Similarities Between Judaism And Christianity

The religions of Christianity and Judaism have multiple similarities and multiple differences between them. The religions have similarities and differences in founders, religious texts, afterlife, salvation and gender practices. In fact Christianity arose out of the Jewish faith and as such there are many overlaps between the two. However the two religions despite multiple similarities are both distinct in their separate customs and beliefs.

One of the biggest differences between Judaism and Christianity is their different scriptures and religious texts. Both Judaism and Christianity follow the bible as a key religious text but both religious groups’ bibles differ. In the Jewish religion, adherents follow the bible also referred to as

the Tanakh which is not one book but a combination of three separate ones (Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim) (Robinson, 2000). In the Christian tradition adherents follow the bible as well, but instead of following the Tanakh as in the Jewish religion, Christians follow the New Testament. Christians consider the Jewish bible to be the “Old Testament”, essentially they believe that the same god is spoken about and worshipped in both religions and that both the New Testament and “Old Testament” are, “in fundamental harmony” (Lynch, 1992). To clarify however, the Jewish faith does not follow the so called “Old Testament”, if they were to follow the “Old Testament” it would essentially admit that their bible has been rendered obsolete by the newer Christian doctrine (Robinson, 2000). In addition to these base differences such as different bibles, there are other major differences as well. In medieval Europe Christian Gnostics faulted the God of the Old Testament with being petty, bloodthirsty and ignorant (Lynch, 1992). There are however similarities between the two texts, especially considering that the Christian faith recognizes the Old Testament and incorporates bits and pieces of it into their doctrine.
Another area of similarities and differences between the two religions is in their founding, and important religious figures. Both the Christian and Hebrew bibles begin with the book of Genesis or Bereshit respectively. Both Christianity and Judaism believe that the universe was created by a single god in 7 days. Past that however both religions begin to differ. While Christianity incorporates the Hebrew Bible into its beliefs, it doesn’t recognize the same founders and important figures. Judaism recognizes the two groups, the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs as its founders. The group known as the Patriarchs consists of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The group known as the Matriarchs consists of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah (Robinson, 2000). Founders aside Judaism also recognizes a rich tradition of important prophets, even dedicating a book to them in the bible Nevi’im (prophets) which is even split further into the multiple sections of Nevi’im rishonim (Former Prophets), Nevi’im akharonim (latter prophets), and the Twelve Minor Prophets. (Robinson, 2000) Christianity recognizes all of the aforementioned prophets, but does not credit the Matriarchs of Patriarchs with its founding. Instead Christianity believes that the religion was founded by Jesus Christ himself, although there does exist a debate that Jesus was not the founder of Christianity but rather that it was St. Paul who founded the religion (Olson, n.d.). In addition to having a different founder, many Christians (but not all depending on sect) also pray to a variety of Saints and apostles.
Gender practices are another area where the two religions differ. In the Jewish religion modesty plays a big factor in the lives of men and women. In Judaism, all married women are supposed to cover their hair and allow it to only be seen by their husbands. It is tradition in Orthodox Jewish communities for women to shave their heads prior to marriage and keep it covered after. In non-Orthodox communities Jewish women are not required to keep their hair covered, but when they go to temple are required to wear lace circlets (the female equivalent to the kippah) (Robinson, 2000). In comparison Christianity encourages women to be modest, but does not require the donning of any specific garments to achieve such modesty. Women also play a larger role in Judaism than in Christianity. In Judaism, you are traditionally only Jewish if Judaism was also the religion of your mother, with your father determining your social status, giving added importance to women in the religion.
Other similarities and differences are found between the two on the two topics of salvation, and the afterlife.

In terms of salvation both religions differ greatly. In Christianity they believe that salvation from all sins can be achieved through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your savior. If you accept Jesus as your savior then provided you have led a good and relatively moral life you will ascend to heaven, or if you’ve led a wicked life you will descend to hell. Christians then believe that one day Jesus will return to Earth from heaven and judge the living and bring about the apocalypse or the end of days. (Lynch, 1992) In comparison with the Christian model, Jews believe quite differently. Christians accept Jesus as their lord and savior as they believe he is the messiah. Jewish people however do not recognize Jesus Christ as the messiah believing instead that he has yet to appear. In Judaism salvation is achieved through living a good life and living in accordance with gods commandments. Both religions agree on the concept of living a good life leading to a person’s salvation, but they differ on their views of an afterlife. Judaism originally had no concept of heaven or hell as in the Christian Religion (Krell, n.d.). The Jewish High Priest or Sadducees, believe that there is no afterlife as it is not mentioned in the torah at all. It is worth noting however that there is a mention of resurrection in the last book of the Hebrew bible (Krell, n.d.). Pharisees (predecessors to modern rabbis the Jewish equivalent to priests), believe that the soul doesn’t disappear as the Sadducees suggest but rather that they go to join god and await resurrection in Israel during the time of the messiah. (Krell,

n.d.)
Both religions have their similarities and differences. At times they overlap and blend together using some of the same texts and scriptures, recognizing certain people as holy and important in both faiths, and sharing the same basic belief that people should live a good life. Other times they are different such as on their views of salvation, the messiah, scriptures and views on the afterlife.