The comparisons between Christianity and Judaism, especially distinguishing between Orthodox/Traditional and Modern/Progressive streams of thought, were really helpful for me. Growing up in a Christian home, certain beliefs were definitely taken for granted and viewed as timeless truths, such as the Messiah being God and man being naturally sinful. These are two of the main tenets of Christianity, and so it is really interesting to think about Judaism as being different in those areas. In one of the other lectures, we also discussed a difference of Christianity being very salvation-oriented and Judaism being very blessing-oriented. It’s easy to take Christian views and look backwards, overlaying our views onto Judaism (thinking about it as the same as Christianity, but minus Jesus), instead of learning about Judaism as its own religion. And we SHOULD learn about it, because it informs our faith, helps us to understand the Bible better, and makes us less inwardly-focused.
