Is Judaism a religious cult of geneology and/or ancestor worship with food preparation and Sabbath rituals?

Question

What are the similarities between Judaism and Christianity?

Answer 1

I suggest you guys try and ignore this mouthbreather. He asks the same questions on Judaism over and over again, with slightly different (though consistently biased and misleading) wording. If you don't believe me, all I can say is that you can verify this for yourselves. I sincerely doubt that he is here to learn anything, at least in this area (though I feel obliged to at least commend him on his appropriate choice of screenname).

This guy's online hobby is something called Jew-baiting. So don't take the bait, as it were, by responding on his terms and lending legitimacy to his line of questioning (which is shallow and insensitive at best, or, more likely from what I've seen, deliberate bigotry). He has a real problem with Jews. I don't know if it stems from a negative personal experience with Jews, or if he was raised by klansmen, or what. But he keeps asking these same questions, and when confronted with information that contradicts his assumptions, he becomes belligerent and disregards the new information anyway.

I once explained to him that he was mistaken in his assertion that a Jew had to have "Jewish blood" because conversion has a history going back through biblical history, all the way to the first Hebrew himself. This did not sway him in his irrational belief. And if someone here were to point out that calling Judaism a "cult of ancestor worship" is inaccurate because

a) it's not considered a cult

and

b) worshipping anything other than G-d, one's ancestors included, is the most severe form of blasphemy according to Judaism

I highly doubt this gentleman would be swayed on either point. My advice is not to waste your time. There are plenty of people on here asking questions about Judaism because they actually want to learn. If you are qualified to answer, answer those people. They'll actually benefit from it.

Answer 2

One of the basics of asking intelligent questions is knowledge of language. A “cult” is relatively new, has a single mind-set and one charismatic leader. Scientology, for instance, was invented in the 1950’s. Rev. Moon, of the Unification church, started preaching in the 1960’s. You can make a case for both being cults.

Judaism is, with Hinduism, one of the oldest living religions on earth. They don't have a single mind-set and don't have a single leader. Christianity came from Judaism. Joseph, Mary and Jesus were Jews. Jesus reformed the religion, changing the emphasis from a long list of rules to one – love they neighbor as thyself. Some people followed his teachings, some didn’t. The ones who didn’t are still Jewish. The ones who did are Christians.

The Mormons, not the Jews, are the ones who are big on genealogy. Confucians are the ones who are big on ancestor worship.

If someone told you "Judaism a religious cult of geneology and/or ancestor worship with food preparation and Sabbath rituals", you should put one hand on your wallet and walk away from that person slowly but carefully, never taking your eyes off his hands. Next he will try to sell you ocean-front property in Kansas.

Answer 3

I am Jewish, and here is what I have to say:

Similarities:

1. We all honor Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets.
2. We all study by the Torah, or what you call the Old Testament.
3. We all believe in one God.
4. We all have different branches; Judiasm has Orthadox and Hasidic, etc., while Christianity has Catholics, Protestants, etc.
5. We all keep the Sabath.
6. We all believe Jesus preached the word of God.

Differences:
1. The biggest difference: we Jews believe Jesus Christ was a great prophet, but not the son of God or the Messiah.
2. Our religion teaches us to keep Kosher (a special way of preparing food).
3. You believe that God is made up of three beings/people/powers: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4. While you preach God as being a he, we say that God has no definate gender.
5. We work more around the Torah (Old Testament) while you study more of the New Testament.
6. Judiasm is less wide-spread than Christianity.

I could go on and on. As I said, there are a lot of differences. But we are all one human race, and we are all brothers and sisters. That is the most important thing.

Answer 4

The Old Testament speaks of a Messiah. The rituals are ways to show signs of the Messiah. Like the Sadr at passover perfectly describes the coming of Jesus, even down to the Matzo which is striped and pierced to resemble the death of Jesus. The 3 pockets in the Affi Komen bag also points to what is often called the Trinity with its three compartments and the broken Matzo placed in the center compartment.

Answer 5

Judaism was a way of life of a Semitic people who found the one true God.
Christianity has its roots in Judaism. Jesus Christ was a Jew..the promised one of the Old Testament whose mission was to save not only Jews but anyone who loves God and love each other.

Answer 6

Judaism is the forerunner of Christianity. The similarity between the two is Jesus Christ, but most Jews refuse to acknowledge this. There are Jews that believe in Jesus called Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus. They keep the traditions of the Old Testament and the Jewish faith, but they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and they believe him to be the Messiah.

Answer 7

Judaism does not recognize Jesus as the son of God, nor follow the New Testament. Well, some think he was the savior but only for the gentiles,(non-jews),and that they are still wating for "their" messiah. I know that the Jews are God's people, so it seems odd to me that many of them reject the fulfillment of their Old Testament prophecies, and choose to live under the letter of the law from which Jesus came to set us free...

Answer 8

No.

We share the Holy Bible (Old Testament only). For Judaism, it's called the Torah.

We share the same living God.

Answer 9

Judism is not a cult God still loves the jew

Answer 10

You have just defined almost all of the major religions on Earth.