The Common Origins of the World’s Major Religions Essay

Moses: The holy book of my faith is the Torah, and contains the Old Testament. The Old Testament is also used in the Christian’s Bible, making the Torah the foundation for the Bible.

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.

One of the three great monotheistic world religions, Judaism began as the faith of the ancient Hebrews, and its sacred text is the Hebrew Bible, particularly the Torah. Fundamental to Judaism is the belief that the people of Israel are God's chosen people, who must serve as a light for other nations. God made a covenant first with Abraham, then renewed it with Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. The worship of Yahweh (God) was centered in Jerusalem from the time of David.

Tomoko Masuzawa’s literary work, The Invention of World Religions, provides a meticulous analysis of how the term “world religions” is categorized and used in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Masuzawa addresses how the categorization of world religions has changed throughout history and how different elements of each religion, such as texts, origin, and ability to expand have shaped the classification of that religion by scholars. By using the works of well-established scholars, she is able to provide an accurate account of how the perception and analysis of these religious occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Institutions within the public domain, such as universities and hospitals, can then shape interaction with their specific audiences to abide by the practices of these world religions in order to connect with the public in a culturally competent manner.

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.

The Holy Bible is a book comprised of many parts, chapters, and verses. There are 66 books in the bible; the first 39 books are called the Old Testament. Written in Hebrew, it focuses on the prophecies of the coming savior. The remaining 27 books, the New Testament, are centered on the life of Jesus and his teachings. A similarity in the TaNaKh and the Holy Bible is the presence of the Torah. The Torah, in addition to being the first part of the TaNaKh, is actually the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Because the Christians, unlike the Jews, had no official language, they wrote and spoke in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin. These holy books were important to these religions so their beliefs and traditions could be passed down to future generations.

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.

Arabia to Islam. All practicing Muslims accept belief in the ‘Six Articles of Faith’ and are

Judaism was founded by Abraham, although Jews trace their history all the way back to Moses. Judaism history, beliefs, and traditions were recorded in the Hebrew bible as early as the 8th century B.C. and is considered one of the oldest religions that still exists today. There are 3 main branches of Judaism: Orthodox; Conservative; and Reform. Orthodox focuses on the traditional teachings of the Jewish law, while Conservative Jews allow a little bit of change to help them adapt to society. Then Reform Judaism believes that there should be a lot of change and adaptation to the modern world today. Additionally, Judaism is one of the three Abrahamic Religions. The Abrahamic Religions include Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. There are approximately 14 million people who identify themselves as Jews. Most of them live in the U.S. and Israel. The state of Israel was founded in 1948. Jews are the descendants of an ancient people called the Hebrews. The Hebrews’ country fell to a series of conquerors and the Jews scattered across the world. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and they wandered the wilderness for 40 years, trying to get to the promised land,

As of today, Christianity and Islam are the world’s two largest and rapidly growing religions. They share an estimated 3.6 billion followers, more than half of the world’s population. Initially the two religions may seem to have nothing in common, but when you go beyond the surface and examine the rituals, beliefs, and founders, as well as the spread of both religions, they share many similarities. In many ways, there is irony in tension between Christianity and Islam, given the extremely similar history and nature of their religions. It is perhaps lost on many people who subscribe to these religions that there is no more truth to one than the other. But when observed from an objective viewpoint it is undeniable that both Christianity and Islam are remarkably similar in origin and ideology. In order to see and understand their similarities, it is important to look back to the birth and rise of both religions.

Unlike the other two major religions Judaism evolved form the Israelites who didn't deny the existence of other gods for other nations, though they only worshipped one deity. Its deity was Yahweh, the god of the patriarchs, who was worshipped in a sacrificial cult centered in Jerusalem and later at sanctuaries in the north, where a rival Jewish kingdom was formed. Prophets who warned against the people's reliance on these temple cults saw themselves vindicated when both the northern and southern kingdoms were destroyed by foreign conquerors. The exile of the Judeans to Babylonia in 586 BC was a major turning point in Israelite religion. The prior history of Israel now was reinterpreted

     The Jewish Bible or Tanakh, is the sacred book that interprets history as the Jews have experienced it. Although it is proper to think of the Bible as a single book of scriptures, it is more accurate to describe it as a library of books assembled under three major headings. The most important is the Torah, which means “devine instruction and guidance.” Torah is also known as the Five Books of Moses; the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The second portion is the Nevi’im meaning writings of the Prophets. The third section of Tanakh is referred to as Kethuvim or “the Writings.”

As of today, the world’s two largest religions Christianity and Islam share an estimated 3.6 billion members, more than half of the world’s population. On the surface, they appear to have almost nothing in common, however, as one goes beyond the surface and examines the other factors such as the rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and convictions, the two religions share many similarities. However, in order to truly see and understand these similarities and differences, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam.

It is estimated that around 3.8 billion people in the world follow a religion that has either branched off of or has been significantly influenced by Judaism. Judaism is an ancient religion from the Middle East based off of the Hebrew Torah that teaches devotion to an all-powerful monotheistic God and the reality of an afterlife. Although only accounting for a tiny percent of the world’s religious followers, Judaism has had a greater impact on the world than any other religion in the history of mankind. The foundations of Judaism teach truths held by the world’s most prominent religions.

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.