Christianity, Islam, and Judaism / Elisabeth Vincent

All three of these religions are based upon ethical monotheism, and they each have their own respective sacred texts, founders, and (apart from Judaism) creedal statements.

In Judaism, the human condition is exile from Paradise. Islam considers pride and willfulness to be the human disease, and Christianity states that original sin is the cause of our condition. All of these religions share that the basic human condition is separation from God that is caused by human/not God-like traits, such as pride. Specifically, Christianity and Judaism share the belief that the beginning of our human condition was when Adam ate of the tree of knowledge in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Also, part of the human condition is that a transcendent God is too distant without an avatar. All three of these religions also have an avatar, in which humans can better relate to and emulate.

The solution to this condition in Islam is to surrender to the will of Allah. This is done by following the teaching of the Quran, which was dictated by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Mohammed. Their creedal statement is to follow the Five Pillars of Islam, which are contained in the Hadith of Gabriel. The Hadith of Gabriel also contains the Six Articles of Faith. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam is Shahada. This is done by reciting ašhadu an lā ilāha illá l-Lāhu (wa ashhadu 'anna) Muḥammadan rasūlu l-Lāhi, which roughly translates from Arabic to mean”there is no god except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The second Pillar is Salat, which is the utterance of five prayers five times daily. They wash before each recitation, and when the prayers are said they face towards the Ka’ba in the holy city of Mecca. Ritual fasting during Ramadan is the third Pillar. In this month of fasting, Muslims must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk, and are instructed to be especially mindful of their sins. The fourth of the Pillars of Islam is Zakat – donation – or what Christians call tithing. This is that Muslims should give 2.5 percent of their total wealth to their community in order to benefit those who are less fortunate. This money is then distributed throughout the community in order to benefit those who are in need. The last of the Five Pillars of Islam is hajj. This is a pilgrimage that occurs during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hjjah, in which Muslims travel to the holy city of Mecca. This should occur at least once in a person’s lifetime if he or she can afford it.

Judaism believes that the cause of the human condition of exile from Paradise is disobedience, and that the way out of this is to follow the Halakha, or “Jewish Law.” This includes following the Torah and the Talmud, and teshuva -- repentance. The Halakha centers on the 613 Mitzvot, which could be considered the prescription, or way to move from problem to solution. Mitzvah means “commandment”, and these are similar in some respects to Christianity’s Ten Commandments. Jews believe that they are the chosen people. Two focus points of Judaism are justice and a commitment to learning. I appreciate the latter, because religion is not something that should be committed to without great knowledge, direction, and commitment. There are four types of Judaism: Rabbinic, biblical, Prophetic, and Temple. Today all Judaism is Rabbinic (apart from secular and humanisitic Jews), which is a philosophical type of Judaism that borrows from the Bible by using it as symbolism. I think it’s great that Judaism encourages its followers to immerse themselves into learning about their religion. Judaism is widely considered non-creedal, but the closest it has to a creed is Genesis 12:1. They avoid saying the name of God aloud, and they believe that once the name is uttered, it is inherently limiting God. They instead typically spell it as HVHY, who is masculine and hierarchal.

In Christianity, the human disease is original sin. This was created when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, even though they were instructed by God not to. The cause of this sin is carnal nature, and the path from this problem to solution is salvation through Jesus Christ, who is considered to be the son of God. Christians have to recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and to believe that he died on the cross to save them from their sins, rose again three days after he was buried, and now exists inside each person as the Holy Spirit. They also believe in the Trinity of God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. The Bible consists of the Ten Commandments, which each Christian adheres to. They celebrate Chrismas as Christ’s birthday and Easter as the day that He was resurrected. Christians try to live each day to emulate God, and pray for forgiveness often from their shortcomings.

Zakat is where I feel the most compassion shows in Islam, and is something that I feel is starkly different from the Christian faith. One of the things that repels me away from Christianity is the indulgence of their members’ hard-earned money into lavish buildings and paychecks. My parents’ church spent $20,000 on a stage in their (newly-remodeled!) youth facility. They have plasma flat screens mounted on the walls of each small group room. Yet my parents are struggling financially, and continue to faithfully pour their monthly allotment of tithing into the offering plate. One of my good friends was told she could not sing in the choir if she did not wear shoes. That last one has nothing to do with Christianity as a whole, but this is what I feel pushes so many people away from Christianity as an establishment and religion altogether. Every community has those who are hungry, unsheltered, and lacking medical attention but are unable to afford to do so. Islam recognizes this and shares the money, which is an aspect of Islam that I greatly respect.

Thank you for teaching this class and for allowing all of us to learn and ask questions. It is one of the most informative and definitely one of the most important classes that I have ever taken.

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Madeline Burford

All three religions are very similiar in character but differ in details. They all are monotheistic in that they either believe in God or Allah. The human condition is that we are all sinful creatures in need of salvation. In Christianity, believers are saved by believing in Jesus Christ, the savior, as well as having a relationship with God and most believe in the Trinity and follow the Bible as a main instruction to life from God. In Judaism, believers trust in the Torah for instruction and are still waiting for the acclaimed Messiah. In Islam, believers trust in the Qu'ran as their book of instructoin which is based off the dictation from Gabriel to Muhammad. All believe in talking and communicating with God through prayer, even though the methods and types of prayers differ. All three have afterlifes, have commandments, and have a connection to God through relationships.

While all of these religions are similar, they do have some serious differences. Judaism believes that the Messiah is still to come while Chrisitanity and Islam believe that the prophets and Messiah have come back already. Islam has added pilgramages as well as has a call to prayer on top of the added Five Pillars of Islam. Chrisitainity has the Trinity which has God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit but has many difffering denominations and views on issues like baptism and divorce. Judaism observes alot of the old laws and festivals from the Old Testament that Chrisitans tend to ignore.

It was really interesting to learn about the different Abraham religions, the main three in the world. Its crazy how similar they all are but how much they have fought each other when all three promote peace in their doctrine. However, I am a firm believer in Christianity. I appreciate the Jewish tradition and how it adds to the history and background of the Christian faith.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are some of the oldest institutions of religion in the world.

The one aspect that all three have in common, yet they all have a different opinion on, that I found most interesting is God. In Christianity, for example, God serves as the Alpha and Omega, the end all/be all, the creator and the ultimate judge we will have to answer to one day. He is the one who created man, and He is the one who sent down his physical self in the form of Jesus Christ. In Christianity, God as Christ is the Messiah—the one man who was appointed to deliver His message of salvation through Christ. Most Christians, from what I gathered in class, believe that unless a person chooses to accept Christ as the savior of all sins, they will suffer the consequence of going to Hell. I honestly believe that whatever God may be in charge and responsible for everything we as a human race are exposed to, would have a better reason to send someone to eternal damnation. I can’t speak based on extensive research or knowledge on the topic, but I can speak based on experience in the church. Granted, my exposer to Christianity was through the Catholic Church, but it was exposure to the Christian God and the Christian religion nonetheless. The only problem or concept that I can’t really wrap my brain around when it comes to Christianity is the exclusivity. Unlike some of the other religions we’ve learned about, Christianity seems to put its followers on a pedestal that only those who have heard and understood “the word” can reach. However, what if what they believe isn’t true? And why does the religion insist upon trying to reach out to others based on a set of stories compiled in one book? What if the person doesn’t believe like you? Are they really automatically condemned to a place congregations of Christians are taught to fear? To me, Christianity serves as a comfort mechanism for certain human being, like most other religions do; however, Christianity was never said to be the one and true religion—therefore, I wish that some would try and approach it not as such.

In Judaism, I found it interesting that the Maimonides said that one couldn’t say God exists—as soon as someone does, a limit is placed on God. The best a person can do is to say that God doesn’t exist. I also thought it was interesting that in Judaism, God is amoral. I can relate a little better with Judaism simply because I do think there is a divine being, but I don’t necessarily believe that divine being sent himself down in the form of a human. I liked learning and hearing about the history of Judaism and how many of the traditions haven’t changed from the time it started. Learning about the 613 mitzvot was interesting—especially how those 613 were supposedly only given to the Jews. I think it’s very commendable and admirable that studying is everything in the religion. Learning about the true nature, history and tradition of whatever religion a person associates themselves with is so crucially important, in my opinion, because it shows that the person isn’t just jumping on a bandwagon, but that they also value the religion itself.

Islam has always been a part of the Muslim culture that I’ve wanted to learn more about, simply because it has always interested me. I must admit that after September 11, my interest rose. I wanted to know why certain people from that religion and culture would kill in the name of their God or religion. That concept seemed so foreign to me, and then, I thought about how many radical Christians there were, and are, here in the U.S. There are members of the Ku Klux Klan, for example, believe that the actions and mentality are totally justified based on their interpretation of the Bible and other Christian theology. However, anyone who knows better should understand that their hatred and violence has no merit or is any kind of representation of Christianity. There is a quote that always comes to mind when I think of how people misunderstand Islam. It’s from a show that used to run called The West Wing. There’s a scene where one of the characters on the show asks a group of students an analogy. “Islam extremists are to Islam as _____ is to Christianity. No one knew the answer the man who asked the question answered with “the KKK.” I think it’s so important for people to have an open mind and learn about whatever it may that they fear or resent. Islam is in fact a religion, just like any other religion. In fact, Islam is one of the three great religions. I disliked seeing how the religion itself was being challenged in the video we saw in class. Islam has a god, a message, a “bible” (the Qur’an) and a prophet. When looked at like that, one could say that the religion’s structure isn’t that much different than Christianity. Sure, Jesus may not be the one and only messiah or prophet but the religion even recognized him.

All in all, the class taught me so much more than what I thought I knew. I appreciate how open everyone was (maybe not so much towards the end), but I am happy to say that I think everyone respected each other as much as one could hope. I’m glad that I went into this class not knowing how to feel about religion. Now I can look at them all (at least the ones we learned about) and have some knowledge behind my argument of each one holding some truth. I don’t subscribe myself to any one religion, simply because I think that’s doing a disservice to my capacity to learn. I can’t express how really glad I am that I took this class.

Christianity / Judaism / Islam - Keith Songer

Christianity / Judaism / Islam

What is the human condition?

The human condition for these religions can mostly be summed up with one of the most universal words spanning Abrahamic religions: sin (or the act of “sinning”). In Christianity, original sin began when Adam/Eve ate the forbidden fruit, thus starting humanity on its course through history. Comparatively to the other two, this isn’t too far from what they think, but it’s not the central focus from where we’ve come, mainly because this is the teaching of Jesus, the messiah of Christianity, whereas Abraham and Moses are more well regarded in Judaism, and Muhammad in Islam. Jesus is viewed as a prophet and the Christ in Islam, but he’s not the key figure; in Islam, Muhammad more or less said to his fellows that Christians got it wrong, so he was talked to by Allah and Gabriel to try and remedy this fact and to try to get the world back on track.

Problem -> Solution:

Act how God / YHVH / Allah wants you to act (treat others, yourself, worship, etc...), thereby you’re working on your problems by using His (Her/Its’?) solution(s). The NT is primarily the focus on what to do for Christians, the OT and Torah for Jews, and the Qur'an for Muslims on pleasing their respective God and to attain salvation. Because they’re all Abrahamic religions, they root of each and every one of them is basically the same: have peace towards one another, love each other, and love God before all else.

Apply in daily life:

For Christians, love is the core/root of daily life in relation to what Christ wants of each Christian, to show how he is towards others. For Jews, study and understanding are above others for pleasing YHVH and to attain his approval. For Muslims, worship, respect others, and love others is above all. For all three, things like theft, pride, lying, cheating, etc... are all considered to be morally wrong, and should be avoided because of such.

So which is right? Depends on the flavor of ice cream you’re most interested in. (Or you could mix and match flavors for an interesting combination!)

Judaism, Christianity, Islam/ Angela Hooper

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are “the big three” religions. They are all monotheistic and stem from a form of the bible. Judaism believes they are the chosen people and refer to their books of laws known as the Torah which was given to Moses on Mt. Siani. They believe that the Christ has not yet come and so they live each day waiting for the Savior of the world and living to reach God. There are different types of Judaism; Biblical, Prophetic, Temple and Rabbinic. Biblical Judaism is considered the Mother of all and refers to the Jews in the Old Testament. They believe we have been disobedient and must return to God and follow the Mitzvot in order to reach God.

Christianity is stemmed from Judaism after the coming of Jesus and they believe is the the Son of God who came to earth to live a sinless life, to die on the cross to cover our sins for forgiveness from God, he was buried and arose again three days later. After his resurrection we were given the Holy Spirit who lives among us until the second coming of Christ. Christians believe in one God in the form of the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe that we are born with sin and that the Bible consists of the Old and New Testament which is the Word of God as a guide for how to live life sacrificially, to share the love of God with all we encounter. We are to study Gods word, pray, give through tithe which is 10 percent of what you make, be disciples to all nations to share that Christ is the one way to heaven.

Islam also believes there is one true God but also that Muhammad is his prophet. They refer to the Qu’ran which was given to Muhammad when the angel Gabriel came to him and had him write the Qu’ran as a more relevant version of the bible. They follow the five pillars which are Shahada, affirmation of faith, Prayer, 5 times daily as submission to Allah (God) which is what is means to be a Muslim. Third is Charity, to give 2 percent of all your wealth and not just your income. Fourth, is Ramadan which is a 30 day fast from sun up to sundown but not just from food. It is a fast from all things evil, that within these 30 days you are to try to live as perfectly as possible as if you could really live without sin. The fifth is Hajj which is to take a pilgrimage to Mecca considered the center of Allah.

All three religions believe that we are created and live with sin and the solution is to follow guidelines given by God which most all include loving others, sacrificing, and submitting. As a Christian I was not moved by the religions of Judaism or Islam though I was very interested to learn what it is they truly believe. It is disturbing but also neat to know that these three religions are so close in nature but there are a few basic truths that are distinctly different to completely change the significance of each religion compared to the others.

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam tend to be some of the most understood and easily accessible because they are so popular among the western countries. Each one has clear problem and solution. With Christianity, the problem is Original sin, from which came from the original story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Judaism the “Chosen People” are waiting on the Messiah and which will ultimately lead to the Promise land. Islam uses the Quran as their solvent giving them 5 main standards of living.

Unlike most eastern religions, all three of these have clear deities, afterlives, and clear definitions of what’s wrong and right. In Christianity, the Bible teaches of Jesus Christ’s life and the Hebrew Law. Judaism abides by the Torah and the Talmud. Islam follow the teaching of the Quran, which was dictated by the angel Gabriel and written by the prophet Mohammed.

These religions definitely spoke to me, most likely because Christianity is what I’ve been raised up in. I think I enjoyed them also because I got a lot of questions answered that I never knew or was never able to get a complete answer on. Judaism has always been a mystery to me just because I always knew it had a lot of historical connections to Christianity but never quite knew what they were.

In the end, I choose truth. My truth is that Jesus Christ is my savior and that He is the way the truth and the life. God is my supreme Lord and takes upon my fears, worries, and uncertainties.

Islam / Judaism / Christianity - Kait Scharringhausen

The human condition in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity is pride. What is the solution to this condition? How do we move from problem to solution? and how is best to live the solution in our own lives.

In Islam, it was told that the angel Gabriel came and spoke to Muhammed producing the Koran, which Muhammed called the Standing Miracle. To be saved, Muslims live by following the Koran. The principles or rules that regulate the private life of Muslims in their dealings with God coincide and surround the Five Pillars of Islam. The first of the Five Pillars is Islam's creed, or confession of faith is known as Shahada. The second pillar of Islam is the canonical prayer, in which the Koran adjures the faithful to "be constant." The third pillar of Islam is charity. The fourth pillar of Islam is the observance of Ramadan, Islam's holy month. As the Muslim calender is lunar, Ramadan rotates around the year. Islam requires fasting to teach self-discipline. "Only those who have been hungry can know what hunger mean." Smith, Huston Pg.247 "one who can endure its demands will have less difficulty controlling the demand of appetites at other times. Islam's fifth pillar is pilgrimage. Once in a Muslim's lifetime every Muslim is expected to journey to Mecca, where God's climactic revelation was first disclosed.

In Judaism, Halakha is the pathway. The Jewish view of the world is rooted in the Lord's original blessing with Abraham in the Old Testament. Jews are a people whose central concerns of God are justice and compassion. Jews also celebrate Rosh haShanah, the anniversary of Creation, and Yom Kippur, celebrating forgiveness and Atonement. Judaism believes that following the Ten Commandments is just the minimal standard to make the collective life possible. There are also different Judaism's practiced: Biblical, Prophetic, Temple, and Rabbinic. In the Rabbinic different texts are looked at such as the Pirke Avot, Mishnah, Gemara, and the Talmud - teachings and commentary on rabbinic ethical teachings. Judaism believes Jesus was merely a prophet and not necessarily the Messiah they were looking for.

In Christianity, the human condition is the way we are as human beings: prideful, arrogant, lazy, ignorant, slothful, and selfish. What is the solution to this condition? When Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and disobeyed God, partaking of the tree of knowledge, they were able to see the separation that caused them shame apart from God. Because of one man's disobedience, we as humans are now born into a fallen world. You see the brokenness all around us: Pain, separation, anxiety, disease, and tears. God spoke the world into existence, gave us the Old Testament, and then decided to send down himself as Jesus - fully God, fully human, to get down to our level. We are with limitations but God is not. God chose to meet us here on earth and befriend sinners and show them the way. Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life. Whoever knows me, knows my father (God). I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. (John 12:47). Jesus was beaten, bruised, persecuted, and nailed on the cross in complete humility knowing he had to die to fulfill the law for everyones sake. Only his blood could wash away the sin we were born into. Why did he choose to do it? Love. No greater love than to lay down ones life for ones friends (John 15:13). We are sick, we need a healer. Jesus is the Healer, He is the Messiah the Jews hoped for and set aside running in disbelief. He resurrected in three days to bring forth his power and Life to everyone. Come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28). How do we move from problem to solution? Faith. But these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have Life in his name. (John 20:31). How best to live the solution in our own lives? (Ephesians 6:10-18) A final word, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power, put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places; therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil, then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground putting on the belt of truth, and the body armor of God's righteousness, for shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news so you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit in all times and in every occasion, stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for the believers everywhere.

God is God. He is the beginning and end to it all. He is the Creator of the universe and he sent himself as Jesus in the form of perfection to die and take our place of death upon the cross which was deserved from Adam's disobedience when Eve was deceived. He so loved the world, he gave up his only Son. God is Love. He set things up the way they are to reveal himself and his Glory. He wants to be chosen because he chose everyone upon the cross.

Islam had Muhammed as the founder and does now have the Koran as text to be followed for salvation. Judaism had Moses, original blessing, and the ten commandments to follow. Christianity has Jesus who gave his blood to wash away our brokenness, heal our disease, and the free gift of salvation. We don't deserve it and cannot do anything to earn it but He wants us that much, he give up his only begotten son to adopt us into his majesty. His death and resurrection was the only way for us to have eternal life with him, to have real relationship with him, to see who he is, who we are, and why he did what he did on the cross for all to see. thank you Father. Experience that the lord is good, taste and see for yourself. He has done a wonder in my life personally, healed me from addiction, pain, abuse, and anger. I have only known the Lord for 2 almost 3 years now and it has been a process learning and growing with him in prayer and study time with him in his word. I've learned much about who I am, who he is, and why he has me here on this earth. I challenge and invite all readers to ask the Lord to reveal himself to you, to ask him if he says who he says he is then show you his trues apart from lies. Knock and the door will be answered, seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you. We are all looking for Truth, and I'm only a witness to Him who has found me and has called me his own to tell you that Jesus is the truth not just for me or your neighbor but for all. And He died for all, that those who live will no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15.)