This paper will discuss the concept of the covenant in both Judaism and Christianity. This paper will start by discussing the Judaic belief of the covenant, by delving into the historical aspects and the importance behind it. thereafter, the paper will discuss the Christian perceptive on the covenant and also the historical aspects of this as well. The paper will further discuss how there are common threads in both their beliefs and what are the differences. The paper will also focus on the importance of the covenant in both religions and the importance it holds to both religions to this day.
In the bible, the starting and origins of the Jews is can be traced back all the way down to Abraham. Abraham is regarded as the father of the Jews. it is Jewish belief that Abraham cercumcised himself, as did all the males and decendants of God as this was the command of God. in return for this Abraham and his wife Sarah conceived a child, which was a son. Circumcision as a law in itself was set up in order to differentiate who is a Gentile and who is a Jew (Barnett1997). God made a covenant with Abraham, and God said that those who descend Abraham will inherit a promised land. it is from this promise of God that Jews believe they are the chosen people. God thereafter made a promise to Abraham that the Jews would inherit the land Of Canaan. all Jewish teachings are in accordance to the Hebrew scriptures, which is the Jewish doctrine (Blatner 2001). The Hebrew scriptures in total have three sections; Torah, Prophets and writings. All three sections together are regarded as the Tanak. in the Torah there are a total of five books of the Hebrew bible which were written by Moses himself. however, in tradition it is said that these were revealed to Moses by God through revelation. nevertheless, conventional Judaism narrates that it was God that revealed the Torah to Moses through revelation, other casts of Jews go in accordance to modern tradition. the Torah consist of the story of the foundation of Judaism. it contains the narration of how Judaism came about and where it will end. the books which are in the Torah are the basics of what a Jew should be believing. The second section of the Hebrew bible is referred to as the Nevi’im (the prophets) and this is believed to have been written by prophets. this part pf the bible has all the history of Moses. the third part, Ketuvim (the writings), has many different forms of writing and this is understood to be less scared than the book of the prophets. (Sherbok 2003).
Nevertheless, both books are believed to be written through God’s inspiration, but the writings are the works of the prophets. Even though, majority Jews lived under Torah ruling, it was the interpretation that separated them into three different parts. these were the Sadducees, Essenes and Pharisees. the Sadducees only believe in the Torah and they preached that only the Torah is the word of God and they interpreted the Torah very literally. They refused to believe the resurrection of those two have died or even that the soul have live on. they believe that the reward of God and punishment is given while an individual is alive on earth. They have a strong belief in free will. They also believe that the soul is eternal. “Souls, they said, emanate from the finest ether and become entangled on the prison-house of the body, to which they are dragged down by a sort of natural spell; but when they are released from the bonds of the flesh, then, as though liberated from a long servitude, they rejoice and are borne aloft” (Rosenberg 2010)
Moving further, the Pharisees are those Jews where all the later forms formed from. They accept the Torah, but they also believe in the oral Torah which is known also as the Talmud. the Talmud contained many laws and it contained how one should interpret the Torah. These individual believe that God does control everything, individuals still have free will. they believe that the dead will rise again and there will be a life of reward in the hereafter. most of these individuals share the belief that the messiah will be coming. one of the main focuses of the Pharisees was to ensure the Torah helped and was applied to the challenges that are faced in society. (Rosenberg 2010)
Christianity and its origin is bases on Jesus being Christ, Messiah, Son of God or God, the Bible which is the Christian doctrine emphasises that the life of Jesus was portrayed through Jesus being God the father. during the early moments of Christianity, followers saw themselves as a continuation of Judaism and they interpreted the Hebrew scriptures as very true of everything that Jesus had done and his identity as messiah. (Corrigan 1998)
Christianity stated as a part of Judaism back in the first century. Jesus told and preached to his people that life on earth is going to end and there is an afterlife. Jesus would call everyone to ask for forgiveness for their sins and adopt a life of truthfulness and righteousness. one of the first things Jesus did was tell the people to accept and believe in him first and foremost. (Neusner 2006)
The founder of Christianity is said to be Paul, this is after Jesus himself. Before Paul became a Christian he was a Pharisee. it is narrated that Paul received revelation from God on his way to Damascus, and through this revelation he saw Jesus, the son of God. Through this revelation Paul believed God had called him to be an apostle and to preach the gospel of God to everyone. he believed that this was in fact the true meaning of life, death and resurrection of Jesus. the first part of Paul’s work was religious organisation and second was the understanding of God. Now, while Jesus was the one who founded Christianity, it was Paul who was victorious in winning independence of the Christian church for Judaism (Segal2009)
Christians readily accept the old testament and believe it is divinely inspired, they also believe that they were the new Israel and they were bound to God by a new covenant through their love of Jesus Christ. Christians had traditions and narrations of what Jesus said and did, instead of a hard book. Nevertheless, the sayings and teachings of Jesus were written and compiled after his passing. Slowly, a development of writings took place, these were said to be divinely inspired and they narrated the history and explained the new covenant and its meaning with the new Israel. now, Christianity had a new testament to continue from the old. (Rosenberg 2010)
The mission of Christianity was now to preach Christianity, and in accordance to St. Matthew it was to convert the people of the world to Christian belief. Paul preached that Christ had come for the entire mankind and he died for the sins of mankind, this included both Jews and Gentiles. he said both the Jews and gentile were not good people and they deserved to be destroyed. Jesus was the perfect man, and he was the only one who was sinless, but he suffered for the people and died the death of a sinner. This death without sins was an attornment for the sins of all people, his crucifixion was a way in which mankind wa shown that they can be saved from sin. if an individual wants to be saved then they have to acknowledge, accept and have full belief in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. Salvation is earnt through having faith and not by follow Moses’ laws. The promises that God made with the old Israel would be used to the new Israel. The new Israel does not live their lives in accordance to the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. (Corrigan 1998)
The God of Christians, was a God who was just, right, merciful and forgiving. his care and love for mankind is very real and personal and nevertheless he is all powerful, he is God. There are no limitation’s to the power of God, he is the one who created everything and he rules everything. nothing happens against the will of God. The Christians are linked through their love of God, and the biggest commandment is to love God with your whole soul and the second commandment is to love your neighbour. the commandment shows that an individual cant fully and truly love God if he doesn’t love his neighbour too. The Christians were one people bound together in fellowship based on love of God and brotherly love. The greatest commandment is to love God with all of one’s spirit, and the second is to love one’s neighbour as oneself. One cannot truly love God without truly loving one’s neighbour. (Sherbak 2003)
Both Christianity and Judaism are biblical religions. Both accept the Hebrew scripture, with the old testament in the bible. Christianity is linked to Judaism, and their relationship has been described as brotherly. Even though, both come from the same source, they are both separate and independent beliefs. they have a sibling lie connection, however like any other siblings they have their differences. Even though both Christianity and Judaism have been developed from the same belief, their differences lie in their doctrine. (Falcon 2001)
Monotheism, is the distinct belief that there is only one God. Jews believe that there is only one God and that is the God that we worship. Jews worship one God, and he is a very personal God and Jews believe he revealed himself and through this many people became followers of Judaism. He commanded that Jews only worship him, the one God, the one true god. (Hexter 2007) Even though, Christianity is considered to be a monotheistic religion, Christians believe in the trinity. they hold a belief in three Gods who are both three and one. Trinity is the belief that there are three beings of worship, father, son and the holy spirit. this belief is showing that the son, who was eternal God and Jesus, who was a mortal man are all encompassed into one being (Rosenberg 2010)
Jews don’t believe that the new testament is Gods inspired scripture. Judaism don’t include the claims in the new testament and believe that majority of the new testament is rephrasing their Hebrew scriptures. They don’t believe that the writing in the new testament was wriiten by the prophets or even inspired by God in any way. The scriptures which are the very foundation of Christian belief, which is the belief in the new covenant that God gave to the world and not just Jews. Majority of the Jews do not believe that God made this new promise with the Christians. They don’t believe this promise was ever made, and they believe that they are chosen people of God. (Burch 1972).
The biggest challenge that both Jews and Christians face with each other is their belief of Jesus.
(Falcon) according to Christians, Jesus is the son of God and Christ. Jews believe that he was a great teacher but they don’t share the belief that he was the messiah. they don’t believe he was the messiah because they don’t believe that any person or human can be God or son of God. the Jews of the first century, believed that a messianic king will be coming and waited for him because they believed he would rule over a huge kingdom. They never believed or understood that the king that they were waiting for would come, and that his death would be so horrific. (Rosenberg 2010)
The Jews lack of belief in Jesus lead to there being hatred amongst bot the Jews and Christians, the intention of the Christians was never to get rid the Jews. Their goal was to cause misery to the Jews, and they had two reasons for this. the first reason was because they didn’t believe in the messiah and their failure to accept him. The second reason was as a warning to the people, and what would happen if they too rejected Jesus. Both Jews and Christians have a history of conflict and hate. (Klein 1975)
To conclude, regardless of the constant conflict and tension between both Judaism and Christianity, they both recognise their connection. whether, the latter appreciates it or likes it or not, Christianity is tied to Judaism. Jesus and his spirit is a deep part of Judaism today. Some Christians forget their root beliefs when they do so include Jews and Judaism. ultimately God dint break his covenant with Abraham and his descendants by sending Jesus his son. the covenant and the people are the origin of Christianity and how they are interlinked. Putting aside the conflict, the development of Christianity influenced Judaism and Judaism influenced Christianity. (Robinson 2000)
re…