After living with a dear friend who is Jewish I have gained an amazing perspective about the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. These two faiths share a significant relationship but I feel that there are many estrangements found between them. Many Christians today have received everything that they know, and everything they care to know, about Judaism from the New Testament’s perspective of the Pharisees. Many Christians view Jews as people who are closed minded and only obey Torah because of the belief that God will love them more. In the following I will explain what I believe Judaism has to offer the Christian faith.
I must begin with the starkest contrast that I find between Jewish and Christian belief, hell. Ladies and gentlemen you can rest assured that the bulk of the Christian concept of hell did not derive from Judaism. In fact this concept mostly derived from Zoroastrianism which is the belief in two opposing, equal forces constantly battling on earth over humans. The Greeks also contributed with the belief of a nether region located beneath earth but, it is interesting to not that, this place is for all dead. Ironically Judaism also shares the belief that all souls reside in the same place but in Judaism this place is Sheol and in this place you are united with every other soul. I do not blame the early Christians for they view of hell that resides in the faith today. It was necessary for the belief of demons and a place were demons resided, hell, when everyone was getting sick and one cannot explain why. Now that we are a little more advanced there is no more need to believe in such a place. Moral of the story: Christians, don’t be so quick to assume that your belief about hell is shared with Judaism.
What if Jesus never meant to start a new religion? This is exactly what the apostle James believed. He also believed that Jesus’ teachings should be open to all but should be specific towards the Jewish faith. Isn’t it odd then that Christians today claim that all people who don’t believe in Jesus are going to hell yet one of the founders of the faith would completely disagree? I do believe that Jesus never meant to start a new religion but I don’t believe Christians are completely lost. I do believe that the Christian faith should not be so much about what you believe but about what you do. Obviously James’ ideas were never truly adopted since he was silenced by Paul. As they say, history is written by the winners and as a result, the winner, being Paul, got to write most of the New Testament. Moral of the story: lay off the Jews, you were one meeting away from being one.
Something else I find inspiring about Judaism is their devotion to knowledge, not only knowledge about the Hebrew Bible but knowledge in general. I believe it is safe to say that many Christians today do not study the New Testament three times a day. It is also safe to say that knowledge of it is not vital to becoming a Christian. Depending on the denomination, one can convert and join a church without reading anything from the Bible. What does this say about Christians? I must say that Christianity is making a come back in this area and to explain I must share a personal story. As I was purchasing some clothes from a store the woman working the cash register inquired about what I did. After finding out that I was a religion major at a United Methodist university and intended to work in the United Methodist Conference, she asked, “So are you going to get you doctorate?” A large smile swept across my face as she shared a story about a Methodist pastor that she knew who was extremely intelligent and in fact had a doctorate. I do not know if I will try to obtain a doctorate but I am comforted to know that many of my future colleagues are. Moral of the story: don’t be afraid to question and learn on your own.
With all of this said one must be asking the question, “then why choose Christianity” After much consideration I discovered that I must believe Christianity has something that others do not, which I do. But I also believe that other religions have something Christianity is without, obviously. In the end I believe that Christianity has the potential to offer the world what it is in desperate need of, Love. I am not saying that other religions do not have Love as their foundation but I believe for our society it is most accessible from Christianity. These are some things that Judaism has to offer Christianity but I believe the only way for our society to grow is to grow in Love. Moral of the story: Love.
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