CHRISTIANITY - A Form of Judaism?
Christians
like to think that Christianity is just another form of Judaism. This is
incorrect. Christianity is another religion which needs to find validity in the
Jewish Bible. Christians assert that they worship the same God as do Jews. The first thing one should clearly understand
is that to Judaism, Jesus is a foreign god, a pagan idol. Judaism has precise Laws and guidelines, received directly from God
at
The
best way to explain these Laws and guidance through a parable.
Abner Doubleday invented a game called
baseball. Imagine Abner (as God) and the game of
baseball, Judaism. Abner composed certain basic rules
for the playing of the game; later, the Baseball Commission refined those rules
and added others. These days, it is the Baseball Commission that decides what
is within the rules and what is beyond the rules, as far as professional
baseball is concerned.
Now,
this may or may not be fair. After all, when in our leisure, we play baseball
with friends there are probably quite a few “official” rules we don’t keep.
We’re not playing hardball for any league, so who cares? As far as we are
concerned, we are playing baseball as we see fit, for our pleasure.
On the
other hand, we’re also not claiming to be on the same level as the Yankees, or
even the Cubs, for that matter. So no one cares what we call the game. We can call
it “fun ball,” or “throw ball.” However, the way we feel about it, it’s close
enough to the real thing that by stretching the imagination, we can call it
baseball.
But,
say we decided to create a new league, with new rules (Christianity). We found
that using a batter was too difficult for us, so instead of a batter someone
catches the ball and throws it as hard as he can into the outfield. He does not
run the bases, because there is only one base, home plate. Now, we feel that
there is too much competition in this world, so there are no outs. Each baseman
simply throws the ball to the outfield. When all the players on your team have
thrown the ball, the teams switch places and your team goes into the field.
There are no scores. No one loses. It’s true that no one wins, but at least no
one loses.
Is that
really the same baseball (Judaism) that Abner Doubleday (God) invented? Well, we say that it is. We use a ball, and we
have a home base. The name says BASE BALL.
We have a base and a ball. What more do we need?
How
does the Baseball Commission feel about this? Well, they say, it’s very nice,
but it’s not baseball. Let them play to their hearts’ content, but it’s not baseball.
So who
gets to decide whether or not our version is baseball? Well, anyone who wants
can call it what they want. We call it baseball, and we like that name. We feel
it is the perfect name for our game. But the minute that we begin to sell
tickets, billing ourselves as “baseball,” we are likely to have a lawsuit on
our hands.
Why?
Because there is an established understanding of what baseball is and what it
isn’t. Our game may be very nice, but it is certainly not traditional or real
baseball. It doesn’t matter what we call it. Abner Doubleday would
not have called it baseball, baseball fans don’t consider it baseball, and it
doesn’t conform to the generally accepted rules of baseball.
This
article does not intend to discuss the vices and virtues of Christianity. But
no matter how Christians feel about it, Christianity is simply not Judaism―it is not even based on Judaism. And by the
Rules and Regulations of Judaism, the god that the Christians worship is not
the same God as in Judaism. It is not acceptable to Jews at all.
I know
that Christians don’t believe this, and many won’t accept it. That makes no
difference to the Torah of Judaism which stands as it always has for over 3,315
years. Any system that contravenes this Torah cannot be considered Judaism or a
derivative from it.
Part of
the problem is that Christians don’t really an understanding of Jewish Law so
they don’t really know how and why their beliefs contradict the Torah God gave
at Mt Sinai. The first (and often the only) difference they see is that they
believe that the Messiah has come, and that Jews know that the Messiah has not yet
come yet. That would indeed be enough of a difference, but the truth is that
the differences are far greater than just that. Christians and their scriptures
go so far as to accusing Jews of having killed their God―deicide.
The
point is that Christians do not get to decide whether their religion is like
Judaism. Those who keep the original religion are the ones who know, and are
the ones who can say. Orthodox Jews know Judaism. Christians do not!
Regardless
of your belief, or variation of belief, no form of Christianity is Jewish. And
no belief that includes Jesus as messiah or savior or god can be Jewish.