IS CHRISTIANITY IDOLATRY? · Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach

בס”ד

Summary of the Lesson

This is a brief summary of the lesson. It is highly recommended to listen to the full class for the complete sources, context, and detailed explanations.

How Does Judaism View Christianity?

This class is not about whether Christianity is true, nor is it a study of the New Testament or the various denominations within Christianity. The central question is: How do classical Jewish sources define and evaluate Christianity?

To answer that, we must first understand how Judaism defines idolatry.

What Is Idolatry?

According to Maimonides (the Rambam), idolatry developed in two stages:

People believed in G-d but thought He delegated power to stars or other forces, which they began to honor.
Eventually, these forces were worshiped as independent powers, and G-d was forgotten.

The Rambam explains that idolatry contains two essential elements:

Recognizing something other than G-d as possessing divine power (whether alongside Him or instead of Him).
Performing a concrete act of worship toward that entity.

Christianity According to the Rambam

The Rambam explicitly defines Christianity (as he knew it in his time, primarily Catholicism) as idolatry.

Why? Because:

There is belief in a divine entity alongside G-d.
There are concrete religious rituals (such as sacraments).

According to his halachic definition, this qualifies as idolatry.

We still have to analyze whether after the Protestant reform the same definition applies. However, even if we don’t say Christianity is idolatry after the reform, certainly falls in to the catering of Shituf / Association.

What Is Shituf?

Shituf means associating G-d with something else — acknowledging G-d but in partnership with another entity.

For Jews, this is completely forbidden.

For non-Jews, however, there is a halachic debate:

Rabbi Moses Isserles (the Rama) writes that shituf may be permitted for non-Jews.
Rabbi Ezekiel Landau (the Noda BiYehuda) argues that this is a misunderstanding and that such association is also forbidden.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson explains that even if shituf is technically permitted for non-Jews, it is certainly not G-d’s ideal will.

In Short

According to the Rambam, classical Christianity is idolatry.
Some later authorities distinguish between full idolatry and shituf.
For Jews, any association alongside God is forbidden.
For non-Jews, there is a halachic disagreement.

For the full depth, sources, and reasoning behind these positions, listening to the complete lesson is strongly recommended.

With thanks to Rabbi Tuvia Serber for the shiur and the feedback.

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