Religion as a Belief System - Essay Example

Religion Religion is definitely a kind of belief system. To distinguish religious system from non-religious belief systems is sometimes may be easy, but not always. Ascertaining a set of characteristics which tend to unite around religions is obliging, yet even that isnt always sufficient. Theism - belief in the existence of a god - is possibly most often confused with religion, although theism by itself doesnt meet the criteria as a belief system but religion always does. Philosophy is sometimes may be confused with religion as the two issues be inclined to face the similar basic issues. Perceptive on theism, philosophy, spirituality, and other beliefs are similar and dissimilar from what one considers of ‘religion’, can assist a lot in understanding the religion. Few points out where the outer borders of religion exist, whereas some assist to identify with what religion essentially comprises. This essay undertakes comparisons between the Jewish Religion and the Catholic Christian religion. Judaism is based on the principles and ethics incarnated in the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud and is a religion of jews. Even though Judaism has rarly been monolithic in practice, it has always been monotheistic in theology. Its central authority is not fixed in a person or group, but in sacred texts and traditions. Judaism adhered to a number of religious principles, the most significant of which is the faith in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, supreme God, who created the universe and continues to administer it. It is the traditional Jewish belief that the God who created the world made a promise with the Israelites, and disclosed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of the Torah, and the Jewish people are the descendants of the Israelites. The practice of Judaism turns around study and the complying of Gods laws and commandments as written in the Torah and set forth in the Talmud. Judaism is the 11th largest religious group in the world (Wikipedia). According to Catholic belief, God, boundless and holy in himself, in a plan of total kindness generously created man to make him share in his own sacred life. Because of this, always and in every place, God get closer to man. He asks man to look for him, to know him, to love him with full of his heart and strength. He welcomes all men, scattered and alienated because of sin, into the unity of his Church. For accomplishing this goal, God sent his only Son as Redeemer and Savior of mankind. Through him and in the Holy Spirit, he asks men to turn out to be, his adopted children and hence inheritors of his blessed kingdom. To spread this message throughout the world, Christ sent forth the disciples he had chosen, giving power to them to speak publicly the gospel: hence go and build disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that God have commanded; and He is with them always, to the close of the age. Inspired by this mission, the Disciples of Christ went forth and sermonized everywhere, as the Lord worked with them and established the message by the signs that attended it. Those who accepted the Christs call and liberally acted in response to it are urged on by love of Christ to announce the Good News all over the world. This fortune, received from the apostles, has been devotedly protected by their heirs. All Christs followers are reminded to hand it on from generation to generation, by recognizing the devotion, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by rejoicing it in liturgy and prayer (Charles Borromeo Parish). Comparison of Judaism and Christianity 1. Jews are strict monotheists and they believe that G-d as a single, indivisible entity. They prove it by taking the quote from the Bible (Deut. 6:4), “Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d; the L-rd is One.” Two times a day, the believing Jew utters these words. This is the first lesson a Jew learns as a child and the last words he utters before he dies. In front of every Jewish house there is a Mezuzah announcing these words. They are again found in the Tefillin, bound daily next to a Jew’s heart and mind, declaring this most fundamental principle of Judaism. Adoration of any other form of god by a Jew is considered a type of idolatry. Albeit a Jew worships the chief angel, it is also a form of idolatry. G-d is the immeasurable One, Creator of all things and is the only one who deserves worship. Everyone who worships anything else is at fault of idolatry (Kaplan, pag. 1-58). Where as the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the fundamental mystery of Christian belief and existence. It is the secrecy of God in himself. Hence it is the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most basic and indispensable teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’. The entire history of deliverance is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, discloses himself to men ‘and bring together and unites with himself those who turn away from sin’. The Catholics believe that the Trinity is a mystery in the strict sense, one of the ‘mysteries that are hidden in God, which can in no way be known except they are revealed by God’. Certainly, God has left indications of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation all through the Old Testament (Charles Borromeo Parish). 2. Jewish belief does not accept the Christian concept of original sin. Even though the Torah does speak of Adam’s sin, it instructs that man can ascend above it. Man might not be capable to perfect himself, but it was because this reason that G-d gave the Torah. It is ridiculous to think that G-d would give a Torah that was unfeasible or too complicated to follow. In no place does Judaism educate that one can be saved from Condemnation to everlasting punishment by simple faith. Any factual belief in G-d must guide a person to follow His commandments (Kaplan, pag. 1-58). According to Catholics, God created man in his image and recognized him in his friendship. As a spiritual being, man can survive this friendship only by free obedience to God. The ruling out against eating ‘of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ spells this out: "for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die." The ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ reminds the insuperable restrictions that man, being a creature, must liberally identify and respect with faith. Human being is reliant on his Creator, and subject to the rules of creation and to the moral standard that manage the use of freedom. Man, persuaded by the devil, allowed his faith in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his liberty, violated Gods authority. This is the original sin man committed (Charles Borromeo Parish). 3. Jewish religion does not recognize the need for a savior as a mediator with G-d and do not accept Jesus as Messiah. The Prophets foresaw a world of peace and love after the Messiah’s arrival but this definitely is not the reality today. Above all, any reference of the Messiah as being the ‘son of G-d’ is absolutely improper. There is no evidence that Jesus was indeed the Messiah anticipated by Israel. The Messianic pledge comprised such things as ideal peace and harmony among men, love and truth, complete knowledge and uninterrupted happiness, in addition to the end of all evil, idolatry, dishonesty and hatred. Not any of these things have been satisfied by Christianity (Kaplan, pag. 1-58). Christians consider that "the world has been recognized and kept in being by the Creators love; because of the original sin men has fallen into slavery but has been set free by Christ, crucified and has risen to smash the power of the evil one. As per the strong belief of Catholic Jesus of Nazareth, born from Mary, a Jew of a daughter of Israel, at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator Pontius Pilate during the time in power of the emperor Tiberius, is the everlasting Son of God made man. He came from God, come down from heaven, and came in the flesh and he is the great Redeemer (Charles Borromeo Parish). 4. Jews in general consider actions and behavior to be of primary importance and beliefs come out of actions. The Jew believes that man can come closer to G-d by complying with Him and observance of His commandments. There is always the occasion to wake up the divine in a person by obeying G-d’s commandments. The Jew starts with this opportunity (Kaplan pag,1-58). But according Catholics, first priority is for faith and actions are the after effects. Belief is a personal act that is the free response of the person to the plan of God who reveals himself. But faith is not a lonely act. One can not give himself faith as one can not give life himself. The believer has received faith from someone and should hand it on to others. The love for Jesus and for the neighbor forces to speak to others about ones faith. Each and every believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. It is the Church that believes first, and so stands, promotes and sustains the faith. Throughout the centuries, in numerous languages, cultures, peoples and nations, the Church has continuously confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, passed on by one Baptism, and stuck in the assurance that all people have only one God and Father (Charles Borromeo Parish). Even though the Torah and the Old Testament seems to be the same the interpretation and the understanding of both Jews and Christians is differ from each other. Christian read the Old Testament in the light of Christ’s crucified death and resurrection. Such reading discloses the unlimited content of the Old Testament. According to Christians, the New Testament lies concealed in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. While, Jewish Religion has no faith in the New Testament and Jesus Christ. Work Cited Charles Borromeo Parish, Catechism of the Catholic Church Apostolic Constitution FIDEI Depositum 16 December, 2007 Kaplan, A. The Real Messiah? A Jewish Response to Missionaries Jews for Judaism (2004) 16 December, 2007 Wikipedia, Judaism (12 December 2007) 16 December, 2007 Read More