1. Islam, Judaism & Christianity

2. Comparative Religions
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Origins
Canaan
~2000 BCE
Palestine
~30 CE
Saudi Arabia
622 CE
Founders
Moses
Jesus Christ
Mohammad
Adherents
Jews
Christians
Muslims
Population
14 million
Israel, Euro, US
2.1 billion
Euro, Americas, Africa
1.5 billion
Mid East, SE Asia

3. Comparative Religions
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Diety
God
Yahweh, Elohim
Allah
Holy Book
“People of the book”
Torah
(Old Test.)
Bible
(Old and New Test.)
Qur’an
(Koran)
Religious Law
Halakhah
Canon Law
Sharia
Place of Worship
Synagogue
Church
Chapel
Cathedral
Mosque
Clergy
Rabbis
Priest, Minister, Pastor
Imam

4. Origins and History of Each Faith

5. Origins of Each Faith Date and Place founded:
Judaism – approximately 1300 B.C. in Palestine
Some say the date is unknown
Christianity – approximately 33 A.D. in Palestine
Islam – 622 A.D. in Saudi Arabia

6. Founders and Early Leaders
Judaism – Abraham and Moses
Christianity – Jesus
Islam - Muhammad

7. Brief History on Origins
Judaism- The Hebrew leader Abraham founded Judaism around 2000 B.C.
Judaism is the oldest of the monotheistic faiths (religions with one God).
Christianity - Founded by Jesus Christ, who was crucified around A.D. 30 in Jerusalem
After his death his followers came to believe in him as the Christ, the Messiah.
Islam - Founded in Arabia by Muhammad between A.D. 610 and A.D. 632

8. Spread of Each Faith Early Expansion
Judaism – Little expansion mostly confined to Israel
Christianity – by the end of the 4th century Christianity spread across the entire Roman Empire
Islam – Within 12 years, entire Arabian peninsula
After 100 years stretched from Spain to Southeast Asia

9. Terms for Followers and Clergy
Followers Called:
Judaism Jews
Christianity  Christians
Islam  Muslims
Clergy Called:
Judaism  rabbis
Christianity  bishop, pastor, ministers, priest
Islam  imams

10. Judaism Timeline
1800 BCE  Hebrews flee Canaan, migrate to Egypt (enslaved).
Lead by Moses to Sinai Peninsula. Covenant w/God.
1 God, 10 Commandments, Chosen People
1025 BCE form kingdom of Israel in Fertile Crescent.
Kings David & Solomon help reach greatest glory
500 BCE Persians take over, Return to Israel & rebuild temple in Jerusalem.
70 CE  Romans expel Jews from Israel/Palestine – diaspora…
Won’t return until late 1800s

11. Christianity Jesus born in Roman ruled Palestine (Bethlehem)
Carpenter’s apprentice
Studied w/ rabbis - Preacher 30 yrs old
Some believed he was the messiah – Savior from foreign rule, restore kingdom
Roman’s, scared of popularity & refusal to accept emperor as a god, crucified him in 33 CE.
Followers, Christians, spread word
Everyone equal, salvation & eternal life
Persecuted by Romans, became martyrs
313 CE, Emperor Constantine converts
395 CE, official religion Roman Empire

12. Islam Timeline
610 CE Angel Gabriel tells Mohammed he is to be the messenger of God/Allah
Merchant in Mecca
622  flee to Medina, build 1st mosque
Hejira – Yr 1 of Muslim Calendar
Prophet
Expansion of Islam
Uses war & political maneuvering to spread ideas
632 control Peninsula
732 Atlantic to Indus

13. How They Worship

14. Where and When They Worship
House of Worship
Judaism: synagogue or temple
Christianity: church, cathedral, chapel
Islam: mosque
Day of Worship
Judaism: Saturday
Christianity: Sunday
Islam: Friday

15. Languages of Faiths Original Language Names of God Judaism: Hebrew
Christianity: Aramaic and Greek, then Latin
Islam: Arabic
Names of God
Judaism: Yahweh and Elohim
Christianity: God, the Trinity
Islam: Allah

16. Holy/Religious Texts

17. Sacred Texts of Each Faith
Judaism: Hebrew Bible, Torah, Talmud
Christianity: Old Testament and New Testament
Islam: Qur’an (Koran)

18. Beliefs

19. Monotheistic Beliefs Ultimate Reality (Type of Theism)
Judaism: One God
Christianity: Trinity (God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit)
Islam: One God

20. Divine Revelation---God’s Words
How do we know about God?
Judaism: through prophets; recorded in the Hebrew Bible
Christianity: through prophets and Jesus as recorded in the Old and New Testament
Islam: through God’s final prophet Muhammad; recorded in the Qur’an

21. Identity of Jesus Judaism: False prophet
Christianity: Son of God, the Messiah, Savior
Islam: prophet of God

22. Death of Jesus Judaism: death by Crucifixion
Christianity: death by Crucifixion
Islam: Did not die, but ascended into heaven (a disciple took his place)

23. Resurrection of Jesus Judaism: Denied Christianity: Affirmed
Islam: Denied; since he did not die

24. Means of Salvation Judaism: Belief in one God; good deeds
Christianity: correct belief, good deeds; by faith accept Christ as Savior (Protestants)
Islam: Belief in one God; good deeds and follow Five Pillars of Faith

25. Afterlife Judaism: eternal heaven/ eternal hell
Christianity: eternal heaven/ eternal hell
Islam: eternal paradise (heaven)/ eternal hell

26. Symbols of Faiths

27. Symbols Judaism: Star of David Christianity: cross
Islam: crescent with name of Allah in Arabic

28. Views of Fellow Abrahamic Religions

29. View of Fellow Abrahamic Religions
Judaism: “Islam and Christianity are false interpretations and extensions of Judaism.”
Christianity: “Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete revelation. Islam is a false religion.”
Islam: “Jews and Christians are respected as fellow believers, but with wrong beliefs and only partial revelation.”

30. Followers

31. Where They Can Be Found Major Locations TODAY
Judaism: Europe, Israel, North America
Christianity: Europe, North and South America
Islam: Africa, Middle East, and Southeast Asia

32. PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.

33. Current Worldwide Followers TODAY
Judaism: 14 million (ranks 12th)
Christianity: 2 billion (ranks 1st)
Islam: 1.3 billion (ranks 2nd)
In the USA
Judaism: 5.6 million
Christianity: 159 million
Islam: 1.1 million

35. Judaism In More Depth

36. Judaism religion of just one people: the Jews.
first to teach belief in only one God.
Two other important religions developed from Judaism: Christianity and Islam.

37. Judaism Briefly
Judaism is around 3500 years old and is the oldest of the world's four great monotheistic religions (religions with only one God).
It's also the smallest, with only about 12 million followers around the world.
Its holy city is Jerusalem.
The Jewish calendar is based on 29 or 30 days therefore they have months.

38. Judaism Beliefs
Jews believe that there is a single God who not only created the universe, but with whom every Jew can have an individual and personal relationship.
They believe in heaven, but that God determines where they go after life on earth.
Give a tithe (10%).
Ten Commandments is the basic code of law.

39. Judaism
Jews think that God will send a Messiah (a deliverer) to unite them and lead them in His way.
Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
The Jewish people do not agree; they anticipate His arrival in the future.

40. Jewish Philosophy God is one and unique God is the creator
God is transcendent
God is immanent.
God is lawgiver
God is personal
We have the obligation to worship
The Torah is God's law
God is judge
The Messiah will come.

41. Judaism Holy Book
The most holy Jewish book is the Torah (the first five books of the Christian Bible)
Others include Judaism's oral tradition, the written form of which is known as the Talmud.
The Torah (scroll of teachings) contains the five books revealed to Moses by God on Mount Sinai.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy
Another important book is the "Talmud," serving primarily as a guide to the civil and religious laws of Judaism.
Hebrew is read right to left.

42. Judaism Place of Worship
Jews worship in Synagogues or temples.
Men and women usually sit separately.
Worship is led by a Rabbi.
Friday evening is time for worship.
Stamford Hill, London

43. Christianity In More Depth

44. Christianity briefly
Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.2 billion followers worldwide.
It is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who lived in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago.

45. Christianity
The early Hebrews who eventually developed into the Jewish religion became the foundation of Christianity.
Jesus, or the Messiah, was a Jewish boy who disagreed with some of the Jewish principles of his day began to profess a new way of thinking.
This eventually led to the beginning of the Christian religion.
The central point of Christian belief is that God, the Father, entered into human history as the Son, Jesus of Nazereth, and arose as the Holy Spirit. 

46. Christian Philosophy
God is the Creator of the universe. There is one God, Who is Three  Persons-      Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is both fully man and fully God.  He was born of the Virgin Mary  Crucified, resurrected from the dead, and ascended to the Father.

47. Christianity Beliefs
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God
God sent his Son to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sins
Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his Crucifixion (the Resurrection)
Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament
Christians believe that there is only one God, but that this one God consists of 3 "persons"
Christians believe that God made the world.

48. Christianity Beliefs continued
Christians believe that they can have a personal relationship with God, and that they are saved by faith, not works. Grace is the law code.
They believe in actual heaven and hell.
Sin and Evil are realities in our existence.
They believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
The leader of Christianity was Jesus, and the followers was his 12 disciples.
Their giving is a tithe or offerings.

49. Christians Holy Book The Bible is the Christian holy book.
It is divided into the Old and New Testaments.
Parts of the writing contained in the Old Testament are also sacred to Jewish and Muslim people.

50. Christian Place of Worship
The Christian place of worship is called a Church, which are built in the shape of a cross with the altar facing east towards the rising sun.
Services are led by a priest, pastor or reverend.
Day of worship is normally Sunday but most recently Saturday has been added.
Westminster Abbey London

51. Islam In More Depth

52. Islam Briefly
Islam is the second most popular religion in the world with over a thousand million followers.
Islam began in Arabia and was revealed to humanity by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Those who follow Islam are called Muslims.
Muslims believe that there is only one God, called Allah, who speaks Arabic.
The Muslim calendar has 354 days
based on the 12 crescent moon cycles.

53. Islam
ISLAM is the name given to the religion preached by the prophet Muhammad in the 600s A. D.
The Islamic religion started in the area known as Palestine in the year 600AD.
It has about 850 million followers, most of them in the region north and east of the Mediterranean Sea.

54. Islam Allah, is the Islamic God.
People who believe these ideas are called Muslims.

55. Islamic Philosophy
Muslims learn that life on earth is a period of testing and preparation for the life to come.
Angels record good and bad deeds.
People should behave themselves and help others, trusting in Allah's justice and mercy for their reward.

56. Islam Holy Book
The Muslim scripture is the Holy Qur'an. It is 'the word of God'. Muslim beliefs and practices are rooted in the Qur'an.
Muslims treat the Qur'an with great respect because they believe that the Qur'an is from Allah, and every word and every letter is sacred.
Muslims regard the Qur'an as the unaltered word of God.
It is read from right to left and written in Arabic, the language of heaven.

57. Islam Place of Worship
The Muslim building for communal worship is called a Mosque.
The word comes from the Arabic for "place of prostration".
Worshippers are called to prayer 5 times a day from minarets – towers on the mosque corners.
They contain only designs, no people or animals or furniture.
Normal day of worship is Friday.
Jamia Mosque in Derby England

58. Islam
While praying, they face the holy city of Mecca (in Saudi-Arabia) and sometimes kneel with faces to the ground.
All Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage (trip to a sacred place) to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

59. Five Pillars Belief system/law code
Shahadah: declaration of faith "I bear witness that there is no god, but God; I bear witness that Muhammad is the prophet of God." By reciting this, one enters Islamic faith.
Salah: prayer Muslims are required to pray five times a day, washing themselves before prayer and facing in the direction of Mecca while praying.
Zakat: giving a fixed proportion to charity Muslims are required to give away a percentage of their earnings to those less fortunate, regardless of their religion.
Saum: fasting during the month of Ramadan Muslims fast for one lunar month each year, a period called Ramadan. During this time, Muslims reflect on their behavior and strive to purify their thoughts.
Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca If it is financially possible, Muslims are required to travel to Mecca once in their lifetime.

60. Main Festivals
Hijja: The month of pilgrimage during which all Muslims, at least once in their life, should try to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and worship at the Kaaba