Does the Jewish tradition command Jews to love Christians, who believe in a triune (trinity) God and believe that Jesus is God or a part of the triune God? If so does this extend to fringe minority Christian groups like Mormons, Unitarians, etc. who don’t believe Jesus to be God?
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1Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/45739/5323– MTLSep 28, 2014 at 3:18
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Duplicate? judaism.stackexchange.com/q/45555– msh210 ♦Sep 29, 2014 at 19:44
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possible duplicate of V'ahavta l're'eicha kamocha -- re'eicha velo akum?– user3178Oct 15, 2014 at 22:51
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1@fredsbend Not sure....that question asks about a general case, but this one is specifically about Christians and if their beliefs would change anything. I'm voting to leave open.– MTLOct 19, 2014 at 2:07
1 Answer
The commandment of "love your neighbor as yourself" has been interpreted by some to refer only to fellow Jews, but some interpret it to mean we must love all people. See this quotation, for example, from Sefer HaBris:
More generally, the Talmud repeatedly emphasizes the importance of emulating God's traits of love and compassion. This necessarily involves loving, having compassion on, and assisting all people, regardless of their faith, and even animals as well.
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Its strange but I have seen some talmud sections explicitly and harshly criticizing Christians and ask us to hate them. Sep 28, 2014 at 10:23
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@MikoelHamm Many Talmudic passages have been misinterpreted by those with no or little knowledge. (Often with the intent to disparage Judaism.) To the best of my understanding, the Talmud distinguishes between Noahides and Gentiles living amongst Jews in , Israel. (If I am not mistaken it is based on the concept that Jews were strangers in a strange land so we must respect and treat the stranger as we would like to be treated.) Both of these groups are actually looked upon favorably.........– JJLLOct 28, 2014 at 1:30
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........The term "Heathen" or "Idolators" (aka, Pagans) is often assumed to refer to Christians. This is not the case however. Pagans are polythesiasts who worship multiple gods. Admittedly the concept of Trinity has been debated extensively within Judaism as to whether or not it is a form of polythesiasm. Whether or not Jews are required to love all peoples is up for debate but there is absolutely no question that Jews believe that all humans were made in G-d's image and deserve to be treated as such.– JJLLOct 28, 2014 at 1:37