Christianity & Judaism

This blog post discusses the differences between Christianity and Judaism, describes the way in which Jews view Jesus and the New Testament and how I make sense of this.

“One of the distinctive characteristics of Jewish civilization is the way in which religion is infused in elements of culture—food, clothing, language, literature, law—which are not usually associated with Western definitions of religion.  In Christianity, there is a clear distinction between sacred and profane aspects of one’s life.  That tendency is even more pronounced in America, where the separation of religion and secular life, of church and state, is elevated to a constitutional principle.  Jewish civilization, by contract, is a religious civilization—its language is a sacred one, its meals have ultimate significance, and there is not a similar distinction between synagogue and marketplace.”

I am grateful to the book, Exploring Judaism, for this helpful distinction between Judaism and Christianity.  I have come to recognize that becoming a Jew is much more than simply taking on a new religious identity.  It is about becoming part of a people, a history and a way of life where the sacred is infused into all aspects of daily living.   I suppose it’s possible to live in a similar manner as a Christian but my daily experience always felt more compartmentalized.

Judaism and Christianity share a great deal in common.  Indeed, the analogy of a mother/daughter relationship is often used to describe the close and intense relationship between the two religions.  It is not uncommon to hear people speak of the Judaeo-Christian tradition or Judaeo-Christian values indicating that the ideals of these faiths share a common heritage and affinity.  It is often noted that the underpinnings of these faiths form the foundation for the modern democratic society where each individual is accorded value and fundamental rights as a human being.  All of the earliest Christians were observant Jews and even as Gentiles were persuaded to adopt Jesus Judaism, a completely separate religion did not emerge until much later.  According to some sources, the split was not complete until the 2^nd century C.E. or later.

The fact that the two religions share a great deal in common does not mean that there are no significant differences.   Milton Steinberg writes that, “Anyone may become a Jew; but no one has to do so in order to be saved, whether in this world or the next.”  This stands in diametric opposition to historic Christianity which posits that salvation is only available to those who profess Jesus as the Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.   These differences are understood as the innovations of Paul the Apostle, both a Jew and a Roman, whose writings and teachings are “mainly responsible for the emergence of Christianity as a new, distinct religion.”    Steinberg enumerates the Pauline elements in Christianity to which Judaism is opposed:

• The insistence that the flesh is evil and to be suppressed
• The notion of original sin and damnation from before birth of all human beings
• The conception of Jesus not as a man but God made flesh
• The conviction that men can be saved vicariously, that indeed this is the only fashion in which they can be saved, and that Jesus is God’s sacrifice of his only begotten son so that by believing in him they may be saved
• The abrogation of the authority of Scripture and the Tradition, and the nullification of the commandments of the Torah
• The faith that Jesus, having been resurrected from the dead, bides his time in Heaven until the hour is come for him to return to earth to judge mankind and establish God’s Kingdom
• The final and climactic doctrine that he who earnestly believes these things is automatically saved, but that he who denies them, no matter how virtuous otherwise, is lost to eternal perdition

Because of these ideas, the split between the two religions became irreparable, and it grew even greater with the development of Christian theology that included concepts like “the Trinity, the miracle of the mass, the cult of saints, the intercessive power of Mary, and the doctrinal infallibility of the Popes.”

What do Jews think of Jesus?   My guess is that in order to answer that question, one would need to address another question:  Which Jesus?  God?  Man?  God-Man?  The person depicted in the New Testament Gospels?   If so, which Gospel?  Here is how Steinberg answers the question:

“To Jews, Jesus appears as an extraordinarily beautiful and noble spirit, aglow with love and pity for men, especially for the unfortunate and lost, deep in piety, of keen insight into human nature, endowed with a brilliant gift of parable and epigram, an ardent Jew moreover, a firm believer in the faith of his people; all in all, a dedicated teacher of the principles, religious and ethical, of Judaism.”

Steinberg adds that Jesus can be all of these things without being “God, nor uniquely His son, nor the Messiah, nor a moral prophet, nor even an impeccable human being.”  In his book, Questions Christians Ask the Rabbi, Rabbi Ron Isaacs offers a slightly different perspective:

“There is no consensus on how Jews are to regard Jesus.  In recent decades many scholars have tended to view him as one of several first-and second-century Jews who claimed to be the Messiah and attempted to rid Judea of its Roman oppressors.  However, almost no scholars believe that Jesus intended to start a new religion.  Were Jesus to return to earth today, most Jews believe he would undoubtedly feel more at home in a synagogue than a church.  An increasing number of scholars believe that Christianity’s real founder was another first-century Jew, Paul.”

Is Jesus the Messiah?  Christianity believes that the purpose of history has been fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, ushering in the Messianic era.  Jews believe that history is still in the making and “the end of days” is yet to come.   Again, Isaacs offers this analysis:

“The Jewish Messiah is an instrument of God.  Only God is our Rock and our Redeemer.  In Christianity, Jesus himself is both Savior and Redeemer.  The Jewish Messiah, by definition, must be of the seed of David.  The suggestion that the Messiah will be the son of God is completely alien to Jewish thinking.  The Christian Messiah (Jesus) is considered to be the son of God, born of a human mother by an immaculate conception.   Finally, the Jewish Messiah is an instrument for bringing divine redemption to society.  The Christian Messiah brings redemption to the individual soul.”

Where do I stand?   It would be disingenuous to say that the theology I was taught, the rituals I observed, the beliefs that I held, the myriad discussions in church, at camp, around the dinner table during the years of my childhood and throughout my adult life have had no impact on me because these are interwoven into the fabric of my life.   It is impossible to un-remember, so I recognize these things as my religious heritage and, to that extent, I value them as being part of what has brought me to the point where I am willing to consider a different point of view.

Metaphorically speaking, if Christianity is one land and Judaism is another, they are separate and distinct, yet for me they are connected by a bridge.   As I leave behind one land and cross the bridge to make my home in the other, I am not wiping my mind and spirit of the influences that shaped me and brought me to my present journey.   Rather I am saying farewell to the culture, laws, customs and beliefs that characterized my sojourn as a citizen of one country and accepting and adopting those of the new place where I am going.  I am grateful for my past but I have also turned in my old passport for a new one.

By crossing the bridge, I am no longer an adherent of Christianity, and this means that I have abandoned the claim that Jesus Christ is G-d, that he is the one true Messiah, that he represents the only way, truth and life.   At the same time, I will always appreciate the understanding and experiences that Christianity has given me, and I hope that my background will help me to become an interfaith peacemaker—someone who can celebrate the best of what every religion has to offer; someone who can revel in great similarities and respect differences; someone who can provide assistance to others who find themselves on a similar path.   As a Jew, I will seek the heart and will of G-d in the written and oral Torah.

My wife Janet said something recently that really sunk in deeply.   She said, “Don’t build a wall between what you’ve been and what you are becoming.  Stay with the bridge.”  We had been watching Billy Crystal’s tribute to Mohammed Ali and the comedian talked about how the Champ was a bridge builder.   A Jew and a Muslim who considered each other a brother.   You can’t hug someone through a wall, but you can meet them on a bridge.