Comparative Analysis of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

JUDAISM
ORIGINS
 The origins of Judaism according to the current historical view, lie in the Bronze Age amidst polytheistic
ancient Semitic religions, specifically evolving out of Ancient Canaanite polytheism, then co-existing
with Babylonian religion, and syncretizing elements of Babylonian belief into the worship of Yahweh as
reflected in the early prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible.
 During the Iron Age I, the Israelite religion became distinct from the Canaanite polytheism out of which
it evolved. This process began with the development of Yahwism, the monolatristic worship of Yahweh
that gave acknowledgment to the existence, but suppressed the worship, of other Canaanite gods.
Later, this monolatristic belief cemented into a strict monotheistic belief and worship of Yahweh alone,
with the rejection of the existence of all other gods, whether Canaanite or foreign.
 During the Babylonian captivity of the 6th and 5th centuries BCE (Iron Age II), certain circles within the
exiled Judahites in Babylon refined pre-existing ideas about their Yahweh-centric monolatrism,
election, divine law, and Covenant into a strict monotheistic theology which came to dominate the
former Kingdom of Judah in the following centuries.[1]
 From the 5th century BCE until 70 CE, Israelite religion developed into the various theological schools
of Second Temple Judaism, besides Hellenistic Judaism in the diaspora. Second Temple eschatology has
similarities with Zoroastrianism.[2] The text of the Hebrew Bible was redacted into its extant form in
this period and possibly also canonized as well.
 Rabbinic Judaism developed during Late Antiquity, during the 3rd to 6th centuries CE; the Masoretic
Text of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud were compiled in this period. The oldest manuscripts of the
Masoretic tradition come from the 10th and 11th centuries CE, in the form of the Aleppo Codex of the
later portions of the 10th century CE and the Leningrad Codex dated to 1008–1009 CE. Due largely to
censoring and the burning of manuscripts in medieval Europe, the oldest existing manuscripts of
various rabbinical works are quite late. The oldest surviving complete manuscript copy of the
Babylonian Talmud is dated to 1342 CE.
MORALITY
PURPOSE
 Judaism means living the faith . A religious Jew tries to bring holiness into everything they do, by doing
it as an act that praises God, and honours everything God has done. For such a person the whole of
their life becomes an act of worship.
DESTINY
 Because Judaism is by origin and nature an ethnic religion, salvation has been primarily conceived in
terms of the destiny of Israel as the elect people of Yahweh (often refered to as “the Lord”), the God of
Israel.
VIEWS ON WOMEN
 The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law (the corpus of rabbinic
literature), by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature
mention various female role models, religious law treats women differently in various circumstances.
 In a Jewish household, the wife and mother is called in Hebrew akeret habayit. This means literally the
“mainstay” of the home. It is she who largely determines the character and atmosphere of the entire
home.
 Women are required by halacha to do all negative mitzvot (i. e., commandments that prohibit activities
such as "Thou shalt not commit adultery"), but they are excused from doing most time-bound, positive
mitzvot (i. e., commandments that proscribe ritual action that must be done at certain times such as
hearing a shofar on Rosh Hashanah). A woman would not, however, be prohibited from doing a
mitzvah from which she was excused. Halacha also provides women with material and emotional
protections that most non-Jewish women did not enjoy during the first millennium of the Common Era.
The penal and civil law of the time treated men and women equally.
CHRISTIANITY
ORIGIN
 Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teacher and healer who proclaimed the
imminent kingdom of God and was crucified c. AD 30–33 in Jerusalem in the Roman province of Judea.
 Christianity began in the 1st century AD after Jesus died and resurrected, as a small group of Jewish
people in Judea, but quickly spread throughout the Roman empire. Despite early persecution of
Christians, it later became the state religion. In the Middle Ages it spread into Northern Europe and
Russia. {SAME IDEAS PERO DIFFERENT TERM LANG SILA BABE}
MORALITY
 Christian morality consists of living one’s life with guidance and inspiration from the Christian
scriptures and traditions. Christian ethics as an academic discipline uses these scriptures and traditions
in developing and critiquing ethical norms and theories and applying them to ethical issues. Most
Christian ethicists agree that the sources for doing ethics include revelation (scripture) and tradition, as
well as human reason and experience.
PURPOSE
 The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of
Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of
eternal life.
DESTINY
 The destiny of Christianity is to grow into Jesus Christ. Followers of Christianity consider God to be the
only force with control over one's fate and that he has a plan for every person. Many believe that
humans all have free will, which is contrasted with predestination, although naturally inclined to act
according to God's desire.
VIEWS ON WOMEN
 The roles of women in Christianity can vary considerably today as they have varied historically since
the third century New Testament church. This is especially true in marriage and in formal ministry
positions within certain Christian denominations, churches, and parachurch organizations.
 Many leadership roles in the organized church have been prohibited to women, but the majority of
churches now hold an egalitarian (men and women’s roles equal) view regarding women’s roles in the
church. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, only men may serve as priests, elders, or
decons; only males serve in senior leadership positions such as pope, patriarch, and bishop. Women
may serve as abbesses. Most mainstream Protestant denominations are beginning to relax their
longstanding constraints on ordaining women to be ministers, though some large groups, most notably
the Southern Baptist Convention, are tightening their constraints in reaction. Most all Charismatic and
Pentecostal churches were pioneers in this matter and have embraced the ordination of women since
their founding.
ISLAM
ORIGIN
 The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic and cultural developments of Islamic
civilization. Most historians accept that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th
century CE. Muslims regard Islam as a return to the original faith of the prophets, such as Jesus,
Solomon, David, Moses, Abraham, Noah and Adam, with the submission (islam) to the will of God.
MORALITY
 Morality in Islam encompasses the concept of righteousness, good character, and the body of moral
qualities and virtues prescribed in Islamic religious texts. The principle and fundamental purpose of
Islamic morality is love: love for God and love for God's creatures. The religious conception is that
mankind will behave morally and treat each other in the best possible manner to please God.

PURPOSE
  Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's
command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is," and that the purpose of existence is to worship
God without associating partners to Him.
 Followers of Islam aim to live a life of complete submission to Allah. They believe that nothing can
happen without Allah's permission, but humans have free will. Islam teaches that Allah's word was
revealed to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
DESTINY
 Muslims believe that the divine destiny is when God wrote down in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-
mahfooz) (several other spellings are used for this in English) all that has happened and will happen,
which will come to pass as written.
VIEWS ON WOMEN
 Islam faith states that in the eyes of God, men and women should be equal and are allowed to fulfill
the same roles. Therefore, they also are required to complete all the duties of a Muslim worshiper,
including the completion of religious traditions, specifically the pilgrimage to Mecca. Islamic culture
marked a movement towards liberation and equality for women, since prior Arab cultures did not
enable women to have such freedoms. Now, women in Islam are even entitled to their own right to
land. There is evidence that Muhammad asked women for advice and took their thoughts into account,
specifically with regard to the Quran. Women were allowed to pray with men, take part in commercial
interactions, and played a role in education. One of Muhammad’s wives, Aisha, played a significant role
in medicine, history and rhetoric. Women, however, did not hold religious titles, but some held
political power with their husbands or on their own. The historic role of women in Islam is connected
to societal patriarchal ideals, rather than actual ties to the Quran. The issue of women in Islam is
becoming more prevalent in modern society
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TAOISM, CONFUCIANISM, SHINTOISM

TAOISM
ORIGIN
 Taoism as a religion began in the year 142 C.E. with the revelation of the Tao to Zhang Daoling or
Chang Tao-ling by the personified god of the Tao, Taishang laojun (Lao Tzu), the Highest Venerable
Lord.
 Taoism (also spelled Daoism) is a religion and a philosophy from ancient China that has influenced folk
and national belief. Taoism has been connected to the philosopher Lao Tzu, who around 500 B.C.E.
wrote the main book of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching.
MORALITY
 Taoist ethics are concerned less with doing good acts than becoming a good person who lives in
harmony with all things and people. So, in theory at least, Taoists tend not to initiate action - but wait
for events to make action necessary and avoid letting their own desires and compulsions push them
into doing things.
PURPOSE
 Chinese philosophy to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world: simplicity and selflessness in
conformity with the Tao, leading a life of non-purposive action, a life expressing the essence of
spontaneity. Taoism, also known as Daoism, arose about the same time as Confucianism.
DESTINY


VIEWS ON WOMEN
  Women, Taoism is a gender-neutral religion. This is implied by the concept of Yin Yang which teaches
that masculine and feminine are complementary, inseparable and equal. The Tao Te Ching uses female
images such as the mother of the universe and the mother of all things when describing the Tao.
Taoism has always accepted that women have an equal part to play in spiritual life. Women took
priestly roles from the earliest days of organized Taoist religion and Taoist legend has many tales of
female deities.
CONFUCIANISM
ORIGIN
 Confucianism was developed in China by Master Kong in 551-479 BC, who was given the name
Confucius by Jesuit missionaries who were visiting there. However, the fundamental principles of
Confucianism began before his birth, during the Zhou Dynasty.
MORALITY
 It is commonly believed that Confucianism established its moral structure on the basis of filial piety as a
mere starting point, and considered compassion and benevolence the highest moral goal. Therefore,
some scholars also claimed that Confucian ethics attached great importance to social morality.
PURPOSE
 Confucianism, the teachings of Confucius during 500 BC, has played an important role in forming
Chinese character, behavior and way of living. (Eliot 2001; Guo 1995) Its primary purpose is to achieve
harmony, the most important social value.
DESTINY
 Abstract the Confucian idea of “ming 命 (destiny)” holds that in the course and culmination of human
life, there exists some objective certainty that is both transcendent and beyond human control. This is
a concept of ultimate concern at the transcendental theoretical level in Confucianism.
VIEWS ON WOMEN
 For Confucianism in Han China's views on women: - Filial piety required that people respect their
elders and ancestors, especially male ones. - The ideal role for a woman was to take care of a large
household. - Women typically didn't have formal roles in Confucian life outside the home.
SHINTOISM
ORIGIN
 Shinto, also known as kami-no-michi, is a religion which originated in Japan. Classified as an East Asian
religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a
nature religion.
 In the late 6th century AD the name Shinto was created for the native religion to distinguish it from
Buddhism and Confucianism, which had been introduced from China. Shinto was rapidly
overshadowed by Buddhism, and the native gods were generally regarded as manifestations of Buddha
in a previous state of existence.
MORALITY
 Shinto does not have any moral absolutes and assesses the good or bad of an action, such as
circumstances or intentions. Meanwhile, Shinto ethics start from the ideas that both human and the
world are good. However, once evil spirits enters and spreads to humans, like diseases, humans start
to act wrongly.
 Shintoism also promotes harmony and purity in all spheres of life. The purity here is the moral purity
not spiritual. This means one having a pure and sincere heart.
PURPOSE
 Shinto is an optimistic faith, as humans are thought to be fundamentally good, and evil is believed to
be caused by evil spirits. Consequently, the purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits by
purification, prayers and offerings to the kami.
DESTINY
  Shinto believe that a person's destiny is to live their life improving and helping to develop Japan to the
best country it can be. They believe that their destiny is to help Japan in any way that they can. And,
when they die, as a spirit they will help guide their relatives and loved ones to do the same.
VIEWS ON WOMEN
 In Shinto, female priests are allowed, but remain rare, and take on the male role of priests from recent
history, more so than the traditional Shamanistic role of women in early Shinto. More common roles
for women in the clergy are miko, shrine stewards who assist the chief priest.
HINDUISM
ORIGIN
 Unlike other religions, Hinduism has no one founder but is instead a fusion of various beliefs. Around
1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryan people migrated to the Indus Valley, and their language and culture blended
with that of the indigenous people living in the region.
