The Differences Between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
It isn’t easy to discuss the world’s top monotheistic religions without stepping on toes, as so many people ascribe to them and hold their own opinions that may or may not correlate with the belief structure of the other two religions. What is equally interesting is that there are striking differences as well as similarities in all three religions. They can peacefully coexist, of course, despite ascribing to vastly different beliefs, even though they have all had murky pasts with one another at some point. Moving forward, we will discuss the differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as best we can.
Timeline and Documentation
The first observation that should be notated is through a historical lens. If we are to represent these three religions accurately, we will be doing them justice if we look at them all from a historical viewpoint.
Judaism (as differentiated from the previous Israelitic religion), emerged sometime around the fifth century BCE. Through the Torah and historical record, it is said that God came to Abraham and made a covenant—a promise or contract—that he would be the founder of a lineage of people known as the Hebrew people. However, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was beyond childbearing years, as was Abraham, and they believed that they could not have children.
So despite what God told them, Abraham and Sarah devised a plan to conceive with an Egyptian servant named Hagar, who would produce a son, Ishmael. But God kept his covenant with Abraham, and Sarah discovered she was pregnant and later gave birth to a son who they called Isaac.
The birth of Ishmael causes a great rift between Jews and Muslims later. Both religions hold that the Islamic faith is rooted in the belief that Ishmael is Islam’s founder and that they hold the same covenant promise as Isaac and Abraham do, as they are all under the same contextual umbrella together through the Abrahamic covenant. Because Islam was not formed until sometime after the seventh century AD, almost a millennia after the dawn of Judaism, this inheritance is questionable but not impossible.
Then you have Christianity, which came out of the background belief system of Judaism and used Jewish texts to form its belief system. Christianity was retroactively established around 3–5 AD but wouldn’t find its final edition composed until the publication of the King James Bible of 1611.
The finalization of the Christian canon would make it the middle child of the monotheistic belief systems of the world. One other curious fact about the timing of the establishment of Islam and Christianity is that they were not considered fundamental religions until their central figures were no longer present (after Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, and Mohammed, who came much later, died and then ascended into heaven on a horse).
Structure and Belief
There are stark contrasts among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, most of their belief centers around their traditions original to the Hebrew nation. These people have had a long, arduous road, and most of their practices are celebrations and festivals that reflect their gratitude for all they have. They are all centered around an astrological calendar and agriculture, which would help them survive in ancient times, as it did with many cultures worldwide.
These traditions are a historical record of who the Hebrew people were and where they came from. Many of their worship traditions and beliefs were inherited through the families of every generation. Christianity, which emerged as a result of political upheaval during the occupation of Israel sometime around 30 AD, when there was an attempt to eradicate Judaism through the Roman rule.
Because of the key figure who would come to be known as the central leader of Christianity and the Son of God and messiah, Christianity gained its footing. Christ’s message to worship the one true God, and not Rome, would solidify Him into something more significant than a martyr, prophet, or saint; His followers believed then and believe now that He was a divine being.
Seven centuries later, a different prophet emerged out of Arabia, known as Mohammed, who was said to have left his life behind him for redemption and found his place with God. But he left pillars and documentation as a guide to follow for those who chose to live the same life and become spiritually cleansed to be with God. Islam would ascribe itself to many cultures and other practices as it gained traction, which is how many believe it gained so much of its structural backbone from Judaism. However, other scholars believe it goes deeper than that prophetically.
What Do They Stand For?
Judaism is unique as it is more than just a religion but a people, a tradition, and a historical record of a culture that continues to carry on. The Jewish people have survived despite their struggles.
They believe they are being led by God and are tasked with carrying out His will, as directed through the prophets Abraham and Moses. Christians believe in redemption through prayer and the belief that Jesus Christ will redeem those who believe in Him, and they will live eternally in heaven with Him after death. And finally, Muslims believe that they are to abide by the words of the prophet Mohammed who communed with God and had divine revelation, and that they too will live on after death eternally in heaven. They also believe that Judaism and Christianity were attempts at an earlier form of Islam that had not been formulated yet, and that Islam is the fulfillment of these truths.
So as you can see, there are many differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Although they are rooted in many similar historical occurrences and beliefs, they exhibit contrasts in many ways from one another, viewed through both historical and spiritual lenses.
