Out of all the major world religions Judaism and Christianity have the closest relationship. There are many difference and many similarities within these religions mainly because Christianity grew out of Judaism. Many people including Jesus and the twelve disciples were Jews (religionfacts.)
The main differences are how each religion views Jesus and God, heaven and hell, and the notion of sin. The biggest difference between Judaism and Christianity is their view on God and Jesus. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah / Savior. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, part of the trinity, and that only through Jesus you can be saved.
In the Christian view they believe that Jesus sacrificed his own life and died on the cross and rose from the dead so that sins could be forgiven. Judaism strongly denies that such a sacrifice was necessary (gotques.) Jews often view Jesus as a good teacher, who is not the son of God, and who is a profit. Jews believe that Jesus cannot save souls only God can. The most crucial part is that No one who is Jewish, no born Jew, and no one who converts to Judaism can believe in Jesus as the literal son of God or as the messiah. For the Jewish people, there is no God but God. When it comes to God, Christians believe that God is made up of three parts which is called a trinity.
The three parts of this trinity are God the father, Jesus the son, and God the Holy Spirit. Judaism insists on the notion of monotheism, the idea that there is only one God. They believe that God cannot be made into three parts even if those parts are united in some way (mosiaclaw.) The second difference between Judaism and Christianity is how they view heaven and hell. With most religions both Judaism and Christianity believe in some sort of afterlife. Christians have strong beliefs about life after death.
Christians believe that it doesn’t depend on your behaviors here on Earth but rather it is based on whether you decided to accept or reject God. Christians believe if you except Jesus Christ as you savior you will go to heaven.
Like Christians, Jews believe that there is a life after death. Unlike Christians, Jews believe there are seven Heavens, the highest one being occupied by God and his angels. Christians believe that Heaven and Hell are separate and that the people that didn’t except God will perish and go to hell and those who did will not perish and have everlasting life (library.)
Jews believe that people who are punished in the afterlife are sent to a place called Gehenna, and that this place is not separate from heaven, but that it is just a farther distance away from God. They believe that this punishment is not eternal because God is full of mercy and love (mosiaclaw.)
Christianity states that all people are born with sin through their father’s blood and that only through Jesus Christ can your sins be forgiven. Judaism does not believe that people are bad from birth. Jews believe that people enter the world free of sin, with a soul that is pure and innocent and untainted and that they cannot remove sin by themselves, but need an act of grace provided by the sacrificial death of salvation other than through Jesus (mosiaclaw.)
As you can see even though Judaism and Christianity have the closest relationship there are many very important differences. Their different views on Jesus and God, Heaven and hell, and the notion of sin are what separate these two great but different religions.
