CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM

Christianity and Judaism

Christianity and Judaism

Introduction

The Judaism and Christianity are two closely related Abrahamic religions that in some cases are parallel and diverge in others, mainly in theology and practice. However, no religion is monolithic. There are also individual variations between believers of both religions. Every religion has an ethos, which is an internal description of their reasons for being. From the foregoing, concludes that Christianity and Judaism had a special relationship, so, for example, the bible of the early Christians was the Old Testament.

The writings of the New Testament Bible became when added to old ones. The Judeo-Christian is one of the components (along with the Greco-Roman) in the shaping of Western Civilization and the concept of Europe as a cultural and even political entity.

Comparison of Christianity and Judaism

Christianity has historically occurred in the context of religion of Judaism itself Jesus, and his immediate followers (the apostles) were by birth and upbringing of the Jews, many Jews regarded them as one of the many Jewish sects. For some time, the Jewish influence and example are likely to have been so strong and convincing that was, according to Christian pastors, a considerable danger to their flock. Hence the controversy with the "Judaizers" in the epistles of the New Testament and Judaism fierce criticism in the sermons of the Church Fathers as St. John Chrysostom (Rosenzweig, 2005).

Jewish Origins and Influence in the Christian Ritual and Liturgy

Christian worship traditional forms of public worship, bear a trace of Jewish origin and influence, has the idea of ecclesiastical ritual (that is, meetings of believers for praying, reading Scripture and preaching) is borrowed from the synagogue worship. The Christian ritual includes the following elements borrowed from Judaism:

Reading passages from the Old and New Testaments during the service - a Christian version of the reading of the Torah and the Prophets in the synagogue;

Important place occupied by the Psalms in the Christian liturgy;

Some of the earliest Christian prayers are borrowing or recycling the original Hebrew: "Apostolic Constitutions "(7:35-38),"The Didache" ("Teaching the 12 Apostles"), Ch. 9-12; prayer " Our Father "(cf. Kaddish);

Clearly the Jewish origin of many prayer formulas. For example, Amen, (Amen), Hallelujah (Galiluya) and Hosanna (Hosha'na)

You can find the commonality of some Christian rituals (sacraments), with Jewish, although converted to specifically Christian spirit. For example, the sacrament of baptism (cf. circumcision and mikvah);

The most important Christian mystery - the Eucharist - is based on the legend of the last meal Jesus and his disciples (the Last Supper identified with the Passover meal), and includes such traditional Jewish elements of the celebration of Passover, as the broken bread and the cup of wine (Jacobs, 2003).

The Jewish influence can be seen in the formation of daily liturgical terms, especially in the service hours (or the Liturgy of Hours in the Western Church). It is also possible that some elements of early Christianity, which clearly go beyond the norms of the Pharisaic Judaism, could occur from various forms of sectarian ...