How do Christians view Judaism?

[Harel13]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

 

[Dawnofhope]

Christianity is a very diverse religion with many perspectives about Judaism. I would view Judaism as founded on Divine Revelation and the Torah. From that starting point it has evolved and changed through the centuries adapting the modern world in some respects and in others appearing anachronistic.

 

[Estro Felino]

Thanks to a couple of friends of mine I learned of Judaism better...
Well...they are Italian Jews...I made a thread about it...Italian Jews


How do we Christians view the religion?
Positively ...very positively than other religions..which are much more different.

 

[Kenny]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

I view the Jewish scriptures as foundational for Christian faith. They are God's people (whether they follow Him or not is another story as their history proclaims).

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and love Israel.

 

[Good-Ole-Rebel]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

This is quite an involved question. I don't think any answer can be made that doesn't account for Jews individually also. And different camps of Christianity have different views of the Jews and Judaism.

My view will be based on these things. 1.) That the Old Testament and New Testament are the Word of God. 2.) That the Jews are the chosen nation and people of God through whom God will manifest His Kingdom on earth. 3.) That the religion of the Jews is given by God in the Old Testament. 4.) That the Jews had a propensity to always rebel against God. 5.) That when in rebellion against God, the true religion of the Jews became odious to God. 5.) That Judaism's rejection of the Messiah to Israel was done during a time when she was bearing the fruit of her rebelliousness to God. 6.) That, due to her rebelliousness and rejection of her Messiah, blindness has been given by God to Israel as to Who Jesus Christ is. 7.) That Judaism today will reflect that blindness in its rejection of Christ. 8.) That during this time of Israel's blindness, Christ is building His Church, who identify with Him in His rejection by the Jews and the world.

Therefore I see any Judaism that rejects Christ as an enemy to Christ, and God, just as the Judaism in Christ's day nailed Him to the Cross.

But, because Israel and the Church are both legitimate bodies of believers of God, there is always a strained 'love'. Just as Christ has a love for His people Israel. See. (Matt. 23:37) As does God. Read the whole book of (Hosea). As did Paul. (Rom. 9-11). Yet at the same time God did not refrain from saying and doing harsh things against Israel. And Jesus Christ did not refrain either. See (Matt. 25). And Paul was constantly at war with the Judaizers.

Good-Ole-Rebel

 

[Deeje]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus".

Actually Christendom has turned Christianity into Judaism with Jesus.

Instead of what Jesus taught and the simplicity of living with just two laws instead of hundreds.....they have tried to add many beliefs and practices to Jesus' teachings that were never commanded.

Instead of having simple, unadorned meeting places, they decided to build large ornate Temples (massive cathedrals) when no such buildings were necessary for Christian worship.

They decided to have a clergy class, like the priests in Judaism with their distinctive garments.....but there was no earthly priesthood in original Christianity. Their priesthood was to be served in heaven.

They like to have titles, and positions of authority, when Jesus taught them that titles and 'bosses' were not necessary....that all were brothers in Christ....equals, serving one another in humility and love.

What masquerades as Christianity today, is nothing like the original....much like the Jewish faith when God first brought his people into the Promised Land, compared to what it had become in the first century, and then comparing it to the practices of today.

Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

I have heard the term "Hebrew Christians" and "Jewish Christians" but I think the Messianic Jews shy away from the label "Christian". It is somehow distasteful to them. Perhaps more a reflection of Paul's teachings than those of Jesus?

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Obviously it is how some Christians view Judaism, but not all.

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

The Jewish religion from my perspective is that it forms the very foundation for everything I believe. I understand why the history of God's people is recorded in a 'warts and all' fashion in the scriptures, and how the physical patterns in the past represented something spiritual in the future. It is full of lessons...real life ones that exposed the good the bad and the downright ugly.

I don't see Jesus coming to start a new religion, but to institute a new covenant with new features that Jeremiah foretold, where the old ways would be no longer necessary. I see the Jewish religion stuck in the past, clinging to the old ways when they have been redundant for about 2000 years. I see the Jews still vainly waiting for a Messiah that will never come, enslaved to rituals that are no longer valid in their practice in today's world.

But Jews don't see Christians in the best light either.....its not a contest though. Its about whether Jesus was actually the Messiah and what it means for Jews if he was. What does it mean for Christians if he wasn't?

 

[Eddi]

I believe that before Christianity came into existence, God has interacted with humankind exclusively through the Jewish people - but that today we are in a different age

 

[Maximus]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

Jesus was a Jew. I am a follower of Christ - so I am also a Jew.

 

[Maximus]

This is quite an involved question. I don't think any answer can be made that doesn't account for Jews individually also. And different camps of Christianity have different views of the Jews and Judaism.

My view will be based on these things. 1.) That the Old Testament and New Testament are the Word of God. 2.) That the Jews are the chosen nation and people of God through whom God will manifest His Kingdom on earth. 3.) That the religion of the Jews is given by God in the Old Testament. 4.) That the Jews had a propensity to always rebel against God. 5.) That when in rebellion against God, the true religion of the Jews became odious to God. 5.) That Judaism's rejection of the Messiah to Israel was done during a time when she was bearing the fruit of her rebelliousness to God. 6.) That, due to her rebelliousness and rejection of her Messiah, blindness has been given by God to Israel as to Who Jesus Christ is. 7.) That Judaism today will reflect that blindness in its rejection of Christ. 8.) That during this time of Israel's blindness, Christ is building His Church, who identify with Him in His rejection by the Jews and the world.

Therefore I see any Judaism that rejects Christ as an enemy to Christ, and God, just as the Judaism in Christ's day nailed Him to the Cross.

But, because Israel and the Church are both legitimate bodies of believers of God, there is always a strained 'love'. Just as Christ has a love for His people Israel. See. (Matt. 23:37) As does God. Read the whole book of (Hosea). As did Paul. (Rom. 9-11). Yet at the same time God did not refrain from saying and doing harsh things against Israel. And Jesus Christ did not refrain either. See (Matt. 25). And Paul was constantly at war with the Judaizers.

Good-Ole-Rebel

"just as the Judaism in Christ's day nailed Him to the Cross."

While some Jews might have called for his execution, it was of course (as I assume you know) the Romans that nailed him to the cross.

 

[Harel13]

Jesus was a Jew. I am a follower of Christ - so I am also a Jew.

1. And that makes non-Jesus-believer Jews, what exactly?
2. But you don't keep Judaism, do you? You keep Christianity. So how do you view Judaism?

 

[Harel13]

God has interacted with humankind exclusively through the Jewish people

What about Biblical figures such as Balaam, Avimelech king of Grar, Job (maybe some others that I can't recall at the moment)?

but that today we are in a different age

Which is?

 

[Harel13]

Actually Christendom has turned Christianity into Judaism with Jesus.

That's all well and good, but the question is about Judaism, not Christianity.

 

[Maximus]

1. And that makes non-Jesus-believer Jews, what exactly?
2. But you don't keep Judaism, do you? You keep Christianity. So how do you view Judaism?

That is not easy for me to fully answer; I have wrestled with the question for a long time. I can, though, say with out hesitation that I love those of the Jewish faith(s) and consider them my brothers and sisters.

 

[Harel13]

Positively ...very positively than other religions..which are much more different.

Is this necessarily a contradiction of what I wrote in my OP? I didn't say that the view I assumed was held was positive or negative.

 

[Jim]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

When I was a Christian, 50 years ago, I don’t remember having any ideas about Judaism as a religion in our time, at all. My only memory of thinking about Jews was picturing some stout, bearded men in a building that resembled a church but wasn’t.

 

[Jim]

Not sure if this is in the right section...
Anyway, through various discussions and, at times, heated debates online with Christians on different sites these last couple of years, I've come under the impression that at least some Christians view Judaism as "Christianity minus Jesus". Certainly, I'm pretty sure this is a mindset that groups like the Hebrew Christians and Messianic Judaism have used to preach to and convert Jews.

Is this really how Christians view Judaism?

Note: This isn't about what role Christians think Jews serve in the world, but about the religion itself.

I’ve thought about it some more, and I still can’t remember having any thoughts about Judaism as a religion at all, except possibly thinking of it as being older than Christianity, and maybe a little old-fashioned. I had an image of Jews, maybe from movies, as having a kind of personality that appealed to me, hard to describe, maybe welcoming and Jovial.

 

[Harel13]

I’ve thought about it some more, and I still can’t remember having any thoughts about Judaism as a religion at all, except possibly thinking of it as being older than Christianity, and maybe a little old-fashioned. I had an image of Jews, maybe from movies, as having a kind of personality that appealed to me, hard to describe, maybe welcoming and Jovial.

And nowadays, do you have different thoughts or about the same?

 

[Jim]

I’m not a Christian, but I identify a lot with Christians and Christianity, and I study the Christian Bible a lot, so maybe my current view of Judaism would interest you. I see it as a religion that I know virtually nothing about. Something about three main branches, maybe. Scriptures which are not exactly the same as the Christian Old Testament, and not understood in the same way even where they are the same. I picture a view of God that I like better than the Christian Trinity, more exalted. Still not sure what Jews think about anything, including Jesus.

 

[Jim]

And nowadays, do you have different thoughts or about the same?

I see that I was answering your question while you were asking it. One more thought. I have an idea that Jews have different ideas about the Holy Spirit from the ideas of Christians.

 

[metis]

In Catholicism, we had a terrible past vis-a-vis Jews and Judaism, and it was overwhelmingly our fault. Fortunately the Catholic Church has changed all that and apologized for our previous bigotry and morally repugnant actions. Nowadays, we have much contact with the Jewish community that often includes joint meetings and services.

Also, at least some here know that I have a had a foot in both, and I still do. I've never been of the "my way or the highway" school and, fortunately, the CC is much more that way as well. Pope Francis is pushing this even more so, btw.