Logen Cuthbertson

Dr. Jack Giddens

Religion 1300

11/22/2022

A Comparison and Contrast of the Three Western Religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Humans have always been very curious about the meaning of life and why and how we

are here. Believing in something such as a God or gods helps humanity with this by giving them

faith and giving them the answers that they may be looking for. There are hundreds of religions

in the world ranging from a variety of different beliefs. There are also many similarities in

multiple religions. Some religions believe in there being one all mighty being, a God, this is

known as monotheistic. One big thing that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have in common is

that they all belief in one all-powerful God.

While many religions originated in different parts of the world, these three came from the

same place, the middle east. More specifically, Jerusalem, being their holy city. Judaism was

founded first by Abraham around 1800 B.C with Christianity being born from it, in 4 B.C by

Jesus Christ. Islam was founded around 570 A.D. by Muhammed. Judaism, Christianity, and

Islam are all linked to the prophet Abraham.

These are also the some of largest religions in the world. Christianity is the worlds largest

religion with 2.2 billion followers. Islam is the second with 1.5 billion followers. Judaism is also

in the top five with 14 million followers. These three religions are also all separated into

different sects. Christianity has three main groups being, Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman
Catholic. Judaism is separated into three main groups as well, Orthodox, Conservative, and

Reform. Islam has two main groups, Sunni and Shia.

The reasons these religions separated into different sects is slightly different. Christianity

split off in 1054 when the Patriarch of Constantinople was excommunicated, which created the

Orthodox and Roman Catholic beliefs. Roman Catholic’s believe that the church tradition is

equal to the Bible and look to the Pope as the main authority over the Church. Protestant

Christians split from the Catholic Church due to corrupt practices of the Church. They believe in

respecting the Scripture as the highest authority and not the Pope. Orthodox Christians believe in

having many bishops instead of one Pope. They believe in achieving a better union with God to

achieve salvation and not just doing good deeds like the Catholics believe.

Islam split into different groups because of the argument of the legitimacy of the prophet

Muhammad’s successor. The Sunni people believe that the successor should have been chosen

by elite members of their community. The Shia people believed that the successor should have

been someone who was in Muhammad’s family, much like how the royal family chooses its next

King or Queen. While this is the main reason for the split, these two groups still coexist

peacefully and share the same fundamental beliefs.

Judaism has different groups because each group views the laws of Judaism slightly

different. Orthodox Jews practice most like the ancient Jews. They observe the Torah in a literal

way and are the most traditional of the groups. Reform Jews view the Torah as a document that

changes with time, and they have changed a lot of traditional Jewish beliefs. Conservative Jews

pick and choose which laws they observe. Conservative Jews also see the Torah as being both

divine and human.

 All three of these religions believe in one God. The God that Christianity beliefs in is just

known as God. God exists in three persons, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, known as

The Holy Trinity. Judaism also believes in the same God as in Christianity, but they do not

believe in the holy trinity. In Judaism he is also known as Jehovah or Yahweh. They reject the

Christian concept of God being on Earth in his Human form as Jesus Christ. The God in the

Islamic religion is known as Allah, and he is also not a trinity.

Christianity, Judaism and Islam all have a Holy Book as well. Christianity has the Bible.

This was given by God to man and was man written. The writers of the Bible are said to have

been “inspired” by God and that is why this is known as the “Word of God”. In Judaism they

have the Hebrew Bible. This is comprised of the Torah which is comprised of Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, the same that are in the Christian Bible. It is also

comprised of Hebrew scriptures, the Nevi’im and Ketuvim. In Islam they have the Quran. The

Quran is said to have been revealed to Mohammad over the span of two decades and is the final

revelation given to mankind by Allah.

All these religions’ view Jesus Christ differently as well. In Christianity they believe him

to be The Son part of The Holy Trinity. He was God’s only son sent to Earth to save mankind.

While Jesus was Jewish, the Jewish people did not agree that he was the Messiah and saw him as

just an ordinary Jew. In Islam, they view him as a Prophet sent by Allah and born of the Virgin

Mary, but they do not see him as divine.

Since all these religions’ view Jesus differently, it would only make sense that they view

his reason for being and his death differently. For Christian’s, Jesus was sent to Earth to absolve

mankind of their sins with Jesus being the sacrificed to forgive them. Judaism rejects Jesus as
anything other than a normal person so for them his death was just his claim to be divine. Islam

does not believe that he was crucified, but that Allah called him to Heaven.

In Christianity, we sin because we inherited that nature from Adam, when he rebelled

against God. Jesus atoned for our sins when he was sacrificed on the cross. In Islam, there is no

original sins or atonement for sins. Islam sees all humans as sinless, but humans are weak which

can lead to sins. In Judaism, you atone for your sins through asking for forgiveness from God

through prayer and repentance as well as on Yom Kippur.

In addition to this, Christianity, Islam and Judaism all view salvation and damnation a

little different. In Christianity you reach salvation by grace through your faith. In Islam it is

achieved through being a good person and doing good things. The personal righteousness of a

person must outweigh the personal sin. In Judaism it is also through good works and by prayers

and the grace of God himself. With Christianity, Hell is a place where you are punished for

eternity for the unrighteous. In Islam, Hell is known as Jahannam, and it is a place of torment

and fire. The main difference between Islam and Christianity is that in Islam, Jahannam has

many levels, and a person may not spend all of eternity there. In Judaism, the idea of the afterlife

has varied quite a bit through the different groups, but for the most part Judaism does not really

believe in the afterlife.

Judaism and Islam have a few things in common with each other that Christianity does

not. They both have dietary laws that they follow. These are known as being kosher and halal.

They are incredibly similar with a few differences. Some examples are, with both, the animals

have to be ritually prepared and slaughtered according to the religion laws. They both prohibit

eating any type of swine, rodents, insects, and blood. An example of a difference with this, in
Islamic Law alcohol is prohibited under any circumstance but under Jewish Law if it is grape

wine, and it is made according to Kashrut Law.

Judaism and Islam also both take part in fasting. In Islam it is known as Ramadan. In

Judaism it is known as Yom Kippur. Ramadan is a month long of self-reflection and fasting from

sunup to sundown. Yom Kippur is Judaism’s holiest day and is all day fasting and prayer to

repent for your sins. Yom Kippur is a day for atonement and Ramadan is more so to practice

self-restraint and have self-reflection.

Something interesting is that while Christianity came from Jewish texts, they do not

follow any Jewish Law. The relationship between the two is usually difficult as well. This would

make sense considering Jewish communities were often exiled and were discriminated against by

Christians all throughout history. Christianity also has a rough relationship with Islam as

Christians reject Muhammad as a prophet. Christianity has seen Islam as a threat in many ways

for a very long time. As already mentioned, Jewish people do not believe that Jesus was the

Messiah, as well as they do not believe in any prophets after the Jewish prophets, so they do not

believe in the teachings of Islam.

Unlike Judaism, Islam does recognize many Jewish and Christian prophets. In addition to

this, Islam views both Judaism and Christianity as early versions of Islam. Jewish people and

Christians are even both protected people in the Quran. They view these religions as having the

same traditions and beliefs by Allah, but it just got misunderstood over time. Islam is seen as the

final and compete revelation for these three faiths. The similarities between Muhammad and

Jesus are a big reason for this. Muhammad being a prophet chosen by God to deliver his message

much like Jesus Christ. While it is very easy for us to see the differences between these three

religions, and maybe even to have biased and think one is “better” than another, it should also be
very clear to see just how similar they all are. It can even be said that these religions came from

one another.

Works Cited:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/themes/religion/index.html

http://christianityinview.com/xncomparison.html

https://www.alislam.org/articles/judaism-christianity-islam-common-tradition/

https://derekdemars.com/2018/09/06/a-handy-dandy-breakdown-of-different-christian-

denominations/

https://www.studentsofhistory.com/the-sunni-shi-a-split

https://hmacanada.org/halal-vs-kosher-comparison-of-islamic-and-jewish-dietary-laws/

https://www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/cms/lib5/CA01000508/Centricity/Domain/1814/Venn

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