why is judaism less popular than christianity and islam?
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism never developed into a proselytizing religion. Formed from the 12 tribes of Israel, Judaism is a 'family' religion. It does not urge its 'family' members to reach out to the far corners of the Earth and convert non-believers to its creed, and indeed even the early followers of Christ were only interested in converting Jews.
Jesus believed he was the son of God and the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Judah - for which he was sentenced to death by crucifixion by his own people - but even his own family did not believe in him, thinking him crazy, during his lifetime. It was only after his death that his family, seeing a multitude of people mourning him, that his family - particularly his brother James - took up his cause, appealing to the tribes of Israel to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah.
For this, James, too, was sentenced to death. He was stoned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrin in c 60AD - making Jews less likely than ever to accept Jesus as their Messiah. Faced with this fact, the early Christians eventually decided, with much heartache, to break with the Jews and win, instead, the hearts and the minds of the pagans that they had previously despised as being 'unclean'.
If Christianity and Islam are more popular today than Judaism then it has a lot to do with the aggressive way both of these religions developed into organizations bent upon mass conversion of non-believers, but there is another 'popular' force within these religions that differs markedly from Judaism and makes conversions palatable.
Basically, both Christianity and Islam promise a 'paradise' after death that Judaism has no need to dwell upon. To be the Chosen People of God is 'enough' for the Jews. Their religion does not need a 'carrot' in the form of: behave well in this life and you will be rewarded in heaven (with young virgins, or whatever).
Judaism is a 'here and now' religion. God takes care of His Chosen People - the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Isreal) - by ensuring their prosperity on Earth, and the Jews take care of God by following the Covenants. When awful calamities befall the Jews - and there have been many calamities throughout history that have directly affected them - there is an acceptance that God has punished His Chosen People for a good reason.
Christianity and Islam are not exactly 'here and now' religions. Because both rely heavily on the pleasures of paradise after death, they are extremely attractive religions to the multitudes of poor and afflicted people whose lives on Earth are hellish.
Simply put, whereas a wayward Jew may be chastised by a threat that 'God will strike you, make your business go bankrupt or deprive you of children', a wayward Christian or Moslem is more likely to be chastised by a threat that 'God will send you to Hell when you die'. Also, whereas a Christian or Moslem visiting an African refugee camp is likely to hand out bibles or religious tracts, a Jew is more likely to hand out contraceptives (to prevent more Africans from being born into misery.)
It can be surmised by this that those in control of both the Christian and Moslem religions - who have traditionally lived in luxury in Rome or Mecca - have a vested interest in both maintaining the hellish lives of their flocks on Earth and creating more hell on Earth in order to 'save' the new generation of converts. Hence, the Dark Ages, marked by deliberate withholding of knowledge from ordinary people by religious leaders; promotion of endless wars creating endless misery; the practice of tithing of earnings by which poor families were further impoverished; and strict religious laws promoting the creation of far more children than any poor family can sustain.
Being popular religions, therefore, does not necessarily make Christianity and Islam better or more truer than Judaism or any other religion.
When the popularity of any religion in the world - assessed by census statistics - can be directly correlated with the incidence of poverty and affliction, it is more an indictment against that religion than an accolade.
Jesus believed he was the son of God and the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Judah - for which he was sentenced to death by crucifixion by his own people - but even his own family did not believe in him, thinking him crazy, during his lifetime. It was only after his death that his family, seeing a multitude of people mourning him, that his family - particularly his brother James - took up his cause, appealing to the tribes of Israel to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah.
For this, James, too, was sentenced to death. He was stoned to death by the Jewish Sanhedrin in c 60AD - making Jews less likely than ever to accept Jesus as their Messiah. Faced with this fact, the early Christians eventually decided, with much heartache, to break with the Jews and win, instead, the hearts and the minds of the pagans that they had previously despised as being 'unclean'.
If Christianity and Islam are more popular today than Judaism then it has a lot to do with the aggressive way both of these religions developed into organizations bent upon mass conversion of non-believers, but there is another 'popular' force within these religions that differs markedly from Judaism and makes conversions palatable.
Basically, both Christianity and Islam promise a 'paradise' after death that Judaism has no need to dwell upon. To be the Chosen People of God is 'enough' for the Jews. Their religion does not need a 'carrot' in the form of: behave well in this life and you will be rewarded in heaven (with young virgins, or whatever).
Judaism is a 'here and now' religion. God takes care of His Chosen People - the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Isreal) - by ensuring their prosperity on Earth, and the Jews take care of God by following the Covenants. When awful calamities befall the Jews - and there have been many calamities throughout history that have directly affected them - there is an acceptance that God has punished His Chosen People for a good reason.
Christianity and Islam are not exactly 'here and now' religions. Because both rely heavily on the pleasures of paradise after death, they are extremely attractive religions to the multitudes of poor and afflicted people whose lives on Earth are hellish.
Simply put, whereas a wayward Jew may be chastised by a threat that 'God will strike you, make your business go bankrupt or deprive you of children', a wayward Christian or Moslem is more likely to be chastised by a threat that 'God will send you to Hell when you die'. Also, whereas a Christian or Moslem visiting an African refugee camp is likely to hand out bibles or religious tracts, a Jew is more likely to hand out contraceptives (to prevent more Africans from being born into misery.)
It can be surmised by this that those in control of both the Christian and Moslem religions - who have traditionally lived in luxury in Rome or Mecca - have a vested interest in both maintaining the hellish lives of their flocks on Earth and creating more hell on Earth in order to 'save' the new generation of converts. Hence, the Dark Ages, marked by deliberate withholding of knowledge from ordinary people by religious leaders; promotion of endless wars creating endless misery; the practice of tithing of earnings by which poor families were further impoverished; and strict religious laws promoting the creation of far more children than any poor family can sustain.
Being popular religions, therefore, does not necessarily make Christianity and Islam better or more truer than Judaism or any other religion.
When the popularity of any religion in the world - assessed by census statistics - can be directly correlated with the incidence of poverty and affliction, it is more an indictment against that religion than an accolade.
Labels: christianity, converting, islam, judaism, proselytizing, religion
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