apostles even considered themselves Jewish in the early years of Christianity. While followers of Judaism do believe in one God, they do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah or that God is the Holy Trinity.

One of the many decisions that has to made in life is what, if any, religion they will practice. Christianity, the belief in God, and Jesus as his son, or Judaism, to follow the direction of the Torah are some of the major religions that a person may choose. This decision may be one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life, and each religion has similarities and differences, and pro’s and cons. Two of the major religions, Judaism and Christianity, are alike in their inspiration of sacred texts, but are different in their identity of Jesus, and practice of worship.

The Ten Commandments are regarded as the fundamental laws that all Christians are to conform to. They were written by the hands of God himself and revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, inscribed on two stone tablets. They offer basic rules of behaviour for spiritual and moral living to Christians. These laws still instruct Adherents today, for they expose sin and show us God's standard. Without the sacrifice of Christ, Adherents are completely helpless to live up to God's holy standard.

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 biggest difference between Judaism and Christianity is their view on God and Jesus. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah / Savior. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, part of the trinity, and that only through

The first misunderstanding between Jews and Christians is that Jews are still searching for a Messiah, Jeremiah 23:5 (“the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land). While Christians believe that the Messiah has arrived. The challenge here is that this formulation attributes to the expectation of a Messiah, a prominence and a centrality it has not usually had in Judaism. Christianity is a Messiah associated religion to an extent that Judaism is not. Although in Judaism the rate has varied from a different century to the other and from one branch to the other, the messianic age expectation, of a period of justice and peace, has always been more important (Fisher, 2010). In any case, the coming of messianic age and the Messiah appearance are connected together. When justice and peace arrive, then, will be the period to identify that the Messiah is. Until then everybody has the task

Judaism origins arises from the times of Abraham when god made a covenant with him and promised to make his lineage a sacred people and give them the holy land. After Abraham, the ‘children’ of Israel were born. Christianity was developed out of Judaism in the 1st Century. They believed Jesus was the fulfillment of the Jewish text ‘Torah’ which is the text that both Christians and Jews alike use. The difference is that Christians also have the New Testament that is full of Jesus teachings, miracles, and revelations of how the world will end. Christianity is based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, those who follow him are known as, Christians.

Both religions believe in one god, or are referenced as monotheistic. The only other religion like these two is the Islamic religion of the Muslims who worship their one god “Allah.” Judaism or the Jewish peoples god is named “YHWH” is known as the Tetragrammaton. The Christian’s god name is “Jesus.” On a daily basis Jewish are supposed to pray 3 times a day morning, afternoon, and evening. Christians pray whenever they want to.

Being a Christian wasn't easy then and it's not easy now. Christianity went against what everyone believed although it was the same faith but it still had differences which weren't accepted. Christianity was thought of as another sect of Judaism, kind of like a fad would rise up and then die down eventually. Christianity was looked at as heretical (Gonzales, 42). Being a Christian meant you had to believe that the Messiah had came and not be still awaiting him to come. So this meant you would spread the message and that would cause issues, big issues and sometimes riots. So what happen was Christianity begin to become separate from Judaism because the distinction between Christians and Jews became very clear (Gonzales, 42). Seeing this as a

Between 70-130 AD, Jew 's started revolting against the Roman Empire. Jewish Christian 's therefore were killed, and shipped back, to their settlement in the Palestine region. By the 2nd century Gentile 's took the stance of Christianity but still struggled against the Roman 's in order to protect their religion. Christian 's were first seen as a group of Jewish religion and was later troubled with the Greco-Roman 's. Many people in the Roman Empire believed that the Christians were brutally harassed by the Greco-Roman gods given the reason of the Great fire of Rome. However, Christian religion in the Roman Empire soon became legalized in the 4th century. It grew more strongly in than it did in the west and Christianity was able to grow stronger than before.

It should be noted; early Christians were also of Jewish ancestry. There are several qualifiers that must be observed. First, their experience with the Jesus Christ event was historically pre-conditioned. And secondly, it had to take place in that cultural location, to have proclaimed Him as Christ, Lord, Son of God, Son of Man. This would also mean He is the one who realizes the hope of Israel and of humanity, yet seen from the eschatological standpoint of the 1st century Judaism grounded in Hebrew Scriptures. To see God’s saving act active through Christ-event in our time, we must repeatedly ask, the fundamental question: Mk 8:27 – 29: Who do people say I am; and what do you say that I am?

Jewish people were living in the land of Canaan, the promised land, which is located somewhere between today’s Israel and Lebanon lands, under Abraham who was the most respected person for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The religion is one of the first believe there is only one God. According to Judaism, God is defined as the Creator and Ruler of all things. Also, Judaism provided a basis for Christianity. Therefore, some of Jews beliefs were integrated into Christianity.

Judaism, which is made up of a few separate groups, was very common at the originating of Christianity. The common ground (shared beliefs) for these sects was the belief in One God and that this One God had made a covenant with the people of Israel. The foundation of this covenant was called “The Torah.” The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main groups the Bible focuses on around the time of Jesus, along with the Zealots, the Hellenists, the Lawyers, and the Essenes, who we only read about in sources outside of the New Testament.