What is the difference between Islam, Christianity and Judaism?

Question

I know they are all from the same root - Abraham. But why are they so alike yet so different?

Answer 1

The basic differences are:

Judaism believes that they have a unique and special relationship (covenant/contract) with God. They are God's chosen people. Someday a messiah (annointed one) will come to bring peace. Jews believe that the God they serve is the universal God worshipped by all, it is just that they have a special relationship with that God.

Christianity believes that the messiah has already came in the form of Jesus. They then go further to declare that Jesus is God (Jews do not believe the messiah will be God, just a person sent by God). Christians believe it is their religious duty to spread the word that the messiah has come. They believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world and that the only way to heaven is to accept Jesus as your savior.

Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet in a series of prophets with Mohammad being the last. Islam has a 'messiah' as well and like the Jews they believe it will be a person sent by God. Judaism and Islam are actually somewhat similar in their idea of the 'messiah', however this 'messiah' in Islam is before the day of judgement. Islam feels that they serve the universal God of the world and that they have a duty to create an islamic society for all people in the world (I lower cased the word islamic society to differentiate it from Islam itself because all the Muslims I know define islamic society as : a society that treats all equally and where all take care of one another, etc and the society itself, while it is centered around the religion of Islam, most Muslims I know have said that it is possible for an islamic society to exist without necessarily having Islam, the religion, as the major religion...atleast that is my understanding based upon what my Muslim friends have told me).

There is a fourth Abrahamic religion that seems to always get discarded and that is the religion Baha'i. It's a young religion that branched out of Islam. It teaches that Jesus has already returned, that their prophet was in fact the return of the hidden and missing caliph (this is a mixing of Christianity and Shia Islam theology) and that throughout the ages God has always allowed humanity to move from one religion to another that is right for the time (and the Baha'i religion is now the religion that is right for the time). It views its goal to build a universal global community based upon love. It acknowledges that from Abraham on there have been a long line of prophets and incarnations of God (thus they recognize Abraham, Zoroaster, Krishna, Budda, Jesus, Mohammad, and finally Baha'u'llah who is not the last, but the latest in a continual series of prophets and incarnations and the Baha'i religion is not the last religion, it is also viewed as the latest...eventually it admits that another religion would then come about that is right for the time that based not only upon the past beliefs but also has God's vision for the future).

And those are the Abrahamic religions (to be seperated from the Dharmic Religions, etc, etc, etc).

Answer 2

Christianity and Judaism do have the same roots,with Christianity continuing forward since the advent of Jesus,and Judaism looking back toward the Law of Moses,not accepting the Messiah.

Islam was started by Mohammed much more recently,after he had a bad experience in a church,supposedly.

Since Jews are the sons of Isaac and Arabs are the sons of Ishmael,with Abraham being the father of both,it`s all about who are the true,legitimate heirs. Both of God,and of the land that was promised to Abraham by God. It`s a simple fact that Isaac was the legitimate son of Abraham and Sarah. Ishmael was the illegitimate son,also promised things by God. However,he was not promised the full inheritance of Abraham by God as Isaac was. So that was the start of the Middle East conflict that we still see today. The two sons of Abraham fighting each other.

As for the beliefs and practices of the three religions,they are vastly different. In a nutshell,one religion (Islam)believes the prophet has come already, another religion(Judaism) is waiting for the Messiah,and Christianity says that He has come once,and will return again! I believe the latter.

Answer 3

I'm going to try and answer this on a deeper level without writing a book. It sounds like you know the basics differences. The major difference between the 3 is what many call the "Sin Factor". Islamic believers are at the mercy of Allah and there are no guarantees in life or after life. Judaism has an answer for sin, but unfortunately they need their temple (and Ark) to sacrifice. So currently Jews can only hope for the best. Lastly, Christianity sins are paid for for all who believe.

Answer 4

Islam and Judaism believe in a creator who has no form or shape and never will be, christians believe God is a man, Islam and Judaism have a more true monotheism whil christians believe God is divided into three Demi Gods, Islam an d JUdaism pork is forbidden, WHILE IN Christnity it is not, In Islam and Judaism they have Laws given on how to live a day to dy life, while in christanity they dont.

Answer 5

While not claiming to be an expert on the world's various faiths, I can state with absolute certainty that it is impossible for Marhadiasa K to be more mistaken when he states that Christians worship three gods. Christianity is a Monotheistic faith, and Christians worship ONE GOD! Muhammad misunderstood the doctrine of the Trinity, and apparently thought that Mary was worshipped by Bible believers. This, and also misinformed teaching on the matter would account for the mistaken belief among many Muslims, including MK, that Christians are polytheists. How there can at the same time be three persons and ONE and only ONE GOD is a matter far beyond human understanding, but the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in the Bible, and Christians accept that truth as a matter of faith. Bible believing Christians also believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son, and the prophesied Messiah of the Jewish faith; while Muslims believe that he was a merely a prophet, and a lesser prophet than Muhammad at that. We also believe that Isaiah 53 (in the Bible) is a prophecy of this Messiah, that Christ suffered in our place, paying the terrible debt of sin we all owe, and that He physically rose from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures. In addition, Bible believing Christians believe that salvation is a free gift, and that those who come to God the Father through a personal faith in His Son Jesus Christ receive the forgiveness of sins. Wrapping things up here, the Bible does not command believers to pray at five specific times during the day, but it has much to say about prayer. Followers of Islam who believe that Muslims pray, while Christians do not, are in error on this matter. If you have access to a Bible, I would recommend you read the Gospel of John. If you would like to read in The Old Testament, The Book of Isaiah is not a bad place to start. Forgive me for not providing you with Scripture references: perhaps I'll have the chance to write to you again and send you some, or perhaps another respondant will be able to do this. God bless you.

Answer 6

Judaism came first, Christianity was/is an offshoot and both worship the same TRUE GOD.

Islam came many years late by the gathering of stories about the above...and a mixture of village god worship.



EVIDENCE THAT THE EARLIEST CHURCH IN EXISTANCE WAS JEWISH


One of the strongest evidences for this is the presence of many artifacts, clay pots, and lamps, which are engraved with what has come to be called the SEAL OF THE MESSIANIC CHURCH.

The seal has been copyrighted as " Seven Branched Candelabra/Star of David/Fish"

A book entitled "The Messianic Seal of the Jerusalem Church" by Reuven Efraim Schmalz and Raymond Robert Fischer has been published (Olim Publications, P.O. Box 2111,Tiberias, Israel.

Top of Seal see the Seven Branch Candelabra that stood before God in the Temple.

Below that, see the Star of David, which is from the 7th century BC. It is composed of two interlaced, equilateral triangles or DALTHA (D for David). "A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel" Numbers 24:17.

Below the star is a fish which is an early Christian symbol in Israel. It was transported to Rome, and by 150 AD. Clement of Alexandria suggested to all his readers that they include the sign of a fish in their personal seals to identify them as Christians. Later the Greek spelling for the word fish ICHTHUS was incorporated. The first five letters of the words that spell "Jesus, Christ, God, Son, and Saviour."

In the Messianic Seal, the cross appears as the Hebrew letter TAW.

The artifacts were discovered in 1990 by Tech Oteeoos, a 90 year old Greek Orthodox monk, in the vicinity of the, what is believed to be, the original Church founded and pastored by James the Just, the half-brother of Jesus. When the actual grotto was excavated by Oteeoos, numerous inscriptions were found on the walls. The period of its use on Mount Zion could only have been from the crucifixion in 30 AD to 135AD.

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The Muslim's claim that Allah is the God of the Bible and that Islam arose from the religion of the prophets and apostles is refuted by solid, overwhelming archeological evidence. Islam is nothing more than a revival of the ancient Moon-god cult. It has taken the symbols, the rites, the ceremonies, and even the name of its god from the ancient pagan religion of the Moon-god. As such, it is sheer idolatry and must be rejected by all those who follow the Torah and Gospel. moongod.htm

Answer 7

JESUS!!!!!

That is the difference. Islam believes him to be a just a prophet. Judaism believes him to be a mere teacher. But, Christians know Him as God.

"“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis

Answer 8

OK, the Jews believe in one God and that someday the promised Messiah will come. Christians believe that the Messiah has come in the form of Jesus Christ. Muslims believe that Jesus was only a minor prophet. I'm not sure if Muslims believe that a Messiah will come or not. Each religion just built to the one before or added a different twist to it. Doesn't seem worth killing for does it?

Answer 9

most books in the library have editions,there is the first edition,the 2nd,....,the last edition.when you go to buy a book you buy the last edition.now islam is the last edition of god religeon ,it have came as all other previous editions got modified by men of religeon and r no more pure god religeons.islam is a standalone comprehensive and pure god religeon.it is inspiration from the god to prophet mohammad and then to whole humanity.it is not human made or collection as "whynotaskdon" said above.read
about it and u will see this.
www.islam101.com
it is the first time to hear about moon god,there is nothing in islam like this.maybe whynotaskdon invented this.the moon and crescent in islam are used as means of calculation of months in the lunar year,worships in islam are time related ,and they are for god or Allah .

Answer 10

first of all Christianity believes in God Almighty, the God of Abraham and Jesus was our Saviour. Judaism believes in God but doesnt believe that Jesus is the messiah (our savior) and Islam is just totally fake. Most people think that Allah is actually our christian God (yea rite! ) Allah is the moon god, mohammed misunderstood his christian friends ( who are now his enemies cuz they rejected his beliefs cuz it was wrong. ) Islam is the wrong religion,most of them are terrorists cuz they kill for Allah, but really its the devil they're doing it for.

Marhadiasa! Christianity doesnt have 3 gods! JESUS IS GOD IN HUMAN FORM AND WE DONT WORSHIP THE HOLY SPIRIT.