Oct 1, 2011 -- 9:07PM, ffb wrote:

I have never liked the phrase. Though there is a useful conenction between the "Abrahamic" faiths, there is so much that divides Judaism and Christianity (and Islam) that the simple minded linkage is more destructive than helpful.

BS"D

For some reason I have never been able to find a real and direct link between the faiths of Abraham and the faiths of Ibrahim except in the imagination of someone who is practicing neither.  But in the ramblings of occultism there is a solid connection, for what it's worth.  That is the only place I could find it consistently.   Might as well posit a connection between infra-red and burnt-umber for all the good it does.  Better IMHO because such a connection does no real harm.

When you see "Judeo-Christian" used in an academic capacity (and I've never seen it used any other way), it generally means things which are Jewish which Christians also do.

For instance, American law is Judeo-Christian. If you trace the evolution of American law back through English law, you will eventually hit the Church, and then you will eventually go all the way back to Judaism. Double-jeopardy? Jewish. No testimony to be extracted by torture? Jewish. Right against self-incrimination? Jewish. (BTW, the book "Where Judaism Differs" by Abba Hillel Silver discusses the differences between Judaism and Greco-Roman paganism and, to a lesser extent, the differences between Judaism and the other two monotheistic faiths.)

See, I did the same thing in a different context: Greco-Roman. Because Greece and Roman often overlapped in religion and law and philosophy (Rome built on a lot of Greek principals), when you're discussing something which is applicable to both, you refer to it as Greco-Roman. The same thing is true of Judeo-Christian.