Christianity and Judaism share deep historical roots, yet they diverge in ways that shape beliefs, practices, and identity. Both look back to Abraham as a father of faith, both honor the Hebrew Scriptures, and both hold to the idea of covenant. But from the first century onward, the arrival of Jesus Christ marked a decisive turning point that continues to distinguish the two faiths.
For Christians, Jesus is the promised Messiah and Son of God who fulfills the Law and Prophets, bringing salvation through His death and resurrection. For Judaism, however, the Messiah is still anticipated, and the Law remains central to covenant life with God. These differing convictions ripple outward—shaping worship, traditions, and even views of the afterlife.
This tension isn’t just theological—it’s also relational. Jews and Christians live side by side, often respecting one another’s faith, yet sometimes stumbling over misunderstandings. Are the two faiths simply different expressions of belief in the same God, or are they fundamentally distinct paths that can’t be reconciled?
In today’s world, conversations about Christianity and Judaism carry both weight and sensitivity. Some see dialogue as a way to build bridges, while others fear it risks compromising core convictions. How should we approach this? What does it look like to honor the shared roots without erasing the real differences?
The question of how Christianity and Judaism relate to one another touches on some of the most profound and enduring issues in the history of religion, theology, and interfaith relations, and it cannot be answered adequately without attending to both the shared foundations and the real divergences that define their respective identities. Historically, Christianity emerged from within the matrix of Second Temple Judaism, and its earliest adherents saw themselves not as founders of a new religion but as participants in the fulfillment of Israel’s covenantal story through the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. From a Christian theological perspective, Jesus is not only the awaited Messiah but also the incarnate Son of God whose life, death, and resurrection bring the promises of the Law and the Prophets to their telos, thereby redefining covenant membership around faith in Him rather than adherence to the Mosaic code. Judaism, however, maintains that the Messiah has not yet come and that the Torah remains the definitive guide to covenant fidelity and communal life before God, a conviction that has shaped centuries of halakhic tradition, liturgical practice, and eschatological hope. These differences are not superficial variations on a common theme but represent fundamentally distinct theological claims about revelation, redemption, and the nature of God’s covenant with humanity. Yet, it would be historically and theologically inaccurate to portray them as wholly separate or antagonistic, for both traditions affirm the oneness of God, the sacredness of Scripture, and the ethical imperatives of justice, mercy, and righteousness. In the modern context, this shared heritage offers fertile ground for dialogue, provided that such engagement is undertaken with intellectual honesty and mutual respect rather than as an attempt at syncretism or proselytism. Serious interfaith conversation must avoid the twin dangers of relativizing the truth claims at stake or dismissing them as irreconcilable; instead, it should seek a posture of what the theologian Karl Barth once described as “witnessing in humility,” where Christians bear testimony to their conviction about Christ while recognizing the enduring covenantal identity of the Jewish people. Honoring the shared roots means acknowledging Christianity’s indebtedness to Judaism and repudiating historical patterns of supersessionism and antisemitism, but honoring the differences requires candid recognition that the two faiths articulate divergent understandings of God’s redemptive plan. A mature approach, therefore, is not to collapse these distinctions but to engage them as part of a deeper, ongoing conversation about divine purpose in history, one in which both traditions continue to wrestle, sometimes in tension, sometimes in mutual enrichment, with the mystery of the God they both seek to know and serve.
Peace
Sam
