PSA
I know itās been said a dozen times before, but it always bears repeating ⦠Iām not the sort of person to tell you categorically Do Not Use This Or That Word.Ā So Iām just going to tell you to be Very Very Careful if youāre thinking about using āJudeo-Christian.āĀ You have better odds of winning the lottery than of using āJudeo-Christianā in a meaningful way.Ā Seriously.Ā It does not mean what you think it means.
The term was first used in 1821 to mean āJewish converts to Christianity,ā and was next used in 1829 to describe a kind of church that would appropriate Jewish rituals in order to convert Jews.Ā So thereās a bang-up start to the concept right there.Ā After the Holocaust was when people really started slinging it around, largely out of the āstanding by and letting the Most Civilized Nation On The Face Of The Earth⢠murder six million people was not a good look for usā brand of guilt.Ā In this sense, itās been used for decades to imply either that Judaism and Christianity are really the same thing (hint: theyāre not), or that Judaism kind of inevitably melts into being Christianity, so thereās no more sense in thinking about Judaism on its own than there is of thinking about the little bits of stuff in the pot that havenāt melted away and become soup yet (hint: weāre still here).Ā More recently, Iāve noticed that some of my more woke academic colleagues have started to use āJudeo-Christianā as a fancy way of saying āwhite people.āĀ
Just donāt.Ā Please, donāt.Ā If youāre using āJudeo-Christianā the traditional way, the odds are overwhelming that youāre just gussying up the word āChristian,ā because most of what is described as āJudeo-Christianā actually doesnāt have much āJudeoā in it at all, because, and follow me closely here, Judaism and Christianity are two different things.Ā If youāre using āJudeo-Christianā in the woke way, know that you are intentionally shutting out a minority group that, although it comes in many shades of skin tone, is still a target of white supremacy, and that you are being an active danger to us.Ā So, if you want to say āChristian,ā say āChristian.āĀ If you want to say āwhite people,ā say āwhite people.āĀ If youāre going to use Jewish people as a prop in your argument, make sure you really mean it.
This PSA brought to you by an otherwise extremely exciting, interesting, and intellectually stimulating conference I attended this past weekend.
Well, I think they are mostly the same.
The old testament is the whole TANAKH (holy book from the Jews) the new testament is the part with Jesus.
Judaism and christianity is deeply linked, Jews scholars donāt want to accept Jesus as the Messiah which is why they are still two separated groups. But christians literally worship the same God and study the whole TANAKH and hold it very dear to their heart.
So, Judeo-Christian is a very useful word which includes the obvious union of both groups since itās almost the same faith.
Jews still believe in the laws of the Torah, Christians donāt have to follow the laws, they follow what Jesus told them to hold on to (which includes the 10 commandments besides the sabbath because Jesus became the sabbath but many Christians still hold on to the sabbath anyway.)
So I have to go against the first claim of the main post. Judeo-Christian is a very useful word.
While itās definitely true that Judaism and Christianity share several holy books. They interpret them very differently based on their wider religious contexts and traditions as well as the fact that Jewish beliefs around how best to interpret scripture are culturally specific and therefore provide different opinions than the work of Christians looking at the same passage.
Additionally, if you are talking about just having the books themselves in common then this is not just true of Judaism and Christianity but all Abrahamic religions, notably Islam.
Well, Christians definitely do not interpret the old testament/ tanakh any differently. Itās the base of christianity, if you were talking about the new testament I have to agree with you.
Islam as much influence of Judaism because Muhammed used Judaism as his base. Islam has mostly the same figures in the Quran. But the message of the Quran has a major difference than in Judaism and Christianity.
An example:
In Judaism and Christianity, God is all loving. In Islam Allah is an unknown all power who judge you after you died. Allah can me sensed or no one can talk to him. Many Muslims have no idea about their Allah because itās not wanted to be close to him. In Islam you must prove yourself. In Judaism and Christianity you must trust and love God first before any other requirements may be asked for.
I think the differences are very interesting but in Judaism and christianity the only difference is Jesus. Nothing more.
When I say that Jews interpret the Tanach differently I am referring to a difference in interpretive traditions.
The idea of interpreting the Tanach through Talmud where alternate meanings are presented through arguments between the Rabbis is a uniquely Jewish idea. The Talmud is a sacred text in Judaism and there is simply no Christian equivalent. In fact Jesusā condemnation of the Pharisees (who were involved in writing the Talmud) can be seen as a rejection of this form of interpretation.
Furthermore, Christian interpretation of the Old Testament is influenced by the gospels and beliefs about Jesus. This often reflects in the ways in which Christian translations of the Old Testament place different emphasis than copies of the Jewish Tanach.
Additionally, the idea that it is up to humans rather than G-d to interpret religious texts and traditions is a key tenant of Judaism. Which obviously impacts interpretation of the Tanach.
I think we agree that both religions have the same ground to please God and to be near him. Christians faith is very near the new and old testament. In my opinion, I as a Christian want to live the new testament which has many laws inside it as they are inside the old testament.
The most important law is to love God and thatās what Christians do.
And the old testament isnāt influenced by the Gospels and no one says that. The old testament influenced the new testament and foreshadows it.
And I guess interpretations are always the key. Sometimes there is no interpretation needed though.
Israel literally means struggling or wrestling with G!D. Thatās very different fromĀ āto please God and to be near him.ā Judaism isnāt a faith, itās an ethnoreligion.Ā
Also, sayingĀ āthe old testamentā¦foreshadows [the new testament]ā is inherently an interpretation influenced by the Christian Gospels. It presupposes that Judaism and Jews were just waiting around to find completion and not a people with extensive cultural traditions of exegesis through PaRDeS that is independent of and doesnāt necessitate your Jesus.Ā
If you really think the only difference between Christianity and Judaism is Jesus andĀ ānothing more,ā that is not only incredibly offensive but abjectly incorrect.
That Jews are and independent ethnic group is clear to me and I totally agree with you. I havenāt ever hear the word ethnoreligion but it does describes the Jews population perfectly.
Aber the ānot foreshadowingā, tell that Jesaja 53.
I guess many things differentiates jews from Christians but many Christians do want to live as near to God as possible. We love the God which who love to debate with. So, I really donāt want to be offensive. I admit I really donāt know much about your culture now but it interest me immensely! So learning from you is a true gift!
I donāt know who Jesaja is. Do you mean Isaiah? Whoās a prophet in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? And means different things in each tradition? Because we all have our own independent interpretations? In Christian exegesis, you all interpret this as talking about Jesus. In Judaism? Itās talking about the Jewish nation in total as āhis suffering servant,ā not a singular person.Ā Throughout the rabbinic commentaries, this is explicitly stated.Ā
You canāt look at Isaiah 53Ā without looking at the fifty-two chapters that inform and precede it and the commentaries that explain it. I donāt know enough about AshiŹ»yÄā to try to explain what he says or means within Islam.Ā
If you donāt know much about Judaism (or Islam based on your own words), why do you feel it necessary to insert your uneducated and incorrect opinion on both?
I swear every conversation with goyim on this site can be summarized by āI admit I dont know much about Judaism, but let me tell you, a Jewish person, why you are wrong about itā
Thatās it. Thatās the whole show.





















