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JudaismJudaism was founded around 1600BC, making it one of the oldest religions that still exists today. It is a monotheistic religion that believes all things were created by a single, all-knowing divinity, and that all things within that world were designed to have meaning and purpose as a part of a divine order. This they believe is what God first revealed to their ancestor Abraham, there is only one true God.
• The Orthodox Tradition; Can be summed up as a desire to preserve the theology and tradition of the Old World Jews. The Torah is all important. It is of God, given to Moses, and the way to God is through obedience to the laws of Torah. Torah governs every moment of life. • Conservative Beliefs; To the Conservative, Judaism is not static, it is the deepening, growing, widening faith of a people who absorb influences from other cultures, but retain their own ethnic and religious aspects. • Reform; Reform Judaism holds that divine authority lies only in the written law of the Old Testament; this is the main difference from Orthodox Judaism. Unlike the Orthodox though, they do not believe in the messianic restoration of the Jewish state and the return to Jerusalem, they are abandoning a belief in a personal Messiah. The Hebrew Bible, or Jewish Bible, the Tanakh, includes the first five books of the Bible, which is the Torah, or Law in the Tanakh. Within these books is where the Law of God was given to Moses, Law is the theme throughout these books. To the Jews, obeying the law is the best and most complete way to show their love for God.
To Orthodox Jews, God is personal, all powerful, eternal and compassionate. To other Jewish beliefs, God is impersonal and unknowable. They do not believe in the Trinity.
Jesus is seen either as an extremist false messiah or a good but martyred Jewish rabbi. Many Jews do not consider Jesus at all. Jews, except Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians, do not believe he was the Messiah, Son of God, or that he rose from the dead. Orthodox Jews believe the Messiah will restore the Jewish kingdom and eventually rule the earth. The Torah contains no specific reference to the Messiah, though some Jewish scholars have pointed out that it does speak of the "End of Days" which is the time of the Messiah. The Tanakh specifically states who the messiah will be. A descendent of King David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Jeremiah 23:5), a righteous judge (Jeremiah 33:15), and a great military leader. With the facts in the Tanakh and Torah, Judaism does not believe that the messiah will be divine. Jews do not find any connection to the scriptures and to the coming Messiah. The Judaism Beliefs are contained within The 13 Articles of the Jewish Faith; 1. God exists Judaism believes that humankind, created by the One God, is inherently good. There is no original sin, no instinctive evil or fundamental impurity. Human beings are made in God’s image and endowed with the ability to choose between right and wrong. Jew’s do not need a mediator such as the Christians have in Jesus Christ, but approach God directly. They feel that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, attain immortality as the reward for righteous living. Judaism looks forward to the perfection of humankind, leading to a divine kingdom of truth and righteousness upon the earth. Orthodox Jews believe that will happen only when God sends the Messiah. Although these Articles are widely accepted as a proper expression of Jewish faith, it is not necessary to believe all of them to be Jewish.
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Judaism has developed into three movements or divisions, each with varying beliefs and practices. They are, The Orthodox Tradition, Conservative and Reform Judaism.
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