Survey of Western Religions Donna Chapman
Li Schroeder May 22, 2001
Paper #2
Compare Judaism and Christianity. How is Christianity a development of Judaism? What is the difference between the Jewish view of Torah and the Christian view of the Old Testament? To what extent are the events and religious symbols in the Bible myths? What is the significance of Biblical myth for the historicity of Hebrew and Christian theory? What are the similarities and differences between the religious experience of the Jewish Prophets and that of Jesus?
In order to present
a comparison/contrast of Judaism and Christianity that makes sense, we must
first embark of a bit of a fact finding mission. For although most main stream
Americans have a reasonably thorough idea about the origins of Christianity
(Christ was born, He lived, He taught, He died, He rose again, Amen); the truth
is that most of us, even those who consider themselves “Fundamental Christians”
have little or no knowledge or understanding of the intent, history, origins,
and dogma of the true “pre-cursor to Christianity”: Judaism. Christianity
is nothing without it’s backbone of Judaism. The true nature of
the relationship between Judaism and Christianity is parental. for all
intents and purposes Christianity is the “off-spring” of Judaism.
It was never the intention of the Carpenter to start a new religion in the first
place, much less to initiate the deviant mess that is Modern Christianity. It
was his intention to complete the Word insofar as His role in it was
concerned. It would be impossible to do a responsible comparison of the child
to the parent without a knowledge of the nature of the parent.
“...what
lifted the Jews from obscurity to permanent religious greatness was their passion
for meaning
....rooted in their understanding of God.” 1
The scope of this question lies in the meaning of Scripture to the Jew vs the
Christian, and the identity of Jesus Christ in comparison to the Old Testament
Prophets. Both of these root in the meaning of God to each group. The meaning
of God is virtually identical for both, with the addition of the personification
of God in Jesus Christ for the Christian.
The Jews are perhaps
the first peoples to embark corporately and individually on the journey toward...
the
Answer...to life, the universe, and everything....2
The footprints of their saga are visible in just about every aspect of western
civilization today but most particularly in the structure of ethics and expression
of freedom.
So here please allow
me to provide a brief outline of the nature of the Jewish people, their God,
and their relationship with Him. (personal note: endeavoring to remove a gender
identification for God, which the older I get the more I believe is blasphemy,
I will bounce between the pronouns He/She/It when referring to God in personal
form.) I want to make clear here that I am only synopsizing Judaism on a very
superficial level. It should be understood that Judaism has a long and magnificent
tradition that goes far and beyond the scope of this paper. Also, I cannot do
justice in representing all the branches of Judaism here, please know that with
great respect I represent only a general view of Judaism.
The Jewish people began
in about 3000BC, in small nomadic groups wandering the northern section of the
Arabian Desert. Eventually they settled in Canaan, a land about 150 miles long,
50 miles wide at it’s widest. It’s amazing that so much spiritual
power and enduring strength of character sprang from such an innocuous people
living in a nondescript, postage stamp sized, downright geographically boring
land, particularly as compared to the glory of civilizations like the ancient
Greek or the mighty Egyptian. Throughout their history they experienced the
social and economic domination that the “small guys” experience. The
nations exerting influence over them had strong religious convictions as well.
Yet in spite of this onslaught, the religion of the Jews NEVER became homogenized
with the religions of the dominant nation. However what did happen was that
their religion became blended into the social structure of their group at large.
Being a small peoples in the shadow of the great powers of the time meant that
the Jewish people were under constant attack on a sociological level (there
are several periods in Jewish history which find the whole nation is in slavery
to one or another of the powers that be). The threat was also constant on a
spiritual level of assimilation into the religious structure of the enslaving
power. The triumph of the Jewish people lies in the refusal to surrender themselves
to either. For all intents and purposes the Jews should not exist as a people
today at all. According to every sociological trend, they should have been assimilated
completely and erased as an independent nation. Judaism attests that they were
preserved as a people through the direct intervention of God, because they were
chosen by Her to endure.
Judaism is a monotheistic
religion. In fact it has served as the dominant model for subsequent modern
monotheistic world views. The God of the Jews is a personal anthropomorphic
God. This is a delicate issue. The God of the Jews is not humanoid,
nor is It ever illustrated in paint or in stone, however God is
more like a person than a thing, and more like a mind than a machine.
It is a single transcendent Will which embodies worth and value in such volume
that we cannot take it in. This is significant in comparison to the primary
deities of the time who were usually characterized either by ambivalence toward
men, or amoral behavior. Even the most common name of the God of the Jews –
YHWH (Hebrew doesn’t use vowels) is tough for us to wrap our minds around.
Yahweh (westernized) means “I am who AM”. Explain that one! Yahweh
is a God of compassion and mercy who takes care of the lonely, and those who
are alone. She is a God of loving-kindness whose love and mercy endures forever
without end. It is to this character of infinite caring and concern that the
Jewish people turn time and time again during times of national or personal
struggle and national or personal plenty in an enduring spirit of hope for the
future. The world view of Judaism reflects the worlds goodness. Through all
the trials, tribulations, times of slavery and persecutions, the Jewish people
have never despaired of life itself. Yahweh is a creator God and we are Her
beloved children. The world, given to man by God to have dominion over, should
be enjoyed and relished every day as if it were the first morning of creation.
The world is inately good because God created it and everything in it. It is
good to be blessed with material possessions, the Jew looks to God in thankfulness
for Its provisioning. When material things pass, the Jew looks to God in the
hope for the replenishment of abundance.
The Jewish people are
keenly aware of the limitations of the human condition. They are also aware
of the relationship between themselves and the awesome nature of God. At once
man is frail, tender and breakable at the same time man is a creature of remarkable
potential. In the shadow of God man is a ....
“blend
of dust and divinity”.3
Judaism has a clear understanding of the frailty of human nature internally
[morally] that flaw in man called - Sin. Actions intended for good, end up causing
pain and so on. Judaism is also clearly aware that there is nothing that they
as a people or individually could have ever done to deserve the favor showed
them by God.
Life as represented in
the early parts of the Old Testament is a time of revelation. God is in regular
dynamic communication with key influential people.. Well, they aren’t necessary
influential when God starts with them, but the end up influential when God gets
through with them...for example: Abraham: God sends him to settle the people
in the land of Canaan, gives him a son of a barren wife as a reward for his
devotion, then asks him to take the life of his beloved son as a sacrifice.
Thus we have the example of selfless devotion to God, and are reminded that
everything we have comes from God, through God and by God. Another example,
Moses: God calls Moses and says “Take My people home!” At the time
of Moses the Jews have been enslaved by Egypt for generations. They are not
capable of the sort of corporate thought and teamwork that would be required
to revolt and take back their own freedom. God intervenes in dynamic fashion
to liberate His chosen. Once in the desert it becomes evident that these people
are no longer civilized. They don’t know how to bathe, or to eat properly.
They need to be taught, reminded, how to be human beings. Once again
God intervenes in a dynamic way. God calls Moses to a place of hierophany to
dictate the code of living that the people need in order to be human. Mosaic
Law was given to re-civilize and recreate a people. The nature of the “sacred
time” that Moses spent with God while receiving the Law was different than
the corporeal time experienced by the waiting masses...what seems like minutes
for Moses is 30 days for the anxious people. Mircea Eliade discusses this sort
of “sacred time” at length in his book, “The Sacred and the Profane”.
The waiting Jews become afraid because Moses is gone so long...human frailty
sets in, and they sin yet again. God’s displeasure is expressed. This generation
will NOT see the land of their forefathers. What should have been a 3-4 day
trip through the desert becomes an epic journey of 40 years. Time enough for
one generation to die off and a new one to be born. Also time enough for the
people to cease being animals and become human again. Within Mosaic Law there
are specific laws for eating, bathing, love making, marrying, child rearing,
you name it it’s in there. Gods mercy and Her love for Her people shines
through in Her willingness to stick with them and continue to take care of them
in spite of their frail natures and tendency for sin. Like a tolerant parent
- God is there no matter what for His children.
The Mosaic Law is contained
in the first 5 books of the Tanakh, called the Torah, particularly in the book
Leviticus. In the Christian Bible, the first 5 books of the Old Testament also
contain the Law of Moses and are referred to as the Pentatuch.
In
honoring the law comes freedom. The Law civilizes, makes us human.”4
After arriving in the
land of promise, Judaism became steeped in a legalistic application of Old Testament
Law. Again human frailty sets in. There is corruption within the priesthood.
Jewish religious practice began to look more like a financial transaction with
a priest than an act of supplication and worship of God.
In about 70BC Rome destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. This causes the focus
of Judaism to shift from practice to scholasticism and the preservation of oral
tradition. The study of the Tanakh becomes a lifelong endeavor, and Judaism
sees a distinctly intellectual shift in dimension and character. The concept
that the mind is integral to religious life becomes integrated into Judaism.
(This concept is not seen in any sect of Christianity.) Study and constant unceasing
questioning become a way of worship due to the lack of a temple
in which to observe practice, and the elimination of a priesthood to officiate
such practice. Here emerges the Rabbi, teacher.
“the
Bible became a revealed text inviting and requiring interpretation and interpretation
was raised to the status
of
revelation itself.”5
In my opinion, one of the most powerful aspects of modern Judaism is this focus
on scholarship. Even now, Jewish boys/men (ok, so it’s a bit misogynistic,
but at least someone’s encouraged to study!) are trained in reading
and writing Hebrew, and they are encouraged to study the Tanakh . To make it
their own. There are Rabbi’s for guidance, and input, but the scholarship
is solitary.
(Tanakh is the book of Jewish Scripture, generally conforming in structure to
the Bible except no New Testament. Kaballah and Agaddah are also not included)
Jewish religious study encourages philosophical debate, which is believed to
foster a greater understanding of God and his laws.
One of the greatest cases
of poetic license in the history of the world was the first translation of the
Bible into English. (I’ve written on this before, and won’t comment
further here) I bring up the point in order to set it in contrast with the Jewish
preoccupation with the preservation of the historical and literary integrity
of the Tanakh. The Law was specific about the copying of pages, in the time
before the printing press. There were prescribed times to change pens and change
ink, however when the time came to write the representation of the name of God,
the pen and ink must be changed and the writer took a bath and changed his clothes.
This seems an extreme example, but it shows the seriousness of the task at hand,
and the spiritual dedication required and expected from one who undertook it.
It is the Jewish view
that religion and history are inseparable. God told them through the prophets
to go somewhere or do something, and they did it-as a people, so a historical
event is generated. In a true and dynamic way their religion IS their history.
There are some events related in the Hebrew bible which are considered strongly
contextual. This is not to be confused with direct quotation of the revealed
Word of God. By “contextual” event I am speaking of, for example,
Noah: God says “Build Me an ark...” I will not finish the story...we
all know it... God is the creator, and if the frailties of man become excessive,
God can and will uncreate. Another example would be “the Garden”,
Adam and Eve in the garden is a metaphor for the community of man as a whole.
The incidents of the prophets, however, are NOT considered to be myth, they
are looked upon as documented historical events. These are the events wherein
God reveals Its self to the Jewish people not because they particularly deserve
it, but because It is intensely interested in their lives and well being. Each
Biblical event is a teaching experience for people. They express uniqueness
of events - of God’s direct intervention at certain critical points in
the history of a chosen people.
God chose to reveal Herself
to Her people through “human channels” - the Prophets.
Prophets were speakers. They spoke on behalf of either a leader or for God,
Himself. In the case of Moses, he was given his prophet, Aaron, by God because
Moses felt that he was not an eloquent man, and was looking for an excuse to
get out of the task being given him. {“Take My people home!”} (of
course this is poetic license on my part). Protected by religious sanctions,
prophets could do things that would bring a death sentence for anyone else.
If a king did a wrong in the eyes of God, God would send a message to him through
a prophet. The prophet would get in the face of a king and rebuke him, in the
name of God, and walk away with his life.
Old testament prophets
operated three different ways. These operational modes evolved from each other
in historical progression. First came Prophetic Guilds wherein the prophetic
event is a group phenomenon, strongly driven by an ecstatic experience. There
are no personal names given from this group in scripture, because their prophetic
experience was a corporate one. Notably missing from the messages of these “first
generation” prophets is ethical content. These were followed by the stage
of Individual, Pre-Writing Prophets. Elijah, Elisha Nathan, for example, are
in this class. Their messages were heard, passed on as part of the Jewish oral
tradition and written down later. They sometimes operated in a guild system,
however they were known to have private prophetic experience also. In the case
of these “second generation” prophets, God spoke more clearly, no
longer manifesting in as strongly an emotional sensory overload. This group
marks the beginning of God’s call for Justice. The third phase of prophets
were the Writing Prophets; Amos, Hosea, Micah, Jeremiah, for example. Books
represented in the Tanakh (or Christian Old Testament) were written by them
personally. There is a new tone to the prophetic content of this group, whereas
the Pre-Writing Prophets challenged individuals, the Writing Prophets challenge
corruptions in the social order and call for the reform of oppressive institutions.
The overall message of the Prophets forward a mindfulness of God’s attributes.
First: Yahweh is powerful. Second, Yahweh is a God of goodness and love, (Jews
understand that God’s love was for all humanity). Third, God is intensely
concerned with human affairs - God revealed Itself through a historical event...deliverance
from Egyptian slavery. This Self disclosure is in the nature of an invitation
to covenant with Her in a mutual pledge of total self. Out of this atmosphere
beckoning repentance of the corruptions in the social/religious institutions,
and call for a people of hope to covenant with God on a personal and corporate
level springs the Messianic Ideal. The perpetual living Hope for
the universal reintegration of mankind, and a spiritual monarchy headed by the
Jews as “God’s chosen” (because they ARE), followed by an era
of peace and wellbeing on earth. There are many interpretations of the Messianic
Ideal within the body of Judaism. The two dominant ones are a world view, as
mentioned above, and a literal view. The literal view is that the Messiah will
materialize in human form in exact harmony with the Old Testament prophets.
Christians believe that the personification of the Messianic Ideal is realized
in the person of Jeshua ben Joseph - His friends called Him Jesus.
“Look,
the young woman is with child and about to give birth to a son.
Let
her name him Immanuel” 6
“And
you, O Bethlehem of Ephrath, least among the clans of Judah,
from
you one shall come forth to rule Israel for Me ....He shall stand
and
shepherd by the might of the Lord, by the power of the name
of
the Lord his God.” 7
The central theme of
Jesus’ teaching (as compared to O.T. prophets) was to turn back to personal
intimacy with God in preparation for the coming “Kingdom of Heaven”.
I would interpret the “Kindgom of Heaven” as the realization of the
Messianic Ideal as expressed in the form of the “world view” mentioned
previously. This turning back, is a call to reconcile a personal relationship
with God. Jesus preached repentance of sin as a means toward attaining this
relationship and was considered a reformer and humanitarian. Central to Christ’s
teaching was loving God, living by His laws and loving your fellow man.
“He
called for changes in dogma and commercialized practices in the
temples,
such as money changing, he incited the Jewish people to
question
established beliefs and practice. Through numerous acts of
selfless
service and loving-kindness, such as healing the sick, exorcising
demons
and even raising the dead, Jesus gained a reputation as the
Messenger
of God and Deliverer of the Jewish People.” 8
In doing so, he threatened the status quo (priestly hierarchy) and the rest
is typical...shake the establishment tree too hard and the fruit will come down
on you and kill you. Again..I digress...Interpretations and perspectives of
Christ and his teachings vary between churches. I will illustrate Catholic,
Protestant, and Fundamental Christianity as necessary in my discussion of specific
issues of comparison.
Christian theology is
based on Christ’s teachings as recorded in the New Testament section of
the Bible, which is an account of His life and the actions of the Apostles and
early Church after he left. Fundamental Christians believe that if you do not
ask for forgiveness of your sins and accept Jesus as lord then you will spend
an eternity after death suffering in Hell. This is, in fact, the focal point
for the Fundamental Christian experience. The Catholic focal point is Original
Sin. This is a Sin bound over into every human since the eviction from The Garden.
The only way to absolve this Original Sin is by water baptism, an outward symbol
of re-birth into the body of Christ. This term “body of Christ” refers
to the mystical/spiritual extension of Christ of which all Christians are a
part.
Christianity is practiced
by adherence to God’s word as preached in the Holy Bible either through
sermons from clergy or by personal readings by the believers or by participation
in a ritual reinactment of the Last Supper. Although the Fundamental Christian
movement has brought a resurgence of Biblical scholarship on an individual level,
by and large the Christian community relies on the Priest or Minister to interpret
the Bible for them. Individual Biblical scholasticism has not been encouraged.
It can also be said, unfortunately, that philosophical questioning, intellectual
pursuit and debate are actually discouraged.
Fundamental to Christianity
is the personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God by way of prayer in which
individuals or groups communicate through an inner dialogue and emotional/spiritual
experiences. It is my opinion that these “experiences” termed “emotional”
in the case of Christian, or “ecstatic” in terms of the Old Testament
prophets are not “emotional/ecstatic” experiences at all but are in
fact sensory overload based on an onslaught of information from Beyond. This
is an example of “lost knowledge”. I believe that Abraham probably
had this knowledge, and Moses as well because they both communicated with God
regularly, face to face and survived to tell about it. I believe that experiencing
God is profound and overwhelming and causes overload of these feeble senses
with which our bodies are equipped in the form of tears, trembling, etc. This
overload “appears” to be ecstatic emotion, and I believe that much
of the knowledge that God wants to give now is lost because of the overwhelming
nature of Her communication. I have a feeling that this is the true purpose
of deep Zen Meditation practice. I think that if one used Zen Meditation practice
to train the body to calmness, then we would perhaps be better able to apprehend
the voice of God in our ears, the touch of God on our hearts and the vision
of God in our minds. Again I digress....
The Cannon (New Testament)
was assembled within 100 years after Jesus’ death, and it was put together
by either the original 12 plus Paul or as necessary, their immediate students
or descendants. Because the Cannon was evaluated and chosen by the group who
had direct knowledge of Jesus and His teachings, it is safe to assume, that
the books chosen are in harmony with His teaching and intent during His time
with them.
Christian churches vary
significantly in their approach to scripture. Catholics tend to be more in tune
with the Jewish view that the events are a teaching experience for the people,
however the quoted word is true and considered to be the inspired Word of God
given through the prophets. Catholics and Protestants hold that all the events
of the New Testament are true and historically accurate. Issues of difference
between Protestant and Catholic lie mainly in the areas of infrastructure and
dogma. They are quite similar in their view of the contextual validity of scripture.
Fundamental Christians on the other hand are significantly different than their
more rational counterparts. They believe that the whole book, Old Testament
and New are absolutely true, and happened as written. They go on to say that
it HAS to be true due to the nature of God, much in the same way that Descartes
used the God argument to get himself out of corners in his philosophy. God is
perfect, God can’t lie..to the Garden MUST have happened etc.
In terms of historical
dependence, Protestant and Fundamental Christianity do not lean on the contents
of the Bible for historical validation per se, other than in terms of the existence
of a historical Jesus. There is no attachment to a particular timeline. Catholicism
on the other hand does have a strong bond to history for validity. It takes
pride in tracing it’s origin back to the Apostle Peter and thus to Jesus
Himself. For many years the Catholic Church stood on the verse below as it’s
assertion that it was the only “true” church founded by Jesus Christ.
“Who
do you say I am?”
Simon
Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus
replied: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed
to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you
that
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates
of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the
kindgom
of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven,
and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 9
Currently ALL protestant churches and particularly the Fundamentals think that
they are the only ones doing it right. Judaism, on the other hand
is bound by the Tanakh for historical validation. The books of the Law, and
the books of the prophets are actually a living history of the Jewish people
as a whole in both a sociological sense and a theological sense. I have already
discussed this point in detail on Page 6 of this paper.
I’ve left the last
and best point for the close of this paper. What is the difference between an
Old Testament Prophet and Jesus Christ? They have a lot in common. Both taught
moral lessons both called for social reform and change. Both called for a turning
back to the God of our forefathers to a restoration of personal intimacy with
Her. Both worked miracles. Jesus Christ did one thing that none of them dared
do, and it got him killed: He said that God was His father and He said He was
the Son of Man. One of us - done to perfection. The living ideal.
He also said that He Was God!
“If
I glorify myself, my glory is nothing;
it
is my Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say “he is our God.” ...10
Your
Father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad....11
The
Jews therefore said to Him, “you are not yet fifty years old, and have
you seen Abraham?
Jesus
said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I
AM!”12
No prophet (no REAL prophet,
as opposed to a crazy person) before or since has ever proved out with every
aspect of their lives that they were who they said they were with the detail
and accuracy that Jesus did. If the messianic Ideal was/is really ever to be
a human being, surely this man was it. His life was in absolute and perfect
harmony with every Old Testament prophesy concerning the Messiah. So either
Jesus’ life was an elaborately choreographed ruse or He is Who He said
He was. If his life were staged, it is elaborate beyond human capability - for
what rational human being would allow themselves to be murdered in such a gruesome
fashion? I think that He was exactly Who He said He was. My challenge to the
reader.....How could He not be?
Bibliography
The Spiritual Seekers Guide, .................................................................Steven
S. Sadlier
The World’s Religions, .............................................................................Houston
Smith
The Bible, New International Version..............................Zondervan
Bible Publishers
The Bible, New American Standard .................................. Thomas Nelson
Publishers
Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures .....................................The Jewish
Publication Society
The Sacred and the Profane ......................................................................
Mircea Eliade
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy................................................Douglas
Adams
With special thanks to Dwight Thornton for guidance and inspiration.
1 The World’s Religions, p272
2 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
3 The World’s Religions p. 280
4 The World’s Religions, forgot page number..
5 The World’s Religions, p 311
6 Tanakh, Isaiah 7
7 Tanakh, Mica, 5
8 Spiritual Seekers Guide, p59
9 the Bible, New International Version, Matt 16:15-19
10 John 8:54 Bible, New American Standard
11 John 8:56 Bible, New American Standard
12 John 8:57, 58 Bible, New American Standard