Abrahamic religions Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Common aspects == {{Synthesis|section|date=February 2024}} All Abrahamic religions accept the tradition that [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]] revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham.{{sfn |Peters |2018 |p=}}{{page needed |date=August 2022}} All of them are [[Monotheism|monotheistic]], and all of them conceive God to be a [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] [[Creator deity|creator]] and the source of [[Morality|moral law]].<ref>{{cite web |year=2002 |title=Religion: Three Religions – One God |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/themes/religion/index.html |work=Global Connections of the Middle East |publisher=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] Educational Foundation |access-date=20 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917070320/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/themes/religion/index.html |archive-date=17 September 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Their [[religious texts]] feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings.{{sfn |Kunst |Thomsen |2014 |pp=1–14}} Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups.{{sfn |Kunst |Thomsen |Sam |2014 |pp=337–348}} In the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are both subordinate. One seeks [[salvation]] or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see [[divine revelation]] as outside of self, nature, and custom. === Monotheism === {{Main |God in Abrahamic religions}} All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although one who is known by different names.{{sfn |Peters |2018 |p=}}{{page needed |date=August 2022}} Each of these religions preaches that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives.{{sfn |Dodds |2009 |pp=230–253}} However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods—but rather in three [[Hypostasis (philosophy)|persons]], or hypostases, united in one [[Ousia|essence]]—the [[Trinity|Trinitarian doctrine]], a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml |title=The Trinity |date=July 2011 |publisher=[[BBC]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920170829/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml |archive-date=20 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity |title=What Is the Doctrine of the Trinity? |last=Perman |first=Matt |date=January 2006 |website=desiring God |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030035506/https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity |archive-date=30 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> conflicts with Jewish and Muslim concepts of monotheism. Since the conception of a divine Trinity is not amenable to ''[[tawhid]]'', the Islamic doctrine of monotheism, Islam regards Christianity as variously [[polytheism|polytheistic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sites/ca.grebel/files/uploads/files/IslamicMonotheismandtheTrinity.pdf |title=Islamic Monotheism and the Trinity |last=Hoover |first=Jon |publisher=[[University of Waterloo]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105155238/https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sites/ca.grebel/files/uploads/files/IslamicMonotheismandtheTrinity.pdf |archive-date=5 January 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Christianity and Islam both revere Jesus ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: ''[[Jesus in Islam|Isa]]'' or ''Yasu'' among Muslims and [[Arab Christians]] respectively) but with vastly differing conceptions: * Christians view Jesus as the [[Redeemer (Christianity)|saviour]] and regard him as [[Incarnation|God incarnate]]. * Muslims see Isa as a [[Prophet of Islam]]{{sfn|Rubin|2001}}{{page needed|date=September 2022}} and Messiah. Isa (Jesus) is also believed by Muslims to return to Earth before the doomsday to defeat the [[Al-Masih ad-Dajjal|Dajjal]] (the Anti-Christ) and restore peace for a period of time.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} However, the worship of Jesus, or the ascribing of partners to God (known as ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' in Islam and as ''[[shituf]]'' in Judaism), is typically viewed as the [[heresy]] of [[idolatry]] by Islam and Judaism.{{citation needed |date=January 2021}} === Importance of Jerusalem === {{main |Religious significance of Jerusalem}} {{further |Jerusalem in Judaism |Jerusalem in Christianity |Jerusalem in Islam}} Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE,{{sfn |Tucker |Roberts |2008 |p=541}} when according to Biblical tradition [[David]] established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son [[Solomon]] built the [[First Temple]] on [[Moriah|Mount Moriah]].{{sfn |pp=302–303 |Fine |2011}} Since the [[Hebrew Bible]] relates that [[Binding of Isaac|Isaac's sacrifice]] took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates even these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for the restoration and the rebuilding of the [[Holy Temple]] (the [[Third Temple]]) on mount Moriah, close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year in built Jerusalem," and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. Jerusalem has served as the only capital for the five Jewish states that have existed in Israel since 1400 BCE (the [[United Kingdom of Israel]], the [[Kingdom of Judah]], [[Yehud Medinata]], the [[Hasmonean Kingdom]], and modern Israel). It has been majority Jewish since about 1852 and continues through today.{{sfn |Morgenstern |2006 |p=201 }}{{sfn |Lapidoth |Hirsch |1994 |p=384}} [[Early centers of Christianity#Jerusalem|Jerusalem was an early center of Christianity]]. There has been a continuous Christian presence there since.{{sfn |Wilken |1986 |p=678}} William R. Kenan, Jr., professor of the history of Christianity at the [[University of Virginia]], Charlottesville, writes that from the middle of the 4th century to the [[Early Muslim conquests|Islamic conquest]] in the middle of the 7th century, the [[Syria Palaestina|Roman province of Palestine]] was a Christian nation with Jerusalem its principal city.{{sfn |Wilken |1986 |p=678}} According to the [[New Testament]], Jerusalem was the city Jesus was brought to as a child to be presented at the temple<ref>{{bibleverse |Luke |2:22}}</ref> and for the feast of the [[Passover]].<ref>{{bibleverse |Luke |2:41}}</ref> He preached and healed in Jerusalem, unceremoniously drove the [[Jesus and the money changers|money changers]] in disarray from the temple there, held the [[Last Supper]] in an "upper room" (traditionally the [[Cenacle]]) there the night before he was crucified on the cross and was arrested in [[Gethsemane]]. The six parts to Jesus' trial—three stages in a religious court and three stages before a Roman court—were all held in Jerusalem. His [[crucifixion]] at [[Calvary|Golgotha]], his burial nearby (traditionally the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]), and his resurrection and ascension and [[Second Coming|prophecy to return]] all are said to have occurred or will occur there. Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, third after [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]. The [[Al-Aqsa]], which translates to "farthest mosque" in [[sura]] [[Al-Isra]] in the Quran and its surroundings are addressed in the Quran as "the holy land". Muslim tradition as recorded in the [[ahadith]] identifies al-Aqsa with a mosque in Jerusalem. The first Muslims did not pray toward [[Kaaba]], but toward Jerusalem. The qibla was switched to Kaaba later on to fulfill the order of Allah of praying in the direction of Kaaba (Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:144–150). Another reason for its significance is its connection with the [[Isra and Mi'raj|Miʿrāj]],<ref name="Miraj">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/384897/Miraj, |title=Mi'raj – Islam |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629074204/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/384897/Miraj, |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> where, according to traditional Muslim belief, Muhammad ascended through the [[Seven heavens]] on a horse like winged beast named [[Buraq]], guided by the [[Archangel Gabriel]], beginning from the [[Foundation Stone]] on the [[Temple Mount]], in modern times under the [[Dome of the Rock]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perowne |first1=Stewart Henry |last2=Gordon |first2=Buzzy |last3=Prawer |first3=Joshua |last4=Dumper |first4=Michael |last5=Wasserstein |first5=Bernard |title=Jerusalem |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=14 September 2022 |date=13 August 2022 |archive-date=9 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509065546/https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Britannica Al Aqsa">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/30995/Al-Aqsa-Mosque |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque – mosque, Jerusalem |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118012709/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/30995/Al-Aqsa-Mosque |archive-date=18 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> === Significance of Abraham === {{Main |Covenant of the pieces |Abraham#Christianity |Abraham in Islam}} [[File:Greater Israel map.jpg |thumb |upright=1.1 |An interpretation of the borders (in red) of the [[Promised Land]], based on God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:18)<ref>{{bibleverse |Genesis |15 |HE}}</ref>]] Even though members of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not all claim Abraham as an ancestor, some members of these religions have tried to claim him as exclusively theirs.{{sfn |Lubar Institute |2016}} For [[Jews]], Abraham is the founding [[Patriarchs (Bible)|patriarch]] of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you."<ref>{{bibleverse |Gen. |12:2}}</ref> With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come".<ref>{{bibleverse |Gen. |17:7}}</ref> It is this covenant that makes Abraham and his descendants children of the covenant. Similarly, converts, who join the covenant, are all identified as sons and daughters of Abraham.<ref>{{cite book |last= Kolatch|first= Alfred J.|author-link= Alfred J. Kolatch|date= 1985|title= The second Jewish book of why |url= https://archive.org/details/secondjewishbook00kola|location= Middle Village, N.Y|publisher= J. David Publishers|page= 127|isbn=0824603052}}</ref> Abraham is primarily a revered ancestor or [[patriarch]] (referred to as ''Avraham Avinu'' (אברהם אבינו in [[Hebrew]]) "Abraham our father") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the "[[Promised Land]]"). According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-[[Genesis flood narrative|Flood]] prophet to reject [[idolatry]] through rational analysis, although [[Shem]] and [[Eber]] carried on the tradition from [[Noah]].{{sfn |Schultz |1975 |pp=51–52}}{{sfn |Kaplan |1973 |p=161}} [[Abraham#Christianity|Christians view Abraham]] as an important exemplar of [[Faith in Christianity|faith]], and a spiritual, as well as physical, ancestor of Jesus. For Christians, Abraham is a spiritual forebear as well as/rather than a direct ancestor depending on the [[Paul the Apostle and Judaism|individual's interpretation of Paul the Apostle]],<ref>{{bibleverse |Rom. |4:9–12}}</ref> with the [[Abrahamic covenant]] "reinterpreted so as to be defined by faith in Christ rather than biological descent" or both by faith as well as a direct ancestor; in any case, the emphasis is placed on faith being the only requirement for the Abrahamic Covenant to apply<ref>Blasi, Turcotte, Duhaime, p. 592.</ref> (see also [[New Covenant]] and [[supersessionism]]). In Christian belief, Abraham is a [[role model]] of faith,<ref>{{bibleverse |Heb. |11:8–10}}</ref>{{primary source inline |date=August 2017}} and his obedience to God by [[Binding of Isaac|offering Isaac]] is seen as a [[foreshadowing]] of God's offering of his son Jesus.<ref>{{bibleverse |Rom. |8:32}}</ref>{{sfn |MacArthur |1996 |}} Christian commentators have a tendency to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity subsequent to, and sometimes rather than (as in supersessionism), being applied to Judaism, whose adherents [[Rejection of Jesus|rejected Jesus]].{{POV statement |date=August 2022}} They argue this on the basis that just as Abraham as a [[Gentile]] (before he was [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity|circumcised]]) "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness"<ref>{{bibleverse |Gen. |15:6}}</ref> (cf. Rom. 4:3, James 2:23), "those who have faith are children of Abraham"<ref>{{bibleverse |Gal. |3:7}}</ref> (see also John 8:39). This is most fully developed in [[Pauline Christianity|Paul's theology]] where all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham.<ref>{{bibleverse |Rom. |4:20}}, {{bibleverse |Gal. |4:9}}</ref>{{efn |"So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."{{citation needed |date=August 2022}} "In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring."{{bibleverse | |Romans |9:8 |HE}}}} However, with regards to Rom. 4:20<ref>{{bibleverse|Romans|4:20|KJV}} King James Version (Oxford Standard, 1769)</ref> and Gal. 4:9,<ref>{{bibleverse|Galatians|4:9|KJV}} King James Version (Oxford Standard, 1769)</ref> in both cases he refers to these spiritual descendants as the "[[sons of God]]"<ref>{{bibleverse |Gal. |4:26}}</ref> rather than "children of Abraham".<ref>Bickerman, p. 188cf.</ref> For Muslims, Abraham is a [[Prophet of Islam|prophet]], the "[[apostle (Islam)|messenger]] of God" who stands in the line from Adam to Muhammad, to whom God gave revelations,{{cite quran |4 |163}}, who "raised the foundations of the House" (i.e., the [[Kaaba]]){{cite quran |2 |127}} with his first son, [[Isma'il]], a symbol of which is every mosque.{{sfn |Leeming |2005 |p=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000leem/page/209 209]}} Ibrahim (Abraham) is the first in a [[genealogy]] for Muhammad. Islam considers Abraham to be "one of the first Muslims" (Surah 3)—the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost, and the community of those faithful to God,{{sfn |Fischer |Abedi |1990 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/debatingmuslimsc0000fisc/page/163 163]–166}} thus being referred to as ابونا ابراهيم or "Our Father Abraham", as well as ''Ibrahim [[Hanif|al-Hanif]]'' or "Abraham the Monotheist". Also, the same as Judaism, Islam believes that Abraham rejected idolatry through logical reasoning. Abraham is also recalled in certain details of the annual [[Hajj]] pilgrimage.{{sfn |Hawting |2006 |pp=xviii, xix, xx, xxiii}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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