Judaism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Christianity and Judaism=== {{Main|Christianity and Judaism}} {{See also|Christianity and antisemitism|Christian–Jewish reconciliation}} [[File:Sinagoga_de_Santa_María_la_Blanca_2_Toledo.jpg|thumb|The 12th century [[Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], Spain was converted to a church shortly after anti-Jewish [[pogrom]]s in 1391]] [[Christianity]] was originally a sect of [[Second Temple Judaism]], but the two religions [[Split of early Christianity and Judaism|diverged in the first century]]. The differences between Christianity and Judaism originally centered on whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah but eventually became irreconcilable. Major differences between the two faiths include the nature of the Messiah, of [[Atonement in Judaism|atonement]] and [[Jewish views on sin|sin]], the status of God's commandments to Israel, and perhaps most significantly of the [[God in Judaism|nature of God]] himself. Due to these differences, Judaism traditionally regards Christianity as [[Shituf]] or worship of the God of Israel which is not monotheistic. Christianity has traditionally regarded Judaism as obsolete with the invention of Christianity and Jews as a people replaced by the Church, though a Christian belief in [[dual-covenant theology]] emerged as a phenomenon following Christian reflection on how their theology influenced the Nazi [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]].<ref>R. Kendall Soulen, ''The God of Israel and Christian Theology'', (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) {{ISBN|978-0-8006-2883-3}}</ref> Since the time of the [[History of Christianity during the Middle Ages|Middle Ages]], the [[Catholic Church]] upheld the ''[[Sicut Judaeis|Constitutio pro Judæis]]'' (Formal Statement on the Jews), which stated: {{blockquote|We decree that no Christian shall use violence to force them to be baptized, so long as they are unwilling and refuse.…Without the judgment of the political authority of the land, no Christian shall presume to wound them or kill them or rob them of their money or change the good customs that they have thus far enjoyed in the place where they live."<ref name="BaskinSeeskin2010">{{cite book|last1=Baskin|first1=Judith R.|last2=Seeskin|first2=Kenneth|title=The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-86960-7|page=120}}</ref>}} Until [[Jewish emancipation|their emancipation]] in the late 18th and the 19th century, Jews in Christian lands were subject to humiliating legal restrictions and limitations. They included provisions requiring Jews to wear specific and identifying clothing such as the [[Jewish hat]] and the [[yellow badge]], restricting Jews to certain cities and towns or in certain parts of towns ([[Jewish ghettos in Europe|ghettos]]), and forbidding Jews to enter certain trades (for example selling new clothes in medieval [[Sweden]]). Disabilities also included special taxes levied on Jews, exclusion from public life, restraints on the performance of religious ceremonies, and linguistic censorship. Some countries went even further and completely expelled Jews, for example, [[Edict of Expulsion|England]] in 1290 (Jews were readmitted in 1655) and [[Expulsion of the Jews from Spain|Spain]] in 1492 (readmitted in 1868). The first Jewish settlers in North America arrived in the Dutch colony of [[New Amsterdam]] in 1654; they were forbidden to hold public office, open a retail shop, or establish a synagogue. When the colony was seized by the British in 1664 Jewish rights remained unchanged, but by 1671 [[Asser Levy]] was the first Jew to serve on a jury in North America.<ref name=gotham>[[Edwin G. Burrows|Burrows, Edwin G.]] & [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Wallace, Mike]]. ''[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]]''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 60, 133–134</ref> In 1791, [[French Revolution|Revolutionary France]] was the first country to abolish disabilities altogether, followed by [[Prussia]] in 1848. [[Emancipation of the Jews in the United Kingdom]] was achieved in 1858 after an almost 30-year struggle championed by [[Isaac Lyon Goldsmid]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237923/Sir-Isaac-Lyon-Goldsmid-1st-Baronet#ref213807|title=Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, 1st Baronet|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|url-access=subscription|access-date=23 June 2022|archive-date=27 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427062024/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237923/Sir-Isaac-Lyon-Goldsmid-1st-Baronet#ref213807|url-status=live}}</ref> with the ability of Jews to sit in parliament with the passing of the [[Jews Relief Act 1858]]. The newly created [[German Empire]] in 1871 abolished Jewish disabilities in Germany, which were reinstated in the [[Nuremberg Laws]] in 1935. Jewish life in Christian lands was marked by frequent [[blood libel]]s, expulsions, [[forced conversion]]s and [[massacre]]s. Religious prejudice was an underlying source against Jews in Europe. Christian rhetoric and antipathy towards Jews developed in the [[Apostolic Age|early years of Christianity]] and was reinforced by ever increasing anti-Jewish measures over the ensuing centuries. The action taken by Christians against Jews included acts of violence, and murder culminating in the [[Holocaust]].<ref name="HarriesAfter" />{{rp|21}}<ref name="Kung" />{{rp|169}}<ref name="Dawidowicz" /> These attitudes were reinforced by Christian preaching, in art and popular teaching for two millennia which expressed contempt for Jews,<ref name=JCPSHorst>Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 5 May 2009. [http://jcpa.org/article/the-origins-of-christian-anti-semitism/ The Origins of Christian Anti-Semitism: Interview with Pieter van der Horst] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726170352/http://jcpa.org/article/the-origins-of-christian-anti-semitism/ |date=26 July 2018 }}</ref> as well as statutes which were designed to humiliate and stigmatise Jews. The [[Nazi Party]] was known for its [[Kirchenkampf|persecution of Christian Churches]]; many of them, such as the Protestant [[Confessing Church]] and the Catholic Church,<ref>Gill, Anton (1994). An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Heinemann Mandarin. 1995 paperback {{ISBN|978-0-434-29276-9}}; p. 57</ref> as well as [[Quakers]] and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], aided and rescued Jews who were being targeted by the antireligious régime.<ref name="Gottfried2001">{{cite book|last=Gottfried|first=Ted|title=Heroes of the Holocaust|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761317173|url-access=registration|access-date=14 January 2017|year=2001|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-7613-1717-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761317173/page/24 24]–25|quote=Some groups that are known to have helped Jews were religious in nature. One of these was the Confessing Church, a Protestant denomination formed in May 1934, the year after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. One of its goals was to repeal the Nazi law "which required that the civil service would be purged of all those who were either Jewish or of partly Jewish descent." Another was to help those "who suffered through repressive laws, or violence." About 7,000 of the 17,000 Protestant clergy in Germany joined the Confessing Church. Much of their work has gone unrecognized, but two who will never forget them are Max Krakauer and his wife. Sheltered in sixty-six houses and helped by more than eighty individuals who belonged to the Confessing Church, they owe them their lives. German Catholic churches went out of their way to protect Catholics of Jewish ancestry. More inclusive was the principled stand taken by Catholic Bishop Clemens Count von Galen of Munster. He publicly denounced the Nazi slaughter of Jews and actually succeeded in having the problem halted for a short time.…Members of the Society of Friends—German Quakers working with organizations of Friends from other countries—were particularly successful in rescuing Jews.…Jehovah's Witnesses, themselves targeted for concentration camps, also provided help to Jews.}}</ref> The attitude of Christians and Christian Churches toward the Jewish people and Judaism have changed in a mostly positive direction since [[World War II]]. Pope [[John Paul II]] and the Catholic Church have "upheld the Church's acceptance of the continuing and permanent election of the Jewish people" as well as a [[Dual-covenant theology|reaffirmation of the covenant]] between [[God in Christianity|God]] and the Jews.<ref name="Wigoder1988">{{cite book|last=Wigoder|first=Geoffrey|title=Jewish-Christian Relations Since the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9N9RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA87|access-date=14 January 2017|year=1988|publisher=Manchester University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-7190-2639-3|page=87|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203500/https://books.google.com/books?id=9N9RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2015, the [[Holy See|Vatican]] released a 10,000-word document that, among other things, stated that Catholics should work with Jews to fight antisemitism.<ref name="news.va">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-issues-new-document-on-christian-jewish-di|title=Vatican issues new document on Christian-Jewish dialogue|access-date=14 January 2017|archive-date=13 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113203040/http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-issues-new-document-on-christian-jewish-di}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page