Differences Between Judaism And Christianity

Religion is one of the hardest words to define in any language. The word itself holds a completely different meaning for each individual person. There is also an infinite number of different religious traditions and beliefs in the world. Because of this it becomes easy to lump certain religions together based on similar belief systems. The problem with this type of grouping is that these religions are so very, very different. One example is that of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam being grouped together as the Western religions. Perhaps Islam doesn’t fit into this statement so well but for Christianity and Judaism people tend to think that these religions are very similar. Furthermore, many people know that there are differences between the
The Torah is the Jewish sacred text. Moses is considered to be the prophet who received the word of God and then wrote it down into what is now considered to be the books of the Torah. The word Torah itself means teaching or doctrine. Therefore in the Jewish traditions the Torah is considered to be the written Law of Moses. Genesis contains the world’s origin story followed by the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is also here in Genesis that God promises these three men the land of Canaan. Exodus tells the story of Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt as well as Gods covenant to them. They will be God’s chosen people if they abide by his law. Leviticus contains many of God’s laws for the Israelites. Examples are rules about what is clean and unclean, what animals are okay to eat, atonement, and various other moral and ritual laws. Numbers includes the disobedience and lack of faith of the Israelites and then them being condemned to walk in the desert for forty years. Deuteronomy contains a set of new laws laid down by Moses as well as Moses’s
Jesus is believed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of a Messiah and the writer, Mathew makes direct quotes to the Old Testament and works to prove that Jesus is indeed a Jew and connect his heritage to that of the Jews. In the book of Matthew there is also the story of the wise men following a star to Bethlehem and bringing gifts to Jesus, considered to the King of the Jews. King Herod attempts to kill Jesus by ordering the massacre of all male children under two years of age in Bethlehem. Jesus and his family fled to Egypt, to safety. Mathew also contains the almost all important of Jesus’s speeches known as the Sermon on the Mount. In the book of Luke much of Jesus’s childhood is depicted, including his visit to the temple at the age of 12. The book of Mark introduces John the Baptist as the one that proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah. In this book Mark records twenty of Jesus’s miracles in detail as well as four parables Jesus told that were used to demonstrate moral and spiritual lessons. Mark also contains the story of Jesus’s burial. The book of John contains much talk about the beginning of creation and equates Jesus to God. The book of John also includes much of Jesus death