Abraham lived from 1813 B.C. to 1638 B.C.. In the Bible, Abraham is called “The Father of faith and the ancestor of the Israelites.”-Bibleodyssey.org.
Abraham’s father, Terach, was an idol merchant. “From his early childhood, Abraham questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. He came to believe the entire universe was the work of a single creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.”-Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
“Abraham tried to convince his father, Terach, of the folly of idol worship. One day, when Abraham was left alone to mind the store, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except the largest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and asked what happened, Abraham said, “the idols got into a fight, and the big one smashed all the other ones.” His father said, “Don’t be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can’t do anything.” Abraham replied: “Then why do you worship them?”-Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
The Bible begins with Genesis, the First Book, of the Old Testament. In it, the one true Creator called to Abraham and made him an offer. If Abraham left his home, then G-d would make him a great nation and bless him. Abraham accepted this offer and a covenant was established between G-d and the Jewish People.-Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
The idea of a covenant is fundamental to Judaism. It’s a contract with G-d, and there are rights and obligations on both sides. We have certain obligations to G-d and G-d has certain obligations to us. The covenant became more explicit upon the Giving of the Torah. -Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
Christianity. Started about 2000 years ago in Judea (Israel) with Jesus Christ and His disciples. “Jesus was a Jew. He observed Jewish faith and was well acquainted with the Jewish Law.”- allaboutreligion.org.
“Jesus taught his disciples about the will of G-d and about the “New Covenant” G-d will bring to humanity through Him. Due to sin, mankind lost its relationship with G-d. The “New Covenant” will bring a renewed fellowship of forgiveness and love with G-d. Jesus would pay for the sins of all humanity by being crucified unjustly on a Roman cross. Three days later, He would rise to life, having conquered death, to give hope to a hopeless world,” according to his disciples.- allaboutreligion.org.
Islam. The youngest of the great world religions. Tracing back to 7th century Saudi Arabia. The Prophet Mohammad (570-632 A.D.) introduced Islam in 610 A.D. after experiencing an angelic visitation. Mohammad dictated the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the perfect words of Allah. The Quran did not originate with Mohammad. It was given by G-d to the Angel Gabriel, then to Mohammad. -allaboutreligion.org.
It is accepted amongst Judaism, Christianity and Islam that G-d made a covenant with Abraham. G-d promised Abraham a child who would fulfill this covenant. Abraham’s wife Sarah, was barren. Sarah decided to help G-d and offered her maidservant Hagar to Abraham. Hagar conceived and Ishmael was born. Ishmael was not the child of promise G-d had wanted. G-d promised a child through Sarah and through Sarah was born Isaac, who begot Jacob, the Father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world through the Nation of Israel, fulfilling the covenant which G-d made with Abraham. G-d also promised to give the land of Canaan (Israel) to Isaac’s descentants, the land Israel possesses today. -allaboutreligion.org.
The problem is that the Quran teaches that Ishmael was the child of promise. So Muslims believe that G-D’s covenant promises were meant for Ishmael’s descendants, not Isaac’s. Mohammad descended from Ishmael, so Muslims seek to lay claim to these covenant promises, namely the land of Palestine.-allaboutreligion.org.
Conclusion: The covenants made with
G-d through Judaism, Christianity and Islam were mainly centered on each individual’s relationship to G-d; all seeking claim to the land of Canaan (Israel, Palestine). The offspring of Ishmael and the offspring of Isaac to both lay claims to G-d’s covenants, wasn’t by mistake, since one can safely assume G-d doesn’t make mistakes. The intention, the endless fighting, the competition, seems to have been planned. There are two choices. We can either destroy each other or we can excel, innovate, evolve through competition, move past conflict; for example, the race to the moon. It’s all part of the grand experiment called humanity. / Done
What an interesting article. You explained how each of the three religions came to be so well. A great learning experience!