The reality is more nuanced; Judaism and Christianity have both many areas of agreement, as well as sharply defined ethical and religious systems that are in some areas polar opposites. Given the differences, many religious Jews and Christians find the phrase "Judeo-Christian tradition" to be an oxymoron.
The phrase "Judeo-Christian" can also be criticised for excluding Islam. On the other hand, the phrase is about a common bible and history. Islam itself rejects the entire Bible as an inspired work, and instead holds only the Quran to be the true word of God.
While affirming that there are differences between these two religions, the purpose of Dabru Emet is to point out the common ground between these two religions. It is not an official document of any of the Jewish denominations per se, but it is representative of what many religious Jews (both rabbis and laypeople) feel. (See website of [[Dabru Emet]])
The nature of religion: national versus universal
Judaism does not primarily characterize itself as a religion (although one may speak of the Jewish religion and religious Jews). The subject of the Tanach is the history of the Children of Israel (also called Hebrews), especially in terms of their relationship with God. Thus, Judaism has also been characterized as a culture or as a civilization. One crucial sign of this is that one need not beleive or even do anything to be Jewish; Jewish requires only that one be born of a Jewish mother (Reform Jews also include those born of Jewish fathers).
Nevertheless, Jewish nationhood is, at least in its own mythology, closely tied to their relationship with God and thus has a strong theological component. This relationship is encapsulated in the notion that Jews are a "chosen people." Although many non-Jews have taken this as a sign of arrogance or exclusivity, Jewish scholars and theologians have emphasized that a special relationship between Jews and God does not in any way preclude other nations having their own relationship with God. For Jews, being "chosen" fundamentally means that Jews have chosen to obey a certain set of laws (see halakha as an expression of their relationship with God. Other nations are not required or expected to obey these laws, and face no penalty for not obeying them. Thus, as a national religion, Judaism has no problem with the notion that other nations have their own paths to God (or "salvation").
Pauline Christianity, on the other hand, is characterized by its break with Jewish identity and its claim to universality. As a religion claiming univerality, Christianity has had to struggle with religions that make radically different claims about God and such.
This crucial difference between the two religions has other implications. For example, conversion to Judaism is more like a form of adoption (i.e. becoming a member of the nation, in part by metaphorically becoming a child of Abraham) whereas conversion to Christianity is more a declaration of faith. Also, Jews are relatively less interested in the afterlife -- Jewish eschatology is traditionally more concerned with the fate of the nation (or people) than with the problem of individual death. An individual dies, but the people still live.
Both Jews and Christians believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Tanach (Old Testament, Hebrew Bible), the creator of the universe. However, Christianity posits a trinity, in which the Godhead possess three distinct persons; In that three there are one and in that one there are three. Judaism sees God as a strict unity, and views trinitarianism as both incomprehensible and a violation of the Bible's statement that God is one. Christianity is centered on restoring the relationship between God and humanity.
Messiah
Both Jews and Christians believe that a descendent of King David will one day appear to restore the Kingdom of [[Israel], and who will usher in a messianic era of peace. Jews refer to this person as a moshiach, which is usually translated as "messiah". Christians also believe in a messiah, but they give a very different definition to this term. Readers should read the Wikipedia entries on Jewish eschatology, messiah, and Jesus Christ to learn about the significant differences between these two concepts.
Faith vs. Good deeds
Judaism teaches that the purpose of the Torah is to show that deeds, actual acts undertaken by a person, are considered by God to be more imporant than one's beliefs.
Midrash Avot de Rabbi Natan states "One time, when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking in Jerusalem with Rabbi Yehosua, they arrived at where the Temple in Jerusalem now stood in ruins. "Woe to us" cried Rabbi Yehosua, "for this house where atonement was made for Israel's sins now lies in ruins!" Answered Rabban Yochanan, "We have another, equally important source of atonement, the practice of gemilut hasadim (loving kindness), as it is stated 'I desire loving kindness and not sacrifice''". Also, the Babylonian Talmud teaches that "Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Eleazar both explain that as long as the Temple stood, the altar atoned for Israel, but now, one's table atones [when the poor are invited as guests]." (Tractate Berachot, 55a.) Similarly, the liturgy of the Days of Awe (the High Holy Days; i.e. [Rosh HaShanah]? and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentence and tzedakah (charity) atone for sin.
Christianity also teaches that God wants us to perform good deeds, and this view is based on many of the same texts that Jews point to in the Tanach. The theological innovation of the New Testament is to teach that beliefs (such as belief in Jesus as the son of God) held by a person are considered by God to be more important than one's actions; belief is the Christian way to achieve salvation. This is especially so in Protestantism; Many hold that beliefs and actions are both essential, each encouraging the other (See entry on Eastern Orthodox Christianity).
Original sin Judaism teaches that humans are born morally pure; Jews have no concept of original sin, and find the concept ethically repugnant. Instead, Judaism affirms that people are born with a yetzer ha'tov, a tendency to do good, or to be productive, and with a yetzer ha'ra, a tendency to do bad, or be unproductive; human beings have free will and can choose the path in life that they will take.
Historically, all branches of Christianity have taught that all people are born contaminated with Original sin, and that nothing a person does in their life can ever get rid of this taint. Failture to get rid of this taint leads God to eternally damn these people to Hell. Only by worshipping Jesus as a saviour and son of God can a person be saved from this fate.
Jews recognize two kinds of "sin," offenses against other people, and offenses against God. Offenses against God may be understood as violation of a contract (the covenant between God and the Children of Israel). The question of how such offenses might be punished is one that has had many, and often unclear, answers in the Jewish tradition.
Salvation/Attaining an afterlife
Both Jews and Christians believe that there will be some sort of afterlife. Protestant Christianity generally posits that one can be saved through the acceptance of Jesus as a saviour, although some variants of Protestantism do teach that salvation is available to followers of other faiths as well. Catholicism traditionally taught that "there is no salvation outside the Church", which thus denied salvation to non-Catholic Christians as well as non-Christians; but Vatican II affirmed that "the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator", thus extending salvation to other monotheistic faiths. Vatican II further affirmed that salvation was available to people who had not even heard of Christ. Eastern Orthodox Christianity emphasizes a continuing life of repentance or metanoia, which includes an increasing improvement in thought, belief and action.
Judaism, on the other hand, has not needed to wrangle with this issue; it claims that whatever salvation may exist is found only through ethical action; beliefs play no role. Judaism teaches that gentiles can receive a share in "the world to come". This is codified in the Mishna Avot 4:29, the Babylonian Talmud in tractates Avodah Zarah 10b, and Ketubot 111b, and in Maimonides's 12th century law code, the Mishneh Torah, in Hilkhot Melachim 8.11.
There is no strong tradition of offenses being punished by eternal damnation. Some violations (e.g. suicide) would be punished by separation from the community (e.g. not being buried in a Jewish cemetary).
Abortion
Both Jews and Christians regard pregnancy as a gift from God, and hold children to be miracles. However, most branches of Christianity have historically held abortion to be murder. Judaism claims that the fetus is not yet a full human being, and thus is not murder, and therefore abortion - in restricted circumstances - has always been legal under Jewish law. Judaism prefers that such abortions, when necessary, take place before the first 40 days.
The Bible
Jews and Christians seek authority from some of the same basic books, but they conceive of these books in significantly different ways. Jews call their Bible the Tanach, a Hebrew acronym for the three sections of their scriptures: Torah (the five books of Moses), Nevi'im? (the Prophets), and Ketuvim? (Writings). Jews traditionally believe that these written works are accompanied by an oral tradition which was revealed to Moses at Sinai and passed down through generations (and eventually written down in the Talmud (see below)). Jews believe that these written and (formerly) oral traditions together embody a living covenant between them and God.
Christians reject this view: they reject the Jewish oral tradition, and they reject the Jewish order of sacred texts (and some Christian traditions have included in their "Old Testament" books that are not included in the Jewish canon). Most importantly, they reject the covenant with God embodied in these traditions as obsolete, and thus refer to their canon of Hebrew books as the "Old Testament." Christians believe that God has established a new covenant with people, and that this new covenant is established in an additional set of books collectively called the "New Testament," together with the oral teachings of Jesus to the Apostles which have been handed down to this day.
Jews do not accept the New Testament (nor do they accept the characterization of their sacred texts as an "Old" Testament), although they do accept as sacred certain texts that are not included in the Tanach which were written at a much later date; especially the Mishna, which was compiled around 200 C.E., and a Babylonian and a Jerusalem Gemarim, which were edited around 500 C.E. Many Jews believe that these texts, together called the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, contain the Oral Law revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Dealing with violence and pacifism
Jews and Christians accept as valid and binding the moral principles taught in the Torah. There is a great deal of overlap between the ethical systems of these two faiths. Nonetheless, there are some highly significant doctrinal differences.
Judaism has a great many teachings about peace and compromise, and its teachings make physical violence the last possible option. Nonetheless, the Talmud teaches that "If someone comes with the intention to murder you, then one is obligated to kill in self-defense". The clear implication is that to do anything less would be tantamount to suicide (which Jewish law forbids) and it would also be considered helping a murderer kill someone. The tension between the laws dealing with peace, and the obligation to self-defense, has led to a set of Jewish teachings that may be described as tactical-pacifism. This is the avoidance of force and violence whenever possible, but the use of it when necessary to save the lives of one's-self and one's people.
The New Testament teaches that if someone comes to harm you, then one must turn the other cheek. This has led many Christians to develop a theology of pacifism, the avoidance of force and violence at all times. In practice, this has often not been followed (i.e. the many crusades, pogroms? in Russia, Martin Luther's exhortions to burn down synagogues with Jews still in them, the violence of the Reformation? and later wars in Europe). Only three Protestant Christian denominations, known historically as the peace churches, have incorporated Christ's teachings on nonviolence into their theology; those denominations are the Quakers, Mennonites, and the [Church of the Brethren]?.
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