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Conclusion on Judaism vs Christianity
Conclusion on Judaism vs Christianity
Comparative study of Christianity and judaism
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The Bible is the holy, inspired, infallible Word of God. Within the Bible, there are different stories and principles that the Lord gave us through special revelation. In the New Testament there were Jewish or religious groups that began teaching unbiblical doctrines. Two of those sects were the Pharisees and the Essenes. The importance of learning about these groups is so that we can see how they were wrong and to make sure we don’t mirror their actions. In this paper I will be comparing the Pharisees’ views on God and Jesus with that of the Essenes’.
The Pharisees’ were the religious leaders of the Jews, and most of the time, in the New Testament, they were associated with the scribes. They were extremely influential and were very popular with the people. They taught some sound doctrine, but by Jesus’ day their sect was nothing more than empty religion and useless practices. (Jensen, 46) The Pharisaical view was monotheism, the belief in one and only one God. The word monotheism comes from the Greek word monos, which means one, and theos, which means god. Thus, monotheism is a belief in the
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existence of a single god. (“Monotheism”) “For the Pharisees, God is primarily one who makes demands. For them, the Scriptures of the Old Testament were a set of rules that must be kept at all cost.” (“Jesus Challenges the Pharisees”)
The most noted characteristic of the Pharisees was their passion for traditions. For a little while, they acknowledged the Law of Moses and the prophets as truth from God but they would pretend that their traditions were from Moses as well. When in actuality their traditions were just strict observances passed down from generation to generation. The Pharisees looked at themsel...
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...cover. Chicago: Moody, 1981. Print.
Jr., Ron Wulff. "Bible Study, Jesus Exsposes the Pharisees." Diana Gray Ministries. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .
"The New Testament Jewish Sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots." Interactive Bible Home Page Www.bible.ca. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .
"The Pharisees Oppose Jesus." Easy English Bible - with Studies and Commentaries. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Chicago: Moody, 1996, 1991. Print.
Watts, Isaac, and R. C. Shimeall. A Short View of the Whole Scripture History ... Philadelphia: A. Towar, Hogan & Thompson, 1831. Print.
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983.
The Book of Job is one of the three books in the Hebrew bible whose genre is described as wisdom literature.1 Certainly the Book of Job satisfies the literary conventions that qualify a biblical book for such status. 2 Yet Job may be associated with wisdom in a much more literal sense. The Book of Job attempts to deal with a problematic question that confronts suffering humanity: why do bad things happen to good people? The variety and vehemence of commentators' contemporary responses to this chapter of the Bible is testament to the continued relevance of the Book of Job's wisdom thousands of years after it was written. Although the commentators examined herein arrive at differing and sometimes conflicting conclusions after reading the story of "the holy Arab"3, none are left indifferent.
Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973.
The Pharisees came into existence as a class in the third century BCE. They lived very simple lives and didn't believe in the ideas of luxury. After exile, Israel abandoned the ideas of a monarchical government and the Pharisees created a community of half state, half church. They believed very much in free will and the ability of a man to direct the course of his own life, but at the same time, they believe strongly in divine guidance. For them it was the combination of these two things, which enables a man to choose between good and evil. They believed that these paths of good and evil would be rewarded or punished in the afterlife. Along with this idea of the afterlife came their belief in the eternal soul.
A strong root is only the beginning, along with a strong root we must constantly tend to our seed. As said earlier our seed is our faith. In order to become a disciple of Christ we must constantly reflect on our faith similar to how we must constantly tend to a seed. Pharisees tend to be cought in their own pride. This causes them to forget to reflect and grow in faith. In the parable of the Sinful Woman, Jesus expresses that the Pharisee is not a true disciple of Christ because he did not even follow the common courtesy of welcoming a guest into ones home, let alone Jesus Christ himself. The woman who was known as a sinner “bathed his feet with her tears and… [dried] them with her hair” she also annointed and kissed Jesus’ feet. The Pharisee exemplifies the idea of having “no root” or is “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life”(8:13-14) which is far worse than the woman who explfifies the idea that someone who acknowledges their sins and repents is welcomed into Gods Kindom because “one sinner who repents” will bring more joy in heaven than “ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” No human is perfect so anyone who believes they need no repentance is filled with pride, pride is something that directs our love towards worldly possessions and away from living in the image of God. Jesus knows “each tree… by its own fruit.” A sinner who repents produced good hearted
Judaism is more than just a religion; it is a culture and can even be considered an ethnicity. The faith, beliefs, traditions, and even holidays recognized by the Jewish people all have a strong foundation in reconnecting with history and the ancestors of the past. Isaac Kalimi writes in Jewish Bible Theology: Perspectives and Case Studies, that The Bible is widely recognized as central to Judaism. It is to a book, the Book, that we owe our survival” (Kalimi 13). In order to even begin to understand Judaism, one must explore the biblical history of the religion. The natural starting point for this exploration would need to begin with Abraham.
Jews became more than shepherds. Unlike people before them that were polytheistic, the Jews were bearers of a concept of ethical monotheism that became the basis for a new kind of religion, Judaism. The religion that marked by a new relationship between people and God.
Metzger, Bruce M., David Hubbard Allan., and Glenn Barker W. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982.
Metzger, B.M. & Coogan, M.D. “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. (1993). P. 806-818.
God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of the temptation of Jesus and how other sects defined the Messiah.
Monotheism is a doctrine that is straight to the point, rather than complex. It is defined as a belief that there is only one existing god. Although this belief seems simple in comparison to polytheism; the belief in many gods, history has proven that monotheism had its fair share of consequences from its inception in Judea and Egypt all the way through the medieval era. Monotheism first began in Judea, making Judaism the first monotheistic religion. For the Jews, “monotheism had initiated a process of self-discovery and self-realization unmatched by other peoples of the Near East.
Luke 18:11, "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”
Arragel, Moses, A. Paz Y Meliá, Julián Paz, and Alba, Jacobo Stuart Fitz-James Y Falcó. Bible (Old Testament). Madrid: Priv. Print. for Presentation to the Members of the Roxburghe Club, 1918. Print.
First, there were the Pharisees. They had the most influence in the within the Jewish sects, so much to the point that they are still the most referred to in modern day. They were the more peaceful group compared to the rest. They practiced somewhat of a pacifist defense towards the hellenization. They followed the law so closely it pushed the line of legalism. They took it upon themselves to be somewhat of “purity priests” and they basically set the standard for purity by their interpretation of the law.