Christianity and Judaism

Alexis Vieira
Mr. Kirejczyk
Quarter 3 Paper
March 3, 2013 Christianity and Judaism

Religion is a huge part of the world we live in today. It shapes each and every one of our personalities and gives us a lifestyle that for the most part we were grown up in. There are many religions in our world today some that are extremely popular and some that we hardly know about but are out there. Every religion has their own ways of doing certain things, their own beliefs, and much more. Sometimes there can be a drastic change between two different religions and other times it could be almost the same exact teachings with just one or two things different. The three major world religions are Christianity, Islam and Judaism. They differ from each other but yet are the same in many ways. Being the major religions this means that most of the people in the world follow by these religions the most. Out of these two religions I believe that Christianity and Judaism are the most interesting religions to work with because they have many similar things in common. Christianity and Judaism are not only theologically alike but they are also historically alike. All of the people of the early marks of Christianity were Jews. Jesus was a Jew, along with the twelve apostles and all of the people that lived in that time. They are all in our bible. Christians also believe in the messiah like Jews do and both religions believe that the messiah is Jesus in both the Jewish and Christian bible. Even though it might look like Christianity and Judaism are exactly alike they have many differences. In Judaism their scriptures are contained in a Hebrew bible that has 39 books. In Christianity there are scriptures in the Christian bible. The bibles still state almost the same things but just in a different way. For instance in Christianity it is believed that the messiah has already came and passed. They believe this is when Jesus lived here on earth; Christians look to the earthly Jesus as the actual messiah. Like Christians, Jews do not believe that he was the messiah. In Judaism they believe that the messiah is yet to come and is a central figure that is going to make great changed in our world when it arrives. Since the Christians believe that the messiah has already come now they are waiting for the second coming which they call the last judgment. A big thing in common between Judaism and Christianity is that they both believe in one supreme God. There are many religions out there that believe in more than one God. So Judaism and Christianity believing in one God is a major similarity. Both religions have their holy book full of scriptures and they both practice in belief in the Sabbath. Despite having differences, Judaism and Christianity share some characteristics like both of them believe in the supreme God, they have a holy book of scriptures and observe Sabbath. Both religions have a set up in administration at various levels.
Christianity as a religion was started as a sect of Judaism. These were members who felt tat the Judaic laws were more strict on them. Its core foundation is based on Jesus Christ and the work of his twelve disciples in the early church. It attracted more people mostly from the teachings that sought to address the problems bedeviling the masses. For instance, it sought to restore confidence and faith in the multitude. These were individuals who had no sense of purpose in their lives. It also got involved in charitable contributions and participated in championing for the respect to basic rights.
Both Christianity and Judaism have had an impact on the western culture in general. For instance, the western laws are more or less reflected in the book of Torah and several religious clauses from the state constitutions. For example dietary and value for life laws.