Early Religions Of The Middle East

of the world and retreated into the heavens, leaving Shu to reign in his place.

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.

In its Golden Age, Islam’s influence reached all the way to Spain, Anatolia, West Africa, and India, among other regions. While these regions were all, in a way, united under a common religion, each of them both altered and were altered by Islam in their own unique ways. Although there were similarities that existed with the spread of Islam to each of those places, many more differences prevailed. Differences and similarities existed in the forms of the role of migration, role of trade, role of cultural exchange, methods of conversion to Islam, and the unique cultural developments in each region.

The Middle East supports three major religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. All three have a tie to Jerusalem as a Holy City. These religions don’t get along very well because of their differences, but they also have some unseen similarities.

The Middle East is home to the creation of so many different cultures and religions. It is the home to the most prominent monotheistic faiths of this lifetime. Those faiths are Christianity, essentially Catholicism, and Islam. They do not only share a similar origin, but share the same ancestors and stories of prophets and people. There is a connection between the profound values of truth, love, and mercy that Catholics and Muslims hold dear. Although there are a great many commonalities between Catholicism and Islam, it is important to note the key foundations that make both religions special.

Hagner, D., Hengel, M. & Barrett, C. (1999). Conflicts and challenges in early Christianity. Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International.

The term “myth” is often associated with stories that are considered to be false. In the context of religion, however, the term, “myth”, describes any of the tales that are accepted by a given religion, and these stories are usually treated as historical fact by followers. The Abrahamic religions would likely agree that most of the myths in their sacred texts are indeed historical facts. There are parallels between the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that should be recognised. The similarities are greatly apparent in the myths that are described within their holy books: the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, respectively. This paper will compare the myths of creation; the great flood; the prophets: Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad; and the afterlife as they are viewed by the three religions to show that their individual myths have more similarities than differences.

When it comes to the modern relationship that Islam shares with both Christianity and Judaism, it is not difficult to recognize mutual hostility. Islamic extremism has been gradually dominating the Western perception of Muslims—in the midst of this, the World Trade Center attacks could only exacerbate the situation. On that account, it was no surprise when these hostile attitudes were unmistakably revealed during the “Cordoba House” mosque controversy at which point in 2010, it was proposed that a mosque dubbed the Cordoba House be established near ground zero. Sure enough, the proposition was met with overwhelming opposition and rebuke (Barbaro). Most of the country objected to the mosque while many of those with more personal experiences

Jerusalem 101 - four quarters of the old city - jerusalem. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/3b-four-quarters.htm

As civilization has progressed through the ages, many religions have arisen and taken hold around the world, two if the most interesting, being the religious beliefs of the ancient Mesopotamian and the Greeks. These two religions were practiced in different areas and at different times and, therefore, show that religion has played a critical role in every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of god is worshiped, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. In comparing the religious beliefs of the Mesopotamian and the Ancient Greeks religious components highlighted including the style of worship, the temples

Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast the creation myth in two different cultures.

The reading in Irvin and Sunquist covered the intellectual beginning of early Christianity. Disagreement and division mark the intellectual beginning of early Christianity. Multiple controversies developed. These controversies were contemporaneous with the spread of Christianity in Europe and toward the East. For this reason, there was an enormous diversity of opinions in the early churches geographically dispersed in a decentralized manner. Fundamental differences regarding Christology influenced the cultures encountering Christianity. However, some new cultures graphed Christianity onto their own culture. Christianity originated from the lower classes of society in some areas, while being established by the rulers in other areas. This fact underscores the

Religion has existed for countless centuries. Christianity is one of the major religions in this world, which had people be criticized, battle in wars, and killed for, but it still survived to this day. The purpose of this paper is to study the source of the religion, recognize the teachings, observe its spread throughout the world, and to identify how it stands among people today. Approaching this paper by a factual report I will explain these major points and why we need to know about this religion and other religions that existed before our generation.

Studying the religion of the Ancient Israelite People must be done in a careful manner. The ways in which biblical scholars frame significant ideas can have a major effect on how their point is received. Today’s ideas about the religious lives of Canaanites have been drawn on primarily from The Hebrew Bible and archaeological evidence. In their respective works, biblical scholars Benjamin Sommer and Carol Meyers choose to interpret these pieces of religious evidence is varying ways; Meyers takes a more cultural approach while Sommer’s has a theological leaning. Recognizing these different perspectives, I prefer the approach that Meyers takes because of its focus in anthropology.

For the layman, familiarity with the major religions stems from the stories that are associated with them. Using the narratives that are derived from the sacred texts is the most prominent way in which our society identifies the Western religions. The Jewish tradition is best correlated to stories like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Seas, for example, as are the many tales of the miracles of Jesus connected to Christianity. This essay will present narratives as an easy method of providing the basic groundwork for the Western religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because of their simplicity and easily transmittable nature.