The Religious Descendants of Abraham

By Jesse Schlesinger
"If you value your life, live by your values." veryone needs a !ur!ose to have meaning
in his life, and the best "ay to find that is in the area of religion. Judaism, Islam and #hristianity
are $no"n in "estern culture as being very violent to"ards each other. %o"ever, these three
religions have more in common than most believe.
Sacred Space
very religion has shrines in the "orld, using them as ob&ects of focus for religious
!ractices. 'any believe that the religious families of Abraham (e.g. Judaism, Islam, and
#hristianity) are too different from one another to have anything shared bet"een them besides
being religiously rooted "ith Abraham. If one loo$s more closely, one "ill find out that they
have much in common.
Judaism
Je"ish synagogues have several im!ortant !arts to ma$e it s!ecial the Ar$, "hich is the
re!ository for the Torah i.e. the Je"ish holy boo$, the Torah, and designated seating
arrangements. There are designated seating arrangements because*
"Je"ish la" re+uires a !erson to have a regular !lace of !rayer. This identifies
the "orshi!er as a member of the congregation and assists concentration on
the service by creating a sense of familiarity "ith one,s section of the synagogue"
(Je"ish "eb site) (some use name!lates, others use name tags).
There are more similarities "ith synagogues and Islamic mos+ues and #hristian
cathedrals than one "ould thin$. -i$e mos+ues, synagogues !oint there congregations facing
their most holy site. .or the Je"s it is Jerusalem. .or the 'uslims it is 'ecca (Je"ish "eb
site). Similarly, all three religions have a local religious leader, "ho mentions some brief
!assages from a holy te/t, "hich is delivered from a distinguished !ul!it.
Islam
The interior of the 'os+ue did not have many decorations. It did have a beautiful
chandelier "ith e/+uisite calligra!hy around it and the "indo"s. 0hat dre" one,s attention as
"ell "as the !ul!it, "hich seemed to have the other half of the ornamentation in the 'os+ue.
1ther"ise, there "asn,t much in adornment. The !ur!ose of having fe"er decorations "as to
focus on not committing idolatry to sho" their Shahada (faith) to Allah (2od)
Similar to the #hristians (li$e the Roman #atholic church most of all) Islam seemed to
not believe in sitting do"n during the service. Both are trying to reverently listening to 2od.
'uslims, Je"s and #hristians are &ust trying to im!rove themselves, not through violent means,
but through a more !eaceful "ay.
Christianity
2oing into the #athedral one could see all sorts of icons and decorations li$e the
!aintings of stories from the Bible (#hristian holy te/t) on the bac$ "all or the stained glass
"indo"s so that members and non3members "ill remember Jesus #hrist. The boundary bet"een
sacred and !rofane "as in the architecture of the building,s interior and the outside "orld.
Anyone "ould have a hard time trying to find any s!ace in the church building that "asn,t
covered in some decoration that "ould be tied to a belief.
The interior of the building uses symbolism to tell stores from the holy te/t "here as
Judaism and Islam (being more literal "ith using their te/t) use the idea of "less is more," most
of #hristianity instead goes "ith "more is more," being more vivid "ith their de!ictions. -i$e
the other t"o religions the head of the local church tends to have a chair in front of the
congregation that is &ust a little higher, sho"ing the members the im!ortance for their "isdom.
Ritual/Beliefs
The "Abrahamic religions," e.g. Judaism, Islam, and #hristianity (religionfacts.com),
have many identical beliefs and rituals. 4et, historically s!ea$ing, they "ere very violent
to"ards one another. Regardless, these three religions have more in common than !eo!le $no"
about. All three focus more on their differences instead of sharing "hat they have bet"een them.
Judaism
The Rabbi and the other church officers conducted the ritual of !rayers through song, The
main !art of the service "as "hen the Rabbi held the Torah and !araded it around the audience
"hile the congregation sang some songs. "These verses are intended to accent the !resence of
2od as concreti5ed in the te/t of the Torah and the drama of marching the Torah"
(my&e"ishlearning.com). 0hile this "as ha!!ening, the members indirectly touched it "ith their
boo$. "4ou are not su!!osed to touch the !archment on these scrolls6 some say because they are
too holy6 some say because the !archment, made from animal s$ins, is a source of ritual
defilement6 others say because your fingers, s"eat has acids that "ill damage the !archment over
time" (&e"fa+.org).
7rayer is essential to religion and every service has at least one. The Je"s li$e the
'uslims tend to em!hasi5e singing the !rayer through song (less so "ith the #atholic church but
still as beautiful). Both Judaism and #hristianity use similar holy te/t. The Je"s use the Bible.
#hristians use the 1ld Testament !lus the 8e" Testament (religionfacts.com). Des!ite the
disagreement all three encourage doing good for one another.
Islam
The service started "ith an o!ening !rayer. 0hen each individual member came in, they
"ould !ray se!arately, bo"ing their heads five times, sho"ing reverence and humility to Allah,
before sitting do"n to listen to the Imam ("orshi! leader). The Imam sat behind the !ul!it,
giving his sermon and reciting from the 9ur,an and the %adith in Arabic. The benefit of the
service "as so members can be guided bac$ to Allah and to strengthen the community.
very religious community has a goal of ha!!iness for everyone. Any teacher "ill tell
the !otential student that one must be humble before one is ready to learn. Religious institutions
are no different. They "ill have divergent rituals, but the rituals have meaning, $ee!ing $ashrut
(Je"ish dietary la"s), saying the Shahada a !rayer that re!resents acce!tance not only of Allah
and his prophet but of the entirety of Islam, and baptism, an initiation rite in Christianity
(religionfacts.com).
Christianity
Three !riests read from the Bible the story of Jesus #hrist,s sacrifice and #rucifi/ion so
the !eo!le "ill receive salvation from sin (called the atonement). In bet"een the !rayers, the
choir and sometimes the congregation sang several songs to hel! them $ee! their thoughts on
2od. 8ear the end of the service the clergy !re!ared the most im!ortant ritual, the sacrament, by
blessing the bread ("afers) and the si/ cu!s of "ine so that all "ho ta$e it, "ho are #hristian,
"ill once again be saved by ta$ing it every "ee$.
Emotional Atmosphere
motions can run high "hen it,s involving highly held beliefs that can cause disastrous
results. ach member of the Abrahamic religions vie"s others vary differently. In Judaism
views are that Islam and Christianity are false interpretations and e!tensions of
Judaism. Islam"s view is Jews and Christians are respected as #$eople of the Boo%," &ut
they have wron' &eliefs and only partial revelation. (or Christianity it)s Judaism is a
true reli'ion, &ut with incomplete revelation. Islam is a false reli'ion *reli'ionfacts.com+.
,et, even thou'h they have disa'reements on many su&-ects, they still ac%nowled'e each
other at a fundamental e!tent.
Judaism
Throughout the unusually long service (t"o3and3a3half hours) the !ur!ose "as to bring
the !eo!le closer to 2od and strengthen each other so they can follo" the si/ hundred and
thirteen la"s, sanctifying the communities lives to bring blessings from 2od. 'ost of the icons
around the Ar$ hel!ed increase the s!iritual e/!erience. During the service the audience gave a
sense of res!ect to"ard non3members, hel!ing them any time they might have been lost
throughout the service.
The atmos!here around religious beliefs can un+uestionably get emotional if not handled
"ell. The Je"s sho"ed the same level of reverence that the other t"o religions did. very human
being has the same range of emotion (davidmatsumoto.com). In the s!iritual services of all three
all distinctive emotions coming from the members of each religion that "ere the same.
Islam
The !hysical s!ace enhanced the e/!erience. By not focusing on the decorations,
members could concentrate on being humble. It "as more comfortable than e/!ected because
everyone "as really friendly. A !erson "as there to ans"er any +uestions !eo!le had and sho"
"here non3members could sit. The attitude of the !artici!ants felt united, even though the $ids
loo$ed bored. All of this tells !eo!le "ho "ere curious that 'uslims "ill focus on the inner self
instead of the outer self. This religion,s relationshi! "ith non3members is similar to the astern
religions in that they "on,t go out of their "ay to !roselyti5e. Instead, they are more "illing to
"ait until !eo!le come to learn about Islam.
'embers of Islam are "illing to teach their religion to any one that is "illing to listen, in
the same "ay members from Judaism and #hristianity are no different. The teaching of religion
offers intelligence, "isdom and insight. veryone from these religion "ere very friendly, and I
couldn,t find many as!ects of one religion,s congregation very different from another.
Christianity
very inch of the !hysical s!ace in the #athedral "as s!ecifically built to enhance the
s!iritual e/!erience so that everyone can feel the %oly S!irit. 0ith the choir singing in the
bac$ground, it "ould be really hard to be uncomfortable there. The !artici!ants loo$ed li$e they
"ere either in a"e or had a really bad case of boredom. 0hat the entirety of this e/!erience said
to me "as that the #atholics, ideas of "orshi! are heavily based on the same rituals and icons
from centuries ago that are still relevant by most #hristians today, because the !rinci!les Jesus
#hrist taught never varied. ven though the #atholic rituals are centuries old, so are Je"s, and
'uslims, rituals.
Singing really hel!s "ith the emotional comfort that the members need in the same "ay
as those "ho follo" the Torah or the 9ur,an. The visible s!ace in these holy !laces are clearly
made to hel! their members become one. The #lergy "ill al"ays hel! in any "ay they can.
Conclusion
All three claim to be the true religion that came from Abraham and continued to fight one
another es!ecially during the crusades(0arren !.:;<3:; :). Judaism, Islam and #hristian
members "ill sho" res!ect to non3members as long as !eo!le sho" res!ect to"ard their beliefs.
veryone is loo$ing for truth, !eo!le are &ust ta$ing different !aths to get there. If doing a good
deed gets you a blessing from 2od (or "homever one "orshi!s), "hy not try to learn from
another a little better by seeing it from their !oints of vie" to ma$e this "orld a little more
!eaceful=
Citations
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