God of Jews and Christians. Orthodoxy and Judaism: attitude and opinion about religion, the main differences from the Orthodox Church

Christianity historically emerged in the religious context of Judaism: Jesus himself (Hebrew ‎יֵשׁוּעַ‎) and his immediate followers (the apostles) were Jews by birth and upbringing; many Jews perceived them as one of the many Jewish sects. So, according to the 24th chapter of the Book of Acts, at the trial of the Apostle Paul, Paul himself declares himself a Pharisee (Acts 23: 6), and at the same time he is named on behalf of the high priest and the Jewish elders "representative of the Nazirite heresy"(Acts 24:5); term "nazarite"(Heb. נזיר‎) is also repeatedly mentioned as a characteristic of Jesus himself, which apparently corresponds to the Jewish status of the Nazis (Bem.6:3).

For some time the Jewish influence and example must have been so strong and persuasive that represented, according to Christian pastors, a significant danger to their flock. Hence the controversy with the "Judaists" in the New Testament epistles and the fierce criticism of Judaism in the sermons of such a church father as John Chrysostom.

Jewish origins and influences in Christian ritual and liturgy

Christian worship and traditional forms of public worship bear the mark of Jewish origin and influence; the very idea of ​​a church ritual (that is, a gathering of believers for prayer, reading Scripture and preaching) is borrowed from synagogue worship.

In the Christian ritual, the following elements borrowed from Judaism can be distinguished:

Reading passages from the Old and New Testaments during worship - a Christian version of reading the Torah and the book of the Prophets in the synagogue;

The important place occupied by the Psalms in the Christian liturgy;

Some early Christian prayers are borrowings or adaptations of Hebrew originals: "Apostolic Ordinances" (7:35-38); "Didache" ("Teaching of the 12 Apostles") ch. 9-12; prayer "Our Father" (cf. Kaddish);

The Jewish origin of many prayer formulas is obvious. For example, amen (Amen), hallelujah (Galilujah) and hosanna (Hosha'na);

You can find the commonality of some Christian rites(sacraments) with Jewish ones, although they were converted in a specifically Christian spirit. For example, the sacrament of baptism (cf. circumcision and mikveh);

The most important Christian sacrament is the Eucharist- based on the tradition of the last meal of Jesus with the disciples (the Last Supper, identified with the Passover meal) and includes such traditional Jewish elements of the Passover celebration as broken bread and a cup of wine.

The Jewish influence can be seen in the development of the daily liturgical circle, especially in the service of the hours (or the Liturgy of the hours in the Western Church).

It is also possible that some elements of early Christianity, which are clearly outside the norms of Pharisaic Judaism, could come from various forms sectarian Judaism.

Fundamental differences

The main difference between Judaism and Christianity three main dogmas of Christianity: Original sin, the second coming of Jesus and the atonement of sins by His death.

For Christians these three dogmas are designed to solve problems that would otherwise be insoluble.

In Judaism these problems simply do not exist.

The idea of ​​original sin.

Acceptance of Christ through baptism. Paul wrote: “Sin came into the world through one man... And since the transgression of one led to the punishment of all people, the right act of one leads to the justification and life of all people. And just as the disobedience of one made many sinners, so by the obedience of one, many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:12, 18-19).

This dogma was confirmed by the Decrees of the Council of Trent(1545-1563): “Since the fall caused the loss of righteousness, falling into slavery to the devil and the wrath of God, and since original sin is transmitted by birth, and not by imitation, therefore everything that has a sinful nature and everyone guilty of original sin can be redeemed by baptism ".

According to Judaism, every person is born innocent and makes his own moral choice - to sin or not to sin.

Until the death of Jesus, the prophecies of the Old Testament about the Messiah were not fulfilled.. Christian solution to the problem - Second coming.

From a Jewish perspective, this is not a problem, since the Jews never had any reason to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

The idea that people cannot achieve salvation by their works. Christian decision - the death of Jesus atones for the sins of those who believe in him.

According to Judaism, people can achieve salvation through their actions. In resolving this problem, Christianity is completely different from Judaism.

First, what sins of mankind does the death of Jesus atone for?

Since the Bible obliges only Jews to observe the laws of man's relationship with God, the non-Jewish world could not commit such a sin. The only sins that non-Jews commit can be sins against people.

Does the death of Jesus atone for the sins of some people against others? Obviously yes. This doctrine is in direct opposition to Judaism and its notion of moral guilt. According to Judaism, even God Himself cannot forgive sins committed against another person.

Contradictions between the Teachings of Jesus and Judaism

Since Jesus generally professed Pharisaic (rabbinic) Judaism, most of his teachings are consistent with Jewish biblical and Pharisees beliefs. There are, however, a number of original teachings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament that differ from Judaism. Of course, it is difficult to ascertain whether these statements are his own or are merely attributed to him:

1. Jesus forgives all sins.

“The Son of Man has the power to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6). Even if you equate Jesus with God(which in itself is heresy for Judaism), this statement alone is a radical departure from the principles of Judaism. As already noted, Even God Himself does not forgive all sins. He limits his power and forgives only those sins that are committed against Him, God. As stated in the Mishnah: “The Day of Atonement is intended to atone for sins against God, and not for sins committed against people, except in cases where the victim of your sins was pleased by you” (Mishnah, Yoma 8: 9).

Jesus' attitude towards bad people.

“Do not resist an evil person. On the contrary, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the left also” (Matt. 5:38). And further: “Love your enemies and pray for your oppressors” (Matthew 5:44).

Judaism, on the contrary, calls for resistance to vice and evil.. A vivid example of this in the Bible is the behavior of Moses, who killed an Egyptian slave owner because he mocked a Jewish slave (Ex. 2:12).

The second frequently repeated example from Deuteronomy is the commandment:“The hand of witnesses must be on him (an evil person who does evil in the eyes of the Lord God) first of all to kill him, then the hand of all the people; and so cut off evil from among yourselves” Deut. 7:17.

Judaism never calls to love the enemies of people. It does not mean, contrary to the statement of the New Testament Matthew that Judaism calls to hate enemies (Matt. 5:43). It means only a call for justice in relation to enemies. A Jew, for example, is not obliged to love a Nazi, as the commandment of Matthew would require.

Jesus Himself departed from His own commandments and principles on many occasions(for example, in the chapters of Mt. 10:32, Mt. 25:41) and, practically, not a single Christian community in the entire history of Christianity has been able to fully follow the principle of "non-resistance to evil" in everyday behavior. The principle of non-resistance to evil is not a moral ideal. Only one of the Christian groups - "Jehovah's Witnesses" - implements this principle more or less successfully.. Perhaps that is why members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community, being prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, were appointed by the SS as hairdressers. The Nazis believed that the Jehovah's Witnesses would not harm them (they would not resort to violence) when they shaved the mustaches and beards of the guards.

3. Jesus claimed that people can come to God only through Him - Jesus.“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son but the Father; and no one knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son wishes to reveal” (Matthew 11:27). This is fundamentally different from Judaism, where every person has direct access to God, for "God is with those who cry out to Him" ​​(Ps. 145:18).

In Christianity, only a believer in Jesus can come to God. In Judaism, anyone can get closer to God You don't have to be Jewish to do this.

Relationship between Judaism and Christianity

Judaism refers to Christianity as its "derivative"- that is, as a "daughter religion", designed to bring the basic elements of Judaism to the peoples of the world (see below an excerpt from Maimonides, speaking about this).

Some scholars of Judaism share the view that Christian teaching, like modern Judaism, in many ways goes back to the teachings of the Pharisees. Encyclopedia Britannica: "From the point of view of Judaism, Christianity is or was a Jewish 'heresy' and, as such, may be judged somewhat differently than other religions."

From the point of view of Judaism, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth has no religious significance, and the recognition of his messianic role (and, accordingly, the use of the title "Christ" in relation to him) is absolutely unacceptable. There is not a single mention of a person in the Jewish texts of his era that could be reliably identified with him.

There is no consensus in the authoritative rabbinical literature whether Christianity, with its trinitarian and Christological dogma developed in the 4th century, is considered idolatry (paganism) or an acceptable (for non-Jews) form of monotheism, known in the Tosefta as Shituf (the term implies the worship of the true God along with "additional").

In later rabbinical literature, Jesus is mentioned in the context of an anti-Christian controversy. So, in his work Mishneh Torah Maimonides (compiled in 1170-1180 in Egypt) writes:

“And about Yeshua ha-Nozri, who imagined that he was the Messiah, and was executed by the verdict of the court, Daniel predicted: “And the criminal sons of your people will dare to fulfill the prophecy and will be defeated” (Daniel, 11:14), - for can there be a greater failure [than that which this man suffered]?

All the prophets said that Mashiach is the savior of Israel and their redeemer that he will strengthen the people in keeping the commandments. This same was the cause that the sons of Israel perished by the sword, and their remnant was scattered; they were humiliated. Thor was replaced by another, most of the world has been deceived into serving another god, not the Almighty. However, the intentions of the Creator of the world cannot be comprehended by man., for “our ways are not His ways, and not our thoughts are His thoughts,” and everything that happened to Yeshua ha-Nozri and to the prophet of the Ishmaelites, who came after him, was preparing the way for King Messiah, preparing to the whole world began to serve the Almighty, as it is said: “Then I will put clear words into the mouths of all peoples, and people will be drawn together to call on the name of the Lord and serve Him all together” (Zeph. 3: 9).

How did those two contribute to this?

Thanks to them, the whole world was filled with the news of the Messiah, the Torah and the commandments. And these messages reached the distant islands, and among many peoples with uncircumcised hearts began to talk about the Messiah, and about the commandments of the Torah. Some of these people say that these commandments were true, but in our time they have lost their force, because they were given only for a while. Others - that the commandments should be understood allegorically, and not literally, and the Messiah has already come and explained their secret meaning. But when the true Messiah comes, and succeeds, and achieves greatness, they will all immediately understand that their fathers taught them false things and that their prophets and ancestors misled them.” - Rambam. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, ch. 11:4

Maimonides' letter to the Jews in Yemen (אגרת תימן) (circa 1172) the latter, speaking of those who tried to destroy Judaism either by violence or by "false wisdom", speaks of a sect that combines both methods:

“And then another, new sect arose, which with particular zeal poisons our lives in both ways at once: by violence, and by the sword, and by slander, by false arguments and interpretations, by assertions about the presence of [non-existent] contradictions in our Torah. This sect has set out to plague our people in a new way. Its head cunningly planned to create new faith, in addition to the Divine teaching - the Torah, and publicly proclaimed that this teaching is from God. His purpose was to plant doubt in our hearts and sow confusion in them.

The Torah is one, and its teaching is its opposite. The assertion that both teachings are from the same God is aimed at undermining the Torah. The sophisticated design was distinguished by extraordinary cunning.

S. Efron (1905): “The Christian peoples became convinced that Israel remained faithful to the Old Testament and did not recognize the New because of the adherence of the religious to the established forms, that in his blindness he did not see the Divinity of Christ did not comprehend Him.<…>In vain was the notion established that Israel did not understand Christ. No, Israel understood both Christ and His teaching at the very first moment of His appearance. Israel knew of His coming and were waiting for Him.<…>But he, proud and selfish, who considered God the Father his personal God, refused to recognize the Son because He came to take upon Himself the sin of the world. Israel was waiting for a personal Messiah for themselves only one <…>».

Opinion of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) on the reasons for the rejection of Jesus by the Jews (early 1920s): “<…>not only the New Testament sacred interpreters, but also the Old Testament sacred writers, predicting a bright future for Israel and even for all mankind, had in mind spiritual blessings, and not physical ones, contrary to the interpretation of the later Jews and our Vl. Solovyov!<…>However, the modern Jews of the Savior did not want to take such a point of view and intensely longed for themselves, their tribe, external contentment and glory, and only the best of them understood the prophecies correctly.<…>»

Some leaders of Judaism criticize church organizations for their anti-Semitic policies. For example, the spiritual mentor of the Jews of Russia, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, accuses the Church of unleashing anti-Semitism.

Relationship between Christianity and Judaism

Christianity sees itself as the new and only Israel, the fulfillment and continuation of the prophecies of the Tanakh (Old Testament) (Deut.18:15,28; Jer.31:31-35; Is.2:2-5; Dan.9:26-27) and as a new covenant of God with everything humanity, and not just the Jews (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 3:28-31; Heb. 7:11-28).

The Apostle Paul calls the entire Old Testament "the shadow of the future"(Col. 2:17), “a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1) and “a tutor to Christ” (Gal. 3:24), and also speaks directly about the comparative dignity of the two covenants: “If the first ] was without lack, there would be no need to seek a place for another” (Heb. 8:7); and of Jesus, “This [High Priest] has received the most excellent ministry, the better He is the mediator of the covenant, which is established on the best promises.” (Heb. 8:6). This interpretation of the relationship of the two testaments in Western theology is commonly called the "replacement theory." In addition, the apostle Paul emphatically puts "faith in Jesus Christ" above "works of the law" (Gal. 2:16).

Final break between Christianity and Judaism occurred in Jerusalem, when the Apostolic Council (about the year 50) recognized the observance of the ritual prescriptions of the Mosaic Law as optional for Gentile Christians (Acts 15:19-20).

In Christian theology Talmudic-based Judaism is traditionally seen as a religion fundamentally different in many fundamental respects from pre-Jesusian Judaism, while recognizing the presence of many characteristics of Talmudic Judaism in the religious practice of the Pharisees of Jesus' time.

In the New Testament

Despite the significant closeness of Christianity to Judaism, New Testament contains a number of fragments traditionally interpreted as anti-Jewish by church leaders, such as:

Description of Pilate's Judgment, on which the Jews, according to the Gospel of Matthew, take the blood of Jesus on themselves and their children (Matt. 27:25). Subsequently, based on the gospel story, Meliton of Sardis (died c. 180) in one of his sermons formulated the concept of deicide, the guilt for which, according to him, lies with all of Israel. A number of researchers trace in the canonical gospels a tendency to justify Pilate and accuse the Jews, which was most developed in later apocrypha (such as the Gospel of Peter). However, the original meaning of Matthew 27:25 remains a matter of debate among biblical scholars.

Jesus' controversy with the Pharisees contains a number of harsh statements: An example is the Gospel of Matthew (23:1-39), where Jesus calls the Pharisees "breeds of vipers", "painted tombs", and the one who was converted by them is "the son of Gehenna". These and similar words of Jesus were later often transferred to all Jews. According to a number of researchers, this trend is also present in the New Testament itself: if in the Synoptic Gospels the antagonists of Jesus are predominantly Pharisees, then in the later Gospel of John, the opponents of Jesus are more often referred to as “Jews”. It is to the Jews that one of the harshest expressions of Jesus is addressed in this Gospel: “your father is the devil” (John 8:44). Many modern researchers, however, are inclined to consider such expressions in the Gospels in the general context of ancient polemical rhetoric, which tended to be extremely harsh.

In Philippians, the apostle Paul warned non-Jewish Christians: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of circumcision" (Phil. 3:2).

Some historians of the early Church consider the above and a number of other passages of the New Testament as anti-Jewish (in one sense or another), while others deny the presence in the books of the New Testament (and, more broadly, in early Christianity in general) of a fundamentally negative attitude towards Judaism. . Thus, according to one of the researchers: “it cannot be considered that early Christianity as such, in its fullest expression, led to later manifestations of anti-Semitism, Christian or otherwise.” Increasingly, it is pointed out that the application of the concept of "anti-Judaism" to the New Testament and other early Christian texts is, in principle, anachronistic, since the modern understanding of Christianity and Judaism as two fully formed religions is not applicable to the situation of the 1st-2nd centuries. Researchers are trying to determine the exact addressees of the controversy reflected in the New Testament, thereby showing that the interpretation of certain fragments of the New Testament books as directed against the Jews is generally untenable from a historical point of view.

The Apostle Paul, who is often regarded as the de facto founder of Christianity, in his Epistle to the Romans addresses Gentile believers with the words:

“I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience testifies to me in the Holy Spirit, that great sorrow for me and unceasing torment in my heart: I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, that is, the Israelites, to whom the adoption belongs, and the glory, and the covenants, and the statute, and worship, and the promises; their fathers, and of them Christ according to the flesh…” (Rom. 9:1-5)

"Brethren! my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel's salvation"(Rom. 10:1)

In chapter 11, the apostle Paul also emphasizes that God does not reject His people Israel and does not break His Covenant with them: “So I ask: Has God rejected His people? No way. For I am also an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He knew beforehand…” (Rom. 11:1,2) Paul states: "All Israel will be saved"(Rom. 11:26)

Relations between Christianity and Judaism through the ages

Early Christianity

According to a number of researchers, "the activities of Jesus, his teachings and his relationship with his disciples are part of the history of Jewish sectarian movements at the end of the Second Temple period" (Pharisees, Sadducees or Essenes and the Qumran community).

Christianity from the very beginning recognized the Jewish Bible (Tanakh) as Holy Scripture, as a rule in its Greek translation(Septuagint). At the beginning of the 1st century, Christianity was seen as a Jewish sect, and later as a new religion that developed from Judaism.

Already at an early stage, the deterioration of relations between the Jews and the first Christians began. Often, it was the Jews who provoked the pagan authorities of Rome to persecute Christians. In Judea, the temple Sadducean priesthood and King Herod Agrippa I were involved in the persecution. on Judaism and theological anti-Semitism".

Christian historical science, in a series of persecutions against early Christians, on the basis of the New Testament and other sources, considers the “persecution of Christians from the Jews” as chronologically the first:

The original intention of the Sanhedrin to kill the apostles was restrained by its chairman, Gamaliel (Acts 5:33-39).

The first martyr of the Church, Archdeacon Stephen, was beaten and executed directly by the Jews in the year 34 (Acts 7:57-60).

Around the year 44, Herod Agrippa executed James Zebedee, seeing that "this is pleasing to the Jews" (Acts 12:3).

The same fate awaited the miraculously saved Peter (Acts 6).

According to church tradition, in the year 62, a crowd of Jews threw Jacob the Lord's brother from the roof of the house.

Archimandrite Filaret (Drozdov) (later Metropolitan of Moscow) in his repeatedly reprinted work describes this stage in the history of the Church as follows: “The hatred of the Jewish government towards Jesus, aroused by the denunciation of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, the prediction of the destruction of the temple, the discordant character of the Messiah, the doctrine of His unity with the Father, and above all the envy of the Priests, turned through Him to His followers. In Palestine alone there were three persecutions, each of which cost the life of one of the most famous men of Christianity. In the persecution of the Zealots and Saul, Stephen was put to death; in the persecution of Herod Agrippa, James Zebedee; in the persecution of the high priest Ananus or Anna the younger, which was after the death of Festus - James the brother of the Lord (Jos. Ancient XX. Eus. H.L. II, p. 23)."

Subsequently, due to their religious authority, the facts set forth in the New Testament were used to justify the manifestations of anti-Semitism in Christian countries, and the facts of the participation of Jews in the persecution of Christians were used by the latter to incite anti-Semitic sentiments in the Christian environment.

At the same time, according to biblical studies professor Michal Chaikovsky, the young Christian Church, which originates from Jewish teaching and constantly needs it for its legitimation, begins to incriminate the Old Testament Jews with the very “crimes” on the basis of which the pagan authorities once persecuted Christians themselves. This conflict existed already in the 1st century, as evidenced in the New Testament.

In the final separation of Christians and Jews, researchers distinguish two milestone dates:

66-70 years: First Jewish War ended with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. For Jewish Zealots, Christians who left the city before its siege by Roman troops became not only religious apostates, but also traitors to their people. Christians saw in the destruction of the Jerusalem temple the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus and an indication that henceforth it was they who became the true "sons of the Covenant."

About 80 years: the introduction by the Sanhedrin in Yamnia (Yavne) into the text of the central Jewish prayer “Eighteen Blessings” of a curse on informers and apostates (“little ones”). Thus, the Judeo-Christians were excommunicated from the Jewish community.

However, many Christians continued to believe for a long time that the Jewish people recognized Jesus as the Messiah. A strong blow to these hopes was caused by the recognition by the Messiah of the leader of the last national liberation anti-Roman uprising Bar Kokhba (about 132 years).

In the ancient church

Judging by the surviving written monuments, starting from the 2nd century, anti-Judaism in the Christian environment increased. Characteristic are the Epistle of Barnabas, the Word on Easter by Meliton of Sardis, and later some places from the works of John Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan and some. others

The specificity of Christian anti-Judaism was the repeated accusation of the Jews of deicide from the very beginning of its existence. Their other “crimes” were also named - their stubborn and malicious rejection of Christ and his teachings, their way of life and style of life, the profanation of the Holy Communion, the poisoning of wells, ritual murders, and the creation of a direct threat to the spiritual and physical life of Christians. It was argued that the Jews, as a people cursed and punished by God, should be doomed to a “degrading way of life” (Blessed Augustine) in order to become witnesses of the truth of Christianity.

The earliest texts included in the canonical code of the Church contain a number of prescriptions for Christians, the meaning of which is complete non-participation in religious life Jews. Thus, Rule 70 of the Rule of the Saints of the Apostles reads: “If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, or in general from the list of the clergy, fasts with the Jews, or feasts with them, or receives from them the gifts of their feasts, such as unleavened bread, or something similar: let him be deposed. And if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated.”

After the Edict of Milan (313) by the emperors Constantine and Licinius, who proclaimed a policy of official tolerance for Christians, the influence of the Church in the empire steadily increased. The formation of the Church as a state institution entailed social discrimination against the Jews, persecution and pogroms committed by Christians with the blessing of the Church or inspired by the church hierarchy.

Saint Ephraim (306-373) called the Jews scoundrels and servile natures, insane, servants of the devil, criminals with an insatiable thirst for blood, 99 times worse than non-Jews.

One of the Fathers of the Church, John Chrysostom (354-407), in eight sermons “Against the Jews” scourges the Jews for bloodthirstiness, they understand nothing but food, drink and breaking skulls, they are no better than a pig and a goat, worse than all the wolves together .

“And how some consider the synagogue to be a venerable place; then it is necessary to say a few things against them. Why do you respect this place when it should be despised, abhorred and run away? In it, you will say, lies the law and the prophetic books. What of this? Surely, where these books are, that place will be holy? Not at all. And this is why I especially hate the synagogue and abhor it, because, having prophets, (the Jews) do not believe the prophets, reading the Scriptures, they do not accept its testimonies; and this is characteristic of people who are extremely malicious. Tell me: if you saw that some respectable, famous and glorious person was taken to a tavern, or to a den of robbers, and they would vilify him there, beat him and insult him extremely, would you really begin to respect this tavern or den because why was this glorious and great man insulted there? I don’t think: on the contrary, for this very reason you would feel a special hatred and disgust (for these places). Discuss the same about the synagogue. The Jews brought the prophets and Moses there with them, not to honor them, but to offend and dishonor them. - John Chrysostom, "The First Word Against the Jews"

In the Middle Ages

The First Crusade was organized in 1096., the purpose of which was the liberation of the Holy Land and the "Holy Sepulcher" from the "infidels". It began with the destruction of a number of Jewish communities in Europe by the Crusaders. An important role in the prehistory of this massacre was played by the anti-Jewish propaganda of the crusaders, based on the fact that the Christian Church, unlike Judaism, forbade lending at interest.

In view of such excesses, around 1120 Pope Calistus II issued the bull Sicut Judaeis ("And so to the Jews"), setting out the official position of the papacy towards the Jews; the bull was intended to protect the Jews who suffered during the First Crusade. The bull was confirmed by a number of later pontiffs. The opening words of the bull were originally used by Pope Gregory I (590-604) in his letter to the Bishop of Naples, which emphasized the right of the Jews to "enjoy their legal liberty"

The IV Lateran Council (1215) required Jews to wear special identification marks on their clothes or wear special headdresses. The council was not original in its decision - in the countries of Islam, the authorities ordered both Christians and Jews to fulfill exactly the same regulations.

“…What are we, Christians, to do with this outcast and damned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their behavior now that we are aware of their lies and abuse and blasphemy...

First of all, their synagogues or schools should be burned, and what does not burn should be buried and covered with mud so that no one can ever see either the stone or the ash left from them. And this should be done in honor of our Lord and Christianity so that God can see that we are Christians, and that we do not tolerate and deliberately do not tolerate such public lies, reproach and blasphemous words against his Son and his Christians...

Secondly, I advise you to raze and destroy their houses. For in them they pursue the same aims as in the synagogues. Instead of (houses), they can be settled under a roof or in a barn, like gypsies ...

Thirdly, I advise taking away from them all prayer books and Talmuds in which they teach idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy.

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be banned from now on from teaching on pain of death.

Fifthly, I advise that Jews be deprived of the right to safe conduct when traveling ... Let them stay at home ...

Sixthly, I advise them to forbid usury, and take away from them all cash, as well as silver and gold ... " - "About the Jews and their lies", Martin Luther (1483-1546)

In the 16th century, first in Italy (Pope Paul IV), then in all European countries, reservations, obligatory for the settlement of ethnic minorities, were created - ghettos, which would separate them from the rest of the population. In this era, clerical anti-Judaism was especially rampant, which was reflected primarily in church sermons. The main distributors of such propaganda were the Dominican and Franciscan monastic orders.

The medieval Inquisition persecuted not only "heretics" of Christians. Jews who converted (often by force) to Christianity (Marranos), and Christians who illegally converted to Judaism, and Jewish missionaries were subjected to repression. The so-called Christian-Jewish "disputes" were widely practiced at that time, participation in which was compulsory for Jews. They ended either in forced baptism, or in massacres (as a result, thousands of Jews were killed), confiscation of property, expulsion, burning of religious literature, and the complete destruction of entire Jewish communities.

In Spain and Portugal, racial laws on "native Christians" were introduced. There were, however, Christians who vehemently opposed these laws. Among them were St. Ignatius of Loyola (c. 1491-1556), the founder of the Jesuit order, and St. Teresa of Avila.

Church and secular authorities in the Middle Ages, constantly and actively persecuting the Jews, acted as allies. It is true that some popes and bishops have defended, often to no avail, the Jews. Religious persecution of the Jews had its own tragic social and economic consequences. Even ordinary ("domestic") contempt, religiously motivated, led to their discrimination in the public and economic spheres. Jews were forbidden to join guilds, engage in a number of professions, hold a number of positions, Agriculture for them it was a forbidden zone. They were subject to special high taxes and fees. At the same time, the Jews were tirelessly accused of hostility to this or that people and undermining public order.

In the new time

«<…>By rejecting the Messiah, by committing deicide, they finally destroyed the covenant with God. For a terrible crime, they carry a terrible execution. They have been executing for two millennia and stubbornly remain in irreconcilable hostility to the God-man. This enmity sustains and seals their rejection.” - Ep. Ignatius Brianchaninov. The rejection of the Messiah-Christ by the Jews and the judgment of God over them

He also explained that such an attitude of the Jews towards Jesus reflects the attitude of all mankind towards him:

«<…>The behavior of the Jews towards the Redeemer, which belongs to this people, undoubtedly belongs to all mankind (Thus said the Lord, appearing to the great Pachomius); the more it deserves attention, deep reflection and research. - Ep. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Ascetic preaching

The Russian Slavophil Ivan Aksakov, in an article "What are 'Jews' in relation to Christian civilization?" written in 1864:

“The Jew, denying Christianity and presenting the claims of Judaism, at the same time logically denies all the successes of human history before 1864 and returns humanity to that stage, at that moment of consciousness, in which it was acquired before the appearance of Christ on earth. In this case, the Jew is not just an unbeliever, like an atheist - no: he, on the contrary, believes with all the strength of his soul, recognizes faith, like a Christian, as an essential content of the human spirit, and denies Christianity - not as faith in general, but in its very logical basis and historical legitimacy. The believing Jew continues to crucify Christ in his mind and fight in his thoughts, desperately and furiously, for the obsolete right of spiritual primacy - to fight with Him Who came to abolish the "law" - by fulfilling it. - Ivan Aksakov

Characteristic are the arguments of Archpriest Nikolai Platonovich Malinovsky in his textbook (1912), “compiled in relation to the program according to the Law of God in the senior classes of secondary educational institutions» Russian Empire:

“An exceptional and extraordinary phenomenon among all the religions of the ancient world is the religion of the Jews, towering incomparably above all the religious teachings of antiquity.<…>Only one Jewish people in the entire ancient world believed in a single and personal God.<…>The cult of the Old Testament religion is remarkable for its height and purity, remarkable for its time.<…>High and pure and moral teaching of the Jewish religion in comparison with the views of other ancient religions. She calls a person to the likeness of God, to holiness: “you shall be holy, for I am holy, the Lord your God” (Lev 19.2).<…>From the true and frank Old Testament religion, it is necessary to distinguish the religion of later Judaism, known under the name of "new Judaism" or the Talmudic, which is the religion of the faithful Jews at the present time. The Old Testament (biblical) teaching in it is distorted and disfigured by various modifications and stratifications.<…>In particular, the attitude of the Talmud towards Christians is imbued with enmity and hatred; Christians or "Akums" are animals, worse than dogs (according to Shulchan-Aruch); their religion is equated by the Talmud with pagan religions<…>There are blasphemous and extremely offensive judgments for Christians about the face of the Lord I. Christ and His Most Pure Mother in the Talmud. In the beliefs and convictions inspired by the Talmud to the faithful Jews,<…>This is also the reason for that anti-Semitism, which at all times and among all peoples had and still has many representatives.

Archpriest N. Malinovsky. Essay on Orthodox Christian doctrine

The most authoritative hierarch of the Russian Church of the synodal period, Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) was a staunch supporter of missionary preaching among the Jews and supported practical measures and proposals aimed at this, up to Orthodox worship in the Jewish language.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the works of the former priest I.I. Lutostansky (1835-1915), who had converted to Orthodoxy, were published in Russia (“On the use of Christian blood by Jews by Talmudists-sectators” (Moscow, 1876, 2nd ed. St. Petersburg., 1880 ); "On the Jewish Messiah" (Moscow, 1875) and others), in which the author proved the savage nature of some of the mystical practices of Jewish sectarians. The first of these works is, according to D. A. Khvolson, largely borrowed from Skripitsyn's secret note, presented in 1844 to Emperor Nicholas I, - "The search for the murder of Christian babies by Jews and the use of their blood", published later in the book " Blood in the beliefs and superstitions of mankind ”(St. Petersburg, 1913) under the name of V. I. Dahl.

After the Holocaust

Position of the Roman Catholic Church

The official attitude of the Catholic Church towards Jews and Judaism has changed since the pontificate of John XXIII (1958-1963). John XXIII was the initiator of the official reassessment of the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Jews. In 1959, the Pope ordered that from Good Friday prayers were excluded anti-Jewish elements (for example, the expression "insidious" in relation to the Jews). In 1960, John XXIII appointed a commission of cardinals to prepare a declaration on the Church's attitude towards the Jews.

Before his death (1960), he also composed a prayer of repentance, which he called the "Act of Repentance": “We now realize that for many centuries we were blind, that we did not see the beauty of the people chosen by You, did not recognize our brothers in it. We understand that the mark of Cain is on our foreheads. For centuries, our brother Abel lay in the blood that we shed, shed tears that we called out, forgetting about Your love. Forgive us for cursing the Jews. Forgive us for having crucified You a second time in their face. We didn't know what we were doing"

During the reign of the next pope - Paul VI - the historic decisions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) were made. The Council adopted the Declaration "Nostra Aetate" ("In our time"), prepared under John XXIII, whose authority played a significant role in this. Despite the fact that the full title of the Declaration was "On the attitude of the Church towards non-Christian religions", its main theme was the revision of the Catholic Church's ideas about the Jews.

For the first time in history, a document appeared in the very center of Christendom, exonerating the centuries-old accusation of Jewish collective responsibility for the death of Jesus. Although “the Jewish authorities and those who followed them demanded the death of Christ,” the Declaration noted, “the Passion of Christ cannot be seen as the fault of all Jews without exception, both those who lived then and those who live today, for, "although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews cannot be represented as rejected or damned."

Also, for the first time in history, an official document of the Church contained a clear and unequivocal condemnation of anti-Semitism. “... The Church, which condemns all persecution of any people, mindful of the common heritage with the Jews, and driven not by political considerations, but by spiritual love according to the Gospel, regrets hatred, persecution and all manifestations of anti-Semitism that have ever been was and by whomsoever directed against the Jews"

During the period of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), some liturgical texts changed: expressions directed against Judaism and Jews were removed from individual church rites (only prayers for the conversion of Jews to Christ were left), and anti-Semitic decisions of a number of medieval councils were canceled .

John Paul II became the first Pope in history to cross the threshold of Orthodox and Protestant churches, mosques and synagogues. He also became the first Pope in history to ask for forgiveness from all denominations for the atrocities ever committed by members of the Catholic Church.

In October 1985, a meeting was held in Rome International Committee on relations between Catholics and Jews, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the "Nostra Aetate" Declaration. During the meeting, there was also a discussion on the new Vatican document "Remarks on the correct way of presenting Jews and Judaism in the sermons and catechism of the Roman Catholic Church." For the first time in a document of this kind, the state of Israel was mentioned, the tragedy of the Holocaust was spoken of, the spiritual significance of Judaism in our day was recognized, and specific instructions were given on how to interpret the New Testament texts without drawing anti-Semitic conclusions.

Six months later, in April 1986, John Paul II was the first of all the Catholic hierarchs to visit the Roman synagogue, naming the Jews "big brothers in faith".

The issue of the modern attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Jews is described in detail in the article by the famous Catholic theologian D. Pollefet "Jewish-Christian relations after Auschwitz from a Catholic point of view" http://www.jcrelations.net/ru/1616.htm

The new Pope Benedict XVI argues that, moreover, the Jewish non-recognition of Jesus as the Messiah is providential and given by God, necessary for Christianity for its own development and should be respected by Christians, not criticized by them. See http://www.machanaim.org/philosof/chris/dov-new-p.htm for details

Opinion of Protestant theologians

One of the most significant Protestant theologians of the 20th century, Karl Barth, wrote:

“For it is undeniable that the Jewish people, as such, are the holy people of God; a people who knew His mercy and His wrath, among this people He blessed and judged, enlightened and hardened, accepted and rejected; This people, one way or another, made His work their business, and did not stop considering it their business, and will never stop. They are all by nature sanctified by Him, sanctified as successors and relatives of the Holy One in Israel; sanctified in a way that non-Jews by nature cannot be sanctified, even non-Jewish Christians, even the best of non-Jewish Christians, despite the fact that they too are now sanctified by the Holy One in Israel and have become part of Israel. - Karl Barth, Church Dogma, 11, 2, p. 287

The modern attitude of Protestants towards Jews is detailed in the Declaration "SACRED DUTY - On a new approach of Christian doctrine to Judaism and the Jewish people."

Modern ROC

In the modern ROC there are two different directions in relation to Judaism.

Representatives of the conservative wing usually take a negative stance towards Judaism. For example, according to Metropolitan John (1927-1995), not only a fundamental spiritual difference remains between Judaism and Christianity, but also a certain antagonism: “[Judaism is] a religion of election and racial superiority that spread among the Jews in the 1st millennium BC. e. in Palestine. With the advent of Christianity, she took an extremely hostile position towards it. The irreconcilable attitude of Judaism towards Christianity is rooted in the absolute incompatibility of the mystical, moral, ethical and ideological content of these religions. Christianity is evidence of God's mercy, which gave all people the possibility of salvation at the price of a voluntary sacrifice brought by the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, for the sake of atonement for all the sins of the world. Judaism is the assertion of the exclusive right of the Jews, guaranteed by their very fact of birth, to a dominant position not only in the human world, but in the entire universe.

The modern leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate, on the contrary, within the framework of interfaith dialogue in public statements, tries to emphasize the cultural and religious commonality with the Jews, proclaiming "Your prophets are our prophets."

The position of “dialogue with Judaism” is presented in the Declaration “Knowing Christ in His People”, signed in April 2007, among others, by representatives of (unofficial) Russian Church, in particular, by the provincial cleric hegumen Innokenty (Pavlov)

And we must love and teach you? But now you are the "new Israel" and do not need teachers.

The reason for the tragic tension between Christianity and Judaism cannot be explained simply by differences in religious beliefs and dogmas, which also exist in relation to all other religions. From the perspective of the Jews, one can assume that the reason is the long history of Christian persecution. However, this is not the root cause, since persecution is a consequence of the already existing conflict between Christianity and Judaism. This problem is more relevant than ever in our time.

A time to think about the future of relations between Jews and Christians. After all, it is only now that representatives of Christian churches have openly admitted that the cause of crimes against Jews is, first of all, religious intolerance. In the 20th century, anti-Semitism took on a form dangerous to Christianity itself. Then certain circles of the Christian world began to reconsider their positions.

There followed an apology from the Catholic Church for centuries of persecution of the Jews. Protestant churches, for the most part, call for an understanding of God's mission for the Jewish people in this world. It is difficult to judge the current position of Orthodoxy on this issue, since this position is simply not expressed.

It is necessary to talk about the problems that have arisen between Christians and Jews, starting with an analysis of the contradictions that the church has fallen into when declaring itself to be the New Israel. The first Christians declared that they were not a new religion, but consistent successors of Judaism. All concepts of Christians are taken from the promises and prophecies of the Jewish Holy Scripture (Tanakh). The very central image of Christianity is Jesus, not just a savior, but also the promised Jewish people Moshiach, a descendant of King David. By the way, the origin of Jesus presented in the New Testament raises a lot of fair questions.

The Church insistently declared that it was a direct continuation of that Divine action in history, the main part of which is the chosen people of Israel. Meanwhile, the Jews continued to exist, claiming that the Bible was theirs, that their understanding of the Bible was the only legal one, and branding Christian interpretation as heresy, lies, and idolatry. This mutual opposition created a climate of hostility and rejection that made the already difficult Judeo-Christian relationship even more controversial.

The unwillingness of the Jews to accept the new doctrine gave rise to many problems for Christian theology, including one of the main doctrines - missionary, the essence of which is to convey the Gospel, i.e. Good news, for those who don't know about it. The Jews, however, were originally in a different category, being the first recipients of God's promise but rejecting it. In the eyes of Christians, Jews have become living evidence of stubbornness and blindness.

Jewish history in Christendom is marked by an alternation of more or less severe oppression, relative tolerance, expulsions, and occasional pogroms. Ideologically, Christianity is completely imbued with the philosophy of Judaism. The answers offered by Christianity to questions about the meaning of being, the structure of the Universe, the human soul, about birth and death, about eternity are based on ideas formulated long before the appearance of Jesus Christ. They are given in the Torah.

It is an undeniable fact that most people still do not know about such a close spiritual relationship between the two religions and that the basis of all the moral values ​​of the Western world is not just Christian values, but values ​​borrowed from Judaism. Even the ten basic commandments offered in the Gospel and which became the basis of Western morality are known to every Jew as the ten main commandments given by Gd to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

And yet Christianity is different from Judaism, otherwise it cannot be another religion. The eminent scholar of our time, Rabbi Nachum Amsel, lists ten such differences.

First difference. Most of the religions of the world, including Christianity, support the doctrine that non-believers in this religion will be punished and will not receive a place in Heaven or the World to Come. Judaism, unlike any major world religion, believes that a non-Jew (who does not have to believe in the Torah, but who keeps the seven commandments given to Noah) will definitely receive a place in the World to Come and is called a righteous non-Jew (Sanhedrin, 56b).

Second difference. In Christianity, the most important idea is faith in Jesus as the savior. This faith in itself makes it possible for a person to be saved. Judaism believes that the highest thing for a person is the service of Gd through the fulfillment of his will, and this is even higher than faith. There is a verse in the Torah that says: "He is my God, and I will glorify Him." In discussing how a person can glorify and exalt G-d, the Talmud replies that it is through actions. Therefore, the highest form of likening G-d is the performance of an action, and not feelings or faith. Faith should be shown in deeds, not in words.

Third difference. The main belief of Judaism is belief in one God. There can be no other higher power in the world than G-d. In addition to believing in the concept of God, Christianity believes in the concept of Satan as the source of evil, which is the power the opposite of G-d. Judaism is very specific about the belief that evil, like good, comes from G‑d and not from any other power. A stanza from Holy Scripture reads: "I [God] create the world and bring disaster." (Ishayahu, 45:7). The Talmud tells the Jew that when trouble comes, the Jew should recognize G-d as the Just Judge. Thus, the Jewish reaction to apparent evil is to attribute its origin to G‑d and not to any other power.

Fourth difference. Judaism holds that Gd, by definition, has no form, image, or body, and that Gd cannot be represented in any form. This position is even included in the thirteen foundations of the faith of Judaism. On the other hand, Christianity believes in Jesus, who, as G-d, took on a human form. G-d tells Moses that a man cannot see G-d and remain alive.

Fifth difference. In Christianity, the very purpose of existence is life for the sake of the next world. Although Judaism also believes in the World to Come, this is not the only purpose of life. The Aleynu prayer says that the main task of life is to improve this world.

Sixth distinction. Judaism believes that every person has a personal relationship with Gd and that every person can communicate directly with Gd on a daily basis. In Catholicism, priests and the Pope act as mediators between God and man. Unlike Christianity, where the clergy are endowed with exalted holiness and a special relationship with Gd, in Judaism there is absolutely no religious act that a rabbi could do that any individual Jew could not do. Thus, contrary to the beliefs of many people, it is not necessary for a rabbi to be present at a Jewish funeral, a Jewish wedding (the ceremony can be performed without a rabbi), or when performing other religious activities. The word "rabbi" means "teacher". Although rabbis have the right to make official decisions about Jewish law, a Jew who is sufficiently trained can also make decisions about Jewish law without being instructed. Thus, there is nothing unique (from a religious point of view) in being a rabbi as a member of the Jewish clergy.

Seventh distinction. In Christianity, miracles play a central role, being the basis of faith. In Judaism, however, miracles can never be the foundation of faith in G-d. The Torah says that if a person appears before the people and declares that Gd appeared to him, that he is a prophet, performs supernatural miracles, and then begins to instruct people to violate something from the Torah, then this person should be killed as a false prophet ( Devarim 13:2-6).

Eighth distinction. Judaism believes that a person begins life with clean slate and that he can receive benefit in this world. Christianity believes that man is inherently wicked, weighed down by Original Sin. This hinders him in the pursuit of virtue, and therefore he must turn to Jesus as a savior.

Ninth distinction. Christianity is based on the premise that the Messiah in the form of Jesus has already come. Judaism believes that the Messiah is yet to come. One of the reasons Judaism cannot believe that the Messiah has already come is that, in the Jewish view, the Messianic times will be marked by significant changes in the world. Even if these changes occur in a natural way, and not supernaturally, then universal agreement and recognition of G-d will reign in the world. Since, according to Judaism, no changes occurred in the world with the appearance of Jesus, according to the Jewish definition of the Messiah, he did not come yet.

Tenth difference. Since Christianity is exclusively aimed at the next world, the Christian attitude towards the human body and its desires is similar to the attitude towards unholy temptations. Since the next world is the world of souls, and it is the soul that distinguishes man from other creatures, Christianity believes that man is obliged to nourish his soul, and neglect his body as much as possible. And this is the way to achieve holiness. Judaism recognizes that the soul is more important, but one should not neglect the desires of one's body. So instead of trying to reject the body and completely suppress physical desires, Judaism makes the fulfillment of those desires a holy act. The most holy Christian priests and the Pope take a vow of celibacy, while for a Jew the creation of a family and the continuation of the family is a holy act. Whereas in Christianity the vow of poverty is the ideal of holiness, in Judaism, wealth, on the contrary, is a positive quality.

I dare to add Rabbi Nachum Amsel with the eleventh distinction. In Christianity, a person is responsible for the sins he has committed before Gd, they can be corrected by repentance and confession before a priest, who is endowed with authority, in the name of Gd and Jesus Christ, to let go in peace. In Judaism, sins are divided into two categories: sins against God and sins against man. Sins committed against G-d are forgiven after a person's sincere repentance before the Almighty himself (no intermediaries are allowed in this matter). But even the Almighty himself does not forgive crimes against a person, only the offended side, that is, another person, can forgive such crimes. Thus, a person is necessarily responsible to Gd, but this does not relieve him of responsibility to people.

Jewish Roots of Christianity. First of all, it should be noted the form of worship in Christianity, which has signs of Jewish origin and influence. The very concept of church ritual, namely the assembly of the faithful for prayer, the reading of Holy Scripture and the sermon, follows the example of worship in the synagogue. The reading of passages from the Bible is the Christian version of the reading of the Torah and the Book of the Prophets in the synagogue. Psalms in particular play a very important role in both Catholic and Orthodox liturgy. Many early Christian prayers are excerpts or adaptations of Jewish originals. And what can we say about many wordings in prayers, like "Amen", "Halelujah", etc.

If we turn to one of the central events of the New Testament - the Last Supper, we will see that there is a description of the real Passover Seder, which is obligatory for every Jew on the Passover holiday.

Needless to say, the very existence of similarities did more than just exacerbate the conflict. It became impossible for the Jews to regard Christians as merely bearers of an unfamiliar and wholly alien religion, as they laid claim to the heritage of Israel, bent on depriving the Jewish people of the reality and authenticity of their religious existence.

Comparative analysis of Christianity and Judaism.

Starting a comparative analysis of Christianity and Judaism, let's ask ourselves what religion is. Religion - special form awareness of the world, due to belief in the supernatural, which includes a set of moral norms and types of behavior, rituals, religious actions and the unification of people in organizations (church, religious community). IN explanatory dictionary The Russian language gives the following definition: Religion is one of the forms of social consciousness; a set of spiritual ideas based on belief in supernatural forces and beings (gods, spirits) that are the subject of worship. The dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron notes that religion is an organized worship of higher powers. Religion not only represents a belief in the existence of higher forces, but establishes special relations with these forces: it is, therefore, a certain activity of the will directed towards these forces. Despite the difference in definitions, they all boil down to the fact that religion is a worldview based on belief in supernatural forces, an attempt to explain the origin of man and the phenomena around him through the divine essence, which is the creator of all living things. Religion as a form of consciousness originated at an early tribal stage of human development. At that time, religion was represented by three forms - totemism, animism and fetishism. Totemism is the belief in a connection between a tribe on one side and some animal or plant on the other. Animism is the belief in spirits and the soul, the spiritualization of all living things. Fetishism is the veneration of material objects endowed with a divine essence.

As society developed, the worldview also changed - polytheistic religions begin to appear, which are based on faith in many gods, who are the personification of the forces of nature, in their deeds, an idea is formed about the afterlife, about the soul and its existence after death. Many of the polytheistic religions have survived in our time - Taoism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism.

Currently, the following types of religions are widespread in the world:

1. Tribal religions - religions that continue to exist among peoples with archaic forms of society, for example, among the aborigines of Australia.

2. Polytheistic religions - belief in a pantheon of gods (Buddhism, Taoism)

3. Monotheistic religions - these religions are based on belief in one god. These religions include Christianity and Hinduism.

This paper will focus on the similarities and differences between Christianity and Judaism. Let's take a closer look at each of these religions.

1. General characteristics of Christianity and Judaism.

Judaism- the oldest monotheistic religion, which originated around 2000 BC. The concept itself comes from the Greek ioudaismos, introduced by Greek-speaking Jews around 100 BC to distinguish their religion from the Greek. The name goes back to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, whose family, having united with the family of Benjamin, formed the Kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem. Religion - essential element Jewish civilization. It was Judaism that helped Jews survive in the face of the loss of their national and political identity.

Judaism has come a long way of development from the era, which was characterized by the deification of the forces of nature, belief in the difference between clean and unclean animals, various demons and taboos to the religion that laid the foundation for Christianity. Abraham was the first to recognize the nature of the only God. According to the Bible for Abraham, God is the supreme being who does not need priests and temples, he is omniscient and omnipresent.

Judaism underwent a significant transformation under Moses. The sources allow us to make the assumption that Moses was an educated person, brought up in a highly developed Egyptian culture. Religion took the form of the worship of God Yahweh. Ethics, social aspects of Jewish life and doctrine are laid down in the holy book Torah - the Pentateuch of Moses, which, according to tradition, was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. It is noteworthy that the Jewish doctrine does not contain dogmas, the adoption of which would ensure the salvation of the Jew, more importance is attached to behavior than to religion. Nevertheless, there are principles that are common to all representatives of Judaism - all Jews believe in the reality of God, in his uniqueness, faith is expressed in the daily reading of the Shema prayer: “Listen, Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”

God is the Creator of all things at all times, he is a continuously thinking Mind and a constantly acting Force, he is universal, he rules the whole world, the only one, like himself. It was he who established not only natural law, but also the laws of morality. He is the liberator of people and nations, he is the savior who helps people get rid of ignorance, sins and vices - pride, selfishness, hatred and lust. But in order to achieve salvation, only the forgiveness of God is not enough, each person must fight evil within himself. Salvation is not achieved only through the actions of God, man is required to cooperate in this. God does not recognize the evil inclination or the power of evil in the universe.

Man is created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore no one can stand as an intermediary between man and God. Jews reject the idea of ​​redemption, believing that a person should answer directly to God for his deeds. No person should serve God for a reward, but for a righteous life, Yahweh will reward him both in this life and in the next. Judaism recognizes the immortality of the soul, but there is a dispute between adherents of different currents regarding the resurrection of the dead. Orthodox Judaism believes that it will happen with the coming of the Messiah, the reformists completely reject this idea.

Most religious scholars believe that Christianity originated as one of the currents of Judaism about 2000 years ago in Judea. Christianity is based on the doctrine of the God-Man Jesus Christ, who came into this world to bring laws to people. righteous life. His death and subsequent resurrection influenced the entire fate of mankind, and his preaching influenced the formation of European civilization. Christianity also proclaims monotheism, but at the same time, the main directions of Christianity adhere to the position of the divine trinity. God is one higher being, but acting in three hypostases: God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit.

The Resurrection of Christ marks for Christians the victory over death and a newfound opportunity eternal life with God blessing. Resurrection is the starting point for the New Testament, which differs from the Old Testament in that God is Love. Christ says: "I give you a new commandment: love one another, as I have loved you." In the Old Testament, God is the law.

One of the main sacraments of Christianity is communion, based on the Eucharist (the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ) and the communion of believers to God through the tasting of divine gifts. The main provisions of religion are laid down in the Bible, which consists of two parts: the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is taken from Judaism and is identical with the Jewish Tanakh. The second part - the New Testament was born already in the mainstream of Christianity; it consists of 27 books: the book "Acts of the Apostles", four versions of the gospel (from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the 21st Epistle of the Apostles, which are letters from Paul and other disciples of Christ to the early Christian communities, and the Apocalypse, which reveals further fate humanity.

The main idea of ​​Christianity is the idea of ​​salvation from sin. All people are sinners and this equalizes them. Christianity attracted people by denouncing the corruption of the world and justice. They were promised the kingdom of God: those who are first here will be last there, and those who are last here will be first there. Evil will be punished, and virtue will be rewarded, the highest judgment will be done and everyone will be rewarded according to his deeds. The preaching of the Gospel Christ called not for political resistance, but for moral self-improvement.

2. Similarities and differences between Christianity and Judaism at the theological level.

The first and most important similarity between Christianity and Judaism, or rather the point of intersection of these two religions, is the Old Testament, which in the Jewish religion has received the name Tanakh. In order to understand how many points of contact in the Jewish and Christian canons, it is necessary to consider them in more detail. Let's start with the Jewish canon, since it was he who formed the basis of the Christian canon.

Tanakh is the name of the sacred scripture adopted by the Jews. Even the title of the work is noteworthy: Tanakh is an acronym, the encrypted name of the three sections of the Jewish Scriptures. First part T Anaha - Torah(The Pentateuch of Moses) consists of five parts: Being, which tells about the creation of the world by God and the creation of a family, Exodus- refers to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, their receipt of the law on Mount Sinai and their registration as a nationality, Book of Leviticus which gives advice on temple service and priestly education, Numbers, which is a description of the wanderings of the Jews in the desert, and, finally, Deuteronomy- the dying speech of Moses, in which he repeats the content of previous books.

The second part of Ta n aha - Nevi'im the book of the Prophets, which tells about the deeds of the prophets. And finally, the third Tana X A- Htuvim contains psalms and parables, traditionally its authorship is attributed to King Solomon. Many ancient authors count 24 books in the Tanakh. The Jewish counting tradition combines the 12 minor prophets into one book, and considers the pairings of Samuel 1, 2, Kings 1, 2, and Chronicles 1, 2 in one book. Ezra and Nehemiah are also combined into one book. In addition, sometimes pairs of books of Judges and Ruth, Jeremiah and Eich are conditionally combined, so that the total number of books of the Tanakh is equal to 22 according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Christian canon was based on the so-called Septuagint, which in Greek means the translation of the seventy-two elders. The Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament into Greek dating from the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC. Greek tradition says that King Ptolemy II Philadelphus wanted to acquire the sacred writings of the Jews in Greek translation for his library in Alexandria and turned to the high priest Eleazar. In response to the request, the high priest sent Ptolemy seventy-two learned rabbis, each of whom was to translate the Pentateuch independently. The history of the translation of the Pentateuch into a non-Jewish language is also given in the Talmud, albeit in a slightly different context. The fundamental difference of the legend lies in the fact that the impudent king Talmai (as Ptolemy was called in Hebrew) wanted to receive the Torah for free, so he forced the polyglot rabbis to translate it, ordering them to be locked one by one in cells so that they could not come to an agreement among themselves. It should be noted that historians do not deny this legend, paying attention to the fact that the Torah could have been translated at the request of the Jewish community living in Greece, in order to study and conduct worship in Greek. The Septugian contains a translation of all the books from the Hebrew canon. The content of the books and the fact that the first part in both canons is the Pentateuch is the main similarity between religions.

Despite the identical content, there are many differences between the Bible and the Tanakh. First, the second and third parts of the Tanakh are divided into genres differently in the Old Testament. The Alexandrian Canon consists of four parts: the Pentateuch, which contains the law-positive books and farewell speech Moses, historical books - the Book of Joshua, the books of kings and Esther, poetic books, which includes the book of Job, the book of Solomon's parables, the book of Ecclesiastes and, finally, the prophetic books (The Book of the Prophet Isaiah - The Book of the Prophet Malachi). In addition, the number of books has been increased - the Wisdom of Solomon, the books of Tobit and Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, the prophet Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah, as well as 2 books of Ezra have been added.

There is no New Testament in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus himself did not leave behind a single work - his sermons were recorded by disciples and followers. The first four books are called gospels and are written by four followers of Jesus, the rest of the New Testament is represented by the epistolary genre - these are various letters to churches, several letters to private individuals and one anonymous letter to the Jews. Separately, one should single out such a part of the New Testament as the acts of the apostles, it tells about the expansion of the influence of the Christian church, about its associates. In total, the New Testament consists of 27 books. According to many historians, the New Testament was created in Koine Greek, this is due to the fact that this language was known to the majority of the population of the Roman Empire (the use of a Hebrew language unfamiliar to the population would not have brought popularity to the doctrine).

Although many researchers recognize Christianity as a "daughter religion" in relation to Judaism, we note that the person of Jesus is not mentioned in any of the Jewish sources, supporters of Judaism do not recognize him as the messiah and do not consider him the son of God. This contradiction in views has long been the basis for enmity between representatives of the two religions, unfortunately, the problem has not been finally resolved even now.

The next difference is related to the concept of the messiah in both religions. Messiah is translated from Hebrew as the anointed one, the liberator. According to Jewish ideas, the messiah is not a messenger from heaven, but an earthly king who rules on earth by the will of God. This is an ordinary person, born of earthly parents. He is endowed with great virtues: he is able to intuitively distinguish truth from lies, he will defeat evil and tyranny. He will free Israel from persecution, put an end to the dispersion of the people, stop all hatred between people, help humanity get rid of sin, which will lead humanity to the pinnacle of moral perfection. It is noteworthy that the texts of Scripture say that the messiah must come before the loss of self-government and legislation of ancient Judea. He must be eloquent like King David and come from the tribe of Judah.

Christianity adopted most of the myths about Mashiach, reproducing them in the New Testament. For Christians, Jesus is the long-awaited messiah. He was born from an earthly woman, comes from the tribe of Judah and, as the Holy Scripture testifies, was a descendant of King David. Here we see a slight transformation of the myth of the Jewish Bible - the Tanakh does not indicate that the messiah will come from the lineage of David, this relationship is rather a metaphor for characterizing the chosen one.

The very word Christ is a tracing paper from the Greek language, denoting the messiah. However, in Christianity, the concept of "messiah" acquires a fundamentally different meaning. For Christians, Jesus is no longer an earthly king, but a God-man, the second hypostasis of God; he came into this world in order to seal a new contract between people and God. And his entire biography is shown from his point of view: he was born from a virgin (which in most ancient Eastern religions indicated the divine origin of the child), performed a number of miracles proving his divine origin (the New Testament tells how Christ turned water into wine, fed a huge number of people with seven breads), finally, his death itself indicates a divine origin - on the third day after the crucifixion, Jesus is resurrected and ascends to heaven.

The prophecies of the Old Testament about the Messiah according to Christianity will be fulfilled at the time of the second coming of Christ. He will come to Earth no longer as a man, but as the right hand of God, as a judge who will judge all people. Those who believed in him and in his second coming will be saved and will live in paradise, and those who do not believe will fall into hellfire. The devil will be defeated and the time predicted in the Old Testament will come without sins, lies and hatred.

It is obvious that, despite the common origin, the very concept of a messiah in the two religions is perceived differently. The adherents of Judaism could not accept Jesus as the messiah, because from their point of view he did not fulfill his functions. He did not bring political freedom to the Jews, but on the contrary, he himself was crucified by the Roman procurator; he did not cleanse the earth of hatred and evil, in confirmation of this, numerous examples were given of the destruction of early Christians by the Roman troops, they did not accept his execution as a manifestation of divine will - in those days, execution on the cross was the most shameful type of execution, and the messiah could not be destroyed as a simple rebel. From the point of view of the Jews, the Messiah has not yet come, and they are still waiting for him.

The next fundamental difference in the content of the two religions is the idea of ​​original sin.

At the beginning of the book of Genesis, a common book for Jews and Christians, it tells about the creation of the first man and his life in the Garden of Eden. It was there that Adam committed his first sin by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. The consequences of this sin, from the point of view of both Judaism and Christianity, a person still bears. Otherwise, the views of these two religions diverge.

Christianity believes that the guilt for original sin is hereditary, and a person who was born before the coming of Christ was born with this sin. Jesus gave people redemption from this guilt by sacrificing himself for them on the cross. This is the meaning of Jesus' first coming to earth.

Man is freed from original sin by being baptized. A person who has not passed this rite, no matter how righteously he lives, bears the original sin and will not be able to enter Paradise.

For Judaism, the very idea of ​​original sin is not acceptable. The descendants of Adam undoubtedly bear the consequences of his fall, but this is expressed in the difficulties that fall to the lot of a person throughout his life. Judaism teaches that every person from birth is given a pure soul, from infancy he is predisposed both to sin and to a righteous life. Man himself decides whether to sin or not, he himself is responsible for his actions and he himself is responsible for his sins, not answering either for the original sin of Adam, or for enslavement to the devil.

There is another theological issue on which Judaism and Christianity fundamentally diverge. The essence of this question lies in the free will of the angels.

If we take any Christian text, we will see that angels are not only beings endowed with free will, but also beings that are higher than humans. The same can be said about demons. Demons are fallen angels who followed Lucifer to hell. Their main function is to tempt a person, plunge him into sin, in order to later receive his immortal soul in hell. This concept goes back to the very origins of Christianity and has not changed its meaning to this day. For example: "He who commits sin is from the devil, because the devil first sinned. For this reason the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil" - is stated in the "New Testament" (1 John, 3:8).

In the book of V. N. Lossky “Dogmatic Theology”, the following picture of the struggle between angels and demons is given: “Evil has its origin in the sin of one angel, Lucifer. And this position of Lucifer exposes before us the root of all sin - pride, which is rebellion against God. He who was first called to adoration by grace wanted to be a god in his own right. The root of sin is a thirst for self-adoration, hatred for grace, for its being was created by God; the rebellious spirit begins to hate existence, it is seized by a violent passion for destruction, a thirst for some unthinkable non-existence. But only the earthly world remains open to him, and therefore he tries to destroy the Divine plan in it, and, due to the impossibility of destroying creation, he tries to at least distort it (that is, to destroy a person from within, to seduce him). The drama, which began in heaven, continues on earth, because the angels who have remained faithful impregnably close the heavens in front of the fallen angels.

Angels and demons in Judaism are not thought of as beings endowed with their own will, they are peculiar tools, service spirits that perform a specific mission and are deprived of their own interests. So Satan provokes a person to evil deeds by writing them down. At the Divine judgment, he appears as an accuser of a person, reproducing a list of sins committed by a person during his life, but not as an antagonist of God, striving to get as many souls as possible into his possessions.

Let us note that this issue touches not only theological, but also the psychological aspect - the view of religion on the place of man in space, as well as the difference in views on the responsibility of man for his actions.

In the Christian worldview, higher beings stand above a person - angels who guide a person on the true path and demons who seek to prevent a person from following this path. Man is not responsible for the evil reigning in the world, since evil is the work of the devil. In the Tanakh we see a completely different worldview. According to the Jewish scripture, each person must be aware that this world is being created for him, a person is a full participant in creation.

3. Similarities and differences in worship between Judaism and Christianity

Historians note the fact that before the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, there was much in common between the Christian and Jewish liturgy, moreover, Christians could take part in Jewish worship. But, despite the gap that occurred between Christianity and Judaism, the first religion retained many similarities.

So, for example, in all currents of Christianity, the reading of the New and Old Testament during the liturgy has been preserved, going back to the reading of the Torah and the book of the Prophets in the synagogue. In Judaism, there is such a thing as a weekly chapter, which means reading a passage from the Pentateuch every Saturday. The entire Pentateuch is divided into 54 parts and is read throughout the year. Sometimes, in order to meet the annual cycle, two passages from the Torah are read on Saturday. It is noteworthy that on Jewish holidays, as well as on Christian holidays, a chapter from the Torah dedicated to this event is read.

The reading of psalms plays a significant role in the liturgy of both religions. The Psalter is a biblical book of the Old Testament, containing the outpourings of an enthusiastic believing heart during life's trials. In Judaism, the psalter corresponds to Tehillim, located at the beginning of the third part of the Tanakh. The two introductory psalms set the tone for the whole book, all psalms are composed according to the rules of Hebrew poetry and often achieve amazing beauty and power. The poetic form and metrical organization of the Psalter is based on syntactic parallelism. It combines either synonymous variations of the same thought, or a general thought and its concretization, or two opposite thoughts, or, finally, two statements that are in relation to an ascending gradation.

According to the content among the texts of the Psalter, genre varieties are distinguished: along with the glorification of God, there are pleading(6, 50), soulful complaints(43, 101) and curses (57, 108), historical reviews(105) and even marriage song(44, cf. "Song of Songs"). Some psalms are philosophically meditative in nature, such as the 8th, containing theological reflections on the greatness of man. However, the Psalter, as a holistic book, is characterized by a unity of life perception, a commonality of religious themes and motives: the appeal of a person (or people) to God as a personal power, a relentless observer and listener, testing the depths of the human heart. Psalms as a literary genre are in line with the general development of Middle Eastern lyrics (psalm 103 is close to the Egyptian hymns to the Sun of Akhenaten's era), but stand out for their sharply personal character. The genre of psalms was also developed in Jewish literature later (the so-called Solomon psalms, 1st century BC). In the Tanakh, Tehillim is divided into five books. The first is psalms 1-40, the second - 41-71, the third - 72-88, the fourth - 89-105, the fifth - 106-150. Note that the reading of psalms in the temple and at home is an integral part of worship.

Speaking about worship, it should also be noted that some Christian prayers came from Judaism. For example, the Jewish Kaddish prayer begins with the words " May His great name be exalted and sanctified”, it’s hard not to notice that it intersects with the phrase "Let it shine your name» With Orthodox prayer Our Father. Even the elements of many prayers are consonant with Jewish ones, for example, Amen, common in Orthodoxy, goes back to the Hebrew Amen (which means performer in translation) and is designed to confirm the truth of the spoken words; hallelujah goes back to the Jewish halel -Yah (literally praise the god Yahweh) - a prayerful laudatory word addressed to God; hosanna goes back to hoshanna (we pray), used in both religions as a laudatory exclamation.

Thus, there are many similarities between Christianity and Judaism, this is primarily due to the fact that Christianity is a child religion in relation to Judaism. The holy book of Judaism, the Tanakh, is a composite book of the Bible; some prayers borrowed in the era of early Christianity and prayer formulas (amen, hosanna and hallelujah) are also common. But, despite the many similarities, there are many differences between these religions. Jews do not perceive Christ as the messiah, do not recognize his divine essence, do not recognize original sin, do not consider angels and demons to be higher beings standing above man.

Bibliography

1. Belenky M.S. What is the Talmud. 1963. - 144s 2. Bible. Published by the Russian Bible Society. 2007. - 1326s. 3. Weinberg J. Introduction to the Tanakh. 2002. - 432s4. Zubov A. B. History of religions. M. 1996 - 430s. 5. Religions of the world. Publishing house "Enlightenment" 1994

Christianity and Judaism have much in common, since both of these religions are Abrahamic. But there are also significant differences between them.

Relation to original sin

According to the Christian faith, every person is born with original sin and must atone for it throughout life. The apostle Paul wrote: “Sin came into the world through one man... And since the sin of one led to the punishment of all people, then the right deed of one leads to the justification and life of all people. And just as the disobedience of one made many sinners, so by the obedience of one, many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:12, 18-19). According to Jewish religion, all people are born innocent, and to sin or not to sin is only our choice.

Ways to atone for sins

Christianity believes that Jesus atoned for all human sins by his sacrifice. But every Christian at the same time bears personal responsibility for his actions before God. You can atone for sins by repenting before the priest as an intermediary between the Lord and people.

In Judaism, a person can achieve the forgiveness of God only by his deeds and deeds. All the sins of the Jews are divided into two types: violations of God's commandments and crimes against another person. The former are forgiven if the Jew sincerely repents of them. But at the same time, there are no intermediaries between God and man, as in Christianity. In the case of a crime against someone, a Jew should beg for forgiveness not from God, but exclusively from the one whom he offended.

Relation to other world religions

Christianity claims that only those who believe in the one true God will go to heaven after death. In turn, the Jews believe that in order to enter Paradise, it will be enough to observe the seven basic commandments received by Moses from God. If a person observes these laws, he will go to heaven regardless of what religion he professes - if he is a non-Jew, then he is called a righteous non-Jew. True, Judaism is loyal only to monotheistic religions, but does not accept pagan teachings because of polytheism and idolatry.

Ways of communication between man and God

In Christianity, the mediators between man and God are the priests. Only they have the right to conduct certain religious rites. In Judaism, the presence of rabbis is not required during religious ceremonies.

Faith in one Savior

As you know, in Christianity, Jesus is honored as the Son of God, who alone can lead people to God: “Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son wishes to reveal” (Matthew 11:27). Accordingly, Christian doctrine is based on the fact that only through faith in Jesus can one come to God. In Judaism, a person who does not adhere to this creed can approach God: “God is with those who cry out to Him” (Ps. 145:18). At the same time, God cannot be represented in any form, he cannot have an image or a body.

Attitude to the problem of good and evil

In Christianity, the source of evil is Satan, who appears as a force opposite to God. From the point of view of Judaism, there is no other higher power than God, and everything in the world can only happen according to God's will: "I create the world and cause disasters." (Ishayahu, 45:7).

Attitude towards worldly life

Christianity teaches that the very purpose of human life is to prepare for the subsequent afterlife. the Jews main goal see in improving the already existing world. For Christians, worldly desires are associated with sin and temptation. According to Jewish teaching, the soul is more important than the body, but the worldly can also be related to the spiritual. So, unlike Christianity, in Judaism there is no concept of a vow of celibacy. The creation of a family and the continuation of the family for the Jews is a holy cause.

The same applies to material goods. For Christians, the vow of poverty is the ideal of holiness, while the Jews consider the accumulation of wealth a positive quality.

Attitude towards miracles

Miracles play an important role in the Christian religion. Judaism sees it differently. So, the Torah says that if someone publicly manifests supernatural miracles and calls himself a prophet, and then begins to instruct people to violate God's instructions, then he should be killed as a false prophet (Deut. 13: 2-6).

Attitude towards the coming of the Messiah

Christians believe that the Messiah has already come to Earth in the form of Jesus. The Jews are waiting for the coming coming of the Messiah. They believe that this will be associated with significant changes in the world, which will lead to the reign of universal consent and the recognition of one God.

Judaism and Christianity

The relationship between these two religions from the very beginning was not easy. Between Christianity and Judaism there really is an outward similarity, but it is rather apparent, because the differences are extremely deep. Before talking about them, let's try to make a brief digression into history.

Christian tradition points to the cradle of Christ as the source of the Christian religion. But from the point of view of historical science, things are not so simple. First of all, the historical reliability of the main points of the biography of Christ is in doubt. Although the whole world uses the Christian chronology, according to which we live now in 1996 from the birth of Christ, the facts contradict this. On the basis of the gospel narratives themselves, one has to conclude that the baby was born four years before new era. This is what most scientists think. However, if we turn to the Talmud, it turns out that the time of Christ's life falls on the middle of the 2nd century BC. BC e. This makes even more doubt the historical authenticity of the image depicted in the gospels. In addition, a comparative analysis of Jewish and Christian sources of that period reveals a number of significant discrepancies. True, in Josephus we find the story of the birth of Christ, but modern scholars recognize it as a later insert, made in the eighth or ninth century. We will not find direct evidence of the historical accuracy of the gospels anywhere, and there are few indirect confirmations of this. Moreover, the synoptic gospels diverge in covering the same events, and this increases doubts about their authenticity.

The Hebrew name for Christ, Yeshu, was by no means uncommon at the time. This is an abbreviation of the biblical name Yehoshua, the etymology of which is associated with the root yud, shin, ain - yesha - "salvation". According to the gospels, Yeshu was born in Beit Lehem, near Jerusalem, and his birth was accompanied by miraculous omens. His mother's name is known, as for his father. The Christian version needs no comment on this. However, I am not afraid to say that at the birth of a child it is always clear who his mother is, although doubts about the father are not excluded. In the present case, there were probably special grounds for such doubts. The baby grew up and was brought up in the family; He had younger brother named Jacob.

From the gospel stories one gets the impression that Yeshu studied with the wise men of Israel. He himself never reached the position of a rabbi, he was not deigned to become a sage, but he belonged to the circle of educated students. At that time, Jewish society was split by deep internal contradictions. The sages who belonged to the camp of the scribes are called sofrim, the gospels are called "Pharisees" (derived from perushim, "separated", shunning impurity). In addition to Perushim, at that time, as now, there lived a lot of amei a-aretz - ordinary people, little versed in the law. However, unlike today, the Amey Haaretz of antiquity were very God-fearing and carefully observed the commandments of the Torah. So the differences between them and Perushi did not concern the worldview and were determined mainly by the level of knowledge. Yeshu's family was not distinguished by learning, but he himself belonged to the number of Perushi and, according to the gospel testimonies, behaved in accordance with their customs. At that time, the constant wearing of tefillin served as evidence of deep God-fearing among the Perushi. Indeed, early Christian iconography up to the 4th c. e. depicts Christ in head phylacteries. The character of Yeshu, a disciple of the sages, was distinguished by eccentricity. His words and deeds were regarded by many as defiant. Perushim, Yeshu's contemporaries, were not enthusiastic about what he said and did, but they did not deny his belonging to their camp. From mouth to mouth, stories about Yeshu's eccentric antics were passed on, rumors about his healing abilities multiplied - today the owner of such abilities would be called a psychic. According to the Talmud (this evidence finds a kind of confirmation in the gospels), Yeshu had a weakness for the female sex.

Did Jesus the Nazarene, Yeshu ha-Nozri, really proclaim himself the messiah? It remains unclear, but it appears that Yeshu did indeed believe that he was the messiah, and this belief was shared by a group of his enthusiastic followers. The followers of Yeshu were people inexperienced in the law, and therefore gullible and greedy for miracles. After all, from the point of view of Judaism, the Messiah is not required to have supernatural powers. He must come from the royal dynasty of David and bring the Jewish people liberation from a foreign yoke. It is not at all the business of the messiah to take care of the salvation of the souls of his flock. The word "messiah" itself means "anointed one" in Hebrew. he who is anointed with olive oil, oil, for a kingdom. Anointing with oil meant the elevation to the highest rank - high priest or king. In that era, the words "king messiah" simply meant "king from the line of David" - in contrast to the reigning dynasty of Herod. Herod was a protege of Rome and openly served the interests of the enslavers. He was distinguished by cruelty, shed rivers of blood, and the people dreamed of an anointed king from the family of David, who would save him from the bloodthirsty tyrant. The name "Christ" is a literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach "messiah", "anointed one" - into ancient Greek.

In the first decades of the first century A.D. e. Judea enjoyed internal autonomy, but the real power remained in the hands of the Romans. From their point of view, anyone who proclaimed himself "the king of the messiah" thereby openly declared his claims to the throne, that is, he called for a revolt against the Roman authorities, which arrogated to itself the right to appoint the rulers of Judea. In the eyes of this power, the "king messiah" was first of all a dangerous impostor, an illegal pretender to the throne. This is how the Roman governor perceived Yeshu. Following his logic, the self-proclaimed "King of the Jews" should be seized without delay - while the number of his adherents remained relatively few - to be tried and punished as a rebel.

During the interrogation of Christ by Pontius Pilate, as is clear from the gospels, the procurator of Judea was primarily interested in the legal aspect: does the accused plead guilty? Yeshu may indeed have been naive, but you can't call him crazy. He tried with all his might to avoid admitting guilt, for he understood what this was fraught with for him. However, the evidence against him turned out to be irrefutable, and the death sentence for the ill-fated "rebel" could not be avoided...

This story, like many others, not the first and not the last in the annals of the suffering and sacrifice of the Jewish people, has gained special significance over the years. Christian theology has rethought it, filling every detail with deep symbolic meaning.

While the Roman judge was administering his cruel justice to Yeshu, a dispute flared up among the Jews about what kind of attitude the “king messiah” deserves from fellow believers. From the gospels it is impossible to unambiguously conclude who judged Yeshu - the Romans or the Jews. Let's try to accept the assertion that Yeshu actually appeared before the rabbinic court, the beit din. What charges could be brought against him? A strange young man, speaking incomprehensible nonsense... This is how Jewish judges could see Yesha. The only trouble was connected with the dependent position of the country. Yeshu, like a thorn, stuck out in the eyes of the Roman authorities. The Romans want to capture him, deal with a dangerous eccentric and dreamer? Well... On the side of the invaders force.

There is, however, every reason to be sure that it was the Roman court that sentenced Yeshu to death. After all, crucifixion is a specifically Roman form of the death penalty. It is unknown to Jewish judiciary. Even for the most heinous crime, the Jewish court could not sentence the perpetrator to a slow death on the cross. The Romans didn't just crucify Jewish rebels. Crucifixion can be likened to a public hanging today. In such a shameful way, slaves and people of the lower classes were executed; aristocrats were sentenced to more "honorable" types of execution. It is not surprising, therefore, that during the first centuries of Christianity, the cross did not at all serve as a symbol of the new religion. On the contrary, the early Christians were ashamed of him. The symbol of the church at the dawn of its existence was the image of a fish. The word "ichsios". "fish" is an abbreviation for "Jesus Christ..." etc.

Roman world in the first century AD. e. experienced the most acute spiritual crisis. Paganism remained the official religion. The pantheon of the gods, headed by Jupiter, was given due honors; however, few believed in these gods. All sorts of mystical cults penetrated into Rome from all sides, and especially from the east. Egyptian influence increased: the cult of Isis came into fashion, evidence of which can be found in Apuleius' Golden Ass. The mysterious cult of the Iranian god Mithra gained popularity. Judaism also had an undoubted influence on the Romans. Greco-Roman culture of the first century AD. e. was syncretistic. Diverse and often contradictory ideas easily coexisted in the worldview of its bearers. Judaism attracted many, not as a set of laws and commandments to be followed, but as food for thought, as an interesting "doctrine" worthy of closer acquaintance.

In addition to Jews who were faithful to the law, tens of thousands of pagans adhered to Judaism as a worldview in one way or another. There were also many non-Jews who approached the Jewish religion even closer - the so-called "God-fearing". These people could not cross the line separating them from Judaism for fear of Roman law, which, under the threat of the death penalty, forbade castration (circumcision, which was allowed only for Jews, was also included under this definition). Among the "God-fearing" there were people very close to Judaism, and there were others who partly gravitated towards paganism.

The people around perceived the first Christians as a Jewish sect. Indeed, during the first hundred and twenty years of its existence, the Christian religion gradually spun off from Judaism, and its bearers could still, with some reservations, be called Jews. The early Christians adhered to Jewish law, and although they believed that Yeshu was the messiah and expected his resurrection, this was not enough to break with Jewishness. Yeshu's teachings were inconsistent, but he did not claim that one could be a Jew without keeping the commandments. The early Christians did nothing that could be considered a gross violation of the law. It can be said that if Yeshu were resurrected, he would rather go to the synagogue than to the church, which he would take for a pagan temple.

Christianity did not become widespread among the Jews, but it turned out to be very attractive to neophytes. The number of newly converted pagans grew, and a controversy broke out among Christians: are neophytes obliged to fulfill the commandments imposed on the Jews by the law of Moses? Opinions were divided. The community of Jerusalem Christians, which has developed around one of the brothers Yeshu, adhered to the point of view that a Christian must first of all be a Jew, and therefore observance of the commandments is obligatory for him. However, other communities were inclined to believe that the commandments were imposed by law only on Jewish Christians, while non-Jewish Christians were free from them.

Judaism struggled with the new doctrine. The sages supplemented the main prayer of the Jewish liturgy - "Eighteen Blessings" - with a curse condemning "apostates and informers" who were to be torn out of the Jewish environment. And then a man appeared on the historical arena, whom many researchers consider the true father of Christianity - the Apostle Paul. It is to him and his followers that Christian theology owes its origin. The basis of this theology was the projection of Judaism on the pagan consciousness. In other words, the way in which the Gentiles read and understood the Jewish sacred texts led to the emergence of proper Christian doctrine and its separation from Judaism.

A Jew could say that he was "the son of God" on the basis of the Torah. For example, in the book of Shemot it is written "Israel is my first-born son", and in the book of the prophet Goshea. "You shall be called sons of the living God." These words are interpreted as an expression of the paternal love of the Most High for the children of Israel and their filial closeness to Him. It never occurred to any Jew to understand them in a literal, "genealogical" or "genetic" sense. But when these words reached the ears of a pagan, the question immediately arose: who was the father known, and who was the mother? Under what circumstances did she become pregnant? A person brought up in Greek culture will not be surprised by love relationships between mere mortals and the inhabitants of Olympus. He also took for granted that children endowed with amazing talents were born from the romantic adventures of deities. The almighty Zeus himself appeared to mortal women more than once - sometimes turning into a golden rain, sometimes in the guise of a beautiful swan or a mighty bull. Heroes and monsters, like the Minotaur, were born from such connections. The surviving drawings show that the Greeks were very interested in the details of such "mixed marriages".

So the "holy family" was born - father, mother and baby. The Christian trinity arose in a similar way. The pagan consciousness, assimilating the Jewish tests, reinterpreted them in its own way. In the case of the projection of geometric bodies at a different angle, the correlation between the source and display is preserved, but the shape of the source is distorted beyond recognition. This is what happened with Christianity. Numerous groups of "God-fearing" people mentioned above served as a breeding ground on which the new religion arose. Their perception of Jewish sources overlapped with Greek culture. Against the backdrop of the crisis experienced by the pagan consciousness, the ideas of monotheism, wrapped in the usual mythological shell, were successful.

An illustration of such success is the story of Josephus Flavius ​​about the wife of Emperor Nero. Caesar, as you know, was not distinguished by righteousness. His girlfriend also did not shine with marital fidelity. Nevertheless, the chronicler calls the august adventurer "Poppea Albina". "righteous". Joseph Flavius ​​was personally acquainted with the empress, who was sympathetic to Judaism. This interest was credited to her by the chronicler. Christianity removed from the path of non-Jews who wanted to join the faith of Moses, such an important "obstacle" as the need to keep the commandments, including the commandment of circumcision.

The development of Christian theology began with the Apostle Paul. Syncretic in its essence, this theology was fed both from Jewish sources and from mythological ideas preserved in the minds of the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean. The cultural atmosphere of the largest Hellenistic cities of that era - Alexandria, Antioch, Ashkelon - greatly contributed to the spread of the new dogma.

From the very beginning, the dogmas of Christianity served as the subject of fierce disputes, which were sometimes accompanied by bloody clashes. Particularly heated debates took place about the nature of the "consubstantial trinity." Several Christian churches sprang up. Aramaic became the "sacred language" of the Nestorian Church, whose influence spread throughout the east. Having survived civil strife and persecution, this church has retained a few supporters to this day. Nestorians don't eat pork and don't ring bells. Perhaps they have preserved Christianity in its most original form. While the Nestorian church was asserting itself in the east, in the west, in Europe, Arianism occupied key positions. The Arians denied consubstantial trinities, thereby approaching polytheism. The Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian churches formed the Monophysite branch of Christianity, which still exists today. But the most famous in the history of Christianity is the split between the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. The reasons for it are difficult to understand for a person brought up in the Jewish tradition. The various versions of the Rambam's "thirteen foundations of faith" differ from each other much more than the Catholic and Orthodox creeds. However, in Judaism, such discrepancies are simply not paid attention to - not to mention the fact that they wage war over them.

More than once attempts were made to unite the churches, but as a result of these attempts, the schism only deepened and new churches appeared. Here we can recall Uniates, Maronites, Greek Catholics, Copts, Catholic Copts. The reasons for the schism did not always lie in theological differences. For example, the Anglican Church was created by King Henry the Eighth, who wished to divorce his wife. For this reason, he broke with Catholicism. The king demanded from the Jews that they justify the royal right to divorce with the help of their creed; indeed, there is such a book written by an Italian rabbi. In the 16th century Protestantism arose, at first glance, in opposition to the papacy and Catholicism. However, not all Protestants are Lutherans. Some of them believe the same as the Catholics. Within Protestantism there are also various currents. such as Baptists and Unitarians. The latter deny the idea of ​​the trinity of God. Among the Unitarians, Seventh-day Adventists are especially interesting, reminiscent of Russian subbotniks. A Canadian acquaintance of mine once hired a Japanese servant, hoping that he would perform the duties of a shabes goy. However, on the very first Sabbath, it turned out that the servant observed the holiness of the seventh day no less carefully than the master. The Japanese turned out to be an Adventist.

Having made a brief digression into the history of the emergence of Christianity, let us now try to understand the differences between it and Judaism. This topic is especially important here in Russia. For it is now clear that many years of atheistic propaganda has not achieved the slightest success in eradicating religious beliefs. What she really succeeded in was in planting religious ignorance. And more than others, Judaism and Jews suffered from this.

Jewish doctrine distinguishes a number of steps towards holiness. There are people whom we call Tzadiks and Hasidim - these are the righteous. There are others. sinners, criminals and villains. However, they are all Jews. But there is a crime that has no equal - those who committed it are called "meshumadim", "destroyed". These are those who betrayed the faith of the fathers. It is much better to be a complete scoundrel, the last scoundrel, than to be baptized. I am talking now not about the psychology of the apostate, but about his social status in the Jewish environment. The apostate stands on the lowest rung, he is a traitor. Not just a deserter, but a real defector who went over to the camp of the worst enemies of his people.

I do not know what they think in Russia today about the army of General Vlasov. But to fight in the ranks of the Vlasovites meant serving Hitler. A Jew who receives baptism commits an even more terrible crime, for his betrayal is aggravated by one and a half millennia of persecution. For fifteen hundred years, Christians have humiliated and persecuted the Jewish people! To give just one example: in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in the south of France, in the cities of Montpellier, Carcassonne, and others, there was a custom: on the eve of Christian Easter, the head of the Jewish community was brought to the city square, and the bishop publicly slapped him. Facts of this kind go beyond theological differences. The slap given christian church Jewish people, still burns on his cheek. Christian theologians are discussing the theological question: has it come or not the time has come to forgive the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ. After all, at the heart of the Christian religion, at least in theory, is mercy. But for us Jews, reconciliation with Christianity is not a scholastic theological issue. This is a naked wound, this is human pain. We want to know how Christians are ready to make amends for their guilt before us. After all, if we turn from theory to facts, it is for us, and not for them, to forgive. And it's not so easy for us to do it after long centuries bullying, slander and persecution.

But let's try to get rid of emotions and consider the issue from a theological point of view. What are we arguing with Christianity about, what do we disagree with it about? The central point of our differences is the dogma of the trinity. The moment Christians mention the trinity, we cannot continue the conversation. For even if we allow ourselves to be convinced by subtle theological reasoning that, under certain circumstances, a Christian who believes in the Trinity is not a polytheist, then a Jew who believes in the trinity of God certainly is. The reason for this difference is that Judaism does not require from a non-Jew that clarity of concepts, that purity of monotheism, which is obligatory for a Jew. What can this be likened to? It happens that a mature, wise person does not accept what the child believes in. However, he does not see anything wrong with the fact that the child believes in it. We Jews have been dealing with theological issues and interpreting the unity of God for three and a half millennia, while the Russian people first heard about such matters only seven and a half centuries ago. We have the right to perceive Christian reasoning about the trinity from the position of the elder, because our "experience" is five times greater. But for the same reason, we have no right to demand from Christians what we demand from ourselves - just as we do not demand from a child to distinguish the subtleties of abstract concepts. Therefore, what is not idolatry for Christians remains idolatry for Jews. When it comes to the unity of God, we demand from ourselves the utmost purity and clarity of concepts and interpret the slightest ambiguity as "alien service" forbidden to a Jew.

Theological differences between Christianity and Judaism touch upon a number of other issues, such as the concepts of sin and mercy. Judaism denies original sin. We do not accept the statement that man is born a sinner. This, of course, does not mean that the baby is perfect in the world. Of course, there are inborn tendencies for both good and evil, and man is endowed with both. However, this does not mean that he is sinful from birth. A child is born innocent in the same way as a child is born unable to speak, walk, without knowledge. But it would never occur to anyone to see a vice in this! Even the most evil inclinations are not yet a sin, just as congenital physical defects are not a sin.

I am almost convinced that the dualistic concept of original sin is indirectly borrowed by the apostle Paul from Manichaeism. The Manicheans consider the material principle in man - the carnal, sensual - side of human nature - as a source of absolute evil, as something impure, vicious by its very nature. The direct opposite of the flesh is the soul. It is originally endowed with purity, holiness, and is righteous by nature. Therefore, human life in the reflection of the Manichaean religion appears as an unceasing struggle - a duel between good and evil, soul and body. The dualistic worldview affects the entire system of values ​​and affects everyday life. For example, among Christians, one who abstains from marriage is considered closer to holiness. Although, unlike Catholics, the Orthodox Church allows priests to marry, only those who have taken monastic vows can become bishops and other high hierarchs. Jews, on the other hand, have a family and family life, marital relations and the upbringing of children, occupy a central place in life, contribute to spiritual growth and the formation of personality. The one who avoids marriage sins. None of the manifestations of a person's bodily life is considered a sin - neither food and drink, nor sensual attraction to the opposite sex. For by nature the body is not a "vessel of sin." Evil is not inherent in it initially. It is clear that such a concept is in conflict with Christianity, which is afraid of the flesh, sees in the sensual principle the enemy of the human soul. It is no coincidence that some of the early church fathers - and not only monks - castrated themselves to overcome carnal temptations. The eunuch was, for example, the greatest Christian theologian Origen, and many others. Groups of voluntary eunuchs existed among the Bogomils in Bulgaria and France, and among the Russian sectarians in the very recent past.

From different attitudes to the material side of life follows not only a different attitude towards sin. The ideas of Jews and Christians about final salvation also differ from each other. Christians believe that the key to the salvation of the soul is belonging to the "true church", for the soul needs Christian redemption for its salvation. Therefore, the righteous non-Christians will not be redeemed, while sinful Christians will be saved. On the contrary, Judaism believes that a person is judged not by faith, but by deeds. As long as he has not committed a crime - not only in the criminal but also in the moral sense of the word - he is innocent. Therefore, a person of any religion, including a Christian or a Muslim, can deserve salvation.

The relationship between Judaism and Christianity dates back over one and a half millennia. Both religions do have a lot in common. But the external similarity, as we now see, hides deep internal contradictions. The world of Judaism and Christianity is completely different worlds. In the past, Jews were well aware of the intellectual and spiritual consequences of their rejection of their faith. That is why our ancestors resisted the adoption of Christianity even on pain of death. Obviously, they did not attach value to life, from which, along with Jewishness, meaning disappeared.

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