Compare Christianity and Judaism

Christianity has a close relationship with Judaism, both historically and theologically. Jesus, his disciples, Paul (who wrote most of the New Testament), and the members of the earliest Christian churches were all Jews. Jesus' family followed Jewish customs and Jesus frequently quoted the Hebrew Bible. Jesus' followers believed him to be the messiah, a Jewish figure predicted in the Jewish Bible.

Despite its Jewish origins, it was not long before Christianity regarded itself as something other than a new Jewish sect. The first Christian council, described in the New Testament, concluded that pagan converts to Christianity did not have to follow Jewish ritual laws. Soon, converts to Christianity were almost exclusively pagans and Christianity moved further away from Judaism.

In the 2,000 years of history since Jesus, the relationship between Christianity and the ancient faith in which it is rooted has often been strained. Christians have criticized Jews for rejecting Jesus as their messiah and Jews have criticized Christians for corrupting the concept of one God and following a false messiah. The New Testamant reports Jews persecuted Christians; after Christians became the more powerful group, they frequently persecuted Jews.

The following chart compares the origins, beliefs and practices of Christianity and Judaism.

	Christianity	Judaism
etymology	followers of Christ (Greek christos, Messiah)	of the Kingdom of Judah
adherents called	Christians	Jews
date founded	c. 30 CE	c. 1800 BCE (Abraham); 6th cent. BCE (Pentateuch); or 70 CE (destruction of Second Temple)
place founded	Southern Levant (modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan)	Southern Levant (modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan)
languages	Aramaic and Greek	Hebrew
founders	Jesus, Peter, Paul	Abraham, Moses
expansion	within 60 years, churches in major cities in Palestine, Turkey, Greece and Rome; entire Roman Empire by end of 4th cent.	little expansion; mostly confined to Palestine area throughout history
schisms	Catholic-Orthodox (1054); Catholic-Protestant (1500s)	Reform-Orthodox (1800s CE)
branches	Roman Catholic; Eastern Orthodox; Protestant	Orthodox, Reform, Conservative
main locations	Europe, North and South America, Africa	Israel, Eastern Europe, USA
	Christianity	Judaism
adherents (world)	2.2 billion	14 million
adherents (USA)	159 million	5.6 million
adherents (Canada)	21 million	350,000
adherents (UK)	51 million	320,000
texts	Bible (Hebrew Bible + New Testament)	Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); Talmud
Hebrew Bible	canonical; called "the Old Testament"	canonical
Apocrypha	canonical (Catholic) or useful but noncanonical (Protestant)	noncanonical but useful
New Testament	canonical	noncanonical
creeds	Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed	13 Articles of Faith
religious law	canon law (Catholicism)	Halakhah
	Christianity	Judaism
religious authority	Bible (all), ecumenical councils and creeds (Catholic and Orthodox), papal decrees and canon law (Catholic), continuing revelations (Pentecostal)	Bible, Talmud, halakhah
scripture	views vary: most believe inspired by God; some believe literal Word of God, inerrant in original languages	views vary
prophets	Biblical prophets were true prophets of God	Biblical prophets were true prophets of God
god(s)	One God, who is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; angels; demons; saints	One God: Yahweh (YHVH)
spiritual beings	angels and demons	angels and demons
revered humans	saints, church fathers	prophets
Messiah	Jesus Christ is the Messiah awaited by the Jews	the Messiah will come in the future
Jesus	Son of God, God incarnate, Word of God, Messiah, savior of the world	false prophet
birth of Jesus	virgin birth	normal birth
death of Jesus	normal death plus spiritual suffering	normal death
	Christianity	Judaism
resurrection of Jesus	affirmed	denied
second coming of Jesus	affirmed	denied
revelation	through Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself), recorded in Bible	prophets, recorded in Hebrew Bible
human nature	Created good but all inherit "original sin" from Adam, causing a tendency to evil	two equal impulses, one good and one bad
salvation	correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments (Protestants emphasize faith alone)	belief in God, good deeds
predestination	affirmed by most denominations
afterlife	Resurrection of body and soul; eternal heaven or hell (most denominations); temporary purgatory (Catholicism)	Not emphasized; views vary: no afterlife, shadowy existence, World to Come (similar to heaven), Gehenna (similar to hell), reincarnation
view of Christianity	true religion	false interpretation and expansion of Judaism
view of Islam	respected as a fellow monotheistic religion, but Muhammad is not seen as a true prophet	false interpretation and expansion of Judaism
view of Judaism	true religion but with incomplete revelation	true religion
	Christianity	Judaism
house of worship	church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall	synagogue, temple, schul
day of worship	Sunday	Saturday
clergy/leaders	priest, bishop, archbishop, patriarch, pope, pastor, minister, preacher, deacon	rabbis
practices	Prayer, Bible study, baptism, Eucharist (Communion), church on Sundays, numerous holidays.	Circumcision at birth, bar/bat mitzvah at adulthood, observing Sabbath, wearing tallit and tefilin, prayer services
head covering
major holidays
minor holidays
symbols	Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha/omega, chi rho	Star of David, chai, hamsa, tree