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Judaism & Christianity: the differences
Judaism & Christianity: the differences
Comparing Christianity and Judaism
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John Chrysostom was one of the most influential minds of theology in the fourth century. After being exiled from his home in Antioch, he became the archbishop of Constantinople. Holding the position, archbishop of Constantinople, he was the senior bishop of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He cleverly uses his power and position to fuel and spread anti-Semitic feelings in Christianity. This paper aims to enlighten its readers about John Chrysostom and his reasons for his anti-Semitic views. To make sure his anti-Semitic views are instilled in the minds of the followers of Christ, he finds it necessary to dichotomize Christianity and Judaism. With the help of the Gospel of Mark, Chrysostom supports his views on the separation of the two religions. His anti-Semitic views along with other reasons amplifies the hatred toward Jews, which is found in the twentieth century. In order to spread his message, Chrysostom justifies that Christianity supersedes Judaism and therefore Christians should shun the evil Jews who killed Jesus Christ.
Even in fourth century, Christianity has still not defined its division from Judaism. Christians still regarded themselves as Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah, but follow Jewish traditions like going to synagogues. His main goal was to bring in the people who belong to the spectrum of non-Jesus Jews and convert them to become non-Jewish Christians. By doing so, Chrysostom makes it clear that he wants to draw a clear line between Jews and Christians. Even though he acknowledges that Jesus was a Jew, he believed that Christianity dominated Judaism. Just as his name meant “the golden tongue”, his sermons were wildly popular, and one of his famous sermons addressed the difference between Christianity and ...
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...es. The Jews struggled with keeping their faith alive because of the oppressive rulers. They have dealt with various labels and hatred for something their ancestors did a long time ago.
Currently, these views have changed in the western world. Feelings of anti-Semitism are frowned upon and the western world is trying to make reparations for the times the Jews were persecuted. Museum, biographies and memoirs are released to remind us about the dark times of the Jews. With peace treaties, Israel and western countries created a union, making Israel a common holy land between the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Even though the Middle Eastern countries still harbor anti-Semitic feelings, the western countries have offered alliance with Israel. With these new changes, Christianity and Judaism have found common grounds between them, just like the time during John Chrysostom.
Such debates are naturally meaningless in the rest of the world, where the Jews are to follow the laws of the land. The different historical background of the two movements of Judaism has created a noticable gap in their culture, their traditional laws and their adherence of those laws. It has shaped the manner of their developement and the final result of it. The history itself was shaped by the environment in which the exiled Jews found themselves, and the attitude of the people who surrounded them.
Jews have been persecuted throughout all of history. A deep seated hatred has existed in many nations against them. Throughout history Jews could not find a resting place for long before they are thrown out of over 80 countries including England, France, Austria and Germany (Ungurean, 2015). Deicide is one of the reasons why Jews are hated. It is said that Jews are the responsible party for the killing of Jesus. The gospels describe Jews delivering Jesus to Roman authorities while demanding that he be crucified and his blood be on their children (Schiffman, n.d.). As a result Jews are held accountable for the death of Jesus and they are hated by many.
Jews have faced heavy discrimination throughout the Middle Ages, 1800s and mid-early 1900s. Middle Ages Anti-Semitism dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, where all over Europe, persecutions of the Jews took place (“The Roots of the Holocaust”). During this time period, the Jews were “regularly excluded, persecuted, exploited and murdered” (“Medieval anti-Semitism”). “They were forbidden from holding public office; from employing Christian servants; from doing business; from eating or having sex with Christians” (Medieval anti-Semitism). It was also illegal for Jews to be seen in public during Christian Holy Week.
It is mentioned that the bishops tell the common folk that “the Jews have stolen your religion and yet the Jews live with you in your own land.” As a result, these words create violence as the common folk “rush out together in search of Jews, and when they find one they kill him.” The killings and violence committed during this time was also predominately recognized as acts of vengeance for many bishops and other Christians deem “the Jews as Christ-killers.” Again, this idea supports the notion that Jews created mischief and thus, the cruelty directed to them is understandable and
The rise of conventional antisemitism occurred in places like Germany, France, and Austria between 1817 and 1914. In Germany, it was because the Jews profited from the industrial revolution unlike most of the native population. In France, the Jews were blamed for the French downfall in World War II, and in Austria they merely blamed Jews for any problems they had. Because of this, these countries began to have new national ideas. They believed nations were culturally exclusive, meaning it should be one ethnic group, and one culture, and no other group should contaminate it. They believed Jews would deteriorate the race and weaken the ethnicity. Antisemitism then became a secular idea rather than a religious one. Gentiles hated Jews simply because they were Jewish, not because of their religion. Once the idea began, it spread rapidly. In Germany, they had antisemi...
...s problems in the past. Many religions would have fallen and ceased to exist under this kind of persecution. To the Jewish believer this is perhaps because they are the ‘chosen people.’ This religion continues to prove its strength and resilience even today and will continue to do so.
On the other hand, Christianity traces its origin from Jesus Christ from whom the disciples, at Antioch, were first called Christians due to their manner of living, which was like Jesus Christ’s. Both Christians and Jews believe in one God who is called Jehovah; however, the point of divergence is that while Christians believe in the trinity (that is, God is one substance but three persons in one namely the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the Jews believe in God being just one substance one
The antisemitic beliefs held for centuries (Document 3) painted Jews as outsiders, inhuman, or even conspirators against society. They blamed the Jewish people for their problems and painted them as the cause of the social and economic issues in the country. Secondly, the Jewish people were shown to be ”Behind the enemy powers” as quoted from Document 1. This message was pressed through stereotypes spread daily to as many people as possible. This made everyone view them as terrible people and made their image viewed in infamy.
In the twenty first century there are still acts of anti-semitism going on today such as the jewish community center shooting that happened in Kansas City last month. The suspect that shot and killed three people was a member of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and he was a also a anti semitic. The Westboro Baptist church also targets jews while picketing outside of funerals and jewish meetings. Jews also still face opposition in Palestinian territories.
In the post-doctoral Cohen was in the search of whether or not there was a period of time were Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace under the control of the Islamic world. This event was called convivencia and occurred during the Golden Age. The region where this event took place was Spain. The convivencia was a controversial topic due to the differences in religion among the groups. Recent Spanish historians do not take for consideration the event of convivencia due to the disbelief that it actually occurred. Jewish historians have their side of the story where they argue that Jewish-Islamic relations during convivencia were harmonious. There are suggestions that this event of peace among these three groups was impossible based upon religious challenges. Each different version about convivencia has been influence by politics. Cohen was not only able to answer whether convivencia took place, but also demonstrated an extended background about each culture. Cohen emphasizes the roles that each group played during convivencia and the influences and contributions that each one contributed. In Islamic Spain there was a greater tolerance and freedom than anywhere else in that area. Jews and Christians had the option to pay a poll tax to be protected under the same rules as Muslims. Jews were protected from discrimination and had the right to be treated as any other Muslim. In contrast, with Christians-Jew relations there was an immediate social, economic and religious difference. Christians believed that they were superior to Jews. Relations between Christians and Jews were not as engaging as relations between Jews and Muslims. The main idea that kept Jews in a good social position was their influence in local economy. Many Jews...
Dawidowicz suggests that, “Despite the recurrent cycles of disaster that marked their history, the Jews have been committed to a fundamental and abiding optimism grounded in the teachings of Judaism. All creation, Genesis declares, is good. Whatever God does, the tradition teaches, is for good.” (Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 342). This is a fact, which shows that despite their tragedy, they still tried to continue on with religion and succeeded.
The earliest recorded text teaching Christianity has its roots buried deep within Judaism. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, created a new ideology of worship. The Messiah is the savior for all people and of all sins. Paul carried the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and establishment of churches enabled the spreading of the message throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity grew in acceptance; those that believed in the Messiah separated and began to worship on their own. This marked the beginning of the split of Judaism and Christianity.
Christianity was founded from Judaism. The first people to convert to Christianity were Jews so Christianity was seen as a branch of Judaism. The converts, who were encouraged by the Apostle Paul, eventually acknowledged that their faith was distinct from Judaism.
Anti-Semitism, a hatred of Jews, has been present for centuries in many places. However, the term ‘Anti-Semitism’ itself only came into use in the nineteenth century, and along with it came an ideology which fuelled this deep psychological hatred to develop into a political movement which culminated in Nazism. Throughout history, the reasons for Anti-Semitism have differed and in Imperial Germany, it was a combination of religious, racial and political factors which led to such hostility toward Jews. However, the economic state of the nation is often thought to be the main reason behind the way in which Jews were treated during this period.
In the eyes of some Jews the events against their race came to raise questionable thoughts and emotions toward god and his