Religion in the Modern World Religion Modern

Religion in the Modern World

Religion Modern World

Religion is something that is as old as man. It means "almost everything because religions deal with the whole of human life -- and death" (Bowker 2006). Since the beginning of mankind, individuals have searched themselves and others, contemplated the universe and all its elements, and religions are what were formed through these personal and public explorations. But what exactly are religions? What does it mean to be a religious person? Bowker (2006) states that the most modern term today for religions is "communities of people who share practices and beliefs (often in God or gods), who gather in special buildings for worship and meditation, and who live in special ways in the world." It is estimated that over three-quarters of the world's population consider themselves to belong to a religion, whether or not they decide to practice or not (2006). Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are three of the biggest religions in the world and while many members of each respective of religions would fight tooth and nail over the differences between them, there are many similarities among these three religions. This paper will take a closer look at the theological and historical origins of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It will also attempt to point out some of the most important topics related to discussions of religions in the contemporary world.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are known as "Abrahamic religions" because they trace the covenant that Abraham made with God in the Hebrew Bible (Religion Facts 2011). Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity with 1.3 billion adherents as compared to Christianity's 2 billion and Judaism's 14 million (2011). Islam is monotheistic like Judaism and Christianity and it was first established in the Middle East. Many of Islam's beliefs and practices are in line with those of Judaism and Christianity (2011). Muhammad is Islam's prophet and he is said to have come into close contact with both Christians and Jews during his lifetime (2011).

Judaism, Islam and Christianity all have one sacred text: the Bible, the Qur'an, and the Bible once again, respectively (Religion Facts 2011). While the main day of worship for a Christian is on Sunday, the day of worship is Friday for Muslims and Saturdays for Jews (2011). Islam was founded in 622 CE, Christianity in 33 CE, however, the date of the founding of Judaism is said to have occurred with Abraham who was born in 1800 BC (2011). Both Judaism and Christianity were founded in Palestine while Islam was founded in Saudi Arabia (2011).

While the facts related to the three religions -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- and their dates of origin and places of origin vary, all of them have the same "ultimate reality" (Religion Facts 2011) -- there is only one God. Their respective ideas about human nature are interesting to compare as both Islam and Judaism believe that humans have two impulses -- either good or bad and they can make the choice to do either good or bad while Christianity believes in "original sin" and that humans are predisposed to lean towards sinfulness because of this. All three religions believe that humans can be saved -- even though, as Christianity states, people are more likely to lean towards evil -- through salvation. Salvation is defined in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism as correct beliefs, good deeds, and faith (2011).

The rituals vary greatly among Christians, Muslims, and Jews. For example, Christian rituals include baptism, the Holy Communion (Eucharist), confirmation, marriage, penance, anointing of the sick, and prayer, among others (Christianity in View 2011). Islam has five important rituals, which are known as "the pillars of Islam:" 1) Shahadah -- profession of faith; 2) Salat -- prayer five times a day; 3) Zakat -- alms giving; 4) Sawm -- fasting during the holy month of Ramadan; and, 5) Hajj -- pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (2011). In the Jewish faith, rituals consist of circumcision of infant males, Barmitzvah (marking the "coming of age" of Jewish boys), observation of the Sabbath (Shabat), and prayer (2011).

In the Jewish religion, Jews see a purpose and providence in the work of God in creating the world and humans to dwell within it (Bowker 2006). "In the beginning God saw that all was very good" (2006). The Book of Genesis shows how the peace that was in the world originally was destroyed (2006). The way in which the story is told concerns how conflict came to be between God and his human creations, parents and their children, townspeople and country people (2006). The only man who was favorable in the eyes of God was Noah and because of this God saved Noah and made a covenant with him, which would start the reparations (2006).

The original covenant in the Jewish faith, described in detail in the Jewish scriptures, is the promise that God gave to Abraham -- that his descendents would become a great nation (Breuilly, O'Brien & Palmer 2005). Abraham obeyed all of God's commands and he wandered to many years to find the land that God spoke of. He traveled many years before arriving in Canaan, but along the journey there, God tested his faith many times. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham agreed, willing to obey, but God did not allow the sacrifice to happen and God then told Abraham that he would find and be the father of a great nation. Abraham's descendents went on to settle in Canaan (however, they moved to Egypt, following Abraham's grandson Jacob when the land was destroyed by famine (2005).

Christianity focuses on the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The details of Jesus' life that we do know are very little. He was born in Palestine, approximately 4 B.C., and was raised in Nazareth. Jesus was baptized by the prophet, John, who was making a name for himself with his proclamation of God's impending judgment. Jesus had teaching and healing career when in his early thirties that lasted between one and three years (Smith 1995). In time he was viewed in quite a hostile many by some of his own followers and then incurred the suspicion of Rome, which would lead to his crucifixion (1995).

The spiritual order dominated the biblical tradition in which Jesus stood. It included angels and other invisible beings, but it centered in Yahweh. To stress its superiority Jews pictured the spiritual order as residing above the earth, but this was imagery only; the two were not spatially separate, and were in continuous interaction. Spirit could be known. Periodically Yahweh spoke through prophets, but human beings could also take initiative in contacting it. Fasting and solitude were important means for doing this. During their vigils, seekers literally immersed themselves in Spirit, and on returning to the world often gave proof of having done so (Smith 1995).

Smith (1995) notes that it is vital in understanding Jesus' historical career to understand that "he stood squarely in the tradition of these Spirit-filled mediators." John, as noted, had baptized Jesus, and he was the immediate predecessor in the tradition and through the baptism he opened his "spiritual eye," which allowed him to see 'the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove' (1995). The Spirit, after descending, drove Jesus into the wilderness where for forty days he fasted and prayed. He returned to the world empowered by the spirit (1995).

The word Islam comes from the word salam meaning 'peace' but also 'surrender.' It is all about surrendering oneself to God and the peace that comes because of that. For Muslims, Islam began now with Muhammad in 6th century Arabia, but with God. The Book of Genesis says, "In the beginning God…," and the Qur'an aggress while using the word Allah, which means "the God."

For Muslims, God created the entire world and then human beings, but like in the Christian and Jewish tradition. The Qur'an follows the Bible in that the first man was named Adam. The descendents of Adam and Eve led to Noah, who then went on to have a son named Shem, which then led to Abraham who married Sarah. Sarah did not have a son and so Abraham took Hagar as his second wife. Hagar did give Abraham a son, Ishmael. Sarah then was able to give birth to a son, Isaac. Sarah then demanded that Abraham get rid of Ishmael and Hagar, banishing them from the tribe (Smith 1995). It is up to this point that the Qur'an follows the Bible, but from this point on, the stories go different ways.

According to the Qur'an, Ishmael went to the place where Mecca was to rise (Smith 1995). His descendents went on to do well in Arabia and they became Muslims whereas those descendents of Isaac's remained in Palestine and they gave rise to the Hebrews who later became known as Jews (1995). It is through following Ishmael's line in Arabia that leads us to the Muhammad who appeared in the sixth century A.D. Muhammad is the prophet where Islam became what it is known for definitively, according to Muslim tradition. Muslims believe that there were prophets before Muhammad, but Muhammad was "their culmination, so he is called The Seal of the Prophets" (1995). There are not any legitimate prophets to come after him (1995).

Theology is all about issues pertaining to God and it relates to all religions -- Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. One of the major problems in today in discussions regarding contemporary issues and modern day religion is the lack of understanding and interest that is given to certain religions -- especially Islam. One of the biggest problems today is that people in the western world have come to relate Islam and Muslims, in general, as a religion that is fanatic and extreme. This occurs because of political reasons as well as because of propaganda. There is little understanding of the Islamic faith for those outside of the theology profession.

An interesting fact about the Muslim world is that every bit of their daily existence is about religion. Westerners may see Muslims as being fundamentalists, but without understanding that their religion is a daily -- even hourly -- tradition for practicing their faith. Many Muslims see Westerners not just people who are invading their culture, but they feel that they must be constantly defending their religion. By understanding the background of one's own religion and other religions, we can begin to see that the religions of the world -- specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- are not all that different.

Dr. Muhammad Legenhausen (2011) wrote in his article entitled "Contemporary problems of Christian theology in Islamic thought" that

…Western theological concerns arrive on the shores of the world of Islam as an invasion. The Muslim response often seems as pointless as that of a person who argues with the newscasters on television. Despite all the talk about interfaith dialogue, the dynamics of the ways in which the world of Islam confronts the West force Muslim intellectuals to consider Western ideas very seriously, even if the engagement is accompanied by anxiety and apprehension, while Western thinkers are generally quite content to ignore what goes on in the intellectual third world. Islamic theological reflection is shunted off as a specialty item for connoisseurs of esoteric. Dialogue is thus stifled, not because of ill will per se, but because there is no demand and no pressing need for Westerners to listen to Muslims, while Muslims cannot avoid listening to the Western discussions with which the entire world seems to reverberate (Legenhausen 2011).

For many Muslims, this creates a need to throw themselves into tradition, recounting the past in order to find some intention and faith in their religion once more. It makes them long for the purer days of their faith. Christians and Jews, for the most part, are much less widely subject to such harsh criticism against their religion. Though Islam can be compared to both Christianity and Judaism and though there are major similarities in themes, there are still those who would believe that Islam is the furthest thing away from either Christianity or Judaism. Every religious person wants the freedom to choose what religion they prefer to be a part of without having to face constant ridicule and pressure to defend what they believe.

It is difficult for scholars to settle on an ultimate definition of religion -- what it truly means. It therefore can be said that there is no general consensus about how to decide when some type of activity, a pattern of behavior, is religious -- or not. This is a problem even today. Where does one religion start and another begin? Christians, Muslims, and Jews (as well as other religious groups) call their forms of life religions and themselves religious people (Griffiths 2001). "When they do, they may have relatively precise ideas about what it is to be religious; but such ideas tend to be derived by generalization from what they believe and practice as Christian, Jews, Muslims (or others)" (2001). These beliefs and practices are not normally shared -- or understood -- beyond their respective groups.