Jesus in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity - Essay Example

Judaism, Islam and Christianity 23rd July Religion is the believe of a supernatural being that have the control of all the universe. This supernatural being, therefore, command its subject; that is human being, to worship it. In many religions, the worshipped being is considered to be a god. Different people have different physical objects that they consider to be gods. Some people believe that their god is invisible and therefore uses some people who are closely related to him to get their message sent to the people. One of such people whom God used is Abraham. There are three sets of religions that consider Abraham as their father of faith. These religions are Judaism, Christians and Islam. They, therefore, have a religion that is similar in practices and foundational belief that is refer to as the Abrahamic religions. Abraham, the father of Isaac and Ishmael, forms the basis of the Judaism and Islam religions respectively. From the lineage of Isaac, Jesus Christ is born, and Christianity grows from him. In all the three religion, there is a belief on Monotheism that is a belief in one God.1 The Abrahamic religion is considered to have a unifying factor, although there is a difference in their faith. They all believe that Abraham was called by God to be ordered to leave his faith to worship Him only. This call is seen as a directive that transformed Abraham from the worship of idols to the worship of one God. The three religions, therefore, see that as a direct relationship with God. He adhered to God’s command that he should leave his religion, family and land-dwelling and move to another land that the Lord would indicate to him. The Islam’s holy book that is Quran adds that when Abraham adhered to this call, he was about to be killed by his family, but God saved him. The Torah and the Bible that are the holy books of the Jews and the Christians have not recorded this.2 Abraham was also visited by the messengers of God, who came to announce blessings to his home. At the age of ninety years, Abraham had no child with his wife Sarah but had with his maid, Hagar. The son was called Ishmael. At his called, God had promised Abraham that He would bless him with a son. He, therefore, went into a covenant with God. God had sent his messengers to Abraham to tell him that he would get a son at that old age because God had made a covenant with him.3When Sarah perceived what the messengers said, she laughed.4 This laugh is recorded in the Bible and also in the Quran, but the interpretation of that laugh is different. In the bible, it is said that Sarah laughed out of unbelief for there is no way she could have got a child at her old age. The Quran admits the laugh but says that the laugh could mean a lot of things. The Bible also says that out of her laugh, the angels commanded her to call her son Isaac. During their visit, Abraham made some food for them. The Quran denies that the angels ate that food for they were heavenly beings and could not eat the earthly food. They depict the fact that messengers do not eat.5 In the three Abrahamic religions, they do believe in monotheism, believe in one God.6 The act of separating Abraham from the worship of idols is highly regarded as the true way of how his followers are supposed to worship. They believe that there will be judgement to those who continue to worship others gods and idols. Abraham is seen to construct a place of worship by the Jews. This was after he was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac, but the Lord saved him and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead of his son.7 The Quran does not give this account, but it tells us that Abraham took his son Ishmael to a place believed to be Mecca to build God, a pilgrimage that is a house of worship. It continues to tell us that Abraham commanded his descendants continually to worship at that place. The Abrahamic religion derives a good model of faith as their foundation from Abraham. The events that Abraham demonstrated faith to God who according to them is the sole creator of the universe are recorded and taught in the worship. The first instant was when he accepted to leave his ancestral land to go to the land that he did not know. He believed God and carried himself to the land of promise. He also accepted to enter into a covenant with God, even though he never knew or heard about him. This showed a great faith considering that the God he believed in was invisible, unlike the gods that his ancestors worshiped that were visible. The Bible also records that Abraham was promised by God to have uncountable numbers of descendants from him and his wife Sarah. He had faith in God that one day Sarah will have a son for him as God had promised though they were growing old. God later fulfilled this promise by giving him Isaac. He was also tested whether he believed and had faith in God when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. He accepted and carried him to the place of sacrifice. When he was about to slaughter his son, the Lord rubberstamped his faith and asked him not to sacrifice him. Rather, he was told to take a ram that the Lord had provided and sacrifice. The Abrahamic religions have now a set of example from the symbolic man from whom their faith is established.8 In Judaism, God is the most Supreme Being, and He is known in various terms. He is known as Elohim or Adonai. In Hebrews, He is referred as Eloheynu that means ‘our God.’ In English, he is known as ‘Lord’ or ‘God’, and the names are still used by the present Judaism. According to the Jews, it is a taboo to pronounce the word God, and they, therefore, leave some letters or just pronounce some of the letters forming the word. For example, they use the letters Y-H-V or G-D. They have a lot of reverence to their God for he is the most powerful God who can destroy them if they make him angry. Christians believes in the Lord, who is worshipped by the Jews. The difference in their belief is that the Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God, who was sent to the world to show them the way. They believe that everyone who trusts in him will be saved and will enter the kingdom of God. They also have a connection with the Jews in that as Jews believes that the lord sent prophets and angels to proclaim his will, he also sent Jesus to tell the world the will of God. The birth of Jesus, the death and resurrection, were prophesied.9 The sacred books of the three Abrahamic religions have some similar quotations especially regarding the prophets. The Judaism retrieves their word from the Hebrew bible that comprises of thirty-nine chapters. The book is divided into several sections namely ‘the Torah, the writings and the prophets.’10 The Torah gives a lot of information regarding the law and is popularly known as the books of the laws of Moses. The prophet is a wide section that gives a lot of God’s message through his various servants. Most of the prophets were sent to give instructions to the people about the judgement they would encounter if they deviate from the worship of God. Christians also have the holy book that is referred to as the bible. The Christian bible differs from the Judaism bible in that it contains three major parts that are the Old Testament, the New Testament and the deuterocanonical books. The majority of Christian usually regards the first two books as the most significant. The Old Testament was established as a God’s covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel while the New Testament was a covenant of God through Jesus with the early Christians.11 In addition, ‘there are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament’.12 There are also similarities in the sacred books that are used for worship by the three religions. These books are used for divine purposes. The Jewish and Christian canonist created a collection of books under one major title while the Muslim canonist created a book with many chapters. The stories written in the bible are re-written in the Quran especially the early narratives in the Old Testament. Islam sacred book is the Quran that contain 114 Chapters, and the book is made up of Muhammad.13 The name Quran refers to the recitation and therefore Muslims usually recites the words of God in the book.14 In conclusion, although the three religions share the same root, their differences exceed their similarities. Christians knows Jesus was a divine being and the son of God. Islam believes that Jesus was only a prophet while the Jewish does not believe in either. The Jewish and Christians have many mutual teaching, unlike the Muslims. Works Cited McAuliffe, Jane Dammen. The Encyclopaedia of the Quran. Boston: Brill Leiden, 2001. William, Gentz H. The Dictionary of the Bible and Religion. Nashville, Tennessee: Parthenon press, 1986. Read More