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Abrahamic Religions: Similarity & Comparision

Intro

Abrahamic Religions currently there are about 3.4 billion believers in the world, and this according to 2020 statistics, corresponds to about 56% of the entire world population.
They are widely spread in all areas of the World, starting from the Western regions as well as those of Southeast Asia.
Together, and without considering the other minor Abrahamic religions, they form the largest ethnic group ever recorded in the history of mankind.
Those monotheistic religions of West Asian origin, emphasizing and tracing their common origin to the Patriarch Abraham and mostrly of their Holy Scriptures and beliefs in common. The largest Abrahamic religions in chronological order of founding are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Among the common points of connection between the Abrahamic Religions, besides the mutual descendence from Abraham, there is the “Golden Rule”, also called “Ethics of Reciprocity”, essential basis for the modern concept of human rights:

Rabbi Hillel (Shabbat 31a): “do not do unto others what you do not want others do to you”
(Judaism)

Jesus (Mt 7,12 ; Lc 6,31): “do to others as you would have them do to you”
(Cristianity)

Muhammad (40 ʾaḥādīthe di an-Nawawi 13): “none of you is a believer until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself”
(Islam)

Brief Biblical History Recap

“Abrahamic” is the term used by most scholars to refer collectively to monotheistic faiths that originate from the same root, namely the patriarch Abraham. The major religions that come from this common “stock” (the Jewish, Christian and Islamic) claim their descent from the patriarch Abraham (Book of Genesis, chapters 11, 26 to 25, 18).

Abraham was born as Abram, in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, but left his homeland as the first pilgrim when GOD called him and later settled in Canaan. The greatness of his house and possessions grew greatly over the years, although because of the impossibility of having an heir Abraham was sad. His wife Sarai could not conceive, and so to finally give him an heir he allowed him to take his servant Hagar as a concubine, who conceived a son they named Ishmael. GOD establishes a Covenant with Abram and his wife promising her a son as well, and finally late in life she conceives a son whom she names Isaac. GOD changes their names to Abraham and Sarah, and they are promised that through Isaac their offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky that cannot be counted.

After the birth of Isaac, however, Hagar and her son Ishmael clash with Sarah out of jealousy, but again GOD intervenes and although Hagar is sent away, he assures Abraham that even through the Egyptian servant his descendants will increase, becoming the father of many nations. In this way is rewarded the great faith and obedience of Abraham, who did not refuse to offer his only son as a potential sacrifice.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Jewish tradition states that the promise to Abraham is given through his son Isaac, and his descendants through Abraham’s grandson Jacob, who then changes his name to Israel.
Christianity fully adopts the Jewish understanding of the details of this story, but the New Testament gives it a new theological interpretation, arguing that it is faith that attests to descent and not family lineage (Romans 4, Hebrews 11:8-12). Thus Abraham is considered by Christians as their spiritual ancestor, because the faithful adopt a fervent faith in the GOD of Abraham, ancestor and precursor of the Christ (Messiah), in the sense of his perfect obedience to the will of GOD.
The Islamic interpretation of the Biblical story sees in the descendant of Abraham Ishmael, the father of the believers in the Arabian peninsula, the ancestor of the Arabian populations. According to the Koran, in fact, Abraham and his son Ishmael were later commanded by GOD to rebuild the Kaaba, the sacred house in Mecca, thus assuming that Abraham often visited Ishmael in Mecca, even though he continued to live with Sarah and Isaac.

Similarity & Comparision

NOTE 1: ELOHIM is the plural form of ELOHA (GOD) in old Semitic languages when speaking of a superior or someone to whom respect is offered, the plural form is appropriate (royal we)

NOTE 2: Pentateuch (from the Greek “five books”) is the Greek denomination of the Torah. Together with the Books of Nevi’im (Prophets) and K’tuvim (Scriptures) they form the TaNaKh or the “Old Testament” of Christians

NOTE 3: Muslim tradition believes in all previous Revelation from the Abrahamic Holy Books (Torah, Prophets, Writings, and Gospel) and recognizes all Prophets (from Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all others untill Jesus) prior to Mohammed, but also asserts that, due to misinterpretations and intentional or unintentional manipulations of ancient texts, the Qur’an remains the only Holy Scripture worth of complete reliance

NOTE 4: Islam believes in Jesus and all of his teachings, but also states that his Message (“Good Tidings”) has been corrupted by men by associating it with GOD as the sole entity, a claim that is in fact never stated in the Gospel

NOTE 5: By “people of the Book” the Qur’an means the Jews and Christians who received the Scriptures (“Book”) before the Arab people but were unable to preserve the true doctrine

Abrahamic Religions Diagram

More Relevant Comparision

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