Karan Mamgain Mr.

Boerma Comparative Religions October 7, 2011 Judaism and Christianity Judaism is the root of all Abrahamic religions; namely, Christianity and Islam. Christianity, one may say is extremely close to Judaism in all aspect barring the position on Jesus being a messiah; however, this would be fallacious. Yes, the two beliefs do share a lot in common, but the differences are also quite stark. Their differences and similarities can be revealed in four different categories: history and statistics, religious authority, beliefs and doctrines, and rituals and practices. The first category doesnt reveal much about beliefs, and therefore would not be included in this analysis. The remaining three do highlight the fundamental differences and similarities in the two faiths; hence, would be central in this analysis. The first category would be about religious authority. The sacred text, in both beliefs, is indispensable to the development of the followers of the respective beliefs. The Jewish Bible Tanakhis considered sacred in both the beliefs. Christianity, although, adds the New Testament, a post-messianic addition, to the Jewish Bible to form the Bible. Jews, on the other hand, consider the Jewish Bible to be the only sacred text, and regard it as being noncanonical. Both beliefs, interestingly, share the same opinion on the status of prophets, who, time to time, have been key figures in the development of the faithsbut this mainly applies for Judaism, but because Judaisms pre-Jesus development is part of Christianity, it also applies for Christianity. Lastly, the views of the two beliefs greatly vary human interaction with God. The post-Diaspora

Judaismrabbinicalsays that Rabbis are needed to connect with God. In Christianity, too, there are two different views on it: the Catholics believe that man can connect or interact with God with the help of the Pope; Protestants believe that the Holy Spirit helps each and every Christian to achieve spiritual intimacy with God. The second category is about beliefs and doctrines. Both the religions believe in the same God, the God of Abrahamthe one God. Their idea about the nature of that God, however, differs greatly. Judaism teaches about one God with only one aspect, one personalitythe one entity. Christianity, on the contrary, subscribes to the notion of a Trinity: one God with three aspects, personalities, personsstill being the same, one God. Namely, the three members of the Trinity are God the father, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit that guides Christians spiritually and intellectually. Secondly, the two beliefs have varied ideas about Jesus Christ. For Christians, hes the promised Messiahthe saviorthe Son of God. In Judaism, however, Jesus is either considered a false prophet orat besta good teacher, but nothing more than that; certainly, not the Christ. This is perhaps the biggest and decisive difference between Christianity and Judaism. The Christian faith mainly premises on one event: the resurrection of Jesus. While the Jews deny it, Christians use it to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. The point can be extended to conclude that Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, while the Jews are still waiting for a promised Messiah. Both the faiths embrace the same idea about the human nature: it is inherently corrupted due to the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. Both the beliefs, again, have differing views regarding salvation. For Christians, it can be achieved though Jesus alone, who died for the sins of mankind. In Judaism, because the messiah is yet to come, the chief means of salvation becomes belief inand obedience toGod, and good deeds or acts of love and kindness. Also, it shall be noted that some Christian sects strongly propose the idea of

predestination. For Jews, there is no doctrine of predestination. Their views on each other are also noteworthy. While Christianity views Judaism as a valid faith, but with incomplete revelation. Judaism, on the other hand, just views Christianity as a fallacious interpretation of Judaism. The third and the last category is about the rituals and practices. It would be correct to assert that Judaism requires far more adherence to rituals than Christianity does. Jews see rituals as an unalienable aspect of their faith, while for Christians, a lot of those are not even included in the New Testament. Christianity places a huge emphasis on belief and faith in Jesus, while Judaism places it on obedience to the rituals. The holidays, as well, for the two faiths greatly vary For Christians, the only two necessary rituals and observances are baptism and communion. The differences between the two faiths are quite large and fundamentalenough to consider them two different faiths. The similarities, too, are numerous. Perhaps, as mentioned before, the one biggest difference between the two faiths is the status of Jesus. One considers it the Messiah, the Son of God; the other, a false prophet, great teacher, or a lunatic.