Originally posted by Lokrian
All religions evolve. Christianity could be described as evolving out of Judaism...
Not quite. Christianity is the new covenant; the old (under which the Jews lived) was designed to point people to Christ. When Jesus came, lived, died, and defeated death through his restoration to life, the old covenant was obsoleted - one might say, marked out of use, such that garbage collection could eliminate it. (Trust Rosuav to bring geekiness into even this!) God's plan was for the nation to welcome the new ways with open arms, though in His sovereignty He knew that some would not. In a sense, since we are dealing with the same God, it is the same religion; but Jesus stated in a number of ways that the laws would be different - both more relaxed (a lot of the ceremonial washings and sacrifices were eliminated), and more strict (eg hating someone and wishing them dead is as much sin as actually murdering them).

The old covenant (the one made with Abraham and renewed to Isaac and Jacob/Israel) was largely based on biological descent - the sons and daughters of the line. Outsiders brought into Israelite ways are rare and noteworthy (for instance Ruth, a Moabitess, who not only became a Jew but became great grandmother to David the psalmist and king); today, most Christians are Gentile by birth, simply because the Jews are one nation, and there are many that are not Jews. So Christianity is quite different from Judaism, and yet, it is quite similar too.