Comparing Islam, Judaism, And Christianity

Talha Javed
Professor Coughlin
Brigitta Schuchert
Essay 3
Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all share a belief in one God.
The three religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are considered to be very similar in practices and ideas. Christianity and Islam along with Judaism are referred to as Abrahamic religions. This is because all three of these religions revere Abraham and believe he was a major prophet in their respected religions. The biggest relation between the three is, however, is monotheism, the belief in only one god.
Judaism, the earliest monotheistic religion, is about the personal God who revealed himself through the story of the Jewish people. Judaism was formed around 2000 BCE, as a religion based on a covenant between
God and Abraham. Judaism 's main principal belief is the belief in monotheism, meaning there is only one God. The Jews believe that God is the creator of the universe, and the source of morality. God has the power to intervene in the world; He is perfect in every possible way, and is the ultimate creator of all existence of everything present. An ethical teaching on monotheism comes from within the Torah. This teaches the Jews that in order to gain eternal life with God, one should believe in God and follow his teachings. In Torah, this teaching is mentioned as God’s Promise to his faithful followers: “Know therefore that only the LORD your God is God, the steadfast God who keeps His covenant faithfully to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His commandments...” (Deuteronomy 7:9) (Novak: 188) If one is to fail in doing this and has disbelief in God, eternal punishment will only come out of it. This ethical teaching and principal belief both have an influence on the lives of adherents, as it tells them exactly how they should live in order to be with God in their after lives, it shows adherents that they are not only living for today, they are also living to gain eternal happiness, when they are called for the afterlife.
The conception of God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. God is an indivisible single God, as the Shema Yisrael states in its first pivotal words:
"Hear O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone". (Deuteronomy 6:4) (Novak: 216)
The Hebrew Bible commands the Israelites not to worship other gods, but only the God of Israel who brought them out of Egypt.
Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God 's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence, and interacts with mankind and the world. In Judaism, the one God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the guide of the world. God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the 613 Mitzvoth and commandments at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah. Even when Moses returned with the Ten Commandments, the second of those affirmed the existence and singularity of God. It stated that "I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods beside Me" (Exodus 20:3) (Novak: 187). Thus, in Judaism, God is strictly singular, fulfilling the idea and concept of monotheism as its most basic
belief.
Christianity just like Judaism believes in one supreme God. Judaism as outlined above has its foundation in Abraham who was the ‘father of nations '. It believes in the promises that God gave to Moses and God’s promises to Israel through Moses. Christianity also believes in the promises of God only that it argues that the promises would only get to them through Jesus Christ the Messiah, whom Judaism has refused to acknowledge as the Son of God or Messiah. The central belief of Christianity, however, is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as mentioned in its sacred texts: “And when Jesus had been baptized … he saw the Spirit of God descended like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, The Beloved with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matt 3:16-17) (Novak: 230) Both the Judaism and Christianity have their reference in the Bible for guidance into Godliness and as their sacred text. The difference that exists is that the Christian Bible has additional materials such as the New Testament that are missing in the Jewish Bible. Judaism believed that God sent prophets to act as the mediators between men and God and also as God 's spokes-men. The prophets communicated the will of God as true massagers of God. Christianity also expresses the fear of false prophets ' warnings its subjects to be cautious of their schemes just as Judaism observes that false prophets are a threat to their religion and to the followers.
Traditionally, both Judaism and Christianity believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for Jews the God of the Tanakh, for Christians the God of the Old Testament, the creator of the universe. Judaism and major sects of Christianity reject the view that God is entirely immanent and within the world as a physical presence, although Trinitarian Christians believe in the incarnation of God. Both religions reject the view that God is entirely transcendent, and thus separate from the world, as the pre-Christian Greek Unknown God. Both religions reject atheism on one hand and polytheism on the other. Both religions agree that God shares both transcendent and immanent qualities. How these religions resolve this issue is where the religions differ. Christianity posits that God exists as a Trinity; in this view God exists as three distinct persons who share a single divine essence, or substance. In those three there is one, and in that one there are three; the one God is indivisible, while the three persons are distinct and unconfused, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One such mention of the Trinity in the bible is: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor. 13:14) (Novak: 256) Christianity teaches that God became especially immanent in physical form through the Incarnation of God the Son who was born as Jesus of Nazareth, who is believed to be at once fully God and fully human. By contrast, Judaism sees God as a single entity, and views Trinitarianism as both incomprehensible and a violation of the Bible 's teaching that God is one. It rejects the notion that Jesus or any other object or living being could be 'God ', that God could have a literal 'son ' in physical form or is divisible in any way, or that God could be made to be joined to the material world in such fashion.
Judaism and Christianity believes in life after death and they both allege that the destiny of life after death is determined while man is living: if you had an intimate relationship with God prior to your death then you will enjoy eternity with him and if otherwise then one will burn in hell forever as a punishment of rejecting God. They both accredit the existence of Universe to God and acknowledge that he controls everything in the universe. The Kalabah, the traditional mystical understanding of the Torah, states, “Everything is linked with everything else down to the lowest ring on the chain and the true essence of God is above as well as below, in the heaven an on the earth, and nothing exists outside Him.” (Novak: 217). Jews and Christians both practice prayers as the way to commune with God. Christianity and Judaism believe in the existence of angels and demons belonging to two different and opposite camps, Gods and Devils respectively.
Compared to Judaism and Christianity, Islam is the youngest of the three Abrahamic religions. Islam teaches that God is the same god worshipped by the members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The Quran affirms this connection to the first Abrahamic religion, Judaism, saying, “We believe in the faith of Abraham.” (Quran 2:136) (Novak: 311). Though, this belief is not universally accepted by non-Muslims, as Islam denies the divinity of Jesus Christ as a Son of God. Islam and Christianity differ in their fundamental views in regard to the nature, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Most Christians are Trinitarian, and believe that Jesus is divine and one of three parts of one God, as described in the Gospels. Islam teaches that Jesus was one of the most important prophets of God and was a human being. Muslims do not believe that he was the Son of God, or that he is divine or part of a triune God, as Christians believe. In Islam, Jesus was a human prophet who, like all the other prophets, tried to bring the children of Israel to the worship of One God. The Quran verifies this principle by stating: “The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary was no more than God’s Apostle” () (Novak: 310) Islam views that God does not have any offspring’s or descendants; he created all things including prophets such as Jesus Christ. The Quran asserts this by stating the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world; a unique and indivisible being who is independent of the entire creation. In Sura Al-Ikhlas of Quran, it is written: “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.” (Quran 112:1-4) (Novak: 284)
The Quran explicitly denies the concept of the Trinity and reaffirms the concept of One God, leading Muslims to reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, and comparing it to polytheism.
In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Most Muslims today believe that the religions of Abraham are of one source, which is The Almighty God. Therefore, the Triune God of Christianity is considered to be a heresy, both in Judaism and Islam, a threat to monotheism. Thus, Allah cannot be the same as God the Father of the Christian Trinity, since Allah says that belief in the Trinity is one of the worst possible heresies and sins: “Surely, unbelievers are those who said, "Allah is the third of the three [in a Trinity]". But there is no god but One God. And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the unbelievers among them” (Quran
5,73).
Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession of faith, "There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.” (Novak: 296) and lays down the foundation for monotheism in Islam. To attribute divinity to a created entity is the only unpardonable sin mentioned in the Qur 'an. The entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of tawhid. In Islam, God is believed to be the only real Supreme Being, all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, determiner, and judge of the universe. He is unique and inherently one, all merciful and omnipotent. According to the Qur 'an there are ninety-nine Names of God each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of God. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine Arabic name. Among the ninety-nine names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Most Gracious" and "the Most Merciful". Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing His glories and bear witness to His unity and lordship. The Qur 'an states, "Such is God your Lord. There is no God but He, Creator of all things. Then worship Him who is guardian over all there is. No human perception comprehends Him, while He comprehends all perception. He is beyond all conceiving, the One who is infinity aware.” (Qur 'an 6:102-103) (Novak: 289). God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal god: According to the Qur 'an, he is nearer to person than person 's jugular vein. He responds to those in need or distress whenever they call him; and most importantly, guides humanity to the right way, the "straight path".
Overall, all three religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, though known by different names. For all three, God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, and forgives. On the other hand, even the three religions state irreconcilable positions concerning the nature of the personal God. Jewish and Islamic scriptures are interpreted as exclusively monotheistic whilst Christianity adopts Trinitarianism, a more complex form of monotheism, However, Christianity 's complex Trinitarian doctrine conflicts with Jewish and Muslim concepts of monotheism as they traditionally profess a concept of monotheism with a singular person as God. They reject the incarnation of God in Christ, one of the distinctive features of the Christian religion. Although Christianity does not believe in three gods, rather three personalities in one "Almighty God," the concept of Trinity remains a problem for Islam and Judaism. To conclude, all three Abrahamic religions are monotheistic, with belief in only one God, but only Islam and Judaism appear to be strictly monotheistic in their teachings and beliefs.

Works Cited:
1. Novak, P. The World 's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World 's Religions. Harper San Francisco, 1994. Print.
2. Smith, H. World 's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions. Turtleback Books, 1991. Print.