To begin with, according to Christianity teachings, due to the original sin by Adam and Eve, there were disastrous spiritual penalties for the race of human beings (Wold 330). In addition, the Christianity believe that all the devastating consequences go beyond and past the painful curses of the childbearing and labor conditions as stated in Genesis chapter three. Furthermore, the doctrine of the Church suggests that when the first humans rebelled against the will of God and disobeyed Him by eating the forbidden fruit, all of their children (descendants) became poisoned (infected) with their transgression strain (Wold 331). On the other hand, the Judaism religion does not accept the notion of original sin. The Jews are certain that any human being is born with original cleanliness (purity) rather than the original sin (Wold 332). However, despite the fact that Judaism does not dwell on the original sin, they believe and understand that human race has the chance to choose between good and evil. However, Judaism rejoices because they believe that God is happy when people do good deeds.
Moreover, according to Christianity, man is regarded hopeless and lost in the condition of sinful life because of the effect of the original iniquity. Due to this, man has no power that can enable him to follow the right path of righteousness and obedience freely (Wold 335). Reasonably, the missionaries oppose that because humans are born into the world with an uncontrollable and inner desire for sin, there is nothing they can do to achieve their own freedom and salvation from sin. In spirit, the human race is completely evil, and the true free drive is past their reach (Wold 338). It can be said that (totally depraved) is a harsh view of Christian policy to depict the awful condition of mankind, yet the Church use the exact term to describe the sinful and desperate predicament of man. Therefore, Christians state that the hopeless human race can only be saved through repentance and having faith in Christ (Wold 339). On contrary, the Judaism believe that man was not born with sin and is a pure being. They believe that man is not hopeless because God gave him the opportunity to choose between what he thinks is right and wrong, thus he has the right to do good. Unlike Christianity believing that Adam and Eve brought death to the humans due to their sins, the Judaism believe that people die because death is a natural thing and not a punishment for the sins (Christensen et al 100). Finally, the Christianity state that man is just inherently evil in the eyes of God because of the sins of the forefathers. The Judaism have a different belief, as they think that human beings are sinners because they are imperfect beings.
To add on, the fall of Adam and Eve is described by Christianity to have been caused by the trickery of the serpent. The Christians linked the serpent to the satanic figure as stated in the New Testament; “The serpent called Satan and Devil, the world’s deceiver.” (Revelation chapter 12 verse 9). However, the theologians of Christianity seem to be vague because it does not make sense that eating a physical literal fruit could destroy the spiritual relationship between mankind and God and the lineage’s integrity. Instead, the main aim is on the entire act of disobedience of man (Christensen et al 102). As a result, Calvin enlightened Christians that the human kind’s disobedience originated from the egoism and pride, which turned them against God (Christensen et al 103). On contrary, the traditions of Judaism are quite obvious that Satan utilized either the form of a person or a serpent to lure Eve into sin (Christensen et al 106). The Slavonic Baruch book states that the serpent filled the fruit with lust, thus arousing the sexual desire in Eve after she ate it. In addition, in another context, the Kabbalistic imply that the serpent followed Eve one day, saying that, “she is a descendant of the north and thus will be able to seduce her.” The text states that the serpent seduced Eve by having sex with her, which is a different account of what the Christians believe (Christensen et al 120). Furthermore, the other tradition of Judaism is that Eve was the Satan’s lover in the Eden, and thus he impregnated her with a son called Cain. Therefore, as per the teachings of Unifications, the disaster of the fall implied that the sexual relationship and unity with Adam, Satan and Eve including all the mankind, who was supposed to be the family of God, were destined to the ancestry of Satan and could not identify their God as the father. When Eve, Adam and human race united with Evil, they, in addition, inherited the fallen nature of Satan.
However, despite the differences in beliefs of Christianity and Judaism in regard to the notion of Original Sin, Adam and Eve and, there are some similarities between the two religions (Sandmel 136). Much of the differences dwell on the cause of sin, the weaknesses of man and the consequences of sin. The following are some of the similarities between Judaism and Christianity on the concept of the Original sin and Adam and Eve.
First, both Christianity and Judaism believe in the notion that God created Adam and Eve. God placed them in the Garden of Eden, allowed them to eat fruits from all the trees except the tree of knowledge (Sandmel 137). Therefore, God demanded total obedience from his creation, which they did until they were convinced by Satan to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree.
Furthermore, both Judaism and Christianity believe that sin is a rebellion by Adam and Eve. However, God made his will clear to the humankind through his expression. Therefore, by going against God’s will becomes a sin (Sandmel 139). Therefore, by disobeying the will of God, the original humankind resulted in sin. Despite this, Wyschorgrod implies that Judaism does not agree with the serious consequences of the humankind sin. Plantinga seems to agree with this statement by stating that the Christians must study their initial religion in order to understand all the consequences related to the sin of the human race (Sandmel 139). This simply implies that both the religion of Judaism and Christianity believe that sin is accompanied by serious consequences.
The similarity on the original sin is that God is supreme and powerful. He is supreme because he created Adam and Eve according to Christianity and Judaism (Sandmel 139). God is powerful because he grants the humans the opportunity to commit sin but at the same time limits their freedom. Both Judaism and Christianity believe that God allowed Adam and Eve to commit the sin so as He could demonstrate his power and mercy (Sandmel 140). The main objective of God to the human beings is to show he loves them and that his love goes beyond hate. This means that both Judaism and Christianity believe in the concept of powerful and merciful God.
Moreover, the religions of Judaism and Christianity believe that the humans are as a result of sinful being. The Judaism religion believes that Satan and Eve had intercourse, Eve became pregnant and gave birth to Cain thus Satan was Cain’s father (Lefebure 50). Similarly, the Christianity echoed this statement through the New Statement in the statement of Jesus Christ, “You are the descendant of your Devil father.” (John chapter 8 verse 44). This is a clear indication that both religions view man as a descendant of sinful being and thus is a sinner before God (Lefebure 59). In addition, the two religion believe the fact that humans live under the two principles in life since the sinful act of Adam and Eve. These principles include loyalty to the almighty God and rebellion. This is because after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, there has been a continuous rebellion behavior (Lefebure 65). Therefore, Christians and Jews term sin to be a continuous and non-stop process and thus the humans cannot avoid it. It is, therefore, the requirement that human race must repent for the rest of their lives and beg forgiveness from God.
In conclusion, it is rational to state that the religions of Christianity and Judaism have some differences and similarities on the concept of Original sin and Adam and Eve. Christianity base their faith on the Original Sin and believe that Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. Therefore, since the original mankind sinned, every man is born as a sinful being. Humans thus inherit sin from their ancestors. On the other hand, Judaism does not accept this concept and believe that humans are born pure without blemish. The Jews believe that humanity is sinful because they are not perfect. Also, Judaism regard death as a natural factor and not a result of sin. Finally, despite the differences and similarities between the two religions, only the duration that humans last on earth will tell given the fact that Christianity religion is founded on faith. This implies that all religions are same and none can be put above the other. Therefore, humans must leave the judgment decision to God.