Introduction
World religions emerged from the Middle East and are all linked to one another. The three religions basically consist of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Islam came up as a result of interaction between Christianity and Judaism whereas Christianity emerged from the Jewish tradition. World religions development has been mainly characterized by tremendous cultural interchange between the three world religions for centuries.
Christianity
The beginning and foundation of Christianity first came up when Jesus died, shed blood, and resurrected from death. Christianity is based on apostles, prophets, and Jesus as the chief cornerstone. Jesus teaching has clear emphasis of a non-violent religion. Christians believe that Jesus came to save them from their sins and to give them eternal life, and that he is the son of God and equals to God in all ways (Bickel and Jantz 19).
Christianity developed from Judaism in which Apostle Paul enabled Christians to develop laws and faith to be different from those Judaism, and through this, Christianity grew into three broad and well developed denominations; Orthodoxy, Romanism and protestants
Christians fought crusades to recover the Holy Land from Muslim rule during the middle ages. Although most Christians regret the cruelty and injustice which the Crusades gave rise to, they term it as unavoidable in consideration to the just war rules. These positions are taken by the Methodists, England church and the Roman Catholics.
Historic churches that emphasized on peace are the Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, and Hutterites. Christian missionaries undertook to spread Christianity all over the world although there is existence of different forms of Christianity in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, the positions on war are the most faithful to the teaching of Jesus, who advised his followers to turn the other cheek instead of revenging (Bickel and Jantz 19).
Judaism
The foundation and the beginning of Judaism are based on the covenant God made with Abraham. Abraham’s generation gave rise to the religion of Judaism although Moses is said to be the founder of the religion itself, unlike Abraham who was the genetic father of the generation. Judaism has a direct link to Christianity through Jesus whose background is from the Jewish community in Roman Palestine. Despite this, Christians do not follow the Jewish law. Jews were often discriminated and subjected to violence by Christians.
Judaism is characterized by peace as a central teaching of Judaism although the idea of Holy War occurs in the Hebrew Bible, which bases its emphasis on survival and not converting other religions into the Jewish religion.
In addition, the religion validates the act of self-defense; however, it puts a clear emphasis on condemning unprovoked aggression and retribution. The Ten Commandments were rules given to the people to guide human beings on how they should live their lives and how they should relate to God. (Bickel and Jantz 45)
The big aspect of the Jews is that, for centuries, they have been waiting for the Messiah who will bring blessings upon the people of Abraham who had entered into a covenant with God. The Messiah was to come from Abrahams bloodline and was to come and save not only Abraham’s descendants, but humanity as a whole (Bickel and Jantz 44).
Islam
Islam religion was founded by Prophet Mohammed, who based it to the meaning of Islam as submission to the will of Allah (Neusner 144). Islam developed from both the Judean tradition and Christian tradition. Islamic religion recognizes many prophets of the Jewish and Christian religion; it recognizes Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as Mohamed who is not divine, but a prophet chosen by God to deliver his message.
The Qur’an acts as the guide on the principles and as words of the Islam religion by Allah. It is believed that the Qur’an contains the words and guidelines sent by God through Mohamed to humankind to guide them in their relationship with God and each other (Neusner 147).
Their main teaching is on Jihad, which means to struggle in the way of God and to extend Islamic community through the realization of the will of God. Jihad also emphasizes on Holy War in the defense of Islam religion, which is negatively interpreted in the west as War against the wellbeing of the world.
Islam settled its community Mecca; however, in the seventeenth century, Islam tradition merged with many customs they encountered, through which Muslims in different parts of the world developed a wide range of cultures. Muslims believe that righteous people will go to heaven and the rest to hell during judgment day. Islam teaches on women’s place in the society and is said to attract many converts from non-Muslim immigrants mainly due to women’s need to have their roles in the society and family setting clearly outlined.
Conclusion
Although the world’s religion was effectively spread all over the world, it gave rise to confused and reshuffled geographical boundaries. Regional boundaries were totally distorted by religious conversions, acceptance and division on believes. It led to political decline and inefficiency in governance, which was overshadowed by spiritual institutions. Moreover, the world took and adapted to new territorial boundaries and patterns where the world’s cultural beliefs and traditions shifted to spiritual beliefs.
Works Cited
Bickel, Bruce and Jantz, Stan. Worlds Religions and Cults; A Guide to Spiritual beliefs. NY: Harvest House Publishers. 2005.
Neusner, Jacob. Worlds Religion in America; an Introduction. NY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2009.