Christianity and Judaism

The relationship between Christianity and Judaism is unique among interfaith encounters. Christianity emerged from within Judaism; Jesus was Jewish, the earliest Christians were Jewish, and the Old Testament is a shared sacred text. Yet the relationship has been marked by centuries of theological anti-Judaism and devastating persecution, culminating in the Holocaust. This lesson examines the shared heritage, the problem of supersessionism, post-Holocaust theology, the groundbreaking Jewish statement Dabru Emet, and contemporary covenant theology.

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Shared Heritage

Christianity and Judaism share more theological and scriptural common ground than any other pair of world religions.

Shared Scriptures

The Jewish Tanakh (Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim) is substantially identical to the Christian Old Testament, although the books are arranged differently. Christians read the Old Testament as pointing forward to Christ; Jews read the Tanakh as the enduring covenant document of Gods relationship with Israel. This shared scriptural heritage means that Christians and Jews worship the same God, share many of the same stories, ethical principles, and theological concepts (creation, covenant, prophecy, messianic hope), and read many of the same texts — though they interpret them very differently.

Key Shared Concepts