Why is Judaism so different from Christianity since Jesus was Jewish?

Answer 1

The Jews were (are) waiting for their messiah. Jesus is the messiah but they refuse to accept him. It was professied many times that they would not acknowlege him as messiah.

Answer 2

Some people didn't agree with Judaism and left it to form Christianity. Paul was one of them. If you'll read the book of Paul you'll read the letters he wrote while he was establishing Christianity. Jewish is also an ethnic group , not just a religion. The difference between the beliefs vary because they believe different things, such as the Jewish faith does not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, where Christianity believes that he is there savior..

Answer 3

Because Jews are still waiting for the Messiah whereas Christians have already found him. Galatians 3:19 says:

"Why, then, the Law? It was added to make transgressions manifest, until the seed should arrive to whom the promise had been made; and it was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator."

The "Law" refers to the Mosica law that Jews are under.

Galatians 3:24, 25 goes a little further to explain Christ's role in reference to the law:

"Consequently the Law has become our tutor leading to Christ, that we might be declared righteous due to faith. But now that the faith has arrived, we are no longer under a tutor."

So the Mosaic law, or "tutor" does not apply to Christians as they are "no longer under a tutor"

That being the case, Judaism is different from Christianity in that they are still awaiting the Messiah (or Christ) to come and free them from the Mosaic law. But Christians are no under that law anymore, instead they are under "the law of the Christ" which is based on love.

Answer 4

Mobius,

You have made a brilliant observation. Actually, the religion we know as modern Christianity, was created at the Council of Nicea, in the year 325 A.D., by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Up until then, most of the followers of Jesus did indeed, resemble Jews, more than what we now call Christians. The movement we see now, was more or less crafted by various popes and catholic bishops through the centuries that followed the Council of Nicea.

Answer 5

Because Christianity started out as a philosophical movement in Israel, then was exposed to pre-existing pagan beliefs in Rome and Greece. Modern Christianity is a result of that. Judaism is the only religion to receive a national revelation, compare to Christianity and Islam, which are revelations to a small group and one man.

Answer 6

Jesus was a Jewish settler from the West Bank.

Christianity is a religion that combines ideas from the Jewish and ancient Greek religions.

Answer 7

This is very important to understand...

The coming of Jesus started a rift in the Jewish belief system(christianity). You have to realize that though Jesus was a jew, they didnt accept him for who he was (no offence to jews). Jesus preached against some of the jewish practices at the time.

Also, there is a big fundamental difference

Judaism - Salvation through GOD
Christianity - Salvation to GOD through JESUS

Answer 8

Judaism is based on the old testament and does not believe that Jesus was the son of God. They believe that the Messiah has yet to come. Christianity is based on both the old and new testament and how they link together but predominantly focuses on the New Testament and believes that Jesus was the son of God, the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament and that he was crucified, died and rose again and took on the worlds sin so that whoever believes in Him and follows him will have eternal life in Heaven.

Answer 9

It isn't. Judaism and Christianity are so much alike that the Romans couldn't tell the difference between them. Accretions and embellishments added later (on both sides) don't interest me. The heart is the same.

Answer 10

Actually, Christianity started out very close to a branch of Judaism popular during Christ's tiime preached by the Essenes (it's generally thought Christ belonged to this group before he began preaching). They taugh simplicity of life, loving thy, neighbor, and many other ideas Christ taught. Only later in the history of the church did it start to peel away from the Essene-like teachings.

Answer 11

Because somewhere along the way, the Jews decided Jesus did not meet all the criteria for the Messiah and do not believe the New testament. They believe Jesus was a prophet but that is all.