***Most Christians do not realize the true width of the chasm that exists. Much of it has to do with the fact that Christians adopted Jewish scriptures and Christianized it, so we feel it’s partial “ours.” Trouble is, the way we read it and the way the Jews read it is like night and day.
If you want to imagine how a Jew feels in a Christian world, imagine a Catholic/Orthodox living in a Mormon world...***
Hmm. I knew this, but have never really thought about it in depth.
Would you say that sin is active or passive disobedience to God, then?...(#17)
That is precisely how Judaism sees sin. Not absence or separation from God, but disobedience of the Law of God. The Christians talk about Ten Commandments as part of the "Judeo-Christian" culture, but fail to mention that the Jews have no less than 613 God's commandments, the mitzvot, and another dozen or so rabbinical ones.
The Jews don't practice their religion; they observe (obey) it (the Law). A religious Jew is an observant Jew, not a "practicing" Jew. What does that mean? That means, they either do (commit) some things pleasing to God, or refrain from doing (omit) some things displeasing to God. The mitzvot of commission (I believe) slightly outnumber the mitzvot of omission. As CZ wrote recently, to believe in God is a mitzvah (singular of mitzvot); to be compassionate is a mitzvah, an eye for an eye is a mitzvah, "righteous anger" (something so alien to Catholics and Orthodox) is a mitzvah, to not covet one's wife to observe the Sabbath, to not steal, to not worship idols, etc., etc. are all mitzvot.
The Ten Commandments are yet another excellent example of the unbridgeable is the chasm that exists between Christian and Jewish concepts, in this case sin. Christians cherry-picked ten out of 613!
Jewish approach to sin is also viewed from a different angle. Adam and Eve were disobedient and they received rightful punishment. They didn't need to be saved. By sparing their lives, God saved them. He just didn't reward them as he did before, because they were disobedient. (But, according tot he Bible, the debt of disobedience would have been paid back by the fourth generation, so I am not sure how why they were not restored to their previous state. Maybe CZ can helps us here with the Jewish perspective).
There is a whole slew of theological concepts the Christians borrowed from Judaism and then changed their meaning. Some that come to mind
So, now you can understand that the when John the Forerunner (Baptist) kept saying "repent, the Kingdom of God is near" he and his followers had something else in mind than what the Christians hear.
In Acts 1:4 Jesus tells the disciples to go to Jerusalem and stay there and wait "things concerning the Kingdom of God." In response (verse 6) the disciples ask "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel ?"