Religious Knowledge Thread

[markedel]

Hmmm. Well I have heard Christians argue the "turn the other cheek" line. Actually I was talking about the war in Iraq and mentioned that if someone is trying to kill me or kill you I'm obligated to kill them first under Jewish law.

There have been arguments made by some that Chrisitianity is not monotheistic. But that's something else altogether.

Judaism views salvation and the route to salvation very differently, and it regards non-Jews very differently then non-Christians

Judaism's attitude towards sex and the material world in general is usually more positive then Chrisitianity. The idea of sex is only for procreation is emphatically a non-Jewish concept.

Judaism's views on abortion are not exactly like Christianity. Judaism definitly allows abortion when the mother's life is in danger-and what that means has been widely interpreted to include psycological trauma. Clearly a fetus is not a human being according to the Torah. Abortions are not encouraged are widely permitted-wasting a potential life, is a waste after all. It just isn't murder.

But in an overall "moral" as opposed to theological view religious views and religious Christians will agree more often then not.

Fundementally though Jews have a mission to follow the Torah because they are commanded by God. If they do so they're supposed to be rewarded if they don't they are punished. But there is no original sin in the Christian sense-men have free will to choose between good and evil and do not need some sort of individual redemption through faith. Ultimately if all the Jews did what God tells them (according to Orthodoxy) the ultimate result will be a better world, and messianic redemption-which is a political redemption more then a spiritual one. It is restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, not "the second coming" of Christianity. Christianity as I understand says that people have an original sin that can be eliminated through belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and that they should act morally because Jesus did. The core of Christianity is faith, but the core of Judaism is Torah, which is unique to Judaism.