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Comparing Judaism, Islam, and Christianity
By Richard Jones
Judaism, Islam, and Christianity make up the three largest religions in the world. These top three religions have many similarities and differences. Among their major similarities is their common regard for historical and religious figure named Abraham. Two other major similarities are their belief in monotheism and Jerusalem as a holy city. While these similarities are significant, they also have many differences. Their differences include: their view of Jesus Christ, religious texts, and how they approach God in prayer. If all three religions hold steadfast to their core religious beliefs, then reconciliation and unity among them will never take place. However even in their disagreements, they do have similarities. One important similarity between all three religions is the importance they place on the historical figure Abraham. In Islam the life and faithfulness of Abraham is celebrated in a Varity of ways. In the five pillars of Islam, the fifth one called pilgrimage or hajj is used as a remembrance of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son to obey God. Another way that Islam recognizes his importance is through the Feast of Sacrifice. On the tenth day of pilgrimage month the head of each Islamic household is to kill an animal and provide a feast. (Hopfe 371) As Abraham plays an important role in the faith of the Islamic people, he is equally revered in Judaism. He is seen as the father of the Jewish faith, he is also known as the patriarch of the Jewish people. It is believed that Abraham established a covenant with God after being obedient in his willingness to sacrifice his son. The importance of Abraham is also seen in the tradition of circumcision. “Genesis traces the ritual back to a commandment of God to Abraham (Genesis 17:10, 11)” Hopfe 256 In the Old Testament God told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, which Judaism considers to be Israel. Christianity also has a high regard for Abraham. He is spoken of highly in both the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament evangelists and early church of Christianity recognized Abraham for his covenant with God. Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, speaks of Abraham and the importance of his early covenant. With Christianity recognizing the Old Testament, Abraham and his importance to the establishment of the Jewish people and the coming of Jesus, sets the basis for his acceptance and high regard with in Christianity itself. The importance of Abraham in all three religions steams from a common thread of Abraham’s obedience to God. All three religions share sacred religious texts of Abraham. While it seems that their foundations are very similar, their views on Jesus Christ are not. All three religions have a different view of who Jesus Christ was. In Christianity Jesus is the messiah that is talked about in the Old Testament. Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the requirements and prophecies that the prophets spoke about. One of their key reasons for believing this is their belief in his resurrection from the dead. Jesus played a significant role in establishing Christianity and training his followers to share his message. This led to the writing of the New Testament and its importance in the Christian faith. Tensions between Christianity and Judaism arose over their differing views of who Jesus Christ was. Judaism didn’t accept Jesus as the messiah they’d been waiting for. They believe that a messiah is still to come and that Jesus was simply an educated Jewish rabbi. (http://judaism.about.com/od/beliefs/a/jesus.htm). While Judaism rejects anything divine about Jesus, Islam sees him as a prophet. He is seen as a great teacher, but not the son of God as Christians see him. However, according to Islamic belief Jesus was born of a Virgin and preformed great miracles. (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Islamic_view_of_Jesus) Islam teaches that Allah sent Jesus to the Earth to reveal to them new scriptures. They now believe that through human error some of this scripture has been tainted by human error. One such error is how he died. While Christians maintain that he died on a cross for their sins, Muslims believe he was alive when God called him to heaven. (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Islamic_view_of_Jesus) The life and death of Jesus remains a differing point among the three religions. Christians believe that Jesus came as the son of God and died on the cross and rose again for their sins. Jews believe that Jesus was a great rabbi, but nothing more. While Islam agrees with Christianity in the virgin birth and miracles, they only see him as prophet. Even with this disagreement all three religions are monotheistic. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are all monotheistic religions that believe in a single God. While Christianity is actually a form of Trinitarian Monotheism, it can still be considered monotheistic. Some would argue that Christians believe in three separate Gods; however Christians would rebuttal with an established belief that all three members of the trinity make up a single God. “Trinitarian Monotheism is the view that there is only one God, but within this one God are three distinct yet equal persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (“trinitas” means “three”). Only biblical Christianity affirms Trinitarian Monotheism.” (http://www.theologicalstudies.org/8_views_God.html) Islam believes in one God without regard for the trinity. “The most basic belief of Islam is that there is only one God, who is called Allah…” (Hopfe 346) Judaism also holds the belief of one God who is almighty and everlasting. Islam goes a bit farther and proclaims that the God of the Christians and Jews is Allah, “…there is only one God, who is called Allah, the same God worshiped by Jews and Christians.” (Hopfe 346) While Judaism and Christianity would disagree with this statement, they would also disagree on the importance of different religious texts. While there are some common religious texts between the three religions, they disagree on divine inspiration and importance. Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God. There is common belief within Christianity in the inerrancy of both the Old and New Testaments. The holy book of Islam is the Qur’an. The Qur’an is believed to be the very word of God and was not subject to human interpretation errors. “Qur’an is the word of God: It is eternal, absolute, and irrevocable.” (Hopfe 352) While the Christians admit that they believe the Bible to be written by humans with inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Since Muslims believe so firmly in the Qur’an, they take great efforts to memorizes as much of the text as possible. Christians also believe in Bible memorization, however not to the extent of Muslims. The holy text for Judaism is the Torah. Like Muslims, Jews go to great efforts to memorize as much of their holy texts as possible. The high emphasis on memorization shows not only their dedication, but also their reverence for the text itself. Even with some common religious texts, the three religions remain divided in their agreement on each texts validity. However, they all agree on Jerusalem as being a historical and religious site for each of their religions. Jerusalem has a rich religious and historical background that is important to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. For Muslims, Jerusalem was the first place they were instructed to pray toward, it was later changed to Mecca. The Prophet Muhammad instructed followers of Islam to embark on journeys to three temples, one of which is the one located in Jerusalem. “It is reported that the Prophet Muhammad said, "There are only three mosques to which you should embark on a journey: the sacred mosque (Mecca, Saudi Arabia), this mosque of mine (Madinah, Saudi Arabia), and the mosque of Al-Aqsa (Jerusalem)." (http://islam.about.com/od/jerusalem/a/quds.htm) Jerusalem is also significant to Muslims because it is believed to be the place where the Prophet Muhammad acceded into the heavens. For Christians Jerusalem is also an important religious place. They believe that it is the place where Jesus completed his earthly ministry and was crucified. “Thus Jerusalem is the stage on which God's plan of salvation was put into effect.” (http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/er/christ/Cglossry.htm#ltr.j) Jerusalem’s significance goes back to the foundations of Judaism. Judaism considers Jerusalem to be a holy and sacred land. Jews believe in praying toward the city and mentioning the city often in their prayers. (http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/6358/significance-of-jerusalem-in-islam-judaism-and-christianity.html) Jerusalem was proclaimed a religious capital by King Solomon and was the location of the main Jewish temple. Jerusalem remains equally important to all three religions to this day. Prayer is also very important, but different in each of the three religions. All three religions believe in prayer as a way to communicate with God; however they differ in how they should approach Him in prayer. In Islam, prayer is one of the Five Pillars of faith. Muslims are told to pray five times a day toward Mecca. During their prayer time, male and females are separated and each person must wash themselves to cleanse themselves of any impurities. (Hopfe 357). Prayer plays an import role in the life of Jews also. “Jews are supposed to pray three times a day; morning, afternoon, and evening.” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/worship/prayer_1.shtml) They believe that the more they pray, the closer they get to God. Some Jews use prayer books or prewritten prayers, while others simply speak to God from their heart. This is a similarity with Christianity. Some Christians have prewritten prayers while others believe they should simply pray what is “on their heart”. Most Christians do not have a set number of times to pray during the day, but they also believe that prayer draws them closer to God. While all religions believe that God will hear their prayers, each one has different way that they teach their followers to approach God. Even with the different ways of approaching God, the ritual of prayer remains established in all three religions. The three religions have some universal themes that are shared among them. One of these is the belief of an afterlife. Each religion believes that a person dies once and then enters a spiritual place. Although they differ on where people go after death, the belief of eternity is a common thread between them. They also believe that God is all powerful. In each religion they consider God to be omnipresent, in other words, all knowing and all seeing, present at every place all at once. All three also have meeting places set aside in their communities where they can go to worship and pray, for Muslim they go to a mosque, Christians to a church, and Jews to a synagogue. They believe in fellowshipping together and have close ties with other members of their religion. This and other similarities may not be enough to bring the three religions together.
There are ways that the three major religions of the world can be reconciled, however the possibility is unlikely. In order for Islam, Christianity, and Judaism to come together, they would each have to give up some of their core beliefs. For instance, Judaism and Christianity could not come together unless they resolve who Jesus Christ was. This would require Jews to accept Him as the messiah, or Christians to deny him as the messiah. For Islam and Christianity to unite they would have to address both Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad and their place in religious unity. The very core of each religion would have to compromise their beliefs to accept that another group is correct. I don’t see this ever happening because of the intense belief that each religion believes theirs is the only correct one. It seems that their significant differences will forever outweigh any of their similarities. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism remain the world three most popular religions. They have many similarities and differences among their beliefs and practices. All three religions started with the same historical figure of Abraham, but later branched off into varying beliefs of who God is and how he has communicated with humanity. While all three religions believe in the power of prayer, they differ in how to approach God. Christians believe they need a mediator, Jesus Christ, while Jews and Muslims approach prayer in a more structured way. There major differences on the importance religious texts entrenches their separation to a point that may be unbridgeable. They can never reconcile their faiths among each other if they hold to their core beliefs outlined in their individual religious texts. Bibliography Hope, Lewis, and Woodward, Mark. Religions of the World. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc, 2009 Theological Studies. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.theologicalstudies.org/8_views_God.html Absolute Astronomy. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Islamic_view_of_Jesus Bible History. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.biblehistory.com/Jewish.html About.Com. 06 Dec 2009 http://judaism.about.com/od/beliefs/a/jesus.htm Sound Vision. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.soundvision.com/info/hajj/abraham.asp Public Broadcasting Station. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/themes/religion/index.html About.Com. 06 Dec 2009 http://islam.about.com/od/jerusalem/a/quds.htm University of Wyoming. 06 Dec 2009 http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/er/christ/Cglossry.htm#ltr.j Turkish Weekly. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/6358/significance-of-jerusalem-in-islam-judaism-and-c... BBC News. 06 Dec 2009 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/worship/prayer_1.shtml
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Great research and even greater presentation!
Keep up the informative intels.
Thanks,
Frederick
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