According to Sonn (2015), Koran suggests that the Jews and Christians were rejected when they declared that, “Note (the way) of those that are destined for wrath, and of those that have strayed from the main path. The major message of Islam, by its total simplicity, is what is recognized as the shahada (confession of faith), which all the Muslims must attest to in their hearts. This is, "La ilāh illa Allāh; Muḥammad rasūl Allāh "(meaning that they do not recognize any other god except Allah, and Muhammad is the major prophet of Allah or simply the messenger) (Shokeid, Liebman, & Deshen, 2017) . The Koran confirms this by stating that their god is one god, who is caring and merciful (Surah 2: 163). The Christians also insist that their God is the only God, and the others are pagan gods that are powerless (Moffett, 2014). This was experienced more than two millenniums ago earlier in the historic call of Israel. The Christians were told through their descendants the Israelites, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Jehovah (Deuteronomy 6:4).” Jesus Christ emphasized this command by stating that it is the greatest in Mark 12:29; this is 600 years before Muhammad appeared with the doctrine that birthed Islam.
Judaism is among the most ancient religions of the western world that has greatly affected both Christianity and Islam. Judaism is a monotheistic religion that is concluded to have started with the agreement between God and Abraham in 1812 BC (Moffett, 2014). Abraham is one the patriarchs in the Jewish religion who became the descendants of the Israel community. Jews recognize a God who is all knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent, fair and just and the creator of heaven and earth and all humankind.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Three of these religions were started in the Middle East, and in one way or the other, they are connected. Christianity is believed to have emanated from the Jewish religion. Islam started from both Christianity and Judaism. Christianity began as a branch of Judaism in the first century CE. Emperor Constantine transformed to become a Christian in 324 CE, and this is when the early Christians stopped facing serious persecutions from the Roman Empire ( Von Grunebaum, 2017) . It was at this time that the Roman Empire ended up becoming the Holy Roman Empire. The creation of various Christian groups emanated from major and minor separations. Several Christian saints resided in the Middle East just like the other two religions (Hsia, 2015) . Even though Christianity stated with the Judaism contexts, they do not adhere to the Jewish religion and laws. They recognize that once Christ came, the gospel became universal so that all humanity who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is to be loved as fellow children of God .
Historical Relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
The relationship between Jewish and Christians have often been sour, especially Christian Europe. There, the Jews felt the wrath of the Christians who discriminated and persecuted them because they were embracive of other people. Christians have also had a horrible relationship with the Muslims. Christians do not recognize Muhammad as a true prophet of God (Peters, 2018). Even though several Christians in the Middle East transformed to be Muslims before and after the seventh century, the church leadership in both Rome and Constantinople termed Islam as a political and dogmatic threat. There were many campaigns, which went unsuccessfully with an intention of changing the Islamic defeat of the eastern Mediterranean as well as the holy spaces of all the religions.
Salvation for Christianity is about repenting one’s sins and believing that Jesus Christ has the power to cleanse us from all our sins through the blood that He shed at the cross of Calvary. Christians confess the Lord Jesus to be their personal savior, who also mediates them with the Father God. People who fail to believe in Jesus as the Son of God may not find remission for their sins, or an opportunity to be reconciled to the Father (Hsia, 2015) . Again, this happens after the Holy Spirit has convicted the heart of someone of his or her sins.
The aspect of salvation for Islam is identifying with the religion and recognizing Muhammad as the messenger of God. Repentance is the main concept of Islam. Repentance gives every Muslim a hope to be righteous again and be forgiven by Allah (Shokeid, Liebman, & Deshen, 2017) . Islam refutes completely the point of original sin and maintains that all people are responsible for their sins. Even though the Christians believe that everyone is responsible for his or her sins, Christ is ready to remove all that when they repent and forsake their sins.
Salvation from sin is a non-factor for the Jew like it is for Christians. A Jew has to be one by birth and salvation, and it also entails being able to do well. The Jews do not perceive themselves as sinners, and they feel they do not need a savior like Jesus Christ or Muhammad. They believe that they can be guided by their instinct and perform that which pleases God by simply repenting. The Jewish community believes that they have a responsibility to follow the 613 laws that were given to Moses, which makes up the Torah (Hsia, 2015) . This, by them living according to these commandments, will earn them the merits. All these religious communities agree that they have some commandments or a way of living that pleases their God. Only Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the one who gives them the power to walk righteously, in a way that pleases God. In fact, they maintain that without Him, they cannot make progress in their Christian journey.
The Current Relationship between Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Christianity and Islam are presently at loggerheads and in serious discord. The reason for this situation is the exclusiveness in the perception of either of the religions. Each of the religion agrees that they are the only ones right, while the other is completely wrong. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are three major monotheistic religions globally. Islam is spreading too fast in the world today, competing with Christianity ( Von Grunebaum, 2017) . More Muslims are being accepted even in Christian dominated regions. Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups have all experienced conflicts against one another. These wars have contributed to calls for respect and cooperation. Today, the different religions reach out for one another and there is a call to esteem members of each religion, which is necessary even with globalization.
Globalization has ensured the worldwide blend of cultural backgrounds, languages, investments, global trade, as well as the information technology. Globalization has facilitated the spread of various values, perspectives, beliefs and meanings in the entire globe (Peters, 2018). Consequently, it has helped in escalating and expanding social relations especially between Christians, Muslims, and Judaists. Globalization has brought people from different places together, which automatically advocates for respect and cooperation with another. Many organizations today are incorporating diversity into their systems, which speaks of people coming from different cultural and religious backgrounds (Shokeid, Liebman, & Deshen, 2017) . Globalization has eased cooperation and institutions are willing to sacrifice their interests so that they can accommodate people from other religions. In fact, currently, there is even intermarriage between Christians and Muslims or the Jews. In as much as such scenarios are common among the three different religions, the people who participate in such intermarriages are still considered aliens of the faith and outcasts.
References
Hsia, R. P. C. (2015). Christianity in Europe and overseas. In The Cambridge World History: Volume VI: The Construction of a Global World, 1400-1800 CE: Part 2: Patterns of Change . Cambridge University Press.
Moffett, S. H. (2014). A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. I: Beginnings to 1500 . Orbis Books.
Peters, F. E. (2018). The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Vol. 34). Princeton University Press.
Shokeid, M., Liebman, C. S., & Deshen, S. A. (2017). Israeli Judaism: The Sociology of Religion in Israel . Routledge.
Sonn, T. (2015). Islam: History, Religion, and Politics . John Wiley & Sons.
Von Grunebaum, G. E. (2017). Classical Islam: a history, 600 AD to 1258 AD . Routledge.
