Three Faiths, One God [Judaism, Christianity, Islam]
I'm not religious but I've recently become very interested in studying religion and specifically it's relevance with current conflict in the Middle East. I know it's roots are very deep (thousands and thousands of years deep) and complicated but I've uncovered a very intriguing story which I was previously ignorant to. I think theres much more to this conflict than most people know. Perhaps the answer to all this conflict and bloodshed is in the past, where it started, right? Maybe someone with more religious knowledge can contribute but here are some interesting things I've found;
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all three claim the God of Abraham and all three hold the Old Testament as a holy text and basis for religion (all three basically stem off of Judaism). So why the split into three different faiths?
The major differences are Christians believe Christ was the Messiah and Son of God, While the Jews believe he was another Prophet (like Moses, Noah and Abraham,) and Muslims believe Jesus to be the Messiah but not the physical Son of God (they also believe Muhammad to be the last Prophet whom was the founder of Islam). And all have different perceptions and interpretations of the Old Testament.
JUDAISM-
Judaism has it's first origins in [1800-1900 B.C.] when the biblical book of Genesis comes about. Throughout history the Jews were mostly a wandering people with no nation, usually in exile. The Old Testament is simply put the account of the Jews' relationship with God, story of exile and quest for a nation.
There are some striking similarities between the book of Genesis and the Sumerians' story of origin (which was carved on tablets well before Genesis was written). In Sumerian creation, earth emerges form watery chaos and the gods planted a garden where humans lived in Paradise (the word Eden is derived from the Sumerian edin). There is a Sumerian story of a man born naked in the wilderness and tempted by a harlot who educates him about sin and teaches him to wear clothes. Then as the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh goes on, a man named Utnapishtim learns that the gods are planning to destroy the earth with a flood. One of the gods takes pity and advises Utnapishtim to abandon his possessions, build a seven-tiered ship, and take with him the seeds of all the creatures. Utnapishtim did so, and after seven days the ark landed on a mountain and he sent forth a dove, humanity was saved. Sound familiar?
The parallels between Sumerian origin and the book of Genesis are very similar. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested the Jews adopted the Sumerian story of origin while in exile in Babylon, then turned into into a story of one God instead of multiple. It has also been suggested by archaeologists that the story of Eden takes place in ancient Sumeria (Mesopotamia), between the Euphrates and Tigris.
Followers of Judaism today are "People of the Book" and usually focus more on studying religious texts. For example the laws of the Torah as well as Rabbinic literature, sets of laws and texts written by Rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism started in 70 A.D.
CHRISTIANITY-
If one were to study the roots of Christianity (as we know it today) it doesn't exactly start with Christ himself. Christ himself was a Jew, and claimed lineage descending from David, (making him King of Jews). When Jesus preached he obviously never intended to start a new faith, he always preached Judaism and the laws of Moses and the Torah. Whether or not you choose to believe he was a God or Messiah is up to you but the fact remains he was very Jewish. In fact the New Testament was not put together until roughly a hundred and fifty years after his death.
The Christianity you see today is more of a pagan twist on Judaism, it's very different from the Jewish Messianic Christians who were the first followers of Christ. The idea of three deities (the Holy Trinity), Christmas and Easter Holiday, are all very European and pagan in origin. The only reason this hybrid faith survived is because of Constantine the Great, a Roman Emporer who made Christianity (with it's pagan twist) the new religion of Rome in 325 A.D. Constantine himself was a pagan High Priest. This is the time period when Europeans stepped onto the monotheistic scene.
ISLAM-
Islam began a few hundred years later in 610 A.D. when an Arab named Muhammad had a religious experience in a cave in which he supposedly was visited by an angel telling him to spread the word of God, and that "God is One". Muhammad started preaching a strict version of the old monotheistic religion. Considered by his followers to be a Prophet, he started the first Muslim community in Medina.
Interestingly enough Jesus Christ is the most quoted prophet in the Qur'an. Though the Muslim's take on Jesus is very different from the way the European Christians viewed him, they also believe he was the Messiah. They do not however believe Jesus was the physical Son of God.
.
.
.
I'm not religious but I've recently become very interested in studying religion and specifically it's relevance with current conflict in the Middle East. I know it's roots are very deep (thousands and thousands of years deep) and complicated but I've uncovered a very intriguing story which I was previously ignorant to. I think theres much more to this conflict than most people know. Perhaps the answer to all this conflict and bloodshed is in the past, where it started, right? Maybe someone with more religious knowledge can contribute but here are some interesting things I've found;
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all three claim the God of Abraham and all three hold the Old Testament as a holy text and basis for religion (all three basically stem off of Judaism). So why the split into three different faiths?
The major differences are Christians believe Christ was the Messiah and Son of God, While the Jews believe he was another Prophet (like Moses, Noah and Abraham,) and Muslims believe Jesus to be the Messiah but not the physical Son of God (they also believe Muhammad to be the last Prophet whom was the founder of Islam). And all have different perceptions and interpretations of the Old Testament.
JUDAISM-
Judaism has it's first origins in [1800-1900 B.C.] when the biblical book of Genesis comes about. Throughout history the Jews were mostly a wandering people with no nation, usually in exile. The Old Testament is simply put the account of the Jews' relationship with God, story of exile and quest for a nation.
There are some striking similarities between the book of Genesis and the Sumerians' story of origin (which was carved on tablets well before Genesis was written). In Sumerian creation, earth emerges form watery chaos and the gods planted a garden where humans lived in Paradise (the word Eden is derived from the Sumerian edin). There is a Sumerian story of a man born naked in the wilderness and tempted by a harlot who educates him about sin and teaches him to wear clothes. Then as the Sumerian story of Gilgamesh goes on, a man named Utnapishtim learns that the gods are planning to destroy the earth with a flood. One of the gods takes pity and advises Utnapishtim to abandon his possessions, build a seven-tiered ship, and take with him the seeds of all the creatures. Utnapishtim did so, and after seven days the ark landed on a mountain and he sent forth a dove, humanity was saved. Sound familiar?
The parallels between Sumerian origin and the book of Genesis are very similar. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested the Jews adopted the Sumerian story of origin while in exile in Babylon, then turned into into a story of one God instead of multiple. It has also been suggested by archaeologists that the story of Eden takes place in ancient Sumeria (Mesopotamia), between the Euphrates and Tigris.
Followers of Judaism today are "People of the Book" and usually focus more on studying religious texts. For example the laws of the Torah as well as Rabbinic literature, sets of laws and texts written by Rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism started in 70 A.D.
CHRISTIANITY-
If one were to study the roots of Christianity (as we know it today) it doesn't exactly start with Christ himself. Christ himself was a Jew, and claimed lineage descending from David, (making him King of Jews). When Jesus preached he obviously never intended to start a new faith, he always preached Judaism and the laws of Moses and the Torah. Whether or not you choose to believe he was a God or Messiah is up to you but the fact remains he was very Jewish. In fact the New Testament was not put together until roughly a hundred and fifty years after his death.
The Christianity you see today is more of a pagan twist on Judaism, it's very different from the Jewish Messianic Christians who were the first followers of Christ. The idea of three deities (the Holy Trinity), Christmas and Easter Holiday, are all very European and pagan in origin. The only reason this hybrid faith survived is because of Constantine the Great, a Roman Emporer who made Christianity (with it's pagan twist) the new religion of Rome in 325 A.D. Constantine himself was a pagan High Priest. This is the time period when Europeans stepped onto the monotheistic scene.
ISLAM-
Islam began a few hundred years later in 610 A.D. when an Arab named Muhammad had a religious experience in a cave in which he supposedly was visited by an angel telling him to spread the word of God, and that "God is One". Muhammad started preaching a strict version of the old monotheistic religion. Considered by his followers to be a Prophet, he started the first Muslim community in Medina.
Interestingly enough Jesus Christ is the most quoted prophet in the Qur'an. Though the Muslim's take on Jesus is very different from the way the European Christians viewed him, they also believe he was the Messiah. They do not however believe Jesus was the physical Son of God.
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