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Christianity Vs. Judism

Essay by   •  September 23, 2011  •  Essay  •  775 Words (4 Pages)  •  1,566 Views

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Although Christianity and Judaism share historical roots, these two religions diverged profoundly in the first centuries CE. Christendom places emphasis on correct belief (or orthodoxy), focusing primarily on response to the New Covenant that the Christian Triune God made through Jesus. Judaism primarily places emphasis on the right conduct (or orthopraxy), focusing primarily on how to respond to the Mosaic Covenant that the One God of Israel, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, made with the Israelites, as recorded in the Torah and Talmud.[1] In other words, Christians obtain individual salvation from original sin through repentance of sin and receiving Jesus Christ as their God and Savior through faith, rituals and sacraments, that express their New Covenant with God. Jews individually conduct in accordance with holy scripture and collectively participate in an eternal dialogue with the living God of Israel through tradition, rituals, prayers and ethical actions, that express their nation's covenant with God. Mainstream Christianity worships a Triune God who also is human. Judaism emphasizes - since almost some 4000 years until now - the Oneness of God and strictly rejects - since almost some 1800 years until now - the Christian concept of God in human form.

Judaism's purpose is to carry out what it holds to be the only Covenant between God and the Jewish people. The Torah (lit. "teaching"), both written and oral, tell the story of this covenant, and provides Jews with the terms of the covenant. The Oral Torah is the primary guide for Jews to abide by these terms, as expressed in tractate Gittin 60b, "the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not make His covenant with Israel except by virtue of the Oral Law"[2] to help them learn how to live a holy life, and to bring holiness, peace and love into the world and into every part of life, so that life may be elevated to a high level of kedushah, originally through study and practice of the Torah, and since the destruction of the Second Temple, through prayer as expressed in tractate Sotah 49a "Since the destruction of the Temple, every day is more cursed than the preceding one; and the existence of the world is assured only by the kedusha...and the words spoken after the study of Torah."[3] Since the adoption of the Amidah, the accnowledgement of God through the declaration from Yishayah 6:3 "Kadosh [holy], kadosh, kadosh, is HaShem, Master of Legions; the whole world is filled with His glory".[4] as a replacement for the study of Torah, which is a daily obligation for a Jew,[5] and sanctifies God in itself. This continuous maintenance of relationship between the individual Jew and God through either study, or prayer repeated trice daily, is the confirmation of the original covenant. This allows the Jewish people as a community to strive and fulfill the prophecy "I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, and will hold

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