The similarities between Christianity and Judaism ?

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xuanvuive2013

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#1
Apr 14, 2013
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#1
The similarities between Christianity and Judaism ?

1. Beards in Christianity

Concerning the Tradition of Long Hair and Beards

Orthodox Christian piety begins in the Holy Tradition of the Old Testament. Our relationship to the Lord God, holiness, worship, and morality was formed in the ancient times of the Bible. At the time of the foundation of the priesthood the Lord gave the following commandments to the priests during periods of mourning, And ye shall not shave your head for the dead [a pagan practice] with a baldness on the top; and they shall not shave their beard... (Lev. 21:5), and to all men in general, Ye shall not make a round cutting of the hair of your head, nor disfigure your beard (Lev. 19:27). The significance of these commandments is to illustrate that the clergy are to devote themselves completely to serving the Lord. Laymen as well are called to a similar service though without the priestly functions. This out ward appearance as a commandment was repeated in the law given to the Nazarene, a razor shall not come upon his head, until the days be fulfilled which he vowed to the Lord: he shall be holy, cherishing the long hair of the head all the days of his vow to the Lord... (Numbers 6:5-6).

The significance of the Nazarene vow was a sign of God's power resting on the person who made it. To cut off the hair meant to cut off God's power as in the example of Samson (see Judges 16:17-19). The strength of these pious observances, transmitted to the New Testament Church, were observed without question till our present times of willfulness and the apostasy resulting from it. Why, one might ask, do those Orthodox clergymen, while rejecting the above pious ordinances about hair, continue to observe the custom of granting various head coverings to clergy, a practice which also has its roots in the ancient ordinances of the Old Testament (cf. Ex. 24:4-6) and the tradition of the early Church (see Fusebius and Epiphanius of Cyprus concerning the miters worn by the Apostles John and James)?
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For example , :eek: They look like Santa Clauses with crowns :eek:
[video=youtube;s0NROKPTeKY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0NROKPTeKY[/video]
 
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xuanvuive2013

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Apr 14, 2013
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2. Beards in Judaism

Can a Jewish man shave? - Jewish Community Center

Q. Does Judaism prohibit shaving?The Torah prohibits Jewish men from destroying the corners of the beard (Leviticus 19:27). According to Jewish tradition 'destroying' means, totally removing the hair of the beard so that not even the slightest stubble remains (Talmud Kiddushin 35b). Therefore only shaving without leaving any stubble would be prohibited.
This would prohibit shaving with a razor that cuts the hair at the skin. However, trimming or even shaving with a tool that leaves even the slightest stubble would be permitted. Therefore shaving with an electric shaver would be permitted. So why do many Jews wear full beards?
According to Kabblah, Man was created in the image of G-d. This means that every part of the body represents a different power of G-d. Kabbalah tells us that the beard represents G-d's power of mercy. Wearing a beard allows us to connect to G-d's mercy. Therefore for most of our history, Jews in most Jewish communities wore full beards.
Today, even when it is no longer fashionable to wear a beard, many Jews continue to wear a full beard, never shaving or even trimming. However there is no requirement in Jewish law to do so.
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For example ,

[video=youtube;1RJeXdno3Ao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJeXdno3Ao[/video]
 
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didymos

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#3
#3
xuanvuive2013 said:
The similarities between Christianity and Judaism ?

1. Beards in Christianity

Concerning the Tradition of Long Hair and Beards



For example , :eek: They look like Santa Clauses with crowns :eek:
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No, Santa Clause looks like them WITHOUT the crown/mitre. Santa was derived from Saint Nicolas, as a historical figure he was bishop of Myra. He became a figure in folklore, especially in northwest Europe and Russia. When the folkloristic figure of Saint Nicolas came to America he was turned into Santa and lost his mitre in the process.
 
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xuanvuive2013

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Apr 14, 2013
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didymos said:

No, Santa Clause looks like them WITHOUT the crown/mitre. Santa was derived from Saint Nicolas, as a historical figure he was bishop of Myra. He became a figure in folklore, especially in northwest Europe and Russia. When the folkloristic figure of Saint Nicolas came to America he was turned into Santa and lost his mitre in the process.
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Is Saint Nicolas Orthodox Christian ?
 
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didymos

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#5
#5
xuanvuive2013 said:
Is Saint Nicolas Orthodox Christian ?
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He was born in the 3d century, there was no orthodox church around then. As far as I know he's considered a great saint in the russian orthodox church, not a saint anymore in the catholic church and just a folkloristic figure who gives gifts to children in my part of Europe.
 
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

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#6
Jul 2, 2011
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Just as Yeshua, Jesus, did not destroy the law rather he completed them, so it is with the faith of Abraham. He is the culmination of the Books of Moses and the Prophets.

Christianity is a name given by mankind to the faith of Abraham by the receiving of Yeshua, Jesus as the Savior from the Children of Israel.

Bottom line, they are the same faith.
 
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kenisyes

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The biggest simlarity between Judaism and Christianity is that Jesus belonged to both.
 
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didymos

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kenisyes said:
The biggest simlarity between Judaism and Christianity is that Jesus belonged to both.
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'Christianity' only came to be AFTER Jesus walked the earth, so you cannot say He belonged to it, or even that He was a christian. Calling Him a christian would lead to weird dogmatic problems. Jesus was first and foremost a jew, and we accepted His teachings as they were interpreted later on, especially by Paul.
 
RedTent

RedTent

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#9
Oct 31, 2011
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You really can't have one without the other. In the OT the high priest was very important, then Christ became our high priest. If you don't know what the high priest was that Christ became, you can't really know Christ. This is just one small example.

It seems to me that when we, the gentiles took over, we were pagans used to worshipping idols. When we first learned of the true God and Christ, we were told that we didn't have to first learn all the rituals of Judaism before we were accepted, like it always had been before. God was not in the rituals at all, God was spiritual. But we were to go to synagogue and learn from them. We were not to see them, ever, as something we just do without God, God was our goal with love and the HS leading us.

Gentiles took this so far that we have made Judaism a bad name. The rituals of Judaism can make everyday doing into the sacred, it can take the ordinary and make it a path to God. When we label it all "Judaism" and say we must stay away from it because of any association we have with denying Christ, we are cutting ourselves off from a great resource to the holy.
 
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kenisyes

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#10
#10
didymos said:
'Christianity' only came to be AFTER Jesus walked the earth, so you cannot say He belonged to it, or even that He was a christian. Calling Him a christian would lead to weird dogmatic problems. Jesus was first and foremost a jew, and we accepted His teachings as they were interpreted later on, especially by Paul.
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You mean even after He rose, He wasn't a Christian? He's still alive now (in heaven), is He one now? I can't understand why there is a problem. What does it contradict? (Or should this be a separate thread?)
 
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didymos

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#11
#11
JaumeJ said:
Just as Yeshua, Jesus, did not destroy the law rather he completed them, so it is with the faith of Abraham. He is the culmination of the Books of Moses and the Prophets.

Christianity is a name given by mankind to the faith of Abraham by the receiving of Yeshua, Jesus as the Savior from the Children of Israel.

Bottom line, they are the same faith.
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I dont think many jews would agree with you on that, or I for that matter, since I'm a christian and not a jew. It's (exactly) that fulfilment of the law that makes us christians and sets us apart from jews. Jesus shouldn't be see as the culmination of the books of Moses and the prophets, but as only way to the Father. The beginning is Jesus, from there we can look at the Old Testament, not the other way around.
 
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didymos

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#13
#13
kenisyes said:
You mean even after He rose, He wasn't a Christian? He's still alive now (in heaven), is He one now? I can't understand why there is a problem. What does it contradict? (Or should this be a separate thread?)
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Christianity is a historical phenomenon that started with (among others) Paul's interpretation of Jesus' words and resurrection. If we consider Christ to be a part of that movement, is He worshiping Himself then? Sure, you could start a separate thread on it if you wish. :)
 
Frederik

Frederik

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May 26, 2013
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Very interesting Video about the beards. Not sure what's going on.? But if that is Santa Claus?
He looks tired after just one day at work, I guess. Flying around the world and visit everyone in one day. Requires stamina and energy.
 
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kenisyes

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#15
#15
didymos said:
Christianity is a historical phenomenon that started with (among others) Paul's interpretation of Jesus' words and resurrection. If we consider Christ to be a part of that movement, is He worshiping Himself then? Sure, you could start a separate thread on it if you wish. :)
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So Acts. 11:26 defines Christians as the followers of Jesus. The Greek word means those who learn about God through Him. Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered, and he did only what He saw his Father do. Thus, He learned from His own ministry. He was learning with Himself, and thus is a Christian by the Scriptural definition.

There is a fine point here, do Christians worship Jesus, or do they follow Jesus? Maybe we should ask what do they promise to do, since I know many Christians who do not follow Jesus very well.
 
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xuanvuive2013

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Apr 14, 2013
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Last edited:
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didymos

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#17
kenisyes said:
So Acts. 11:26 defines Christians as the followers of Jesus. The Greek word means those who learn about God through Him. Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered, and he did only what He saw his Father do. Thus, He learned from His own ministry. He was learning with Himself, and thus is a Christian by the Scriptural definition.

There is a fine point here, do Christians worship Jesus, or do they follow Jesus? Maybe we should ask what do they promise to do, since I know many Christians who do not follow Jesus very well.
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Apparently the people in Antioch wanted to distinguish the followers, or disciples (hoi mathètai) of Christ from other groups, so it makes sense that they would call them 'christians.' So Acts 11: 26 just mentions that the disciples were first called christians, it doesn't give us a definition of what a 'christian' is.
I think the last part of Acts 11:26 is an historical account of the naming of a movement, nothing more.

This is a thread on 'beards' I believe, so maybe we should start another thread on it... :)
 
Frederik

Frederik

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May 26, 2013
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Nah- He Looks more like Kenny Rogers!
 
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kenisyes

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#19
#19
didymos said:
Apparently the people in Antioch wanted to distinguish the followers, or disciples (hoi mathètai) of Christ from other groups, so it makes sense that they would call them 'christians.' So Acts 11: 26 just mentions that the disciples were first called christians, it doesn't give us a definition of what a 'christian' is.
I think the last part of Acts 11:26 is an historical account of the naming of a movement, nothing more.

This is a thread on 'beards' I believe, so maybe we should start another thread on it... :)
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I agree this is why it was included in Acts. However, later Christians read the Bible word by word as closely as we do, and they are the ones who brought the term Christian to us. This is why I feel the passage is relevant; it should reflect their analysis. See you in the other thread.
 
JaumeJ

JaumeJ

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#20
Jul 2, 2011
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In the past when I have been blessed to share the gospel with Jews, I shared as one having been saved by the Messiah from the Jews, and no one seemed to mind at all, although they may or may not have believed. That latter is between each one and Yahweh.

When I was on a kibbutz in Israel, I did not hide my faith in Yeshua, I had not one but five kibbutz families, and I was asked time and time again to stay on the kibbutz. No, not all Jews are like flint when it comes to at least hearing the Word.[

QUOTE=didymos;1060966]I dont think many jews would agree with you on that, or I for that matter, since I'm a christian and not a jew. It's (exactly) that fulfilment of the law that makes us christians and sets us apart from jews. Jesus shouldn't be see as the culmination of the books of Moses and the prophets, but as only way to the Father. The beginning is Jesus, from there we can look at the Old Testament, not the other way around.[/QUOTE]
 
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