RELIGIONS: THE WAY OF LIFE

RELIGION COMPARISON
Hannah Mohammed HUMA 2300 World Religions Suzanne Jacobs May 6, 2014

Religion means something different for everyone. Many live their entire lives based off their religion, others turn to their religion only during certain times, and some dont practice a religion at all. It is an important part of the world, religion has caused war but has also had the power to bring people together. It has helped shape the way many things are ran today. In America there is freedom of religion and you may practice what you want as long as you are obeying laws while doing so. But religion is separated from the government, so it does not interfere with the way the country is ran. Then in Israel the government is ran based off of religion beliefs. Israel incorporates Jewish characteristics in their government, but if you live in Israel you still have religious freedom (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). This paper will show how powerful and meaningful religion is to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. It will focus on their different belief systems, their practices and rituals, and their sacred spaces. Christianity looks towards Jesus as the Son of God. They believe that Jesus died on the cross for them, he will be resurrected to come back and there will be a judgment day (Matthews, pg. 296). Jesus in the Christian religion is the savior for the world. The Islam religion believes Jesus was a true prophet of God, they dont accept him to be the Son of God. They also do not believe he died on the cross and was then resurrected. Some believe that someone volunteered to take his place on the cross, or that his body was taken to heaven (Jacobs, Islam Slide 24). Muslims do believe that there will be a second coming of Jesus. The Jewish religion does not believe in Jesus because he did not complete task that were listed in The Bible, that The Savior would accomplish (Jacobs, Judaism Slide 35). They saw Jesus as a false prophet, they also believed that he was born a normal birth, while Christianity and Islam believes he was born of a virgin.

Each of these religions have sacred text that they refer to throughout their whole lives, and that they live by. In Christianity they believe in The Holy Bible to be the word of God. It includes both the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament was made by Moses, and the teachings and words he received from God, it was the messages of what God was saying to the people. The New Testament was written because there was new prophets of God, specifically they believe Jesus was sent to help the world and the way he lived everyone was supposed to live. So his life was documented so it could be followed for the rest of time. There are four gospels that make up the New Testament. Gospels are the stories of Jesus and they bring about good. Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John are the four gospels, they all help each other make up the life of Jesus. Some contain the same information and some information is different. Author Warren Matthews uses the example of, instead of reporting Jesus giving disciples bread and wine at a supper, John reports Jesus wrapping himself with a towel and washing his disciples feet (Matthews, pg. 304). Muslims center their beliefs on the Quran. It is the word of God that the prophet Muhammad received through the angel Gabriel (Matthews, pg. 336). Muhammad bases his lifes actions on the Quran. Muhammad did not write down his revelations from God as soon as he received them. The Quran had to be put together, which is was by Uthman. There is 114 Surahs, chapters, which are listed from the longest chapters to the shortest. Not in chronological order. The Quran means to recite, so it is read aloud (Jacobs, Islam Slide 15). The Judaism religion has more sacred text than Christianity or Islam. Jews read from the Torah, the Neviim, and the Ketuvim. The Torah is seen as the law, the Neviim is seen as the prophets, and then the Ketuvim is seen as the wisdom. These three make up the Hebrew bible (Jacobs, Judaism Slide 8). There are two popular ways to translate the Hebrew Bible, the

Traditional and Liberal way. In the Traditional view Moses wrote the Torah, it is Gods word, and there are parts of the Bible that Jeremiah and Ezra changed. In the Liberal view it is what Humans see as God interrelating with the humans. In 200 BCE part of it was rewritten and those rewrites now are the modern text that has the three sources for Genesis (Jacobs, Judaism Slide 9). Jews also recite from the Mishnah, the Tosefta, both Talmuds, and the Midrash text (Jacobs, Judaism Slide 8). Some more similarities and differences in these three religious beliefs are; there are angels and demons. In the Islamic religion they also have Jinn, supernatural beings. They all believe that the human nature is good and bad. All humans have the ability to do both. In Christianity it is nature to tend to turn towards evil more. Making it harder to be good but, that is still the ultimate goal. To be saved in the Islamic religion they believe that you must do good things, and follow the Five Pillars. The first is Shahada, to witness, there is no other God but Allah and that Muhammad was picked as the messenger. The second is Salat, the five prayers performed every day. Third, they have to pay their Zakat taxes to the people in need. Fourth is the Sawm, to fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan. The fifth pillar is Hajj, to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives (Matthews, pg. 344). In the Christian religion to be saved, you need to also have the correct beliefs, have faith, do kind things, and give sacraments. In Judaism it is necessary to believe in God, and do kind things to be saved. All three are very similar in the way that you need to live in order to be saved or be enlightened. Just the path and beliefs to follow to get there is different. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are all a little different in their sacred spaces. When you visit a Christianity church the decorations are a lot more elaborate. At the Cathedral of the Madeleine, there was stained glass windows, there was scenes that portrayed Jesus life, and

there was amazing architecture. After I visited that church, I went to the Khadeeja Masjid, where there was no decorations. They dont have any portraits of Allah. Because they believe Allah to be a spirit and is the one and only, so it is impossible to portray in any type of drawing or painting. It was very plain and simple, there was little sparks of design to catch the eye. There was a sky light that had Islamic writing boarding it. Then the altar on the second level where the Imam stood had color and was pretty to look at. Before both of those trips I visited the Congregation Kol Ami, which was a balance of the two. It was not overly elaborate like the Christian sacred place, but not as simple as the Muslims mosque. It had an altar where the Rabbi stood and behind her was where the Torah was, it was in a little window type door, and it was very large and covered in decorations. Then there was tiles on the wall with peoples names on them, at the front there was a large menorah that was hard to miss. The point of the sacred spaces are worship not the decorations. They are to go and remember their beliefs and to learn more. To practice the way God would want them too. During the Christianity churches they usually give a sermon, some type of teaching to leave people thinking about the way they go about their daily lives. Same with the Jews and Muslims. Then at all of the churches they also read from their holy texts. They also all have prayers. At the Christian churches they have a sacrament to renew vows to Jesus, his death, and his resurrection. Besides the sacrament, the ways that rituals or prayers are performed are all really similar within the three religions. At the Christian and Islamic church it is common to bow or pray on your knees. To be below God and be looking up to him. They all pray, they all have a lesson that the followers are left to think about, and they all have readings from their sacred text. In the Islamic religion it is not completely necessary to go to the mosque and participate in the sermons given, it has a lot of individual practice and believing in it. In the Christian and Judaism religions it is

more expected to go to their sacred places of worship to learn more and pay their respects to God. The way the sacred spaces are set up are a little different. At the Islamic temple, the women sat on the second level of the building, and there was a wall blocking the view of the altar and Imam. The lower level was where the men sat, but each space was very open. There wasnt benches or chairs to sit on, the carpet had individual tiles on it for the people to sit in their own little space. At the Catholic Church it was just one big area with benches all facing the altar and there was a large area for the altar. The Bishop sat at the altar, but behind the area dedicated to the sacrifices. The choir sat behind the Bishop, both men and women were able to sit where they wanted, and with who they wanted. It was not separated in anyway. Same with Judaism, anyone was able to sit wherever pleased them. The altar was not so large, and was higher than the rest of the room. There was benches for people to sit on, and it was a lot smaller room than either of the other two sacred spaces. The people of these religions are very passionate and connected to their religions. It is their way of living, it is what guides how they live their everyday lives. So it was easy to feel the emotions that were in the room. At the Christian church it was Psalm Sunday, the emotions were really high. The story of Jesus and his crucifixion was read, it lead some people to cry. Others cried when the reenactment of Jesus entering Jerusalem was played out with the cross being walked into the room by the Bishop. While others were left crying when they sang the hymns. It was a very emotional experience, it was easy to feel the love they had for the religion and for Jesus. Not only did they show their emotions but it was noticeable to see that they not only believed in the religion but they practiced it. Every one sang the hymns, everyone got on their knees to pray, and the line for the sacrament seemed to be never ending. Announcements were

made at the end asking for people to pray for family members that were sick or in need. They announced that they needed help feeding the homeless. It was a community that was connected to each other through their religion, and they wanted to do the right thing and that reflected in their church service. At the Judaism church the emotion was noticeable. Not because there was people crying, but because it was very welcoming and comfortable. There was a man that greeted everyone and handed them the Torah when entering. Then there was constantly someone walking around being friendly and showing they cared for one another. Everyone participated in all the prayers and reciting. The emotion in the room could be described as adoring. It was easy to see they adored their community, they looked up to the Rabbi, and someone was always taking a turn in the service. Whether they were reading from the Torah, helping walk the Torah around, uncovering or recovering the Torah. There wasnt any boredom in anyone eyes, even the children were participating and they seemed to be happy to be there as well. At the Islamic temple, it was easy to feel the dedication they had to their religion. Not only because the service was at 1:30 on a Friday afternoon, and they made sure they were there. But because they prayed when they entered, they sat and listened in complete reverence, and they bowed and prayed at all the right moments. They knew exactly what to do, even the children. There wasnt ever a moment that was not dedicated to their religion. Everyone knew they were there to learn and to become closer to Allah, so it was very focused, straightforward, and simple. Each one of the services is ran differently, what they pray and who they are praying to are different. The lessons they are learning are different, and the hymns, or the text that they recite are different. But at the same time they are all similar. They are all still praying. They are all still

trying to become closer to their God. They are at their religious service to learn more, to learn something new about the way they should be living their lives. Then they all believe in the power that doing good deeds will get you closer to God. Religion is so meaningful to so many people. All the religions are so different in every way but are also similar in little ways. Whether its where they originated or who they look up to as their savior. Taking this class I have better knowledge of why religion is so important to people. I now know religion is more than just a service someone attends on a Sunday, it is what guides people through their everyday lives. Religion is culture and it was an amazing experience to learn about others cultures and the way they live their lives.

Works Cited Matthews, Warren. World Religions 7th Edition. Wadswroth,Congage Learning. 2013. Power point slides provided by Suzanne Briggs through class discussions.