Thursday, February 01, 2007
Are all monotheistic religions the same?
World Religions & Cults 101
Monotheism is a word that is becoming widely used, and heard continually throughout today’s quickly expanding religions. Are all monotheistic religions the same? Do they have anything in common? What kinds of differences can be found in them? What makes it impossible for the different religions and their respective followers to get along?
The definition of Monotheism given by the authors of World Religions & Cults 101 is “A religion that believes in a singular god, who on the normality is all powerful and in control of everything”. Each religion has a different twists to this definition, giving it a unique belief. The definition however applies to them all. But even if different religions share the same definition, and even if they supposedly share the same God, that does not mean that they can all be lumped together into one.
There are three main monotheistic religions today: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Some historians try and lump Judaism and Christianity together, but the gross difference between them calls for their seperation into two different parties. True, Christianity did come out of Judaism, but they are severely different in beliefs. Christians believe that God is all powerful, and in control of the universe; same as the Jewish believe. But while the Jewish community is still awaiting the Messiah, and still are using the traditions that have been passed on for generations, Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. He came to die for our sins, and so free us from eternal damnation in Hell.
Islam, however, claims that Jesus Christ did come to earth, but that he failed his mission. They say that Muhammad, the chief prophet of Islam, was the “new christ”, who was sent by Allah to complete what Jesus supposedly failed to do.
As you can see, even though these three religions all are monotheistic, and all acknowledge that there is only one true God, they all differ immensely. We must be cautious not to confuse these all together.
Jax