Comparative Study: Judaism and Christianity

Judaism and Christianity are both developed on the basis of observing and following God, on the adherence to His rules and objectives, and their faithful fulfillment. Since the fulfillment of God’s will is an obligation of a Jewish or Christian person, both religions fall into the rule-deontological classification. The question regarding the parallels and divergences of Judaism and Christianity has always been a main concern in the spiritual world. It is understood that these two religions do have a lot in common, which is predominantly attributed to the fact that Judaism was the predecessor of Christianity. The key and foremost base is the same for both religions, the Old Testament. Nonetheless, the impact that Christianity has experienced

Judaism also firmly believes in this concept; however, because Judaism mainly focuses on how one lives their life here and now rather than in the afterlife, the Jewish religion has very little dogma regarding the afterlife. This fact that there is very little dogma relating to the afterlife leaves a great deal of room for personal opinions. The spiritual afterlife is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as Olam Ha-Ba, the world to come. There are two main beliefs that the Jews hold: the first one is that they believe that the souls of righteous people go to a similar place as the Christians heaven OR the second belief is that they simply wait until the coming of the messiah and then they will be resurrected. Regarding the unrighteous dead, Jews believe that their souls are tormented by demons of their own creation or that their souls simply cease to exist. Christians also believe that human existence does not end at physical death. In Christianity after the body ceases to exist, the soul is judged and the righteous and free of sin enter into the kingdom of heaven; however, those who die while still having mortal sin on their hearts are damned to hell. Certain Christian groups believe in a place called Purgatory where an individual undergoes a purification process before they can enter into the paradise of heaven. The core of the Christian faith is the belief in the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of everlasting life to all who accept his