Christianity and Judaism: Difference between revisions

Judaism is not a [[proselytizing]] religion. Orthodox Judaism deliberately makes it very difficult for a non-Jew to [[Conversion to Judaism|convert to Judaism]] and become a Jew, and it requires a significant and full-time effort in living, study, righteousness, and conduct over a period of several years. The final decision is by no means a foregone conclusion. A person cannot become Jewish by marrying a Jew, nor can he or she become Jewish by joining a synagogue, nor can he or she become Jewish by anyinvolving degreehimself ofor involvementherself in the community or religion to any degree, buthe or she can only become Jewish by explicitly undertaking intense, formal, and supervised work overwhich yearsis aimed towardsat the achievement of that goal. Some{{which|date= November 2018}} less strict versions of Judaism have made this process somewhat easier but it is still far from common.

In the past, scholars understoodbelieved Judaismthat toJudaism havehad an evangelistic drive,<ref>H.H. Ben-Sasson's ''A History of the Jewish People'', Harvard University Press, 1976, {{ISBN|0-674-39731-2}}, p. 288: "Explicit evidence of a systematic attempt to propagate the Jewish faith in the city of Rome is found as early as 139 BCE. With the increase of the Jewish population of Rome, the Jews intensified their efforts to make converts among the Romans. Although the activity of Jewish missionaries in Roman society caused Tiberius to expel them from that city in 1 9 CE, they soon returned, and Jewish religious propaganda was resumed and maintained even after the destruction of the Temple. Tacitus mentions it regretfully (''Histories'' 5.5), and Juvenal, in his Fourteenth Satire (11. 96ff.), describes how Roman families 'degenerated' into Judaism: the fathers permitted themselves to adopt some of its customs and the sons became Jews in every respect. ... the Bible provided the apostles of Judaism with a literature unparalleled in any other religion."</ref> but today's scholars are inclined to the view that it was often more akin just to "greater openness to converts" rather than active soliciting of conversions. Since Jews believe that one need not be a Jew to approach God, there is no religious pressure to convert non-Jews to their faith. Indeed, Scholars have revisited the traditional claims about Jewish proselytizing and have brought forward a variety of new insights. McKnight and Goodman have argued persuasively that a distinction ought to be made between the passive reception of converts or interested Pagans, and an active desire or intent to convert the non-Jewish world to Judaism.<ref>Martin Goodman (The Jews among Pagans and Christians: In the Roman Empire, 1992, 53, 55, 70–71), McKnight, Scot (A Light Among the Gentiles: Jewish Missionary Activity in the Second Temple Period 1991).

The [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] branch of [[Hasidic Judaism]] has beenmade an exception to this non-proselytizing standardrule, sincebecause in recent decades, it has been actively promotingpromoted adherence to Noahide Laws forby gentiles as an alternative to [[Christianity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.noahide.org/article.asp?Level=493&Parent=88|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128101917/http://noahide.org/article.asp?Level=493&Parent=88|url-status=dead|title=''The Seven Laws of Noah and the Non-Jews who Follow Them ''|archive-date=28 November 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c102:H.J.RES.104.ENR:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131231008/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c102:h.j.res.104.enr:|date=31 January 2016}}, 102nd Congress of the United States of America, 5 March 1991.</ref>

By contrast, Christianity is an explicitly [[evangelism|evangelistic]] religion. Christians are commanded by Jesus to "[[Great Commission|Therefore go and make disciples of all nations]]" by [[Jesus]]. Historically, evangelism has on rare occasions led to [[forced conversion]]s under threat of death or mass expulsion on rare occasions.