An introduction to western religion for the eastern audience

There are three major groups of religions that qualify as western religion Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I call them groups because each one of these religions started out as a single message but has since split into different branches such as Catholic, Protestant, Sunni, Shia, Sufi, etc.

A message that is mentioned with a sense of pride, the fact that they are a Monotheistic religion, the belief in one God, which makes them superior to other religions. Other religions that do not fit in this framework are given terms such as pagan, cult, pantheistic, etc.

Judaism is the oldest of the three religions is a religion followed by several people around the world who call themselves Jews.

Each religion has a book that serves as a source that explains everything including the story of creation, philosophy and the first part of the history of human beings from the first human to walk on this planet (Adam). Also each part is totally integrated so much into the other that questioning or denying any one part e.g. the story of creation would almost mean denying everything and the whole religious belief. More on this later.

The Jewish Torah, Christian Bible and the Islamic Quran share the concept of creation and first part of the story of human beings on this world. All three religions believe that the world was created by a supreme, powerful, intelligent being, also referred to as God in a period of seven days. According to the Jewish calendar which begins the day the world was created, this date translates to approximately 4000 to 5000 B.C.E.

On the seventh day God created the first human, Adam, in his own image. Then God created Eve from one of his ribs. They lived in paradise, but they were innocent and not conscious of themselves and they roamed about naked without being ashamed of the fact that they were naked. They could do everything, except eat fruit from a tree. (Commonly associated with an apple, however the actual fruit is not mentioned)

A few days later, a serpent (also referred to as a form of the ultimate devil, Satan) made Eve eat a fruit from a forbidden tree, and later Eve made Adam eat the fruit. This made them realize the fact and hence they covered themselves with clothes. This angered the God and hence he cursed both Adam and Eve and their progeny.

Adam (and all men) was made to work on the fields to feed the family, Eve (and all women) were made to undergo the pain of childbirth, menstrual cycles and so forth.

Note: Christians often refer to the fruit eating incident as the original sin and as descendants we all suffer from the consequences. More on this later.

Next the book goes to explain the first sinner, the creation of different races etc.

The next major incident that takes place is Abraham’s sacrifice of his son on a sacred rock (which is still disputed over) and God stopped him from making the sacrifice. This is also a split between Judaism and Islam. Jews believe it was Isaac (who is also the father of all Jews) and Moslems believe it was Ishmael (father of all Moslems).

Next the book explains how Jacob one of Isaac’s sons was sold as a slave to Egypt. Jacob makes it to a high position in the Egyptian court. Later he forgives his brothers who also make it to Egypt. The Egyptian pharaoh however makes them work as slaves to build pyramids that we see today.

One of the descendants of Jacob, Moses, doesn’t know his own identity in the beginning and is mistaken to be a member of the Egyptian royal family. Later as he realizes his own identity, initially escapes to be a shepherd, and later after hearing the word of God understands his purpose. He returns to Egypt, and with the assistance of God is able to free his community from Egypt to the “promised land”, also known as Israel. Also he achieves this feat, with the assistance of several of God’s fantastic miracles, from the transformation of his staff into a snake, to the parting of the Red sea to allow his fellow Jews to escape while the Emperor’s men drown behind them.

After this he goes to Mount Sinai to return with God’s Commandments, which have been written with the hand of God Himself. The Ten Commandments were then conferred to his fellow Jews. The first commandment is submission to the God that saved the Jews from Egyptian persecution and no idol worship. Although Jews believe that this only refers to their community, since they have a personal God who doesn’t tolerate idolatry or the worship of other Gods, this commandment is often referred to as the reason why idol worship is forbidden in all three religions. Also Jews believe that they are especially required to follow these commandments with faith and adherence since God personally delivered this message to them through Prophet Moses.

The rest of the first book concerns with other such stories that demonstrate miracles from God and other morals such as courage and caring for your (Jewish) community.

These stories are not told as mere stories, (also referred to as Mythology when referred to other religions such as Hinduism and Greek religion) they are referred to with a remarkable attention to details. The book was probably written by someone or a group of professionals with a remarkable knowledge of documenting and recording historical facts. Also the timing is good especially for some of the later incidents which are known historical facts such as the pyramids being built, the Persian and the Greek empire. One would also argue that the book went over several versions to correct the previous books that summarized the earlier descriptions of the story of the Jewish tribe.

Christianity: Christians believe in the first part of the book described above. Christians go on to expand the book with the story of Jesus, also referred to as the New Testament (the first part regarded as the Old Testament). According to Christians, Jesus, the son of God and Mary, was born among a Jewish tribe in Nazareth, Israel. The events happen around the 1st century common era. Note B.C. used to refer to Before Christ and A.D. Anno Domini or after the birth of Christ. The newer notation uses B.C.E or Before Common Era and the current period is referred to as the Common era.

In the remarkable story of Christ, Christ performs several miracles to assist the needy, and delivers sermons. The divine miracles served as reason for a huge following and he is supposed to have mentioned the fact that he is son of God and the miracles serve as an explanation. He creates his own religion and promises deliverance to people who follow him.

The Jewish priests in the meantime realizing their power waning, decide to complain to the Roman authorities who crucify him, in other words he is executed by being nailed to a wooden cross. Jesus resurrects from the dead to deliver the final sermon and ascends to heaven. Jesus’ followers also known as apostles serve to spread the word of Jesus Christ to other communities beyond Israel.
The message was simple, believe in Christ and convert to Christianity to obtain deliverance in the after life. All of mankind suffers due to the sin committed by Adam and Eve. By suffering on the cross, Jesus has relieved all of humanity from this eternal sin that all human beings have to undergo.
Two important concepts in the Christian philosophy is the concept of baptism and communion. Baptism refers to the act of a submerging one’s head in a pool of water (usually done by a priest) and then bringing it up. This metaphorically refers to the concept of giving up one’s life to enter a new life given by Christ. The second is the concept of communion. Communion refers to becoming one with the body and blood of Christ. The Christ is supposed to have handed a piece of bread to his apostles during the last supper to signify the body of Christ and a glass of wine to refer to his blood.

The first Christian churches viz. the Orthodox and the Catholic churches, the baptism and communion was conducted by a clergy or a priest of the church. Communion is conducted at Sunday masses in these churches. Protestants offer baptism but not communion.

Also another difference is in the concept of confession. Although crucifixion covers the original sin, the sins one commits in his life are not covered by the act. Catholic and Orthodox churches believe that the followers need to confess their sins to a clergy of the church to relieve themselves of the sin. Protestants do not believe in confessing to a clergy man but to God Himself.

The concept is referred to as the holy Trinity. Father, the son and the holy spirit. First stage is the age of the father when God spoke his word using a mediator like Moses. In the next stage, God sends his son (Jesus) as the lamb meant to die and resurrect in the cross to deliver all of humanity. Finally the Holy Spirit refers to the current stage, where following God implies faith or belief in God and the word of the Bible, the fact that Jesus is the son of God and by submitting to Jesus one can relieve himself of the original sin and also the sins committed in his life.

Also following Jesus is the only path offered to human beings for deliverance. By not following Jesus, one would risk burning in hell forever.

Islam: Islam believes that the final word of God was delivered to Prophet Muhammad, which has been summarized in the Holy Koran. The Koran borrows from the old testament and several Jewish rituals and practices such as circumcision, the process of animal slaughter (Halaal) and not worshipping idols. Koran also describes Jesus as a Prophet, and does not believe in crucifixion and that Jesus was the son of God.
In addition there are five other rules referred to as the five pillars that a Moslem has to abide strictly such as praying five times a day and visiting holy places Mecca at least once in his life. The Moslem prayer states that God is great and Muhammad is His Prophet.

Moslems regard non Moslems to be infidels or less than perfect individuals. In older days, these people needed to be converted to Islam, put to death or a huge tax known as Jizya would need to be imposed to have them continue their way of life. Also Moslems do not believe in following leadership, laws or a government run by non-Moslems.


Although each religion above follows very similar set of principles, each group identifies themselves as the true religion and denies claims by other religious groups.


Conversion:

All western religions actively pursue conversions except for Judaism that typically focuses on the welfare of the Jewish community and following the ten commandments of Moses in their own life. Although Judaism does accept conversion to their faith, a Jew usually doesn’t concern himself with the welfare of other communities or bringing all of humanity to his or her faith. This might be different now than it used to be in the past; however there is little historical evidence.

Would be Christian missionaries typically enroll in a Theological school, where they learn more about their faith and marketing their faith to others. They are taught several different mechanisms such as arguments and holding conversations to profess their faith to others. Also Christian churches, usually Protestant hold youth programs to keep in touch with the current generation and provide the message to the current audience. In developing countries Christianity offers monetary incentives for would-be converts. The funding for these activities is usually from western churches. Although some communities accept Christianity easily, others do primarily for economic remuneration


Conversion to Islam: In the initial period of Islam, the spread was not based on people accepting the ideology, but through conquest of non-Islamic territories. For a non-Moslem the options available were death, conversion to Islam (preferred) or to stay with their original faith with payment of Jizya (a fee for avoiding conversion). The extent to which a non-Moslem could practice his/her faith often depended on the ruler. For example in India, Hindus had more freedom to practice their religion under Akbar than under Aurangzeb, who is considered a tyrant by many scholars. Today however Islam has become relatively tolerant and secular compared to the earlier periods.

A significant number of Moslems can be found in secular countries such as the United States and India practicing their faith. A few non-Moslems can be found in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, such as the Coptic Christians in Egypt, Orthodox Christians in Syria, Zoroastrians in Iran and Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. Most of these communities tend to be remnants of the indigenous people who continued to practice their faith despite the persecution and ethnic cleansing that was typical of earlier Islamic occupations.

Although Moslems exercise their rights to practice and communicating their faith in secular countries, the reverse doesn’t hold true. In recent years there have been several instances of some radical Islamic groups profess ethnic cleansing in some secular territories with Islamic majority where non-Moslems reside. Also several terrorist organizations have used Islam as an explanation for their actions.


Summary: Together the three faiths have helped shape the course of history on this planet and will determine the shape of things to come.

The author reserves the copyright for the content. Do not copy without permission. All rights reserved