If Jesus Was Jewish, Why Does Christianity Feel So Different?

 This was my answer on Quora.

I am not sure what you mean by the word “feel.” It is difficult to apply an emotional descriptor to an entire world religion. I suspect what you are implying is: why does Christianity seem so different from Judaism if one considers Jesus’ Jewish background?

Well, the two religions have a number of similarities, but they also have some key differences that reflect their respective histories.

Here are six key similarities. There are others, but these are the principal commonalities, in my opinion.

• Both are monotheistic and have an Abrahamic origin. Opponents of Christianity sometimes portray the religion as polytheistic because of the nature of the Trinity, but this is clearly a misreading of the Christian concept. Christianity understands the Trinity as one God, not three separate gods.

• Each sees a world created by God that has intrinsic meaning beyond what we, as human beings, give it. The world exists because of the goodness and will of God.

• There is substantial overlap in the core biblical texts used by the two religions. The Tanakh in Judaism—the Torah (Pentateuch), Prophets, and Writings—is essentially the collection of books that Christians call the Old Testament, although the ordering and, in some cases, the precise contents differ among Christian traditions.

• Both believe that human beings possess free will and were created in the image of God.

• Both emphasize prayer, repentance, and charity as important practices for the observant believer.

• Both traditions contain concepts of an afterlife and distinguish, in various ways, between the body and the soul.

Before moving on to the differences, however, it is important to note that the figure most responsible for the development of Christianity as a religion that ultimately became distinct from Judaism was arguably not Jesus himself, but Paul the Apostle.

The movement begun by Jesus was not initially an independent religion. Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews, and his teachings took place within the religious and cultural world of Second Temple Judaism. It was Paul who played a crucial role in extending the movement to the non-Jewish world and arguing that Gentile converts did not need to adopt the full range of Jewish law. Other early Christian leaders and historical developments were also important, but Paul was particularly significant in giving the movement an international reach and helping shape its eventual separation from Judaism.

So what, then, are the differences? This is what I suspect creates this sense of Christianity being “distinct” when it is juxtaposed with Judaism.

It is important to note that Christianity itself has undergone a number of schisms since the first century AD. The Great Schism of 1054 marked the formal separation between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions, although the estrangement had developed over centuries. Subsequent breaks, particularly from the sixteenth century onward during the Protestant Reformation, led to the establishment of various branches of Protestantism, including Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, and others. Each has its own theological nuances.

Nevertheless, certain theological constructs are central to much of Christianity and are either absent from or fundamentally different in Judaism. These include:

• The concept of Original Sin. Much of Christianity emphasizes the fallen condition of humanity and the need for salvation from sin. Judaism does not generally understand humanity as inheriting Adam's guilt in the same way.

• The Trinity. Christianity traditionally understands God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three persons within one God. This is one of the most fundamental theological distinctions between Christianity and Judaism. It is also important to recognize that virtually all mainstream Christian traditions affirm the Trinity, although there are Christian groups that reject it.

• The divinity of Jesus Christ. Christianity traditionally teaches that Jesus is divine and, in Trinitarian Christianity, that he is the Son of God. Judaism does not recognize Jesus as divine and does not accord him a theological status comparable to that which he possesses in Christianity.

• Heaven and Hell. Christian conceptions of Heaven and Hell vary considerably among denominations. Judaism, meanwhile, has concepts such as Olam Ha-Ba (“the World to Come”) and Gehinnom. Gehinnom is not generally equivalent to the Christian conception of an eternal Hell; in many Jewish traditions it is understood more as a temporary process of purification or spiritual correction. Judaism also has no equivalent to the Christian conception of Satan as an independent cosmic opponent of God. The yetzer hara, or evil inclination, exists within the human person and does not constitute an independent power opposed to God. The Book of Job provides an interesting illustration of the Jewish conception of Satan as an accuser operating within God's heavenly court rather than as an autonomous rival to God.

• The New Testament. Judaism does not recognize the New Testament as authoritative scripture. Consequently, Judaism does not divide the Bible into an “Old Testament” and a “New Testament.” The Tanakh constitutes the Jewish biblical canon. In traditional Jewish understanding, prophetic revelation did not continue in the same manner after the period of the biblical prophets, although Jewish religious thought continued to develop through interpretation and tradition.

• The Messiah. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah (Mashiach) is generally understood as a future human leader descended from David who will help bring about an era of peace, justice, and Jewish restoration, traditionally associated with the ingathering of the Jewish people and the restoration of the Temple. The Messiah is not regarded as divine. Christianity, by contrast, identifies Jesus as the Messiah and gives him a divine status that Judaism explicitly rejects.

• Jewish law and religious practice. Judaism places considerable importance on the mitzvot, including dietary laws and circumcision. The early Christian movement, particularly through Paul's teaching concerning Gentile converts, significantly de-emphasized the requirement for non-Jewish Christians to observe many aspects of Jewish law. This became one of the major factors distinguishing Christianity from Judaism.

• Conversion and proselytization. Judaism generally does not seek converts in the way Christianity historically has. Nevertheless, conversion to Judaism is possible, and there is a well-defined process involving study, commitment, and, depending on circumstances and denomination, participation in Jewish religious practice. The emphasis is generally on the sincerity of the prospective convert rather than on actively seeking to recruit outsiders.

• The spiritual status of Jews and non-Jews. Judaism does not generally teach that only Jews can attain a place in the World to Come. Jewish tradition contains the concept that righteous non-Jews can have a share in the World to Come. The Noahide laws provide a framework for understanding the moral obligations of non-Jews. For Jews, a life devoted to observing the mitzvot provides the traditional framework for living in accordance with God's covenant.

• The Oral Torah and rabbinic tradition. Judaism has a powerful oral and interpretive tradition that became particularly important following the destruction of the Second Temple and the dispersion of Jewish communities. This tradition is reflected in works such as the Mishnah and Talmud. Jewish law (halakha) developed through generations of interpretation and debate. This is one reason Jewish religious tradition can appear less like a fixed set of doctrines and more like an ongoing conversation with scripture, precedent, and God. The rabbinic tradition famously embraces the idea of wrestling with difficult questions rather than avoiding them.

One should also not forget the historical circumstances in which Judaism developed. Although there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the Land of Israel, for much of the last two thousand years the majority of Jews have lived as minorities in societies dominated by other religions, particularly Christianity and Islam.

This experience of diaspora profoundly shaped Jewish culture and religious life. It produced a strong emphasis on community, continuity, education, family, the preservation of language and tradition, and resistance to both passive and actively imposed assimilation.

So, despite Jesus being unmistakably Jewish in his historical and cultural context, Christianity eventually became something quite different from the Judaism in which it originated. That transformation did not happen overnight, nor can it be attributed to a single person. Jesus, Paul, the other apostles, the destruction of the Second Temple, the growing Gentile Christian population, and centuries of theological development all played roles.

In that sense, the apparent paradox disappears somewhat: Christianity feels different from Judaism precisely because it began as a Jewish movement and then, over several centuries, developed into a predominantly Gentile religion with a radically different understanding of Jesus, scripture, salvation, and religious law.