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How Christianity compares

Judaism

The faith of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets: the root from which Christianity grew.

Judaism worships the one God who made a covenant with Abraham and gave the Law to Moses. Its Scriptures are the same books Christians call the Old Testament. Most Jews do not believe Jesus is the Messiah, and that is the great dividing line between the two faiths.

Began
With Abraham, about 2000 BC, and the covenant at Mount Sinai under Moses. Rabbinic Judaism took shape after Rome destroyed the Temple in AD 70.
Followers
About 15 million (Pew, 2020), mostly in Israel and the United States
Scriptures
The Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, and Writings), the same books as the Christian Old Testament; the Talmud, the rabbis' teaching, written down about AD 200–500
Main groups
Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, plus many secular Jews

Where it began and how it spread

The story

The story of Judaism is the story told in Part One of Lands of the Bible: God's call to Abraham, the Exodus under Moses, the kings and prophets, the exile in Babylon, and the return. In Jesus's day, Jewish life centered on the Temple in Jerusalem.

When Rome destroyed the Temple in AD 70, there was no longer any place to offer sacrifices. Jewish life re-formed around the synagogue, prayer, and the study of the Law, led by rabbis. Their teaching was written down in the Mishnah (about AD 200) and the Talmud.

For nearly two thousand years, Jews lived scattered across the Middle East, Europe, and beyond, often facing persecution, much of it, to our shame, from people who called themselves Christians. The Holocaust killed six million Jews. The modern State of Israel was founded in 1948.

What they believe

God

There is one God, the Creator, holy, just, and merciful. Every service includes the Shema: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deuteronomy 6:4).

People

Human beings are made in God's image, with free will and both good and evil impulses. Judaism does not teach original sin in the Christian sense.

The way

Faithful life under God's covenant: keeping his commandments, repentance (teshuvah), prayer, and acts of kindness. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year.

The Messiah

Traditional Jews await a human Messiah, a descendant of King David, who will restore Israel and bring peace to the world. Many Reform Jews speak instead of a coming messianic age.

Jesus

Usually seen as a Jewish teacher, but not the Messiah and not divine.

Practice

The Sabbath, kosher food laws, the synagogue, and the festivals: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah.

Side by side

JudaismChristianity
GodOne God; the Trinity is rejected as compromising God's oneness.One God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the eternal, holy, loving Creator.
JesusA Jewish teacher; not the Messiah, and not divine.God the Son, who became fully human, died for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, and is Lord and the only Savior.
The problemHuman disobedience to God's commandments; no inherited original sin.Sin, our rebellion against a holy God, separates us from him and corrupts everything.
The answerRepentance, prayer, and faithful obedience; God forgives the repentant.Grace: forgiveness and new life as a free gift, received by faith in Jesus's death and resurrection, not earned.
ScriptureThe Tanakh (the same books as the Old Testament), interpreted through rabbinic tradition.The Old and New Testaments (66 books), the inspired Word of God.
After deathThe world to come, with resurrection in traditional teaching; the emphasis falls on this life.Judgment, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life with God for all who are in Christ, in a new heaven and new earth.

Common ground

  • The same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
  • The whole Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments and the Psalms
  • The hope of a coming Messiah
  • Jesus, his apostles, and the first Christians were all Jews

Talking with a friend

  • Never treat a Jewish friend as an 'Old Testament Christian'; Judaism has its own rich tradition.
  • Acknowledge honestly the long history of persecution by people claiming Christ's name.
  • Ask what they believe about the Messiah, and read Isaiah 53 together.
  • You may meet Messianic Jews, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah while keeping Jewish identity and practice.

Key differences

Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures: born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), the suffering servant who bore our sins (Isaiah 53), and the one who brings the new covenant God promised through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31–34).

The deepest divide is who Jesus is. Christians confess that he is God the Son, which Judaism rejects. Christians also believe his once-for-all sacrifice fulfilled what the Temple sacrifices pointed to (Hebrews 10:1–14).

Paul, himself a Jew, wrote of his great sorrow and love for his people, and of God's continuing faithfulness to them (Romans 9–11).

Read in the Bible

Sources