Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Introduction
The three main world religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions have a great deal of influence around the world. They are hundreds and even thousands of years old and share some similarities in terms of morals, values, and beliefs about the goodness of God. However, they also contrast sharply when it comes to specific doctrines. This paper looks at the historical timeline of these three religions, their theological divisions, how they contrast particularly on two pointsthe nature of Jesus and holy booksand challenges that they face in terms of relations with one another in a globalized world.
Timeline
The historical relationship among Judaism, Christianity and Islam is that Judaism appears first on the historical timeline around 2000 BC. Abraham is considered the founder of Judaism, as he is cited as the Father of the Hebrews (Brenner, 1952). However, Moses is also viewed as a founder of Judaism, because he led the Jews out of captivity in Egypt around 1300 BC. Judaism actually has many fathers and important figures, including David (who restored the Ark of the Covenant to Israel), and the many rabbis who taught the Talmud (the laws and beliefs of the Jews) after the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and the Jews were scattered. Jews reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah, which is why there has historically been contention between Jews and Christians, with Jews seeing Christianityand Islamas false imitators of Judaism (Lasker, 1990). Jews teach that in order to be saved one must adhere to the traditions of the Mosaic Law.
Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ around 30 AD. He established a Church in Jerusalem and gave up His life on the cross for the purpose of redeeming mankind. The geographical intersection of Judaism and Christianity is that Jesus lived and died in the same area where the fathers of Judaism, including Abraham and David, lived and manifested their faith in God (Biddle, Cooper & Robson, 1992). Jesus claimed to be True God, which upset some Jews who refused...
After Jesus, the Mathew, Mark, Luke and John were instrumental in spreading the Gospels, and the convert Paul (a Jewish Roman) helped preach Christianity and spread the belief in Christ. Apostles went as far as Indian (St. Thomas) to spread Christianity. Peter as the first pope, oversaw the organization of the Christian Church. Christianity teaches that salvation comes by way of faith in Jesus Christ.Islam was founded by Mohammed around 600 AD in Mecca, in modern-day Saudi Arabia and was influenced to some degree by Judaism, Christianity, and other religions (Pregill, 2007). Jerusalem is important in Islam because it is believed that this is where Mohammed was taken up into Heaven. Thus, the three religions all view Jerusalem as important (Limor, 2007). Islam, like Judaism, does not view Christ as God but also has its own holy book, which is much different from the Torah and Talmud of modern Judaism. Mohammed claimed to be given the holy book of Islam directly from God, which is known as the Quran. Muslims believe that to be saved one must follow the Quran.
The Nature of Jesus
The nature of Jesus is disputed among the three religions: Jews claim He was a liar and was not God but purely a man and a reprehensible one at that. Christians believe Jesus is true God and true Man, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Islamists view Jesus as more of a prophet, like Abraham, but unconnected to God beyond that and certainly of lesser significance than Mohammed. Jews are said to have killed Christ, because they rejected His claims of divinity and viewed Him as blasphemous, particularly after He attacked their habit of desecrating the Temple by conducting financial dealings there, as described in the New Testament. Jews argue that Christians stole Christs body from the tomb and claimed He rose from the dead. Christians reject this idea and say that Christ rose of His own power and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. In Islam, the nature of Christ is not a matter…
References
Biddle, M., Cooper, M. A. R., & Robson, S. (1992). The Tomb of Christ, Jerusalem: aphotogrammetric survey: a report of the work undertaken under the aegis of the Gresham Jerusalem Project. The Photogrammetric Record, 14(79), 25-43.
Brenner, A. B. (1952). The covenant with Abraham. Psychoanalytic Review, 39(1), 34-52.
Brown, R. E. (1965). Does the New Testament Call Jesus God?. TheologicalStudies, 26(4), 545-573.
Habermas, G. & Licona, M. (2004). The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. GrandRapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
Lasker, D. J. (1990). Proselyte Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Thought of JudahHalevi. The Jewish quarterly review, 75-91.
Limor, O. (2007). Sharing Sacred Space: Holy Places in Jerusalem between Christianity,Judaism, and Islam. Laudem Hierosolymitani: Studies in Crusades and Medieval Culture in Honour of Benjamin Z. Kedar, 219-231.
Pregill, M. E. (2007). The Hebrew Bible and the Quran: the problem of the Jewish‘influence’on Islam. Religion Compass, 1(6), 643-659.
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