What are the main comparisons between Christianity and Judaism?

Simon: What are the main comparisons between Christianity and Judaism?
How to Christianity and Judaism compare with oneanother.
What are the significant differences between them both?

Answers and Views:

Answer by cheir
Some of the key differences between Judaism [J] and Christianity [C]:
J no human can ever die for the sins of others
C Jesus died for the sins of mankind
J all humans are born pure, and innocent
C all humans are born with ‘original sin’.
J G-d would never allow/enable a ‘virgin birth’
C Mary gave birth, though a virgin
J no man gets a ‘second coming’
C Jesus will have a ‘second coming’
J every human should speak directly to G-d
C Jesus claims that the ‘only way’ to God is via him
J G-d is one, indivisible, cannot be separated into three aspects/incarnations
C speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
J we are ALL equally G-d’s children
C Only believers are ‘God’s children’.
J has no concept of ‘hell’
C believes in ‘hell’
J has no ‘devil’, the Jewish ‘satan’ is just an ordinary angel, under G-d’s control
C describes ‘satan’ as a devil and ‘fallen’ angel
J the ‘messiah’ will be a normal, mortal man who must fulfill all the Jewish messianic prophecies in one normal, mortal lifetime
C Jesus was the ‘messiah’ and will fulfill the prophecies when he ‘returns’
J the righteous of ALL faiths will reach ‘gan eden’ or ‘garden of eden’.
C only those who ‘know Christ’ can reach heaven
J forbids Jews from trying to convert anyone to Judaism
C believes in actively ‘witnessing’ and encouraging people to convert to Christianity.

Answer by Ed
God said in Geneses that He would send one to put satan down under his feet. Jesus came and defeated satan through covenant death. That is where Judaism differs. They are heirs of the Abrahamic covenant. We are heirs of the Abrahamic covenant.We are also heirs of the covenant born out of the Abrahamic covenant, the blood covenant of Jesus.The Abrahamic covenant produced Jesus, some Jews believe this and some do not.

Answer by MSB
Christianity is basically the Paganism imprinted on the gentile understanding of Judaism.

The main difference, of course, is that Christians think Jesus was the Messiah, and Jews don’t.

I must admit, the Jews have a way better argument… Jesus didn’t fulfill the prophecies.

Christians seem to think the prophecies were things like being born of a virgin, being ressurected, etc.— but those were never the Jewish prophecies for the messiah and most of them were mistranslated.

The Jewish prophecies (the messiah would return the Jews to Israel, bring world peace, end death, etc.) haven’t happened yet.

A lot of the stuff about Jesus comes more from Pagan myths, namely Sun Gods and the Sacrificial King archetypes.

Answer by D Aravah
JUDAISM/ISLAM
– says that no human can ever die for the sins of others
CHRISTIANITY
– says that Jesus died for the sins of mankind

JUDAISM
– says that all humans are born pure, and innocent
CHRISTIANITY
– some say that all humans are born with ‘original sin’.

JUDAISM
– says that G-d would never allow/enable a ‘virgin birth’
CHRISTIANITY/ISLAM
– says that Mary gave birth, though a virgin

JUDAISM
– says that no man gets a ‘second coming’
CHRISTIANITY/ISLAM
– says that Jesus will have a ‘second coming’

JUDAISM/ISLAM
– says that every human should speak directly to G-d
CHRISTIANITY
– Jesus claims in the ‘new testament’ that the ‘only way’ to G-d is via him

JUDAISM/ISLAM
– says G-d is one, indivisible, cannot be separated into three aspects/incarnations
CHRISTIANITY
– some sects speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

JUDAISM
– says that we are ALL equally G-d’s children
CHRISTIANITY
– says that Jesus was ‘god’s son’ above all others
ISLAM
– prophets are perfect and have never sinned

JUDAISM
– has no concept of ‘hell’
CHRISTIANITY
– *some* Christians believe non-believers go to ‘hell’
ISLAM
– most Jews and Christians and all non-Jews/non-Christians go to hell

JUDAISM
– has no ‘devil’, the Jewish ‘Satan’ is just an ordinary angel, under G-d’s control
CHRISTIANITY/ISLAM
– describes ‘Satan’ as a devil and ‘fallen’ angel

JUDAISM
– the ‘messiah’ will be a normal, mortal man who must fulfill all the Jewish messianic prophecies in one normal, mortal lifetime
CHRISTIANITY
– Jesus was the ‘messiah’ and will fulfill the prophecies when he ‘returns’
ISLAM
– believes Jesus was special but not a son of G-d and less a prophet than Mohammad

JUDAISM
– says that the righteous of ALL faiths will reach ‘gan eden’ or ‘garden of eden’.
CHRISTIANITY
– some Christians insist that only those who ‘know Christ’ can reach heaven
ISLAM
– some Jews and Christians will reach Paradise, Muslims reach paradise and have it better than Jews and Christians

JUDAISM
– forbids Jews from trying to convert anyone to Judaism
CHRISTIANITY
– believes in actively ‘witnessing’ and encouraging people to convert to Christianity
ISLAM
– all must convert to Islam or pay a fine to remain Christian or Jewish and live as 2nd class citizens (all others must convert or die)

JUDAISM/ISLAM
– no concept of original sin
CHRISTIANITY
– some sects of Christianity believe in “original sin” to justify the need for a savior. Others believe that humankind cannot keep from sinning and requires a savior to cleanse them.

Thanks Paperback for the majority of this with some tweaking by Qua Patet Orbis and Myself.
https://www.angelfire.com/al/AttardBezzinaLawrenc/JewCathDifference.htm
https://www.ajewwithaview.com

Answer by Gillian
Nope. Can’t think of any similarities.

The Jewish Messiah is to bring about the coveted national redemption, whereas the Christian Messiah heralds personal redemption of those who believe in him. Moreover, Judaism does not accept deification of a mortal being; also many Christians before the Council

According to Christian doctrine, man cannot merit salvation through his own repentance. Atonement comes only through the shedding of innocent blood. Throughout the seventh chapter of Jeremiah, however, the prophet proclaims the very opposite message on atonement. Over and over again, Jeremiah loudly declares that God does not want blood sacrifices but rather repentance alone for man’s grievous sins.
https://www.outreachjudaism.org/jeremiah3…

In the 18th chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet was teaching his people a fundamental biblical principle: A righteous person cannot die vicariously for the sins of the wicked. This notion was identified as thoroughly pagan and was to be avoided by the Jewish people at all costs, and is taught emphatically throughout the 18th chapter of Ezekiel. In verses 20-23 the prophet declares that repentance alone provides full forgiveness of sin. Never are blood-sacrifices or the veneration of a crucified messiah mentioned throughout Ezekiel’s thorough and inspiring discourse on sin and atonement.
Ezekiel’s teaching was not new. The Jewish people were warned throughout the Torah never to offer human sacrifices. When Moses offered to have his name removed from the Torah in exchange for the sin that the Jewish people had committed with the golden calf, the Almighty abruptly refused Moses’ offer. Moses, who was righteous with regard to the golden calf, could not suffer vicariously for the sin of the nation. Rather, only the soul that sinned would endure judgment.
https://www.outreachjudaism.org/sin.html

The Christian idea of the messiah also assumes that God wants, and will accept, a human sacrifice. After all, it was either Jesus-the-god who died on the cross, or Jesus-the-human. Jews believe that God cannot die, and so all that Christians are left with in the death of Jesus on the cross, is a human sacrifice. However, in Deuteronomy 12:30-31, God calls human sacrifice an abomination, and something He hates: “for every abomination to the Eternal, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.” All human beings are sons or daughters, and any sacrifice to God of any human being would be something that God would hate. The Christian idea of the messiah consists of ideas that are heretical in Judaism.

“Christianity is faith; Judaism is sociology” by Rabbi Ben Kamin
Judaism is a civilization because it bursts into people’s lives with social structure, family relations, history, education, the life cycle, music, bagels – and then also with a prayer book. Christians certainly have all of these, but not in the same way that Jews do. I happen to admire Christianity’s ecclesiastic purity, its conquest of death, its ability to make every individual Christian a candidate for personal salvation. I happen to appreciate the notion of the tenderness of Jesus, even though it is not personally relevant to my God concept.
There is no such thing as the angst of Methodist survival. There is really no such thing as Episcopalian food. There is no such thing as Baptist dress. There is no such thing as Presbyterian language. But all of these sociological categories are part of Jewish life because we’re a group, and we have group dynamics, group guilt, and group crises – like right now, believe me. Shalom!
by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner
https://www.examiner.com/article/christianity-is-about-believing-judaism-is-about-belonging

Christianity is faith; Judaism is sociology by Rabbi Ben Kamin
Judaism is a civilization because it bursts into people’s lives with social structure, family relations, history, education, the life cycle, music, bagels – and then also with a prayer book. Christians certainly have all of these, but not in the same way that Jews do. I happen to admire Christianity’s ecclesiastic purity, its conquest of death, its ability to make every individual Christian a candidate for personal salvation. I happen to appreciate the notion of the tenderness of Jesus, even though it is not personally relevant to my God concept.
There is no such thing as the angst of Methodist survival. There is really no such thing as Episcopalian food. There is no such thing as Baptist dress. There is no such thing as Presbyterian language. But all of these sociological categories are part of Jewish life because we’re a group, and we have group dynamics, group guilt, and group crises – like right now, believe me. Shalom!
by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner
https://www.examiner.com/article/christianity-is-about-believing-judaism-is-about-belonging