I have the original assignment, so I only need one page added.

For the Phase Five Individual Project, you will use your Phase Four Individual Project as a building block. Please edit your existing paper as necessary to reflect new thoughts, ideas, and conclusions, and consider your Instructor’s feedback as well. Then, use the below information to add one new page of writing to your paper for the Phase Five Individual Project.

In the Phase Four Individual Project, you examined Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. 60% of all living people today are part of one of these religious groups, making them a valuable source of customs, rituals, and values. Here in Phase Five, you will continue to explore the significance of religion, spirituality, and philosophy in building human identity and communities.

 

The main objective in Phase Five is to continue reflecting on what we can learn from the similarities of the major world religions.

• What do these common beliefs and values reveal about the universal nature of human needs and wonderment of the world around them?
• What role does religion, spirituality, or philosophy play in building the identity of a human group?

Be sure to add one additional page of writing that was not present in your Phase Four IP to describe your reflections and conclusions here in Phase Five.

Fully develop your findings in a 4-5 page paper, and be sure to format your paper and cite your research sources as per APA guidelines. 

   

**I will attatch the the original assignment if you choose to do this. I need it by 10:00pm central time.**

 

Type your short title here 1

Running head: The World Major Religions and their Similarities
1

The Beliefs, Similarities and Differences between the World Major Religions

Brittany Kemp

Phase 4 Individual Project Re-Due

09/22/2013

Christianity, Judaism and Islam: their beliefs, moral codes and similarities

The question of the origin of life and perhaps the reason for our existence has puzzled men throughout all ages. Men of high intelligence, scientists and philosophers have all at one time in their life thought about the existence of a power beyond their understanding, a God who created the entire world and who was perhaps the sole designer of the entire universe. Throughout the entire history of man religion has been part and parcel of the activities of man. The Romans and the Greeks had their numerous gods, the Jews had their Yahweh and the Egyptians had their weird half human, half animal gods. All this significantly points to one fact. Men have discovered that there are some questions which are beyond their intelligence. The question of our origin, the question of our purpose, the question of the design of the universe and the question of our death still cannot be answered using either scientific or philosophical explanations.

Due to the confusion that perhaps was brought by these questions or perhaps by the true revelation of God three major religions which are actually related developed. Judaism gave birth to Christianity and the two religions gave birth to the Islamic faith.

Christianity is the faith that has most of the believers in the contemporary society. The most central belief in the Christian faith is the belief in one God. However the God is also a trinity with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. While explaining the trinity using logic and theology has proved a difficult task even to great theologians like Saint Augustine most Christians agree about the trinity. The Christians believe that God created the world in seven days. Thus their story of the origin of life begins when God creates Adam and Eve and bestows all glory and beauty to them. Thus God is all good, all knowing and all powerful considering he created the universe all by Himself. However it was around the period of creation that the concept of evil is introduced. The Devil being envious of the beauty of God’s creation led to the fall of man and the disintegration of the perfect relationship between man and God. In summary the entire significance of Christianity begins at the fall of humanity. The sin of man separates him entirely from God. After centuries and perhaps millennia of separation God sends Jesus Christ, his only son, to come and die for the sins of humanity.

Judaism was the faith of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born and raised in a Jewish setting. Judaism is also a monotheistic religion. They believe in one God who cannot be comprehended by us due to our human nature. They also believe in the importance of every human being in the eyes of God. This is majorly derived from the story of the creation whereby God creates man in his own image. Law and moral codes are found in all religious texts but it is perhaps the laws that are found in the Jewish Torah that has formed the basis of today’s administrative and social laws. These laws commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments are also found in Christianity and Islam. As in Christianity the mention of the Messiah is a significant relation between the two religions. However according to the Jews the Messiah is yet to come while the Messiah is Jesus Christ according to Christians.

Islam which began with the Prophet Muhammad also shares the concept of monotheism with Christianity and Judaism. Islam however refers to this monotheistic characteristic of God as “Tawheed.”They all believe in oneness of mankind. This simply means that before the eyes of God everyone is equal despite their social status. Unlike the popular Christian belief that we all bear the original sin Muslims believe otherwise. They believe that everyone is born innocent and no one should bear the consequences of another person’s sins. Central to their belief are the five pillars of Islam which are Shahada (testifying about the faith), Sallah (prayer which is done five times a day), Seyam (fasting during the holy month of Ramadan), Zakat (charity and helping the poor) and Hajj which is the pilgrimage to Meccah which should be done at least once in a lifetime.

The similarities found in these religions prove an oneness of belief. It also alludes to the fact that maybe at one time all the beliefs and stories that the Holy Bible, The Torah and The Quran actually took place and perhaps even God exists as per their faith and beliefs.

The recurring themes found in the story of creation actually shock the reader of the creation stories from all the three religions. First of all it was one God who was doing the creation in seven days. He created Adam and Eve. It is at this point that the similarities in the names leave no doubt that the three religions are related. The concept of the Devil leading to the fall of man is also central to all the creation stories.

Though the concept of the end of the world differs among the three religions one theme is generally appreciated: the occurrence of supernatural situations. In the Christian faith it is the occurrence of famine, earthquakes and continuous war between nations. Actually the theme of a war is maybe the only thing that the three religions agree about. The war is referred the war of Gog and Magog or the war of Ya’juj and Ma’juj in Islam. The rising of the sun from the west is an occurrence in the Muslim texts that would also happen during this period. The return of the messiah is also a recurring theme amongst the Christians and Muslims. The coming of the Messiah for the first time is also a related theme found in Jewish texts.

In all the three religions specific laws exist that direct the actions of man. If man either with actions, intentions or words breaks these laws he is liable to punishment by God. Thus at the end of the day even if the three religions are different in many aspects the aspect of commandments and the fact that God requires man to obey him is central to all of them.

References

Fairchild. M (n.d.). Basic Christian Beliefs. Retrieved from

http://christianity.about.com/od/christiandoctrines/a/basicdoctrines.htm

Pelaia.A (n.d.). What Do Jews Believe? Retrieved from

http://judaism.about.com/od/judaismbasics/a/whatdojewsbelieve.htm

Islam Beliefs and Practices (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_24/beliefs.aspx