Religions of the World: Judaism and Christianity - Assignment Example

 Religions of the world Judaism and Christianity Abstract Study of Judaism and the beliefs of Jewish people have been outlined in this paper, with special emphasis on the religious beliefs and practices. A thorough understanding gained through visits to the Jewish religious places of worship and meeting the rabbis helped in relating to Dr. Goodfriend’s ardent attachment to Judaism. A brief comparison of Judaism with Christianity has been made to understand how religions can be interrelated, thus relationship of humanity to be understood through oneness of faith, i.e., God. Judaism and Christianity Judaism, as a religion, is one of the oldest religions of the world, believed to be about four thousand years old. The people of Judaism are called Jewish. Its origins have not yet been traced and have undergone a lot of debate. It is referred to as an “evolving religious civilization” (Fisher, M; 226) and the religion of the Jews. The first faith of Jews is to believe in one God, i.e., monotheism. The Jews worship God in the name of Yahweh or Elohim. The Jewish place of worship is known as the Synagogue. On the day of Sabbath, which is the weekly day of rest for the Jewish, visit to the Synagogue is a common practice. This day is observed as a day of no work or any form of activities, and is devoted to prayers and peace. Much information about Judaism was learnt through meeting with an observant Jewish lady called Dr Elaine Goodfriend who adopted Judaism due to its meaningful principles. Her interest in the religion made her pursue a Ph.D with specialization in Hebrew Bible. Her interests further intensified through teaching Judaism for over twelve years at California State University, Northridge. Two visits to the synagogues at Valley Village called the Chabad of North Hollywood and Shaarey Zedek Congregation, and meetings with the Rabbis proved very insightful in learning the important aspects of Judaism. Interview with Dr. Goodfirend : Interrelationship of Judaism and Christianity cannot be ignored. It is believed that Jesus was the Messiah that Moses had predicted (Palfrey, J; 3), and Moses was the religious leaders whom the Jewish revered. Christianity believes in Trinitarian monotheism; however, both the religions believe one God to be the ultimate reality. Christians worship the Holy Trinity of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit. Both the religions believe in existence of other spiritual beings in the form of angels and demons. The Jews believed Jesus to be a false prophet, whereas the Christians believed him to be the son of God, an incarnation of God, and savior of the world. Judaism does not believe in the miraculous conception whereas Christianity strongly supports this affirmation. Christians believe that Jesus had come to the earth with the message of God. Jesus was the leader, a prophet, a law giver, a deliverer, a teacher, a priest, a mediator and a human, the one chosen by God himself to be the savoir of humanity from all sins. The Jewish believe that God gave the Torah to Moses, the most important Jewish leader, and that He wanted Moses to make Jewish people believe that God wants them to follow their lives as instructed in the Torah. Moses is believed to have led Jewish people out of slavery from Egypt, and this journey is referred to as Exodus. (Deutsch, Y; p 305). These Jewish later settled in Israel. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mother Mary, through miraculous conception which the Jewish do not believe. Though Jews believed in the personage predicted by Moses, they misconceived Jesus as they were expecting a Messiah of the time of David. The Jewish follow the Hebrew Bible, referred to as the Old Testament, which is comprised of three parts, the Torah, the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. Collectively, these are known as the Tanakh. According to Rabbinic Judaism the Torah was revealed by God to Moses; within it, 613 Mitzvot (commandments) are mentioned with 248 positive commandments and the rest are negative commandments that the Jews are not supposed to do. (Forta, A; 22). The Jewish strongly believe that keeping all these commandments is a part of character building. Following these is communicating with God. All these commandments are a part of the important Ten commandments that Moses had received form God on the Mount Sinai (Forta, A; 26). Christians refer to the Biblical books about Jesus as the New Testament, and to the canon of Hebrew books as the Old Testament. Judaism does not accept the retronymic labeling of its sacred texts as the "Old Testament," and some Jews refer to the New Testament as the Christian Testament or Christian Bible. Christianity strongly believes that the only form of salvation is through Jesus. Jewish belief in terms of salvation points to predestination according to their deeds in past lives. The Jewish believe that when people leave this world, they are rewarded or punished for what they have done during their lives. Reward is understood in terms of closeness to God and punishment is thought of as a cleansing process. Judaism strongly believes in life after death, and that God is the controller of all living and non living beings on the earth. Christianity has varied views on afterlife, mainly eternal or door to heaven. Judaism rejects all claims that Christian New Covenant ideas supercedes, fulfills, or is the unfolding or consummation of the covenant expressed in the Written and Oral Torahs. It therefore does not accept that the New Testament has any religious authority over Jews, whereas Christianity believes in Judaism as a true religion but with incomplete revelations, which have been fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. Although Christians base much of their faith on the same Hebrew Scriptures as Jews, there are major differences in belief: Jews generally consider actions and behavior to be of primary importance; beliefs come out of actions. This conflicts with conservative Christians for whom belief is of primary importance and actions are a result of that belief. In conclusion, Christianity and Judaism are both closer and farther apart than any two other religions. On the one hand, Christians are completed Jews; but on the other, while dialogue between any two other religions may always fall back on the idea that they do not really contradict each other because they are talking about different things, Jews and Christians both know who Jesus is, and fundamentally differ about who He is. In totality, any religion is about faith in God and faith in oneself. This has been the ultimate message of God to all living beings on the earth. References Deutsch, Y. (1998) Let my nation go. Let my nation go: the story of the Exodus of the Jewish nation from Egyptian bondage: a compilation of Talmudic and midrashic sources. Published by Feldheim Publishers. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zY3TMbfKYmoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Judaism+Exodus&lr=#PPA305,M1 Forta, A. (1995). Judaism. Published by Heinemann. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=NhdoWlrzcg4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Judaism&lr=#PPA22,M1 Palfrey, J. (2006) The Relation Between Judaism and Christianity: Illustrated in Notes on Passages in the New Testament Containing Quotations From, Or References To, the Old. Published by Crosby, Nichols, and Co., 1854. Original from Harvard University. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=E4GfLFb5hTIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Judaism+and+Christianity&lr=#PPA3,M1 Journals Fisher, M. (2005). Living Religions. Sixth Edition. Published by Prentice Hall. Pearson Education. Inc. Read More