Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - Essay Example

Number] Judaism, Christianity and Islam Comparison of mysticism in Judaism, Christianity and Sufi Islam The concept of mysticism is not supported in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as these religions tend to give more importance to the external however, in real practice it has been unveiled that mysticism exists as a strong element of all of these three religions in different forms and experiences like hermetic lifestyle, description of direct interaction with God and intense spiritual quest. Jewish Bible speaks about the mystical experiences of several people like the conversation of Moses with God where the God appears as a burning bush. Similarly, the prophetic dream of Joseph and Ezekiel vision of heavenly throne-chariot also refers to the element of mysticism in Judaism. In Christianity, it is believed that the Jesus Christ is incarnation of God and Jesus could be viewed as representative of the mystical thoughts held by the Christians. In Sufi Islam, it is believed that the Prophet Muhammad was directed called by God and the angel Gabriel took him to the God. There are several incidents and his life that have been reported as mystical encounters like Quran has been viewed as the divine exposure conveyed by God to the heart of the Prophet (Lewis and Mark, p54). 2) Scriptures’ specific impacts on Judaism, Christianity and Islam It is strongly believed in Judaism, Christianity and Islam that the human beings are guided by God through revelation to the prophets. In each of these religions there is great importance of Holy Scriptures because these scriptures contain teachings and principles for people to guide their lives accordingly. In Judaism, the holy scriptures are grounded in Torah and first five books of Hebrew Bible. The Christians consult the Bible for seeking guidance in different matters of their lives whereas Quran is the Holy sculpture of Islam that declares that no more Holy Scripture will come after it. These scriptures tend to have very strong impact upon the lives of the followers because they contain the information about the background and historical development of the respective religion and also explicitly explain the ways of spending lives and guide the followers to act and behave in certain manner (Hourani et al, p176). 3) Early and current oral tradition in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Oral traditions formed the base of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and all these three religions affirm the importance of oral traditions especially during the early phase. Islam is based on oral traditions because thousand years ago when Prophet Muhammad preached people about Islam there was mean of properly keeping the records and even Quran remain unwritten but transmitted to people orally for several years. Similarly, in Christianity also the doctrine of God was orally conveyed by Jesus and earlier there was no written record of Bible. The New Testament is also based upon the oral decision. Likewise, Judaism also affirms that core principles of the religion were transmitted to the people orally by Moses. It implies that the oral traditions are base of all of these three religions and the core preaching of these religions were transmitted orally from the prophets to people and then people to people. At present, the holy texts and the principles of all of these religions are properly written in form of Holy Scriptures however the importance of oral traditions could not be denied and is still in practice in form of the addresses of religious scholars during different events and gatherings. 4) Islam and Christianity on the doctrine of God There are some basic differences within the Islamic and Christian doctrine of God. The basic difference among these doctrines is regarding the oneness of God. The Christian believe that Father is God, Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. At the same time is also distinguishes that father is not son, son of not holy spirit and the Holy Spirit is not father. It implies that there is no clear concept of oneness of God whereas in Islam there is clear doctrine of Tawhid that talks about the oneness of God and clarified that even the last prophet Muhammad is not the God or his son but there is only one God that has no son and no father. Hence, the doctrines of Islam and Christianity basically differ upon the issue of monotheism (Khanbaghi, p54). 5) Jesus Christ in Islam and Christianity Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the second person of trinity. Jesus has been regarded as three God from true God. His mission is to reconcile mankind to God and his death is a symbol of sacrifice that asks forgiveness of God for all the sins of the humans (Nicene Creed). They believe that the death of Jesus is for the sake of the mankind. Though he suffered death and buried but on the third day he was rose again to ask God for sending all of his ascendants to the heaven. Islam views Jesus as a prophet that was born to the Virgin Mary. However he was not divine but sent by God to guide people. His mission was to proclaim gospel and he is not crucified but raised to Heaven by God (Quran 5:17). 6) God is unknowable in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam The three Abrahams’ religions hold some similar views about God. They believe that God is the eternal omnipotent power and the creator of the universe. God holds the attributes of holiness, justice and omnipresence according to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. However, there are differences regarding the knowingness of God. The Torah explains that God of Israel has two major names Elohim and Yahweh however God is unknowable because there is no human figure claimed as God in Judaism. However in Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth has been believed as incarnation of God as human. Islam on the other hand affirms that Allah is the only God that is unknowable and there is no human incarnation of God (Woodhea, p25). 7) Mediterranean area and the Middle East affected Judaism, Christianity and Islam The Middle East and Mediterranean area possess great importance of Islam, Christianity and Judaism because these regions have strong impact upon the evolution and progression of these religions. These are the areas that are the birthplaces of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The founders and prophets of Islam, Christianity and Judaism were born in these areas i.e. Prophet of Islam Muhammad born in Mecca, Judaism prophet Moses was born in Egypt whereas the central figure of Christianity Jesus was born in Bethlehem. All these places are located in Middle East and Mediterranean area and thus these areas played vital role in the propagation of these religions. Moreover, the holy places of Islam, Christianity and Judaism are also present in these areas due to which the followers of these religions are present in vast majority in these areas and those living in other regions also frequently go to see these areas to visit their holy places (Lewis and Mark, p54) (Lewis and Mark, p54). 8) Spirituality and time in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Spirituality is one of the basic elements of Christianity, Judaism and Islam however its nature is different in these religions. Christianity defines spirituality is set of beliefs found in the creeds and doctrine of the churches that provide set of values to the people to guide their way of life. On the other hand, In Judaism spirituality is connected with storytelling and through age story telling has been viewed as a mean of communication spirituality in Judaism. Jews believe that God loves the stories of its prophets and thus the religious spirit could be best conveyed to the generations through the stories of incidents occurred to the holy figures. Islam defines spirituality as linking actions to the purpose of life. Muslims believe that the purpose of life is to worship Allah so the meanings of spirituality in Islam are deeply embedded in the phenomenon of Sufism. 9) Judaism, Christianity and Islam and their respective cultures Judaism, Christianity, and Islam provide complete way of life to its followers due to which these religions tend to have strong impact upon the respective culture. The religions provide guidelines for setting out the dimensions of the lifestyle, dressing, sexual relations, social interaction patterns and way of doing businesses of their followers. For instance, Islam teaches its followers to cover the body in certain manner due to which the Muslim dressing culture is different from Judaism and Christianity. Judaism and Christianity are not extremely strict about premarital sex, though marital sex is considered ideal but there are no harsh punishments on premarital sex in Judaism and Christianity like in Islam. Likewise, Islam restricts the drawing and creation of human and other objects in the art pieces whereas the Judaism and Christianity places no ban of drawing the picture of the human organs or creating their sculptures. 10) Secular and the sacred in Christianity, Islam and Judaism The concepts of secular and sacred have been dealt differently in Judaism and Christianity and Islam. Ideally speaking Islam makes no difference in secular and sacred but there are certain things regarded as sacred in Islam. Like the month of Ramadan has been regarded as a sacred month whereas, Friday is sacred day for the Muslims because according to their belief Adam was created on Friday and the last day of the world will also be Friday. Similarly, there is concept of sacred day in Christianity and they believe that Sunday is the holy day and they are not required to go for work on Sunday. Bible and Old Testament books are regarded as the sacred text whereas Jerusalem has been regarded as a sacred place. In Judaism they believe that the seventh day of the week (Shabbat) is the epitome of Sacred Time whereas they regard Holy of Holies, Dome of the Rock and Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron as the sacred sites. It implies that all of these religions indicate the existence of secular and sacred objects and places. . Work Cited Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward . Religions of the World, Eleventh Edition, Pearson, 2009 Hourani, Albert and Ruthven, Malise, A History of the Arab Peoples. Belknap Press, 2003 A. Khanbaghi. The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran, IB Tauris, 2006 Woodhead, Linda. Christianity: a very short introduction. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press, 2004 Read More