Judaism and Christianity
Fundamental Beliefs
There is one and ONLY one God
Each person has individual relationship with God
Prayers addressed to God
God is ultimate authority and possesses final
dominion over the Universe
Life is Holy
Torah is a guide to correct living
Studying Torah equivalent to prayer
Group worship and prayer are indispensable
Jews share collective destiny and purpose regardless
of nationality
No acceptance of Idolatry
Modern Judaism
Orthodox Tradition: Jews are bound to preserve
ritual, tradition and doctrine as received from rabbis
of the past
Conservative Judaism: Past traditions important, but
try to hold on to as many old traditions as possible
while still making accommodations with social
realities
Reform Judaism
Most pragmatic
Tries to retain as much as possible of ancient
traditions, but only those that make sense in
contemporary world
Most popular in US and Europe
Dietary Law
Kosher: that which is in accordance with
established standards of Jewish ritual is
relation to food and its preparation
Deals with cleanliness and avoiding unclean
animals
See Deuteronomy in Christian Old Testament
or Torah and/or Talmud
CHRISTIANITY
THE SECOND LARGEST WORLD
RELIGION
BEGINNINGS
From Judaism
Based on teachings of Jesus Christ
Early persecution
Constantine’s conversion
Papal Authority
Impact of Christianity of Europe and World
SCHISMS
1054 first break between Latin speaking
church in West and Greek speaking church in
East
Catholic and Orthodoxy
Protestant Reformation (reasons why)
Martin Luther’s 95 thesis 1817
Henry VIII
BASIC BELIEFS OF
CHRISTIANITY
Jesus Christ is Son of God
Bible is word of God
Bible composed of Old and New Testament and
Apocrypha
Translation issues with Bible
Basic belief in love, forgiveness and repentance
By dying and then rising from dead, Christ made
world redemption possible
Trinity
Basis of Catholicism
Son, Jesus Christ, is truly God and truly
human
Father, Son and Holy Spirit makes up trinity
Not considered as having a gender
Triune is both one and three
Fact that it defies logic is part of Dogma