CAN I HAVE AN idiots guide to links between JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, PLEASE!!

[noonar]

ok, have i got this right... judaism is an ancient religion dating back 3000 odd years...then jesus was born and the jews who thought he was the messiah became christians. others remained jewish. very simplistic i'm sure, but is that basically correct?

also...

how is jesus regarded in judaism?

tia

I'm not Jewish but I understood that Jewish people regard Jesus as a prophet for the Messiah's future coming. I'm sure someone else more knowlegeable than me will come along shortly though.

Judaism is older than 3000 years though unless you are talking pre-common era years.

Judaism older between 4-5thousand years. God chooses Abraham and his descendants are the Jewish nation. Jews believe that God will send a Messiah who will be from the house of David (him of the killing Goliath). However with the destruction of the temple history stops and it all gets complicated. Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim and Talmud important Holy books

Jesus or Joshua(to give him his proper name)was a Jew who preached about a new personal relationship with God. His early followers were Jews, although Jesus treated all people with respect. Then he died and Paul/Saul got involved and the message was taken to the non Jews or Gentiles. New Testament important to Christians.

As for how the Jews regard Jesus it depends what you read. Josephus is favourable others sources say he practised black magic. Mostly he's not really an important figure. Muslims on the other hand regard Jesus and John the Baptist as prophets.

Hope this helps

And adding to the above, Jews have a lot of prophecies in relation to Messiah, which Christians view that Jesus fulfilled.

very helpful, thanks

Hi Noonar
When in doubt have a look at the BBC website section on religion - it has a really good idiot's guide to world religions, plus useful links.

If you're interested in seeing how some Jews view Jesus have a look at some of the websites on converting to Judaism. (Google them). These give the reasons as to why Jesus can't be the messiah - but can be regarded as an important teacher.

Personally I feel that Christianity can't be understood unless you have some knowledge of Judaism. Since Jesus was Jewish that was the framework in which he was operating and he was challenging the Jewish laws.

Hope this helps.