Judeo-Christian

The Judeo-Christian tradition consists of those beliefs and mores which Christianity derives from Judaism. The belief in God as a benevolent, omnipotent creator; the Ten Commandments. Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, and typically considered a fundamental basis for Western world legal codes and moral values. In particular, the term refers to the common Old Testament/Tanakh (which is a basis of both moral traditions, including particularly the Ten Commandments); and implies a common set of values present in the modern Western World.

Compare with Ebionites and Judaizers.

Use of term in United States law

In the legal case of Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), the Supreme Court of the United States held that a state legislature could constitutionally have a paid chaplain conduct legislative prayers "in the Judeo-Christian tradition." In Simpson v. Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, No. 04-1045 (4th Cir. 2005), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Supreme Court's holding in the Marsh case permitting legislative bodies to conduct prayer in the "Judeo-Christian tradition" entitled Chesterfield County's Board of Supervisors to limit the clergy it invited to lead its legislative prayers to members of monotheistic religions. It held that Chesterfield County could constitutionally exclude Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan priestess, from leading its legislative prayers, because her faith was not "in the Judeo-Christian tradition." Chesterfield County's Board included Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy in its invited list.

Criticism of the term

The term Judeo-Christian has been criticized for implying more commonality than actually exists. In The Myth of the Judeo-Christian Tradition, Jewish theologian-novelist Arthur A. Cohen questions the theological appropriateness of the term and suggests that it was essentially an invention of American politics.. It has been suggested that the term obscures fundamental differences between the two religions - Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits writes that "Judaism is Judaism because it rejects Christianity, and Christianity is Christianity because it rejects Judaism" - while erasing continuities between them and other religions, especially other monotheistic faiths. The Slovenian postmodern philosopher Slavoj Žižek has argued in this last point that the term Judeo-Muslim to describe the middle-east culture against the western Christian culture would be more appropriate in these days, especially noting the reduced influence from the Jewish culture on the western world due to the historical persecution and exclusion of the Jewish minority. A Judaeo-Christian-Muslim concept thus refers to the three main monotheistic religions that root to the Babylonian civilization, commonly known as the Abrahamic Religions.