by John Devera

Created on: May 17, 2008

Christianity begins as a Jewish cult. The first converts to Christianity were Jewish. The leader of this new religion was Jewish. Jesus was born, lived and died as a Jew. His name was Yeshua. The greatest evangelist of all history, Paul of Tarsus, said of himself that he was "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." (Philippians 3.5-6) Christianity is inextricably linked to its older brother, Judaism. But it is in its differences that Christianity and Judaism can be seen as connected subtly and vibrantly.

Let us begin with the most tragic and consequently most bitter division between Jews and Christians. For the last two thousand years, Jews have suffered countless acts of persecution from nominal Christians. One may attempt to justify or excuse these acts, but that only makes it worse. One might claim, for instance, that this persecution is political in nature, or that it was committed by Christians who were Christian in name only, but that is an excuse that only further deepens the wounds. Christians should be ashamed, horrified and deeply wounded by the persecutions of Jews. Every "passion play" in history was a call for burning the homes of Jews. When Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was released, Christians were surprised by the vitriol from Jewish communities. The tragedy is that most Christians never saw the reason, never felt the extreme sorrow that comes with recognizing one's culpability in the millennia of pogroms and holocausts, the blood libels and the forgeries of truth that Christians have perpetrated on the Jews. The feeling Christian whose salvation rests on repentance and acceptance of Christ's atonement, must, with absolute certitude, acknowledge the great evils that we collectively have done to our first brothers.

On to something less depressing, and perhaps more tricksy in its defining the difference between Jewish and Christian theology. Examining the nature of Christ from the eyes of a twentieth century Jew, it might be difficult to avoid the hype and bias, and see Yeshua for who he is. First of all, the biggest stumbling block for most modern Jews is to divorce Yeshua from the claptrap that has grown up about him. The Jew obviously sees Yeshua as something other than a Messiah, or "Moshiach." He does not fulfill the prophetic role that

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