Monotheistic Religions Essay

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are three major religions, which are spread worldwide. In such a context, it is obvious that these religions are very popular and affect consistently the life of many people in different parts of the world. Historically, Christianity, Islam and Judaism were in the state of the ongoing antagonism and relationships between believers following either religion were hostile. In such a situation, it is worth mentioning the fact that, in spite of the historical antagonism between different religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism still have a lot of issues and concepts in common because they are monotheistic and emerged in the areas located physically close, namely in the Middle East.
First of all, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have the major prophet, who brought the religion to believers, for instance, Jesus Christ in Christianity, Mohammad in Islam, and Abraham in Judaism. In such a way, the major prophets of Christianity, Islam and Judaism played the key role in the development of each religion. For instance, Jesus Christ laid the foundation to the early Christian church and created the religious and philosophical framework for Christianity. Mohammad delivered main concepts of Islam to Muslims and brought Q’aran to Muslims (Guyatt, 210). Similarly, Abraham was the first Patriarch, who laid the foundation to Judaism and whom Judaist respect as their major prophet who delivered them the word of god.
At the same time, probably the most common issue for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have only one god. In other words, they are monotheistic. In such a way, either religion stands on the ground that there is only one god, whereas all other gods existing in other religions are denied as totally wrong and contradicting to religious norms and principles of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The monotheism is crucial concept for either religion because it contributes to the development of the major concepts of each of the three religion and making followers believe in one god only.
Furthermore, all of the three religions refer to the person of Jesus Christ, although his role in either religion differs, from the role of the major prophet, the son of God in Christianity to an ordinary Jew in Judaism. In fact, Jesus Christ is a very important figure and the attention either religion pays to his personality may be explained by the common history and his impact on the development of religious and philosophical views in the Middle East – the cradle of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Vidal, 182). At the same time, the difference in views of Christians, Muslims, and Judaists on the role of Jesus Christ is explained by the difference in the development of religions. On the other hand, they failed to avoid the impact of the impact of Jesus Christ because his contribution to the development of Christianity was so significant that his historical role affected the development of Judaism and Islam.
In addition, it is worth mentioning the fact that either religion has its holy book, where the main laws and concepts along with the history of each religion are noted in details. These books are considered sacred in each religion. Holy books of either religion were the basis for either religion because they laid the ideological foundation to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Warraq, 264). In such a way, holy books of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism contain the fundamental ideas as well as description of philosophical and religious teachings along with the description of some historical facts.
Finally, either religion suggests the concept of salvation. The followers of each religion stand on the ground that only worshipping their god and following norms and rules of each religion, they can find salvation when the judgment day comes. In such a way, each religion suggests that there will be the end of the world and people should turn to the specific religion (DeMar, 191). This means that the faith and following either religion paves the way to salvation of believers. Each religion stresses that only virtuous believers, who believe sincerely in god and respect religious norms and rules, can find salvation. In fact, the concept of the end of the world is crucial for either religion because the idea of the end of the world makes followers looking for the ways of salvation and each religion promised salvation to its followers. As a result, each religion encouraged followers to lead the virtuous lifestyle and to enhance their faith.
Thus, taking into account, all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have many concepts and issues in common. The similarity between these three religions is the result of multiple factors. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the physical proximity of areas, where Christianity, Islam, and Judaism emerged as well as their close historical interaction. At the same time, in spite of the aforementioned similarities, each religion has preserved its unique elements and ideas.