@Pandora I think a lot of Christians think Jewish people don’t acknowledge Jesus’ existence at all. Do you think that’s the case? Jesus is still important in Judaism, but just not the son of God nor God himself.
For me, I can never understand Jesus as God, it doesn’t make sense to me. God is God. But, I’m Jewish, and atheist, and so it’s confusing to me. I understand it better now that many jelly friends have taken the time to answer questions I had about Christianity, which I really appreciate. Fluther has been great as a source for me to understand Christian beliefs.
It’s also confusing to me why if someone doesn’t believe Jesus is God, but does believe in God, that for a Christian that isn’t good enough. The Jews created the idea of monotheism. They believed in the Abrahamic God before anyone else. They believe God to be the King and Creator of the universe.
The religions are so similar in so many ways; I think why focus on the differences? I don’t think Jesus or God would want his children fighting over the details of the different religions, but rather He would want his children to be at peace, helping each other through the journey of life. But, it’s also very Jewish to be focused on life on earth, while Christians and Muslims seem to focus on the after life more than we do. I think if there is a God, and He is our Creator, our Father, that he would want all of His creation to be at peace and live each other. Just like siblings in a family. We want our children to get along and love each other, even though each one is different.
In Judaism the Messiah is supposed to usher in the messianic age; a great time of peace. That didn’t seem to happen during or after the life of a Jesus. I guess one could argue we might be measuring time incorrectly. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to get peaceful in a calendar day. Maybe it was supposed to take over 2,000 years? Just like some people argue the “days” it took for God to create the universe aren’t literal calendar days.