Thoma wrote:i really dont understand why you love the Jewish people so much while most Jewish, secular and religious alike, either despise Christianity or sees it as a pagan religion simply because they lack the knowledge and the will to truely understand church dogmas.
Hi Thoma,
To speak in general terms (not regarding the Jewish people specifically), we, as Christians have a love for all people, not because of who
they are or what
they believe, but because of who
we are and what
we believe. "If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1ff)
Some Christians simply have a deep-seeded interest in Judaism and the Jewish people. This happens for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is our heritage and identity as Christians (this is what fuels my particular interest). Some may feel a sense of love and compassion because of the particular historical experience of the Jewish people. It is also true that individual Christians may feel a particular love for a certain set of people simply because God calls them to that, despite the fact that it might be "easier" to go another way (you could look at Paul and the Gentiles, Blessed Mother Theresa and the indigent in Calcutta, or Blessed Father Damian who ministered to lepers on the island of Molokai).
Thoma wrote:Judaism and Christianity developed from the same origins and around the same time.
Actually, that is not quite so, and I'm sure that Ariel can direct you to the material on the website that best teaches about the unfolding of God's plan of salvation. In short, God established a relationship with the Jewish people over many thousands of years and revealed himself to them in a way that he had not to other peoples of the world. Only when the time was right did God, out of pure love for
all of His people, send the long-awaited Messiah, his Son, Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine to bring all people into relationship with Himself. It is from this point that most people tend to date the "establishment" of Christianity. So from this perspective, Judaism is far older than Christianity. However, we as Catholics see the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Church as the fulfillment of God's plan from the very beginning, despite the fact that the person of Jesus Christ was not known to humanity before a particular point in history. For more on this you could see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 759 and following (
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a9p1.htm#II).
With the love of Christ :-),
Hadassah