Jesus between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - Literature review Example

Jesus between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Christians, Jews, and Muslims regard Jesus as a great pillar in theirreligious beliefs. Christians assert that Jesus was Gods only son whom he sent to his people to save them from their sinful nature by dying on the cross and bring salvation to the whole world as it is written in the Bible (Nelson, 532). According to the Jews, Jesus was an ordinary man whom they referred to as the son of a carpenter. However, great differences exist between the birth divinity and the crucifixion of Jesus amongst the two religions as it depicted in both the Quran and the holy bible. Judaism does not believe in the Christian concept of salvation that people are born in a state of sin and needs to be saved to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Instead they insist that any person who sins should repent their sins and be forgiven. A lot of debates have been discussed all over the world concerning these three aspects in the lifetime of Jesus in Islam. This essay compares the Jesus known by the Muslims, Jews and what the Christians think of him (Ali, 124). There is similarity between Christians and Muslims that Jesus was born of the VirginMary, who was pure and clean at heart (Mk 3.16; 7.4 ;). However, Muslims dispute that Jesus was not the son of God but one of His prophets. In the Holy Quran, God communicates to the people that Jesus was an ordinary man just like Adam both moulded from the soil through God’s power. Muslims thus hold on that Jesus was not the son of god since he was made just like Adam who has never been referred to as the son of God (Al-Imran, 59-60). Christians on the other side have a strong believe that Jesus was the son of god who was born through the power of the Holy Spirit without the sexual act between Mary and Joseph, who had betrayed her. Attributing Jesus to the son of God in Islam is thus disputed since it is a concept that means that Allah slept with Mary so as to give birth to Jesus which is not true (Quran, 3:45-47). In contrast, in Judaism the promised messiah who is Jesus Christ was to born from a royal family but not from the humble background as the son of the carpenter as they put it. Unlike Christianity who believes that Jesus mission was to save making from bondage of sin Judaism expectations of the messiah was one who would uphold the Judaism law. However, Jesus never accomplished this because he rebuked Jewish leaders of hypocrisy. The Judaism expectations of a messiah were of a political leader who would bind the people with the government from the Davidic lineage (Johnson 144). Christians asserts that Jesus was both human and divine being born in form of a man where the Virgin Mary conceived over the power of the Holy Spirit. As such, (Mt 9.34) Christians worship Jesus as the son of God. The bible describes Jesus as a divinity in the trio; god the son god the father and Gog the Holy Spirit (Mk 3.16; 7.4; Luke 24.32, 5). In the bible, God mentions that all the three divinities to be equally bothin power strength and holiness (Nelson, 532). Unlike Christians, Muslims, disagree on the divinity of Jesus. They reverse him instead and refer him to one of the God’s messenger who had been sent by Allah to communicate with the mankind. Muslims believes that since Jesus was created just like Adam and other prophets known to him people should not worship him but rather believe in his teachings that he was sent by Allah to communicate this people as a messenger (Quran, 3:59). In Muslim religion,Jesus performed miracles but this does not make him divine because it is God who was using him to cure diseases, resurrect people from the death and that of giving sight to the blind. (Ali, 502) They hence believe that all the miracles were done through the will of God through as Allah’s messenger, and not by any special divinity that Jesus held as god the son as Christians believe (Al-Imran, 59-60). In Judaism religion, the worship of the three part God in form of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit is considered to be idolatry. An idolatry sin of believing Jesus is God the son is one of the sins that Jews are advised to give up on life rather than transgressing against God. This explains why Jews decided to die rather than converting to Christianity that acknowledges Jesus to be one of the divine trinity as the God the son. In addition Judaism takes prayer to be a special communication between God and His people therefore disagrees with the catholic way of saying prayers through Jesus Christ as their lord as well as through Mary mother of God who seems to be a mediator (McKeehan 265). Unlike Muslims, (Nelson, 532) Christianity believes in the crucifixion death and resurrection of Jesus. In the bible,Jesus was innocently crucified under the portico’sPilate was humiliated on the cross and killed by thieves (Mt 9.34; Mk 3.16) He died and rose again from the death after three days before he ascended into heaven where he is seated on his lord’s throne as Gods promises and fulfillment of his prophesies. Muslims, on the other hand, use the holy Quran to describe that Jesus was not crucified or killed, but rather the Allahrose Al-Masih `Isa (Jesus), onto Himself (Quran, 4:157). They believe that those who believe Jesus was crucified on the cross have no knowledge and hence follow nothing less than just conjecture because he is all The Judaism expectations of a messiah would not be a semi- God and neither would be messiah possess supernatural powers of performing miracles Jewish leaders rejected Jesus of blasphemy because they thought Jesus wanted be like God who is all powerful and all knowing. In addition, the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus action for failing to respect the Jewish laws such respecting the Sabbath and the issues of interacting with sinners. Jewish leaders had Jesus prosecuted for disobeying the law (Beale 85). According to (Kaplan 33) the Jewish perception of Jesus was that of an ordinary person who did not meet their expectations of an ideal messiah. As such, Jesus crucifixion was not according to the will of God but as a result of his punishment for claiming to be a divine being. They arrested and prosecuted him even after he was found innocent of sin. The purpose of Jesus trial prosecution was to have him killed in suspect ion that he would soon overthrow their government due to his increasing popularity. Jesus therefore according to the Jewish died like an ordinary thief by being crucified on the cross alongside two more sinners powerful (Surah 4:157-158). Some Muslims believe that Allah made someone appear to be like Jesus, who was crucified and killed by the thieves but not Jesus himself. Other Muslimsbelievers say that Jesus never died on the cross but was rather swooned (Al-Nasa’i, Al-Kubra, 6:489). However, some parts of the Quran agree the Jesus died at some point in his lifetime. According to (Surah 19:33),Jesus has been portrayed speaking to his mother telling her that one time he shall be raised up to life agreeing with Christianity belief of Jesus death and resurrection. In addition, the Quran explains that on the day of resurrection Jesus will return from heaven where he was taken by God and be a witness against the non-believerswhile rejecting different forms of monotheism (Al-Nasa’i, Al-Kubra, 6:489). In conclusion, both Christians and Muslims have a strong belief about Jesus that has been learnt through scriptures in the Holy Bible and The Holy Quran respectfully. No one should thus judge or ridicule each other due to their religious beliefs. Therefore, it is clear that that Jesus plays great role as one of the God’s prophet just like Mohammed acting as a God’s messenger to his people. However, the debate of Jesus in Islam and Judaism still exists whether he was the son of God (Ali 200). However, Judaism doesn’t believe in resurrection of resurrection of the death hence they never agree with Christians that Jesus raised from dead after three days (Beale 85). Works Cited Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Holy Qurān: Text, Translation and Commentary. Brentwood, Md.: Amana, 1983. Print. The Holy Bible Revised Standard Version Containing the Old and New Testaments,. New York: T. Nelson, 1952. Print. Johnson, Paul. A history of the Jews: Maimonides. Mishnah Torah 1:5New York, 2007. Print Kaplan, Aryeh. From Messiah to Christ : The real Messiah? A Jewish response to missionaries. National Conferenceof Synagogue Youth. 2005. New York. Print. McKeehan, James, An overview of The Old Testament and How it Relates with to the New Testament, iUniverse, 2002. Print. Beale, Gregory K., other Religions in New Testament Theology, in David Weston Baker Ed. Biblical Faith and Other Religions : an evangelical Assessment, Kregel Academy, 2002. Print. Read More