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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was raised Protestant, but never really felt like it made sense, even as a kid. As a teenager, I became agnostic, mostly because I couldn't reconcile so many tragedies in the world with the concept of an all-powerful, loving God. I never considered myself an atheist, because I couldn't fully commit to the idea that there is nothing out there, but I was comfortable with questioning and being uncertain of God's existence.

In college, I became friends with an atheist and her certainty that God didn't exist caused a knee-jerk reaction in me that God [i]did[/i] exist. Acknowledging the certainty I felt caused me to reexamine my agnosticism, and ultimately I went looking for a religion that embraced the uncertainty of God's nature (or our understanding of God) without necessarily being uncertain of God's existence. I found Judaism, which encourages questioning and critical thinking and views those not as a crisis of faith, but as an expression of faith. I converted to Judaism and married a Jew and am now raising a Jewish family.[/quote]

"I couldn't fully commit to the idea that there is nothing out there" - Overcoming the fear that has been instilled in you through most of your life both through direct teaching (you were raised protestant) and society/culture (christianity is the majority religion in the US) is typically the last step to realizing truth. It's a shame you have not yet been able to reach it, but I respect your search. [/quote]
I think you may have misunderstood my story. It wasn't out of fear that I rejected atheism (which I never committed to) or agnosticism. I wasn't afraid of the possibility of nothingness or the uncertainty of not knowing; I embraced the unknown of God's existence and largely lived my formative years without God. I realized when presented with atheist certainty that there is no God, that I did, in fact, believe there is a God, and that my issue was simply with the Christian understanding of God, rather than God's existence itself. I'm not still reaching or searching for a truth. For me, Judaism is it.[/quote]

What were your original doubts about agnosticism?  How did you settle on [b]Judaism when Christians and Muslims all are technically worshipping the same God[/b]?  Did you consider any non-Abrahamic?[/quote]

Uh...no. Christians do not believe this.[/quote]

What God are Christians worshipping, in your opinion?  And how does it differ from the Jewish and Muslim God?[/quote]
Non-Christian here, but it seems like they worship Jesus more than God. And, I know, I know, Jesus IS God somehow, but my guess is that if you don't worship Jesus, you're not worshipping the same God, or not doing it correctly? *shrug*[/quote]

I agree with these two previous posts. What I don't understand was the poster who said, "Uh...no. Christians do not believe this."

To this poster, you do realize that Jesus was a Jew? He was born into a Jewish family and was raised in Jewish traditions. He participated in Jewish customs and teachings, which is evident throughout the New Testament.

Take for example Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Jesus' mission was a continuation and fulfillment of Jewish teachings.

For a non-theist, this is in part why certain aspects of religion make zero sense, especially the "Holy Trinity" idea of Christians.

[/quote]

PP here. The traditional Christian position is that Christianity is the continuation of spiritual Israel. In the New Testament, Christ is called the "true Israel" and all who are in Christ are in Israel. Christ is indeed seen as the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament said about the One who was to come. Also in the New Testament, Paul points out that now there is neither Jew nor Greek [Gentile] but all are one in Christ.  He also says the he is a Jew who is one inwardly.

Modern Rabbinic Judaism is seen (both by their own self-identifying account and by Christians) as the continuation of the Pharisaic Judaism that Christ so opposed when He was on earth. Traditionally, Christians see this Pharisaic Rabbinic Judaism as a false Israel.

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