Shared and unique characteristics of Abrahamic religions

Judaism, Islam, And Christianity

Judaism was the world's first monotheistic religion dating back several millennia. The origins of Judaism arise from a variety of Middle Eastern cultures and, unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism actually developed into an actual nation with an established monarchy whose capital city was in Jerusalem where the religion's centralized temple was also located.

The Jewish nation suffered a serious blow when the Romans destroyed their Temple in Jerusalem and destroyed the nation of Israel. The destruction of the temple and the fall of the Israeli government resulted in the Jewish nation spreading throughout the world. At approximately the same time, a new religion identified as Christianity developed. Allegedly based on the teachings of a young Jewish man named Jesus Christ, Christianity grew dramatically from humble beginnings in Israel into the world's largest religion. It eventually fragmented into multiple branches such as Eastern Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Protestant and Catholicism. Estimates of the Christian population in today's world are approximately 2 billion members. Judaism, meanwhile, has about 15 million adherents.

Both Judaism and Christianity developed by relying upon the local practices and beliefs of earlier religions that were popular in the areas where Judaism and Christianity sought converts (Esposito, 2009). This practice allowed both religions to receive rapid authentication. The ancient Jewish religion relied upon many of the rituals and beliefs of the various tribes that occupied the area in and around what became Israel while Christianity utilized many of the rituals and practices of the Jewish religion as most of the early Christians were Jews who converted to Christianity. As an example, all Christian sects incorporated modified versions of the Old Testament which is based on the Jewish Bible. The Christians also included a New Testament which is said to be the teachings of their founder, Jesus Christ.

Islam was the last of the three religions to develop. Islam originated with its greatest prophet, Muhammad. Muhammad lived in the late 6th and 7th century in what is modern day Arabia (Schumm, 2005). At the time of Muhammad's life, the Middle Eastern area was dominated by the organized religions of Christianity and Judaism but a large number of pagans remained in the area as well. In the process of its development Islam adopted many popular teachings and practices from both Christianity and Judaism including considering Moses and Jesus as prophets. Islam grew rapidly and spread throughout and within the first century of its founding saw its influence spread as far East as the Indian subcontinent across northern Africa and into Spain. In today's world, membership in Islam is estimated at nearly 1.5 billion.