# What is the difference between Judaism and Christianity? > Jews and Christians share the God of Israel, the Shema, and the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians confess that Jesus is the Messiah and is God the Son, and that his death and resurrection are salvation. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/what-is-the-difference-between-judaism-and-christianity - Religions: Judaism, Christianity - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: judaism, messiah, trinity - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) Jews and Christians worship the God of Israel and read the same Hebrew Scriptures. The difference is Jesus. Judaism, in Maimonides’ words, waits for a Davidic king who will rebuild the Temple and gather Israel. Christianity confesses that Jesus is that king, that he was crucified and raised, and that he is God the Son. ## Key points - [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4): “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” Maimonides’ second principle says God is “one in a unity that has no unity like it,” and his third says that Unity “is not a body.” [(1)](#ref-1) [(2)](#ref-2) - [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) baptizes “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1): “the Word was God.” [John 20:28](/bible/john/20/28): “My LORD and my God.” [(5)](#ref-5) [(4)](#ref-4) - Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 11:4: the Messianic king builds the Temple and gathers Israel; if he “was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah.” [(3)](#ref-3) - The same section says Christianity moved the nations to “serve a god other than the Lord.” Christians say the Son is that Lord, not another god. [(3)](#ref-3) [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity). - [Jeremiah 31:31](/bible/jeremiah/31/31): “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” [Acts 2:36](/bible/acts/2/36) tells Israel the crucified Jesus is “both Lord and Christ.” [(6)](#ref-6) [(7)](#ref-7) - [John 4:22](/bible/john/4/22): “salvation is of the Jews.” The split is not a rejection of Israel’s Scriptures. It is the confession about Jesus. [(4)](#ref-4) - The Sabbath, the Messiah, and the Jewish confession have their own pages: [Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?](/judaism/is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday), [What does Messiah mean?](/christianity/what-does-messiah-mean), [What do Jews believe?](/judaism/what-do-jews-believe). ## One God [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4), King James Version: [(1)](#ref-1) > Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Maimonides, commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1: [(2)](#ref-2) > The second principle The unity of God, may He be blessed, which is to say that we believe that He who is the cause of everything is one. And He is not like one of a pair and not like one of a group and not like one person that can be divided into many [smaller] units and not like a simple body which is numerically one [but] can be infinitely divided. Rather He - God, may He be blessed - is one in a unity that has no unity like it. > The third principle Denial of His physicality and that is that we believe that this Unity that we mentioned is not a body and not the power of a body and that actions of a body do not relate to Him, not in His essence and not in His doings. Christians say that Shema. They also say [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19): “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John 10:30](/bible/john/10/30): “I and my Father are one.” [John 20:28](/bible/john/20/28): “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.” Maimonides refuses “one of a pair” and a body that can be divided. The Christian confession refuses those too. It does not refuse the Son. [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) is the Son. [Is the Holy Spirit a person?](/jehovahs-witnesses/is-the-holy-spirit-a-person) is the Spirit. [Can God have a Son?](/islam/can-god-have-a-son) is the question as the Qur’an puts it. In Kings and Wars he writes that Christianity led “the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord.” That is his charge. The Christian answer is that the Lord of the Shema has made himself known in the Son, and that worship of the Son is worship of that Lord. [John 5:23](/bible/john/5/23) says he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. Jews pray to God and not to Jesus. Christians pray to the Father in the Son’s name, and [Acts 7:59](/bible/acts/7/59) shows Stephen calling on the Lord Jesus. ## The Messiah and the law Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars, Touger’s translation: [(3)](#ref-3) > If a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach. > If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach. > If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah. > Jesus of Nazareth who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court was also alluded to in Daniel's prophecies. Judaism in this text is still waiting. The king must keep the oral law as well as the written Torah, rebuild the Temple, and gather the exiles. Jesus was killed. [Why don’t Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah?](/judaism/why-dont-jews-believe-jesus-is-the-messiah) stays on that paragraph and on Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9. Christians say the son of David has come. [Matthew 1:1](/bible/matthew/1/1): “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” [Daniel 9:26](/bible/daniel/9/26): “shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” [Isaiah 53:5](/bible/isaiah/53/5): “he was wounded for our transgressions.” [Acts 2:36](/bible/acts/2/36): “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” The Temple is not standing again, and the full ingathering is still future. Christians call that his coming again, not a denial that he is already the Christ. [The resurrection of Jesus](/christianity/resurrection-of-jesus). [Exodus 20:8–11](/bible/exodus/20) commands the seventh day. Judaism keeps it. [Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?](/judaism/is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday) asks whether the church must. [Acts 15:28–29](/bible/acts/15/28) lays on Gentile believers abstaining from idol food, blood, things strangled, and fornication. The Sabbath is not in that list. [Jeremiah 31:31](/bible/jeremiah/31/31): “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” The new covenant is promised to Israel and Judah, not to a people who have thrown those Scriptures away. [Was the Bible corrupted?](/islam/was-the-bible-corrupted) is the separate claim that the text was lost. This difference does not require that claim. Both communities are reading Genesis through Malachi. ## How they came apart [John 4:22](/bible/john/4/22): “salvation is of the Jews.” Jesus says that inside the Gospel that also says the Word was God. The apostles are Israelites speaking to Israel. [Acts 2:36](/bible/acts/2/36) is Peter in Jerusalem: the man you crucified, God has made Lord and Christ. Some believed. The council did not. The Gospels record that division in the first century, before any later empire. [Did Jesus exist?](/christianity/did-jesus-exist) is the question of the man himself. Salvation, in the Christian sentence, is that Christ died for sins and was raised. [1 Corinthians 15:3–4](/bible/1-corinthians/15) is the summary Paul says he received. Judaism, on Maimonides’ twelfth principle, is faithfulness to the coming of the Messianic king and to the Torah. The revival of the dead is his thirteenth principle. Christians also confess the resurrection of the dead. They say the Messiah’s own resurrection is already the beginning of it. [John 4:22](/bible/john/4/22) and the Shema are the shared ground. The Son, the cross, and the empty tomb are the parting. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the main difference between Christians and Jews? Jesus. Jews, in the Mishneh Torah, do not receive a killed claimant as the final Messiah. Christians say the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord and Christ, and God the Son. [(3)](#ref-3) [(4)](#ref-4) [(7)](#ref-7) ### Does Judaism worship the same God as Christians? Both worship the God of [Deuteronomy 6:4](/bible/deuteronomy/6/4). Maimonides says the church taught the nations another god. Christians say honoring the Son honors the Father. [(1)](#ref-1) [(3)](#ref-3) [John 5:23](/bible/john/5/23). ### Why did Judaism and Christianity split? [Acts 2:36](/bible/acts/2/36) preaches a crucified Messiah to Israel. [Jeremiah 31:31](/bible/jeremiah/31/31) promises a new covenant with Israel and Judah. The split in the book of Acts is over that Christ, not over a decision to discard the Hebrew Scriptures. [(7)](#ref-7) [(6)](#ref-6) ### Do Jews pray to God or to Jesus? They pray to God. Christians pray to the Father through Jesus and confess him as Lord. [Acts 7:59](/bible/acts/7/59). ### What do the two religions share? The God of Abraham, the Shema, the Hebrew Scriptures, the hope of a son of David, and the hope of resurrection. [What do Jews believe?](/judaism/what-do-jews-believe) quotes the thirteen principles. [What does Messiah mean?](/christianity/what-does-messiah-mean) is the word both use. ## Keep reading - [What do Jews believe?](/judaism/what-do-jews-believe) - [Why don’t Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah?](/judaism/why-dont-jews-believe-jesus-is-the-messiah) - [What does Messiah mean?](/christianity/what-does-messiah-mean) - [Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?](/judaism/is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) - [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) - [The resurrection of Jesus](/christianity/resurrection-of-jesus) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Matthew 28:19 King James Version. > Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ### Jeremiah 31:31 King James Version. > Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ### Acts 2:36 King James Version. > Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ### John 4:22 King James Version. > Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. ### John 5:23 King James Version. > That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. ### Acts 7:59 King James Version. > And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ### Matthew 1:1 King James Version. > The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. ### Daniel 9:26 King James Version. > And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. ### Isaiah 53:5 King James Version. > But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ### Exodus 20:8–11 King James Version. > [20:8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [20:9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [20:10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [20:11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. ### Acts 15:28 King James Version. > For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; ### 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 King James Version. > [15:3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; [15:4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Deuteronomy, 6:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/6/4). King James Version 2. [Rambam on Mishnah Sanhedrin, 10:1](https://www.sefaria.org/Rambam_on_Mishnah_Sanhedrin.10.1?lang=en) (Sefaria Community Translation. Unity, the denial of a body, and the Messianic era.) 3. [Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars, 11:4](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Kings_and_Wars.11.4?lang=en) (Translation by Eliyahu Touger. The Davidic king, the Temple, and Jesus of Nazareth.) 4. [Gospel of John, 1:1; 4:22; 20:28](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/1/1). King James Version 5. [Gospel of Matthew, 28:19](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/28/19). King James Version 6. [Jeremiah, 31:31](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/jeremiah/31/31). King James Version 7. [Acts of the Apostles, 2:36; 15:28–29](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/acts/2/36). King James Version 8. [Exodus, 20:8–11](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/20). King James Version ## See also - [What does Messiah mean?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/what-does-messiah-mean) — Messiah means anointed one. The King James Version uses that word in Daniel and “anointed” for the same idea elsewhere. Christians confess that Jesus is this Messiah and that he is God the Son. - [Why don’t Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/why-dont-jews-believe-jesus-is-the-messiah) — Maimonides says the Messiah is a Davidic king who keeps the Torah, rebuilds the Temple, and gathers Israel, and that a king who was killed is not that redeemer. Christians say Jesus is that son of David, cut off and raised, and that he is God the Son. - [What do Jews believe?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/what-do-jews-believe) — Jews confess the God of Israel, one and not a body, the Torah from heaven, a Messiah from the house of David who is still to finish his work, and the revival of the dead. That is Maimonides’ confession, read beside the Shema. - [Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday? Must Christians keep it?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday) — The Sabbath in Exodus is the seventh day, Saturday. The apostles also met on the first day of the week, and Colossians 2 calls sabbath days a shadow. Christians are not bound to keep Saturday. - [Does the Trinity Depend on 1 John 5:7?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/does-the-trinity-depend-on-1-john-5-7) — The sentence about the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost in the King James Version of 1 John 5:7 was added later. The Trinity does not rest on it. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-judaism-and-christianity.md)