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BASIC HISTORY OF CHRISTIANS & JEWS

SIMILARITIES, DIFFERENCES & HISTORY

© 2005 Chuck Klein

 

PREFACE: Because of recent threats from a nonJuedo-Christian religion and the proliferation of inter-faith marriages, with the following introduction of spiritual teachings to the next generation, a brief comparison of Jews and Christians is being tendered.

A) SIMILARITIES OF THE TWO RELIGIONS. Jews and Christians are one in the same inasmuch as we all share and believe:

1) There is only one G_d and he is all-knowing and all-powerful.

2) The Old Testament of the Bible and all that it contains:

a) The Ten Commandments. These Judeo-Christian Values: Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother, Thou Shalt Not Murder, Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness, etc., found in the Ten Commandments, is the basis for our common moral and ethical aspirations;

b) The concept of reward and punishment both on earth and in the hereafter;

c) We both have symbols and watch words - words we live/pray by - Holy Words;

CHRISTIANS. Symbol: The Cross. Words: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Ghost)."

JEWS. Symbol: Star of David. Words: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, The Lord is one."

3) Throughout the world today Christians and Jews are the epitome of decent, law-abiding, productive citizens. And as such, we have raised the moral, ethical and living standards of all peoples.

B) BIBLICAL HISTORY:

We are all descended from Abraham, the first Jew, who lived in Canaan (modern day Israel). G_d makes a covenant with Abraham, that if his male descendants are circumcised, these descendants shall inherit the land of Canaan and G_d shall be their G_d.

Isaac, Abraham's son, marries Rebekah and they have twin boys: Esau and Jacob. G_d renames Jacob, ISRAEL. When Jews say the Holy Words, "Hear, O Israel...." they are not referring to the country Israel, per se, but to all those who are descendants of (seed of) Jacob/Israel - all Jews.

Jacob/Israel has a son, Joseph, who is sold by his brothers to Egypt. G_d comes to him and gives him the power to interpret dreams. He is called to interpret the King of Egypt, Pharo's, dreams. Joseph tells of seven years of plenty to be followed by seven years of famine. He is put in charge of hording food and when the famine comes he is able to not only save Egypt, but his family and his fellow Jews; all of whom came to Egypt from Canaan/Israel when they ran out of food. Joseph ignored the opportunity for revenge against the people who had forsaken him by including them in the distribution of the horded food. [Was this not the first example of turn-the-other-cheek moral, ethical and charitable behavior?] Now, however, all the Jews are in Egypt and become enslaved by the Pharo.

Between 1500 and 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, Moses, an Egyptian Jewish slave leads his people out of Egypt when G_d parts the Red Sea to allow them to escape. They wander the desert for 40 years during which time Moses receives the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. He then leads his people to the Jordan River where, as promised, all, except Moses, enter the Land of Milk and Honey - their homeland, Canaan/Israel, as promised by G_d to Abraham.

Jacob/Israel also had a son named Juda. Fourteen generations later (over 1000 years), Juda's descendent is Joseph, the husband of Mary (mother of Jesus). In a dream, Joseph is visited by an angel who tells him that the Holy Ghost has conceived, in Mary, a son whose name will be Jesus and he shall save his people from their sins.

As Jesus grows into manhood, he labors as a carpenter until the age of 30 when he is Baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus then began to preach and some, though not the majority of the Jews, followed him and his teachings. At about the age of 34, the Romans, who controlled most of the known world and were not Jewish and were not followers of him, feared he would become more powerful than they, so they killed him. Jesus is risen from the dead, ascends to Heaven and then appears to his disciples telling them to go forth and preach the gospel.

Though many followed Jesus during his life, the word of his being the Son of G_d spread and many, many more became believers after his death. Those who accepted his teachings became Christians and, eventually, even the very people who had murdered him, the Romans, became followers.

C) SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS:

1) Christians believe the Messiah has already come to earth (Jesus Christ). Whereas the Jews believe he is yet to come. Jews don't deny there was such a person as Jesus - a Jewish man - it's just that Jews don't believe that he was the Messiah. This difference may be insignificant because the Christians believe Jesus will return and, when he does, he may then be accepted as the Messiah by all (since no one knows what he looks like).

2) Jews only accept the Old Testament (Genesis thru Malachi) portion of the bible, which includes the first five books called: The Torah. Christians, in addition to the Old Testament, believe the New Testament (St. Matthew thru Revelation) is part of the Bible.

D) WHAT/WHO ARE WE?

1) A Jew is anyone who is born of a Jewish mother or father or one who has acknowledged that they are a Jew. A Jew is one who believes in the historical teachings of the Jewish people, that the Messiah is coming and the State of Israel is their homeland as promised by G_d to Abraham.

2) A Christian is a person professing belief in Jesus as the Messiah and one who also believes in and accepts his teachings.

E) PERSECUTION:

None of us are perfect. All humans, individually or in groups - from the Garden of Eden to today - have, at times, failed our fellow man. Surely, where Jews and Christians are concerned better efforts could have been made to live up to the Ten Commandants. For example: The Jews might have united behind Jesus and protected him from the Romans - whether they believed him to be the Messiah or not. The Christians could have been a better model than what was exhibited during The Inquisition. If we are to survive as a people we must all learn from past unJudeo-Christian behavior.

Though both religions have experienced their share of persecution, today they share a common threat. Christians and Jews must be united in their efforts to protect themselves against another religious group that has made it clear that they intend to destroy us by converting us to their faith or by killing us.