Preview

Analyzing Prothero´s The World's Religions

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
693 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analyzing Prothero´s The World's Religions
Prothero is writing his book in response to a line of thinking that states the religions of the world are essentially the same. Contrasting with this thinking, Prothero argues that the world religions may have occasional similarities, but the end point and the steps towards this end point are specific to each religious view. Prothero is stating religions are different and, while some may have similarities, they should be understood by looking at their differences. According to the book’s introduction, the idea that “the world’s religions are different paths up the same mountain” is not a new phenomenon. William Blake wrote about this in 1795. A more recent example would be Huston Smith’s book The World’s Religions, which was written almost sixty years ago. This book also presents the idea of religious unity. Granted, the idea that religions all meet at the same goal has been around for a long time. But, history has shown us many instances where religious ideas, those ideas that separate religions, have caused conflict. Prothero mentions this when he cites the 21st century actions such as the 9/11 attacks and the Kashmir territorial …show more content…
Both believe in the same God. Abraham, recognized by both Jews and Christians, spoke with God and followed his commands. Therefore, Christianity and Judaism are one in the same since they can trace their origins back to a single person. I believe this would be the main point of contention in regards to this class. However, while the origins are the same, the other beliefs that are part of these two religious traditions separate them. While I do admit I have a lack of knowledge about Judaism, I think of this example when showing that the two faiths are different. In Christianity, Jesus is the Messiah and came to save us from sins. For those in the Jewish tradition, the Messiah has not arrived

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Art Commission Statement

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages

    2. Irreconcilable Differences? A Learning Resource for Jews and Christians. The Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies. February 2001. Http://www.icjs.org/what/njsp/kat…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Jonathan Smith’s Relating Religion, he talks about the Europeans coming to America and changing their way of life. The indigenous people being conquered and having to adapt the way of life of the conquerors. An example of this was shown by the annexation of the Philippines after the Philippine American War. The Philippine people had not been independent for some time and the Americans had been not let that happen either. The way Smith explains the Europeans taking over the Native Americans is similar to the Americans taking over the Philippines.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Indeed, Christians and Jews share lots of common heritage – after all Jesus was himself Jewish. This leads to many things in common between Judaism and Christianity which include:…

    • 2632 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Giovanni Bocaccio, an Italian author of the fourteenth century, is most noted for writing the Decameron, a series of 100 stories that are structured in a frame narrative. Each of these one hundred novellas presents a particular theme ranging from love, death, fortune, wit, sex and of course, religion. The action is taking place in Florence during the Black Death that struck the city in 1348. These were the times when religion was major part of everyday life in Medieval Europe. Through the Decameron, the reader is exposed to a variety of stories discussing the Christianity and saints. There are two particular stories that represent the most interest to me as a reader, are the first and last tales of the book. Throughout his book Boccaccio goes from negative to positive view of saints. On one hand, there is the Ciappelletto described as the worst men who ever lived, but who became a saint after death (day 1, story 1). And, on the other hand, there is Griselda, the women of great virtues, who can be called a saint in life (day X, story X).…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tension between Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity was one big cat fight to say the least. The two groups did not get alone with each other, in fact they barely interacted with one another. The separation between the two led to misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility even though Judaism had a major influence on Christianity. Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity had their similarities that they didn’t come to appreciate until years later.…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Judaism and Christianity

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A few similarities between Christianity and Judaism is that they both were founded in Palestine, believe in spiritual beings such as angels and demons, ultimate reality- one God, Jehovah, and the God of Abraham, and the crucifixion of Jesus.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World History

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Christianity believes in the holy triune, which God is the father, the son and the Holy Spirit, & they all three believe Abrahamic faiths that god has provided humans with basic guidelines for living. Judaism denies that Jesus was a prophet, but Christianity and Islam believe it he is a prophet.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    World Religion

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    They are truly religions because they embody the concept of religion. Taoism cannot be classified as a religion with certain doctrines and practices but it has been converted to one with presence of gods, temples, priests, and sacrifices. Confucianism is more of a philosophy of the Chinese people and has no sacred writings priesthood etc. but it has affected Chinese character and created cultic development.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aboriginal Spirituality

    • 2639 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Clashes in belief have been the result of much blood shed, war and violence throughout history…

    • 2639 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World Religion

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Confucianism and Daoism are two of the most influential schools of thought in ancient China. Both are not only ways of thinking, but ways of life. They are not religions: they have no teaching of worship of gods, or the afterlife; each philosophy focuses on the individual and their behavior. Confucianism and Daoism are often considered polar opposites for several reasons, although they have a few similarities.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Arguments can be made to counter Scott M. Thomas’s claim that religion is on the rise worldwide. Nonetheless, we must not discount his theory that religion is and will be playing a larger and larger role in international politics and must therefore decide what to do about it. As Thomas pointed out, religious conflict has sparked wars and debate for centuries; one could make an argument that it has been this way since nearly the beginning of organized religion. The Russian Orthodox Church is still having problems with its neighboring Muslim population more than 700 years since they started fighting for power and influence. While religious conflict and politics have greatly evolved since then…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World Religion

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1. How might we, based on William James’ “The Varieties of Religious Experience” (in the Primis Packet), describe the three main branches of Taoism?…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World religion

    • 575 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Buddhists past and present have looked to the incidents in Buddha's life for inspiration. Pick any three major episodes in the Buddha's life and discuss what lessons they impart to a typical Buddhist householder.…

    • 575 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How did Buddhism, Christianity and Islam spread across the world, and why are they practiced so far away from their origins?…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Faith Religious Theology

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages

    But how they are different is that there is no images in Jewish worship to avoid any possible form of idolatry and because they want to prevent temptation to worship something other than the ultimate reality. In Christianity there might not be images of God to say but there are many of Jesus the son and God is three persons: God the father, God the son, and God the holy spirit. Another way they are similar is that they both have had trouble preserving the religion, although it can be seen more in Judaism than in Christianity. They both have ongoing challenges that are slowly improving but need to improve more if they want to keep the religion alive and have more people join or believe in what they believe in. They both also have a book that they read during or for prayer that is sacred to them in Judaism it is called Torah and in Christianity it is the…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays