Essay Sample on The Three Religions: Judaism, Christianity & Islamism

Introduction

The living world religious traditions emanates from the subcontinent of Indian upon which Hinduism together with Buddhism developed. Also, the Middle East/ West Asia upon which Judaism instigated, thereby giving rise to the other book religions, including Islam and Christianity all which ended up becoming the worldwide players (Peters, 2018). This paper provides contrast and comparison of the three religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islamism.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Judaism

To begin with, it is worth to note that Judeo-Christian tradition ended up being entangled with western civilization, thereby diffusing further as the European conquered Africa, Americas as well as parts of Asia. Islam ended up being the strongest in the Middle East, considering that it made substantial inroads into Central Asia and Africa. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism never seeks converts and did not syncretize much with other religion as it happens to Buddhism and Hinduism. Therefore Judaism ended up being an ethnic religion having social boundaries that segregate Jews from groups of socioreligious however it is imperative to note that such boundaries ought to have somewhat softened in some places including the US where Jews have been assimilated into the broader culture (Zagonari, 2018).

Jews as well ended up being widely spread geographically, thereby taking their religion with them wherever they went. More to that, regardless of its persistent identification with a given social group, the reality of the matter is that Judaism established a universalistic theology. Therefore the impact of the faith of Jewish goes beyond its social and ethnic boundaries that are limited.

Judaism's God was from the onset of a clan God, God of Abraham, Isaac as well as Jacob. The tradition of the Hebrew emanated from the legendary association of two people that is Abraham and Sarah with the clan God. The founders of Judaism were ostensibly part of the significant 18th century BCE movement of the people from the present day Iraq to Israel. The Jewish undertakes that their migration had divine sanction (Neusner & Sonn, 2002).

Jewish Beliefs

Similar to Buddhism together with its jewels, the ideas of the Jewish faith can be summarized by use of three concepts that includes God, Torah as well as Israel in this case representing a deity, teaching of God, as well as the community respectively. The community refers to the holy nation or else the chosen people of Israel. To the Jewish tradition, ritual stands to be more significant than Jewish tradition doctrine except for the most vital fundamental confession of faith that facilitates wide latitude in belief particularly in the reformed branch (Heschel, 2012).

Jewish Cosmogony

Understanding of the nature of cosmos by Jewish commences with the sacred history of Jews together with their unique association with the creator. God, in his image, he created humanity, thereby giving his last creature the dominion over all creation. The creation in the scripture Hebrew is referred to as Genesis, which is a significant western piece of literature that reveals an excellent deal concerning the civilization of the worldviews. It is worth to note that cosmogonies of the Cristian and Islam stand borrowed from parent religion Judaism upon which it is expressed via creation stories of Genesis upon which One God created the universe (Heschel, 2012).

Jewish Theodicies

While the eastern religions appears to give an explanation of the suffering as well as death based on the cycles of history as well as long-term continuity, the reality is that western religions usually rely on the suffering theory instigated by dramatic historical changes often as a result of the human agency and thereof divine punishment (Heschel, 2012).

Tradition of Judeo-Christian-Islamic

According to the culture of Judeo-Christian-Islamic, it is undertaken that one human lived in the paradise -Garden of Eden where there were no suffering or death up to the time of disobeying God. Hence God was unhappy, leading to the separation of humanity from God, which caused pain and death. Therefore the usual path of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam entail conversion, and / repentance, thereby turning to Go, hence restoring relationship that was lost with a deity (Heschel, 2012).

The process of restoration is facilitated by rituals as well as actions regarding the faith community. From Christianity viewpoints, one ought to confess, thereby loving God and One's neighbor. From an Islamic perspective, one is required to rely upon the five pillars that include 1. Affirmation of one's believes in only one God. 2. Performance of ritual prayers, 3. Wealth's sharing, 4. Celebration of Ramadan. 5. The commitment of taking a pilgrimage to Mecca. Regarding Judaism, the community has to take part in repentance together with a restoration of the covenant of doing justice as well as walking with God (Heschel, 2012).

Christianity

This religion was from the onset of a Jewish movement instigated by Jesus of Nazareth. From the sociological perspectives, one of the reasons for Christian dominance is about its alliance with the western civilization's power structures. First, with the Roman Empire and the Western European powers via middle ages into the colonial era. Very many nations joined the global community via the imperial system, and Christianity was drastically transformed, thereby being diffused across cultures to becoming increasingly cosmopolitan. Before becoming the official religion of Europe, Christianity used to be a backwater movement that tends to be favoring the poor (Zagonari, 2018).

Jesus first joined the movement that was begun by his relative John the Baptist, and he did not establish his one followers until the execution of John. Although Jesus never declared himself as the leader of a new religion, he repeatedly affirmed his faith in Jewish tradition, although he was a charismatic leader who challenged the existing religious establishment. From the beginning of his first sermon, religious and civil authorities sought to kill him, and it is this nature of controversial all through his ministry that eventually led him to be executed (Zagonari, 2018).

After his death, Jesus' followers believed he rose from the grave which revitalized the Christian movement to becoming a thriving force spread across the world. From the beginning, early Christian remains deliberately universal for everyone to join it, unlike Judaism, which is an inherited religion requiring one to have been born into the community. One only needs to declare "Jesus is Lord," thereby being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit to be a Christian (Zagonari, 2018).

Christian Rituals

The two main rituals that are found across the faith of Christian include baptism and the Eucharist (the communion) that entail communicating with God via the context of collective worship. What is ironical is the fact these rituals are said to have been borrowed from the tradition of Jewish, thereby being adopted by the church in denoting the distinctiveness of the Christian identity. Baptism became the rite of passage into the Christian community while Eucharist or the communion service that entail eating of the bread, as well as the drinking of wine designed to bring members together in the body of Christ (Peters, 2018).

Christians Hierarchy and Rebellion

The social organization of Christianity remains the most formalized over other major religious traditions upon which it's a direct response universalism to its theology that encourages efforts of having all non-believers being converted to its faith. Historically Christian church remains a continual rebellion as well as recrystallization in line with the associated historical, social as well as political development. The Roman Catholic Church has its strict command of chain that has been developed over time ought to have taken a lot of the brunt of modern rebellion against authority, however other branches of the church have to been shaken by the democratic and populist movements (Peters, 2018).

Islam

The founder of Islam is Muhammad referred to as the prophet born about 570 CE on the Arabian Peninsula. Having been orphaned at a tender age, Muhammad grew up in the household of his uncle where he ended up becoming well established as well as the respected merchant. Afterward, he married Khadija a wealthy widow and had two sons that died as well as four daughters that survived. He became a citizen of Mecca, thereby becoming disenchanted with his life that was comfortable together with the materialistic meaninglessness concerning his culture. He experimented with spiritual contemplation on mount Hira in a cave outside the city, thereby taking many hours in solitary meditation upon which voice spoke to him (Peters, 2018).

Five Pillars of Islam

Zagonari (2018), noted that Islam remains consistent with the flowing elements present in all Muslims Worship:

1. Hajj
2. Ramadan
3. Zakat
4. Ritual prayers (salat)
5. Shahada or faith profession

Conclusion

In conclusion, often Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are referred to as the "three strands of tight woven rope" within the tradition of Abrahamic since they have their roots traced to same Semitic religious heroes by the name Abraham and Sarah. One of the fast-growing religion, as well as most misunderstood, is the Islam faith. At the mainstream of the Islamic belief include monotheism inherited from Judaism; unity of God; idea that God spoke to humans in Quran, the concept of Tawhid; scriptures of Islamic, via tradition prophets that include Jesus, Moses, and Abraham.

Reference

Heschel, S. (2012). German Jewish Scholarship on Islam as a Tool for De-Orientalizing Judaism. New German Critique, 39(3 (117)), 91-107. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23357066.pdf

Neusner, J., & Sonn, T. (2002). Comparing religions through law: Judaism and Islam. Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.isam.org.tr/documents%5C_dosyalar%5C_pdfler%5Cislam_arastirmalari_dergisi%5Csayi11%5C221_224.pdf

Peters, F. E. (2018). The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Vol. 34). Princeton University Press. Retrieved from https://www.flyouth.org/book/1314648222/download-the-children-of-abraham-by-f-e-peters.pdf

Zagonari, F. (2018). Comparing religious environmental ethics to support efforts to achieve local and global sustainability: empirical insights based on a theoretical framework. Retrieved from http://amsacta.unibo.it/6032/1/Zagonari_2018_AMSActa6032.pdf