Common Threads Throughout Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

Religion is a universal term that is widely used for a human’s belief system. The views on how religions compare to one another can be defined differently. One view explains religions using a united belief system by their common goals. Another view explains that different religions are just a shared essence and have vast differences between their specific traditions and customs. This shared essence, but vastly different theory, is explained by Stephen Prothero, using the term “pretend pluralism”. There are many major and minor religions that have guided people in their morals and beliefs. Religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. All five of these current, major religions have vast differences, but may have common goals in their morals, traditions, etc. Two of the most practiced religions, of these five, are Christianity and Islam. These two religions are constantly at battle with one another, but what many people don’t see is that there are just as many similarities between these two religions as there are differences. Through this paper we will discover the underlying similarities and differences between these two religions and, hopefully, conclude that supports either the common goal theory or the “pretend pluralism” theory.

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have similar origins, development, beliefs, and sacred texts. Contrary to popular belief all three of these religions share more common ground than one would think. The differences are present of course, but the similarities help one understand where all three were derived from and why. All of the religions share the common ground as to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the belief of monotheism, and “ethical standards required social justice for individuals and for the community” (144). Judaism is the oldest religion out of the three, then falls Christianity, and lastly Islam.

Many times people got into fights, end friendships, and become even violence because of some disagreements on matters of faith or religious. Sometimes knowing more about other religions might help people avoid conflicts between each other, and eventually might lead to living together peacefully. The most famous three religions -People of the book- are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism is the oldest organized religion in the world; however, it only has 14 million followers around the world most of them centered in North America and Israel. Christianity, came after Judaism and have two billion believers around the world, and that’s about one third of the world population. Finally, Islam came after Judaism and Christianity. Even though Islam came afterwards, it spread quickly around the world, and today there are around 1.3 billion Muslims around the world. Although those three religions might look very different on the outside, they have much more in common than people might think.

The anthropological studies of religion show that individuals use religion to serve different purposes, but they rarely note that these functions are different in some cultures. These religions involve both cosmological and transcendental which vary in their beliefs and practices. The transcendental religions view the existence of the universe as strong evidence for God’s presence. This religion assumes a Supreme God created the universe and that he still maintains its existence. Cosmology, on the contrary, is highly individualistic in both character and philosophical outlook and they resist any common doctrinal stance. While transcendentalists believe in ultimate power in supernatural powers, cosmological religions believe in ultimate power from the natural world. The essay will compare between two cosmological religions which include, archaic religion and the primitive religion as well as one transcendentalist religion of Christianity together with how disenchantment de-legitimize cosmological religions.

For purpose of this essay, religion will be defined as a collection of institutional beliefs and customs concerning humanity and the purpose of the universe [1]. Key beliefs within religion that will be explored, as well as there relation to reason, are:

How have Judaism, Christianity, and Islam shaped the politics and culture of the Eastern Mediterranean?

Religion as seen by many is a set of principles which gives you a purpose to live and lead your life. For others it is a force and a law which restricts their freedom and their choice of living their life. Despite how it appears to be and how it may be defined, there are several religions in the world such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and more. Each one of them may differ in the set of beliefs and the principles which they lay but all of these world religions preach some universal truths; spreading the message of love, abstaining from crime and doing no harm to the others. Since every religion has a whole new concept of dimensions worth studying, this paper focuses the religion followed by the Jews; Judaism.

The traditions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism do have their teachings and ideas about justice and charity that are very similar but also distinctive in some ways. Each of these religious traditions feature the same One God, who is said to have created the entire Universe, and everything in it, and is omniscient and omnipotent, and has chosen to intervene in life’s history on Earth as well as humanity’s history. In the traditions of Judaism, God chose the offspring of the original Patriarch, Abraham, who would provide this Earth with God’s Chosen, Blessed People, the Jews or Hebrews, who would be given special status and enjoy a special covenant with God. This covenant included the Promised Land and the Torah, which is the holy book of Judaism. All the laws, instructions, and guidelines for God’s vision for His Chosen People is contained in the Torah. Justice is primarily originated and served by God in Heaven. He is the final arbiter and final judge on humans. As the Judaic tradition reveals, at times, God gets very angry with the Chosen People, the Jews, and these Jews are severely punished and horrifically brutalized as evident in the Torah version of the Great Flood as well as the wanderings in the Sinai Desert for forty years due to lack of faith. Justice is served by God in a punishing, cruel way at times in order to teach the Jews harsh lessons about disobedience and unfaithfulness. On the other hand, when the Jews display strong faith and love for

Religion is a fundamental element of human society. It is what binds a country, society or group of individuals together. However, in some instances it destroys unity amoungst these. Religion is a belief in a superhuman entity(s) which control(s) the universe. Every religion has its differences but most strive for a just life and the right morals. The three major groups are the primal regions which consist of African, Aboriginal and Native American religions, Asian which consist of South Eastern Asian religions and Abrahamic religions which consist of Middle Eastern religions. The foci of this essay are the differences between the Abrahamic religion, Christianity, and the Asian region Buddhism as well as making reference to the Islamic

The Interrelationships between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam begin with the Patriarch Abraham. In the Hebrew biblical scriptures Abraham is introduced, God declares a covenant with him, and God prophesizes that Abraham eventually becomes the “father of many nations.” The story of Abraham commences ten generations after the legend of Noah, Abraham then named Abram was born in the city of Ur in Babylonia his father was Terah, a merchant and worshiper of idols, but from his early childhood, he questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. Abram believed that there was one Creator, and God called upon Abram to leave his father and the religion that worshipped idols and journey to Canaan, so with a great exposition of faith Abram

Religion plays a huge role in today’s day and age. In fact, religion has been of huge importance since cavemen were, well, cavemen. Religion is the factor that keeps many people going in life but at the same time, the same reason our world has so many problems and has been torn apart. Through studying the main tenets in call, Judaism, Christianity and Islam were analyzed for weeks. Christianity and Islam take the cake for the two biggest religions in today’s population however, Judaism plays the smallest role. These three religions, although different, are easily able to be compared and contrasted because of all of the history and information we have attained towards these separate beliefs. I think it is crucial that these religions be studied by people all around the world so that we can be understanding towards other religions, not just our own. Through religious beliefs, things we can learn through teachings and comparing and contrasting we can learn more about Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Monotheistic religions can range from all types of extremities from around the world. Monotheistic religion refers to the belief in a single, universal God. Common examples are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (answers.com). There are different types ranging from different regions yet; some could be so similar at the same time in their teachings. Islamic and Christianity religions are two of the biggest religions in the world and are so different and in some aspects the same. The two religions also share some rivalries that have been displayed in the media because of the view that Islam has on the Christianity culture. I will be further exploring the beginnings of both religions and the teachings that it has passed down to generations. First of all, I will be discussing Christianity and its humble beginnings. I will explore the views of anthropologist and the teachings of this religion. Second, I will be exploring the Islamic religion and its humble beginnings. I will be discussing anthropologist points of view of the Islamic religion and its teachings. Finally, I will be closing with the differences that these two religions have and how it has affected people around the world with the disagreements that both sides have in their style of teachings and its implemented actions that one has to follow.

When discussing religion, many people have different perspectives about religion beliefs and how to approach it. Religion is grouped in different sections such as, religion and spirituality, religion and philosophy, and religion and politics. Religion has many different views from different cultures because everyone approaches it differently with different beliefs also. To make something religion, is to have some type of belief in God, but everyone’s belief is different depending on the culture someone is located in. In society back then and today, religion has no set essence of a definition because of the different aspects people group religion in. This paper will explain the different aspects of what people believe constitutes different types of religion.

On this vast planet religions are becoming more prevalent and are being studied more frequently in recent times. Many individuals want to study and learn about the origins of some religions, on where they were developed and what was the cause of this glorification of a divine. The art of religion is processed by many ideologies, background, beliefs, myths, and rituals. The five major religions of the world include: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are solely based on these ideologies, and ultimately leads to one goal, to follow the path of god, or to seek a euphoric state of salvation. In spite of all the differences among the world’s five major religions, they have very similar ethical constructs, which should encourage more mutual respect among them.