Monotheism
Monotheism is the act of believing in one God. Western religions that practice monotheism include Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. These religions worship in the same conspiracy that the Supreme Being is included in any part of the world. According to Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic the Creator has divine power and also is involved in the present world. Even though these religions have one thing in common, they differ in various terms; how they are worshiping the creator, the words they use to refer to Him and how they describe Him (Corrigan, 79).It is believed that all the three religions worship one God because they originated from Abrahamic religions. The Christians refer to the Creator as God; they also call Him Alpha and Omega. The Islamic religion calls him Allah and the Judaism religion refers him as Yahweh. Despite all these different names, all religions also call him the Provider, Almighty, most Merciful and the Creator.
As far as monotheism is concerned, these three religions have different guidelines when it comes to worshiping the creator. For instance, the Muslim women wear hijab that covers their head or their whole body leaving only the eyes. This depends with the strictness of a country. The purpose of the veil is to symbolize modesty. According to this religion, it is Allah’s wish for women to remain sexually pure and protected. Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic both have holidays but these holidays are celebrated in a unique way. They also worship in different ways. Taking, for instance, the Islamic religion believes in five pillars faith, unlike the other two religions.
In Christianity through monotheism, God exists in tri-unity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God, the father, is the creator of the earth, God the Son is the human form of God. This is evident in the Bible, “…he has spoken to as by a son, whom he appointed…” (Corrigan, 78). In other words, the son is the incarnation of God. The Holy Spirit is the spiritual influence of God. This brought an issue during the early Christianity; the council of Nicea had a different opinion compared to the council of Chalcedon. The main debaters were Augustine and Athanasius. According to Nicea the father and the son were both gods. The council supported their argument by saying that the son was the begotten from the father and he was not made. On the other hand, the Council of Chalcedon said that the son that is Jesus was pure and heavenly but truly human. According to the thus council, Jesus existed in two natures as a spirit and as human. From the viewpoints of Athanasius Jesus was inferior compared to God, he was not fully divine and not co- eternal. Augustine did not agree with Athanasius he suggested that the son fully human and divine, he was more based on the grace of God. Unlike Islamic which beliefs in Tawhid. According to this religion, god is not supposed to be compared or connected to any aspect of creation (Corrigan, 81). Despite this difference, they both worship one Supreme Being, monotheism.
The Jews and the Muslims concur with a central point that Jesus is not extremely important compared to God. In fact, it is reasonable to infer that the Jews and the Muslim view Jesus as a threat and argue that Christians idolize God through Jesus. In a more general point, the monotheistic religions are based on the simple fact that it is only God that deserves to be worshiped. The Muslims and Jews still wait for the promised Messiah meaning they did not recognize Jesus. Other than this aspect, Jews Christians and Muslims as the western monotheistic religions have the same beliefs about God. Christians have the same books in their Bible. Monotheistic religions in western countries are mainly characterized by the way they describe and distinctly acknowledge God. Even though it is arguable that it is the same God they refer to, they have different names and different worship styles. Their only central point of conflict and disagreement is the holy trinity. This Christian belief goes against what both the Jews and the Muslims believe terming it blasphemy.
The biggest difference between these three religions is the art of trinity. Both Judaism and Islamic religion view this as blasphemy. For instance, the Judaism religion views Jesus as a false idol. They support their argument by further saying that was the reason why Jesus was crucified. In addition, they have their support from their worshiping guideline and the same applies to Christianity and Islamic. Christians get their guidelines from the Bible and Muslims from Quran.Under monotheism, the Jewish worshipers have three covenants between them and God. There is the Abrahamic Covent which illustrates the covenant between God and Abraham. The covenant entails God’s promise to Abraham of making him the father of a great nation and gives him many decedents and also a promised land. Abraham main purpose in the covenant was to have faith in God. The Mosaic covenant between God and Moses. God made a promise to Moses that he would free the Jews from slavery in Egypt, make them a holy nation and also a kingdom of the priest. The only condition in this covenant is that Moses was to obey all the commandments. The last covenant was the Davidic covenant which entails the covenant between David and God. King David was promised an honest dynasty in his line. David does not obey the covenant, but God forgives him because the covenant is unconditional.
On the issue of the Trinity, Muslims practice a concept called Tawhid which means ‘to make one’ or rather a oneness. This concept is taught in Muslim text, and a lot of emphases is laid upon this concept. The Muslims believe that God cannot be divided into three essences because it would take away the divinity of God or deny Him the respect He deserves. Similarly, Judaism does not believe in the Trinity. In more general terms the monotheistic western religions are of the idea that monotheism entails worshiping a single God who is indivisible (Corrigan, 90). The monotheistic religions believe that God is beyond us and beyond this world but he is highly interested and involved in our daily lives in the world.
As much as Christianity shows some form of deviation from the other two religions, all the three use monotheism for the same purpose; to advocate that there is only one God. The Jews show their monotheism through their covenants with God, Christians, on the other hand, express their monotheism through the Holy Trinity with God at the top. Christians argue that the father the son and the Holy Spirit in the holy trinity make up one God. Lastly, the Islamic people express monotheism through the concept of Tawhid which advocates for one God; Allah. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic religions. However, they show that they believe in one God in particular and unique ways making each religion monotheistic, original and special.
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