24.2. Judeo-Christian tradition

The Christian and Jewish traditions are closely connected. They have certain similar features. These religions have a very like complex of ideas, values, moral standards, so that sometimes we call them one Judeo-Christian tradition. There are several criteria according to which we may compare Christian and Jewish traditions and figure out some parallels. Before speaking about Christianity we must study the fundamental tenets of Judaism.

Common features between Judaism and Christianity

Ontology: God is everlasting absolute supernatural, omnipotent being. Christians borrowed the belief in one God from Jewish tradition. So Judaism is claimed to be the mother of monotheism.

Cosmology: God creates the Universe and man in seven days from nonbeing. The essence of the world is nothingness. Adam and Eve are designed to be immortal men.

Eschatology: a belief in Judgment day, the resurrection of the dead men, coming of messiah. (Person who is expected to save the world, an anointed, chosen one)

Ethics: God is absolute truth, goodness, beauty. It means that evil does not exist absolutely, it has a relative character. Evil means the lack, the shortage of goodness, like the shadow of the good. The ugliness means the lack of beauty, and so on. The problem of evil is the problem of freedom of our choice. “The soul is the territory of the battle between God and the former angel of god – the fallen angel Satan”. The both religions believe in the Fall of Adam, commitment of the Original sin. The death is regarded as the punishment for the Fall.

Besides, there are some peculiarities in either of these two religions.

Judaism	Christianity
God is absolutely transcendental, beyond the world.	God is both transcendental and immanent: God becomes a man. God is compared with The Word that becomes a flesh. In Gospel of John, Jesus is Word that incarnate in the form of human person. P. 788 – (John -1, 14).
God is Yahweh. The idea of The Trinity is denied	God is Trinity: God Father, God Son, and Holy Spirit. Yahweh is associated with God Father
Sacred books: Old Testament (the Torah, The Prophets, the Writings) + Talmud (comments on Torah)1. Gospels are denied.	Old + New Testament (four Gospels +Acts + Revelation by st. John) Talmud is denied
Torah is the Law of Moses, including Ten commandments, received on the Mount of Sinai. (Exodus, 20: 3-17)	Moses Law is fulfilled and accompanied by the new commandments, given by Jesus in his sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 3-16). Love is higher than Law. ( The love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13)
The Prophets predict the coming of Messiah, the rescuer of the world	Jesus Christ is messiah (anointed)
Rabbis claim that messiah must be a powerful political leader to give the Israelites prosperity and independence and to make Jews the lords on earth.	Jesus is an ordinary man, son of carpenter, he is humble
Messiah must be just a man	Messiah is the son of God, human and divine simultaneously
Jesus is claimed to be a false messiah, Jews still waiting for the one.	Jewish would-be messiah is the false messiah for Christians- Antichrist
Israel is the nation of Jews, the chosen people to obey the Law of Moses	The Jews are no more the chosen people coz there is New Israel – Christians, those who are baptized
Ethnic religion	Cosmopolitan religion
Ritual of initiation: circumcision	Baptism
Festivals: the Passover (memorizing the Jews escape from Egypt, and miraculous passing thru the Red sea)	The Easter, memorizing the Jesus crucifixion and resurrection on the third day
Saturday (Shabbat) is the holy day for rest and worship God. Reject icon, consider them to be the worship of the idols	Sunday is the holy day, a prototype of Easter Icons are the essential part of Christian life.

Fundamental tenets of the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. There is more than one billion of adherents of Christianity, of whom 60 percent are Roman Catholics, 25 are Protestants, and 15 percents are Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic and the other denomination. We shall concentrate on the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. They both accept:

a) God as the Trinity (one essence, three persons),

b) Virgin Mary and the virgin Birth of Jesus Christ,

c) Church as the Body of Christ. The Orthodox and Catholics believe in the authority of special Church Councils (group of people, managing some affairs; final authority for declaring the official positions on belief and church practices).

There were 7 ecumenical Councils, (representing the whole Christian world or the universal church). For example, the first council was called by the emperor Constantine to meet in Nicea in 325. It adopted the concept of Holy Trinity as correct interpretation of the nature of Christ, The statement that Jesus was both human and divine simultaneously. Christ is the son of God, of the same divine nature, but also human in one body.

The seventh ecumenical council was held in Nicea in 787 to affirm the veneration of images or icons. After there have been a lot of councils, but there have not been ecumenical, because the Orthodox Church does not accept them.

The last Roman Catholic Church council was held in Vatican in 1962 called by Pope John XXIII. It was held to modernize the roman Church, including use of vernacular language for the conduct of the Mess instead of Latin.

There are also 7 sacraments in the Church (special sacred rituals, connecting man with the sphere of divine, established by God, and symbolizing the God’s presence). There are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (confession), Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

By Baptism we are born again, becoming a member of the Christian fellowship and join in union with Christ. The baptised is born anew.

Confirmation makes us strong, perfect Christians and soldiers. It symbolizes the time when Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when he was baptizes by John the Baptist in the river of Jordan. The priest anoints (apply an oil) the child’s forehead with the sign of cross.

The Eucharist furnishes our daily spiritual food. It commemorates the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples. It symbolizes the mystical union of man with the body and blood of Jesus. It is believed that during the Mess the bread and wine are transformed into the real body and blood of Christ.

Penance (confession) heals the soul wounded by sin. In this sacrament one can confess his or her sins to a priest or a confessor and then he is forgiven.

Extreme Unction prepares the soul for eternal life. It must be performed when person is near death. A priest anoints certain parts of the body with the oil for the restoration of health.

Holy Orders supplies ministers (priests) to the Church of God.

Matrimony gives the graces necessary for those who are married. No divorce is permitted, except but the evidence of adultery.

The differences between Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox one include the problem of filioque, the Purgatory, the authority of Pope. There had been one universal Church until 1054, when division occurred and Roman Catholic split from the Orthodox Church.

Catholicism	Orthodox Church
Problem of filioque: The Holy spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son	Holy spirit proceeds from Father only
Problem of Purgatory, where soul could be cleaned off her sins.	Denied
Infallibility of Pope (when preaching or telling sermon is believed to have no sins and errors. He has supreme authority)	Denied

In recent years some efforts have been made to reconcile the Roman and Orthodox Churches. There is special ecumenical movement within Church, seeking the unity of the various Christian churches throughout the world. The ecumenism is widely spread in Protestants circles. The major protestants are Lutheran Church (founder is Martin Luther), Calvinism (John Calvin), and Anglican Church. The peculiar features of Protestants: rejecting the priesthood and the monks, authority of the Pope, Holy Orders, Councils, icons, and so on. For example, the Calvinism suggests the doctrine of predestination: whatever you do, it is already decided whether you are saved or not. From the Orthodox and Catholic point of view Protestants are considered to be the heresy –belief or opinion that is contrary to what is generally accepted at Church council.

Some orthodox scholars claim that the ecumenical movement is an attempt to reconcile all the Christian denominations. But this attempt would succeed if each branch of Christian church accepts the one symbol of faith.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father [and the Son] he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.