Christianity and Judaism: Difference between revisions

Judaism's purpose is to carry out what it holds to be the [[Covenant (biblical)#Mosaic covenant|covenant]] between [[God in Judaism|God]] and the [[Jewish people]]. The [[Torah]] ({{lit|teaching}}), both [[Torah|written]] and [[Oral Torah|oral]], tells the story of this covenant, and provides Jews with the terms of the covenant. The Oral Torah is the primary guide for Jews to abide by these terms, as expressed in tractate Gittin 60b ("the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not make His covenant with Israel except by virtue of the Oral Law")<ref>Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, Dr. [[Immanuel Jakobovits]] in the Forward to, Schimmel, H. Chaim, ''The Oral Law: A study of the rabbinic contribution to Torah she-be-al-peh'', 2nd rev.ed., Feldheim Publishers, New York, 1996</ref> to help them learn how to live a holy life, and to bring holiness, peace and love into the world and into every part of life, so that life may be elevated to a high level of [[Holiness in Judaism|kedushah]], originally through study and practice of the Torah, and since the destruction of the [[Second Temple]], through prayer as expressed in tractate Sotah 49a "Since the destruction of the Temple, every day is more cursed than the preceding one; and the existence of the world is assured only by the kedusha...and the words spoken after the study of Torah."<ref>Jacobs, Louis, God, in Arthur A. Cohen, Paul Mendes-Flohr, ''20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts'', Jewish Publication Society, 2009, p. 394 cited in [[Elie Munk]]. The World of Prayer 1 (1961), p. 182.</ref>

 

 

According to [[Christian theologian]] [[Alister McGrath]], the Jewish Christians affirmed every aspect of then contemporary [[Second Temple Judaism]] with the addition of the belief that Jesus was the messiah,<ref>McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). {{ISBN|1-4051-0899-1}}. p. 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief—that Jesus is the Messiah. Unless males were [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity|circumcised]], they could not be saved{{bibleverse||Acts|15:1}}.";see also [[Paleo-orthodoxy]]</ref> with Isaiah 49:6, "an explicit parallel to 42:6" quoted by [[Paul the Apostle]] in Acts 13:47<ref>Beale, Gregory K., Other Religions in New Testament Theology, in David Weston Baker, ed., ''Biblical faith and other religions: an evangelical assessment'', Kregel Academic, 2004, p. 85</ref> and reinterpreted by [[Justin Martyr]].<ref>McKeehan, James, ''An Overview of the Old Testament and How It Relates to the New Testament'', iUniverse, 2002, p. 265</ref><ref>Philippe Bobichon, "L'enseignement juif, païen, hérétique et chrétien dans l'œuvre de Justin Martyr", ''Revue des Études Augustiniennes'' 45/2 (1999), pp. 233-259 [https://www.academia.edu/7279724/_Lenseignement_juif_pa%C3%AFen_h%C3%A9r%C3%A9tique_et_chr%C3%A9tien_dans_l%C5%93uvre_de_Justin_Martyr_Revue_des_%C3%89tudes_Augustiniennes_45_2_1999_p_233_259 online]</ref> According to Christian writers, most notably Paul, the Bible teaches that people are, in their current state, [[sin]]ful,<ref>{{bibleverse||Romans|3:23}}</ref> and the [[New Testament]] reveals that Jesus is both the [[Son of man]] and the [[Son of God]], united in the [[hypostatic union]], [[God the Son]], [[God in Christianity|God]] made [[incarnate]];<ref>{{bibleverse||John|1:1}}, {{bibleverse||John|1:14}}, {{bibleverse||John|1:29}}</ref> that [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus' death by crucifixion]] was a [[Atonement in Christianity|sacrifice to atone]] for all of humanity's sins, and that acceptance of Jesus as [[Christian soteriology|Savior]] and [[Hæland|Lord]] saves one from [[Divine Judgment]],<ref>{{bibleverse||John|5:24}}</ref> giving [[Eternal life (Christianity)|Eternal life]].<ref>{{bibleverse||John|3:16|NIV}}</ref> Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant.<ref name="bibleverse||Hebrews|8:6|NIV"/> His famous [[Sermon on the Mount]] is considered by some Christian scholars<ref>See also [[Expounding of the Law#Antithesis of the Law|Antithesis of the Law]]</ref> to be the proclamation of the [[Ethics in religion#Christian ethics|New Covenant ethics]], in [[Typology (theology)|contrast]] to the [[Mosaic Covenant]] of [[Moses]] from [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]].