Judaism and Christianity: A Contrast

by Stuart Federow

"Many people focus on the similarities between Judaism and Christianity, but the religions are quite different—and it’s not just because one accepts Jesus as the messiah and the other does not.

The rise of Christians calling themselves messianic “Jews,” the successes of Christian missionaries, Jews ingratiating themselves to Evangelical Christians because of their support for the State of Israel, the overuse of the term “Judeo-Christian,” and the increasing use of Jewish rituals in Christian churches, blur the lines between Judaism and Christianity.

Develop a better understanding of the irreconcilable differences between Judaism and Christianity, and where the two faiths hold mutually exclusive beliefs. You’ll learn how

• Their views differ regarding God, humanity, the devil, faith versus the law, the Messiah, and more;

• Both faiths read the same Biblical verses but understand them so differently; and

• Missionary Christians use this blurring of the lines between the two faiths, and other techniques, to convert Jews to Christianity.

Real interfaith dialogue begins when those engaging in it not only speak of how they are similar, but also where they differ. Real understanding begins when the topics discussed are in areas of disagreement. Judaism and Christianity: A Contrastwill help you understand the Jewish view of these disagreements."

Genres: Religion, Judaism

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2012

Reviews

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Federow is engaging in counter polemic: he is more direct than thinkers like Jacob Neusner and focuses on Christian readings of the Torah and Tanakh in contrast to traditional Jewish ones. Federow, a Reform ordained Rabbi at a Conservative congregation, takes stances similar to what one would expect of the modern Orthodox, albeit with fewer references to the Talmud and Talmudic exegesis. Federow does lead down, in a more complete manner, that Judaism is not just Christianity subtracting Jesus. The reading of the Torah is profoundly different even before Talmudic exegesis begins. Federow spells this out, and since he views the Torah as divinely authored and the Jewish tradition as divinely inspired, he takes this matter quite seriously. I do, however, think that Federow does not really deal with how Hellenized Pharisaic Judaism already was at the time of Herod and Jesus, and thus tends to underplay have mutually informed but also mutually exclusive Jewish exegesis was in regards to Christian exegesis. Furthermore, the Torah's vowels were not clarified until after the Pentateuch probably because of the contested interpretations not just between Jews and Christians, but between Hellenized and non-Hellenized Jews as well as other cults. That said, Federow's theology probably leads him to believe this was as important as I would make. He does a VERY good job at showing the problems of Gospel construction to Christians and uses textual interests in the Gospels and Paul which show them to have a different context than Jewish ones. He also shows that much of Messaniac Judaism is not only Christian but its readings are anachronistic in the extreme.

This is excellent for understanding the substantive differences between Christians and Jews, particularly between Jews and evangelical and/or fundamentalist Protestants.

[Jordan Stryk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an attack on Christianity but counter-arguments against Christian misinformation

It is amazing how many people want to say that this book is a many pages long attack on Christianity when it is an answer to many wrong things Christians have said of Judaism over millennia. Federow keeps his citations simple on purpose, instead staying only within The scriptures to make his arguments, along with common sense and common knowledge.

[Larry Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Important Read for both Jews and Christians

Rabbi Stuart Federow's book Judaism and Christianity: A Contrast is a valuable book for both Jews and Christians who want to learn about each other's faith. I discovered there are many more contrasts than simply the Jews not accepting Jesus as the Messiah. For example, the understanding of Messiah is that he will be a mortal person who comes and restores peace to all the earth. Since we still have great strife, and Jesus has come and gone, he could not possibly be the Messiah. On the other hand, Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah and he will return and the recreation of a new earth will be following that event. To Federow, a second coming of Jesus is mere fabrication of a fable.

Jews are sometimes offended by the use of Old Testament and New Testament. They reject what Christians call the New Testament, believing that while their Hebrew Scriptures are indeed old, they are neither replaced or supplemented by what Christians call the New Testament.

Jews view God's work in the creation of man was completed as he desired and that humanity was removed from the Garden of Eden not because there was any “fall of humankind” due to their sin, which would not be transmitted down through humanity. Each person answers directly to God with no intermediary. Each person will be rewarded or punished based entirely upon their own individual actions. Christians believe that humanity is now endowed with a propensity to sin, due to an impaired ability to resist sin, and that the singular means to break that pattern is to come to God acknowledging that Jesus' sacrifice of his life and live a life honoring of him as God.

Jews reject that Jesus was the Incarnation of God, who was both fully divine and fully human. Such an amalgam as this would be impossible, because in the Hebrew Scriptures God is one entity. To have Jesus as divine or the Holy Spirit as God would be polytheistic (believing in multiple God, as the pagans did in those times). They clearly reject the idea of God being one God, in three persons, what Christians call Trinity.

On many matters, neither Federow nor I can speak for all Jews or Christians. There are countless nuances of how to interpret and apply the text from all Scripture. However, the author is crystal clear about major Jewish beliefs and points to many Scriptures to support his point of view. His defense of Christian theology does not well represent orthodox Christian thinking. At times, his quotation of New Testament passages do not actually support his contrasting views.

He rejects the idea that prophecies listed in the Hebrew Scriptures can be understood as being fulfilled by the record of the gospel and epistle writers, since they could have been crafted to appear as fulfilled prophecies, having been written later than the older Scriptures. He also rejects the idea of harmonization of thing such such as the records of Jesus birth, which he sees as contradictory reports.

This was an excellent book to read, and I would challenge anyone to read through it and study the Scriptures and determine where the author is true or at variance with the writings in Scripture. I gave it a five star rating not because I agreed with the author's point of view, but because it is well written and unambiguous in its explanation of the contrasts between Jews and Christians, through the eyes and mindset of a Jew.

[Rusmir · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm shocked this book got as many good reviews. It could have fit into a tight sermon, and that's how the author writes it - conversation style, not much scholarly backing up. If there's anything I've learned from our religions book club is the author's intention - there are ways to critique a religion or explore it, but Federow is just on the attack here.

[Andrew Ketel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Rabbi Federow presents his argument well, it is blatantly biased and often are rather dismissive of the Christian viewpoint. Because of this type of approach, it makes this work less useful in this discussion of contrasts between Judaism and Christianity.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

This book was a very informative, detailed, thoroughly researched, and insightful book to read. It’s an excellent defense of and apologetic for the Judaic tradition. Very well done.

[Lehnsherr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read on Judaism. It's briefly written and I recommend it to anybody who's questioning their beliefs or simply wants to know more about the difference between the two.

[Christo Chaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear & easy to understand. Rabbi Emeritus Stuart Federow patiently explains the reasons why Jews do not accept the claims of Christianity, by using the most accessible translation (KJV) of the Christian Bible! Each citation Rabbi Federow goes is clearly marked by book, chapter, & verse numbers. You can use his fine resource with any Christian translation as well.

[Brock Atchley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that gives a good and detailed explanations on his points. You can even see him live on a call in show on YouTube channel called Tenak Talk . Also I think he is great and this book in my opinion is a must read

[Libbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well researched and brilliantly written. He needs to write more books.

[Kenyetta Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative about how different Judaism from Christianity.

[Udine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book! It is answering my questions and confirming many of my suspicions. Thank you Rabbi Federow!

[Brian Sours · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good intro to why Judaism differs from Christianity. This is not an attack on Christianity, but rather a counter argument and why most Jews or rather leaned Jews don’t convert to Christianity. If you are just starting out to learn about Judaism, this is a go to book. If you are wanting a verse by verse in-depth look, I suggest Tovia Songet’s Let’s Get Biblical books. They are very extensive. You can also look up rabbi skobac series on Tenak Talk on YouTube where he goes verse by verse of the NT and gives a Jewish counter argument.

[Natália Spencer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quando resolvi ler este livro, tinha a intenção de entender melhor o judaísmo.
Por ter sido escrito por um rabino, obviamente eu já sabia que o público alvo seria os judeus, e que em suas comparações entre as duas religiões, ele daria razão aos argumentos judaicos.
Portanto, estes pontos não influenciaram a minha avaliação.
No entanto, embora ele tenha citado tantas bibliografias em suas referências, me espantou a forma superficial e rasa como ele abordou o cristianismo.
Quando se faz uma pesquisa e comparação, é necessário aprofundar-se no tema com seriedade.
Durante a leitura, fiz anotações de todos os pontos incongruentes que encontrava (o que resultou em páginas e páginas de anotações).
Esperava encontrar um livro bem fundamentado em ambas partes, mas infelizmente me frustrei.

[Brock Atchley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that gives a good and detailed explanations on his points. You can even see him live on a call in show on youtube channel called Tenak Talk I think he is great and this book in my opinion is a must read