A Comparison Between Judaism and Christianity

Judaism is a religion that dates back to the 1st century C.E and traces its heritage to the covenant that God made with Abraham, making it an Abrahamic religion. This religion that bases its beliefs on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Torah). The main branches of Judaism are; Reconstructionist, Conservatives, Reformists and Orthodox. (Neusner, 1987)

 Christianity, on the other hand, is a religion that also dates back to the 1st century C.E however, it developed from Judaism. It bases on the life, death, resurrection and teaching of Jesus Christ, hence Christianity. The main branches of Christianity are; Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism. Considering that both religions have similar roots, they are bound to have some similarities and differences. (Neusner, 1987)

Christianity and Judaism are similar in that they believe in one true God. However, there comes a difference, for the Jews believe that there only exists one God who existed from the beginning and who will be in future (monotheism). Christians, on the other hand, believe in the Holy Trinity, which is God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. ("Compare And Contrast Essay Example On Judaism And Christianity", 2016) They believe that God sent Jesus Christ, who lived among human beings and then after death and resurrection left the Holy Spirit to take care of His followers.

The religions are also similar in that they both hold the teachings of the Hebrew scripture, this is according to Christians the Old Testament. As earlier mentioned, Christianity developed from the Judaism and therefore some of the books used to teach are employed by the Jews too, although some of them were altered to meet the teachings of Christianity and not those of Judaism. All these instructions are in one book, the Bible for Christians and the Tanakh for Jews. ("Christianity vs Judaism - Difference and Comparison | Diffen", 2016)

The religions believe in life after death. For Christians, they believe in the coming of a judgment day where they will either go the heaven or hell for eternity. The Jews, on the other hand, do not believe in the existence of either. They have different opinions; some believe in reincarnation, the world to come and others in unification with God.

Christianity follows the guideline of Jesus Christ where their primary objective is to love one another, love God, obey His commandments and spreading the Gospel so that more people for salvation (Neusner, 1987). However, Jews believe in the celebration of life, love for God and doing good deeds. Their objective is to fulfill the agreement with God which was made by Abraham and help repair the world.

Christians worship in church. The pope, bishops, vicars, priests, church pastors, Cardinals or deacon, lead them depending on the denomination. They attend their service on Sunday, which is their seventh day, and they respect it according to the commandments which God handed to Moses. As opposed to this, Jews worship in a synagogue, and Scribes, Rabbis, Mohels, and Cantors lead them. Their day of prayer starts at the sunset of Friday to the sunset of Saturday. It is the holiest day, and they spend it in contemplation and prayer.

In the churches, the Christians are forbidden from using carvings as they are a form of idol especially for the Protestants which are similar to the Judaism. However, in some branches of Christianity, they allow the use of these statues. The denominations which allow these are the Orthodox and Catholic sects. They have statues of Jesus and Mary portraying different parts of the story of Jesus Christ and his life on earth.

The Christians have different names for God. They include; God, Jehovah, Deo, Gott, Dios Eli Elohim and much more depending on the language spoken in a particular region. For Jews, they refer to God as Adonai or Hashem.

The main difference comes in where Christianity follow the teaching of Jesus Christ and Judaism follow the Law of Moses as written in Torah. However, they all believe in the existence of one most high God.

References

Compare And Contrast Essay Example On Judaism And Christianity. (2016).

Darwingenome.info. Retrieved 17 June 2016, from http://darwingenome.info/a-custom-

written-compare-and-contrast-essay-example-on-judaism-and-christianity

Neusner, J. (1987). Judaism and Christianity in the age of Constantine. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press.

Christianity vs Judaism - Difference and Comparison | Diffen. (2016). Diffen.com. Retrieved 17

June 2016, from http://www.diffen.com/difference/Christianity_vs_Judaism