What is God's (Jehovah, Allah, Yahweh) central message?

Question

Okay, I'm a non believer. But this is a serious question. Is it to love thy neighbor? Is it "worship me and go to heaven"? Is it the Golden Rule? Can it be condensed into a simple idea or is it too elaborate and only conveyed through the entire text of the Bible, Koran, or Torah?

I'm being serious, so please don't waste my time or yours with stupid answers.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Love God and keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of man Ecc. 12:13-14

Answer 2

I think there are two parts to the answer to this question.

First is that what we can see and touch here, and the 'now', is not all there is, as some believe. There is something and Somone beyond space and time.

The biggest Being beyond space and time is God. And also Love is an intangible also, that is beyond space and time. And the Bible says that "God is Love'. Many people think that this kind of love is either foolish or does not exist. Foolish because, if you think that space and time is all there is, and the 'now' then to delay gratification of our own bodies and selves is foolish,,, and this kind of Love asks for different priorities from us, which is to sacrifice to work for 'ultimate' common good. Now Communists tried to work for the common good also, as do other groups, but it is not that the best good will be in heaven, beyond time and space.

Answer 3

Islam = There is one God. His name is Allah. Totally submit to Allah by praying 5 times a day, paying a fifth of your income to charity, fasting during Ramadan, making a pilgrimmage (haj) to Mecca, believe in jihad and the day of judgment, participate in jihad to be ensured of going to heaven (jannah). The dietary laws are similar to Jewish kosher laws - allowable foods are termed hallal. Repeat the shahadah (creed) I believe in God and Muhammad is his messenger.

Judaism = There is one God. His name (YHVH) is so sacred that it is not said. God is called Ha Shem (the name). There is an elaborate system of commandments 613 of them. They can be summarized by the Golden Rule (except for the dietary commandments - kosher). A Noahide is a person who follows the 7 main commandments.

Christianity - There is one God with three phases. (An analogy would be ice, water, steam all are H2O) Jesus died on the cross for the sins of mankind. Believing in Jesus cleanses a person of his sins if the person is willing to forgive those who have hurt, used and abused him. A person must forgive others to be forgiven. The Holy spirit can dwell in a clean heart and gives a person love, joy, peace, patience goodness, gentleness, temperance and faith.

P.S. Arab Christians use the word Allah to pray. The Allah of the Qur'an and the Allah of the Bible have different requirements.

Answer 4

Please do not confuse 'Allah' with the God of the Bible...Jehovah or Yahweh.
This is a common error among those who promote Allah as God.
The name "Allah" is not ever even used in the Bible AT ALL, not in the Old or New Testamnet!

Please! Don't let yourself be deceived.
Muhammed made up 'Allah' 600 years after Christ's death...the term is NEVER used in Scripture,; it is only used in the false belief system of Islam.

Answer 5

The theme of the bible is God's Kingdom.

The manner in which that Kingdom relates to the redemption of humans and the hope of eternal life are much less important than the vindication of that Kingdom. Excellent question, seriously.

Jehovah's Witnesses understand the Scriptures to teach that God's Kingdom will soon replace all earthly governments.
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite

That Kingdom will rule over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Until that resurrection, there is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire

While a limitted number of humans will be resurrected to heaven to share in ruling over mankind, the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind

Jehovah's Witnesses' official website:
http://watchtower.org
http://watchtower.org/library/jt/index.htm

Answer 6

The central message of every religion I've seen is love. Be that love your god, your neighbor, your enemy...whomever, acting out of love and compassion is central.

A really good book that places Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism side by side is One River Many Wells. It takes the main tenets of each religion and shows how they each parallel one another's message.

Answer 7

Well, if you believe in Science, it says that Humans were cannibals before. There were no religion at that time. There were no gods at that time. But Humans had 'Mind'. They were progressing in which they created many progressive as well as destructive things. There were certain people who were intelligent at that time and wanted Humans to fear from something which would stop them from doing wrong. Thus, GOD was named. I know this is a controvertial statement.
One more interesting analysis. I have been to many forts of Kings of Past. Do you remember, that they worshipped any God? I dont.
In the past, God use to take birth as soon as something wrong happened. Now, everything is wrong but God doesn't take birth.
I understand that plenty of people will be opposing me after this statement of mine. Its my personal thought and i dont intend to hurt anyones feelings.

Answer 8

Allah doesn't = Jehovah and Yawheh

I can only speak for what I believe the central message of the Bible is (from a Christian perspective)...
All mankind is sinful and can only be reconciled to God by believing in Jesus Christ & accepting His sacrifice for their sins.

Answer 9

Christ said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, the second is liken unto this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets.

It amazes me that no one remembers this -- if they did, there would be no war, no religious backbiting, and true peace on earth. Since no one does, we have this crap going on all of the time. Christ has to be shaking his head and saying, 'don't you idiots get it? I didn't make it tough and neither did my Father!'

Answer 10

No golden rule! All religions are myths, so is heaven. All religions have good and bad people. Kindness comes from within your heart not what religion you are or God you worship.