Objectives
I do not mean, in any way, to overturn the course of things in this comparative. I only hope that by suggesting a rigorous method of information research, I can show how certain modern media abuses us in a very menacing manner!
I don’t appreciate, at all, the way some information are over-mediatized, while other information as important if not more being rarely brought up, and other fundamental information meticulously kept hidden!!!
I do not want at all to impose one way of thinking; on the contrary, I struggle to keep the benefit of the doubt, the role of skepticism, the curiosity and the intellectual requirements met.
My objective is not only to provide another comparative, but to provide a real one by letting the 3 religions at study, the historians, the philosophers, the scientists speak for themselves.....
This objective study turned upside down some of my prejudices related to the 3 religions (I am not soft regarding my original religion!!).
This leads me to meditate on the factors that should, nowadays, spiritually unite and not divide Jews, Christians and Muslims
Methodology
The references are books and Websites (several months of research, crosschecking and reexamination by third parties were necessary), but they could still hold some errors (every suggestion is welcome to ameliorate the data of this comparative table, which would get refined by the contribution of the largest numbre of critical and demanding minds)...
The critical readings and multiple advices lead to the refinement of the initial data (by confronting them to multiple sources, with different levels of accuracy, in several languages)...
The result is "culturally" very interesting and enriching.
The conclusions belong naturally for each one.
To study with the same level of expectation and objectivity the three major religions said to be monotheist (no compromise for the religion(s) that I feel close to by birth, in my surroundings or my journey).
Avoid the effect: to see the straw in the eye of your neighbour and not the beam in your own!!!
For each question that the followers of a religion criticize the other two religions, ask them the following question: what is the opinion of your own religion on that subject.
Reset the prejudices counter, from the waste of culture, the manipulations of media, the deceiving of intellectual self-proclaimed elite (that want to think for everybody, and thus stop others from thinking for themselves).
To have a mature and demanding attitude towards the media: multiply the sources (pro, against and neutral, in order to get as close as possible to the truth) because the followers of one of the three religions criticize cheerfully the other two... Wrongly or rightfully.
Distinguish between what derives from the religion and what shows from the wrong application or the absence of application of the followers (since the three religions are namely malpracticed by their followers, the objective of this research is not to judge the followers but to study the three religions based on the sources).
Study the 3 religions through the essential questions: from the authenticity of scripts in responding to the human and social questions, to exposing those facts to scientific and historical data.
Keep an analytical attitude towards each topic: some dismissal notes that bring out new precisions
(Everyone is invited to dig in deeper if desired).
Given the large amount of compiled documents (all public and accessible... mainly on internet) and the concern to stay analytical in presenting the result, the reader is invited to verify with his/her own means: whoever puts the required effort and time could build a similar analysis.
Religion and God and Worship
A unique God, accessible with no intemediary, almighty and juste?
The "founders"
Judaïsme
Abraham, Moses and many other prophetes before Jesus
Christianity
Jesus
Then
Mattew
Islam
Abraham, Moses and many other prophetes, then Jesus and finally Mohamad
References and their essential caracteristics
Judaïsme
The Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh –acronym of Thora, Neviim and Ketouviim-), includes:
- The Torah (composed of the written Torah - or Moses law, which we can find in the Old Testament of Christians, more precisely in what is called the Pentateuque : Genesis, Exodus, Levitic, Numbers, Deuteronom-
And the spoken Torah, composed of the Michna (collection of the spoken tradition of the Torah) and the Talmud (collection of interpretations of the Torah and the Michna)
- The Neviim (« The Prophets »)
- The Kétouvim (« The Scripts » or « Hagiographs »)
Hebrew Bible:
For the Liberals, it is a historical and spiritual document
For the Conservatives it is in part the word of God”
The books constituting the Bible were composed at various times; one finds indeed different "literature styles", and, side to side with the subjects of divine inspiration, one can find some assertions which are the translation of certain profane beliefs or traditions of various times.
Changes introduced through different times introducing the innovations and contradictions: which explains many contradictions and incompatibilities with the modern scientific data (cf paragraph Logic)
Christianity
The Bible (Christian), which includes:
- The Old Testament (of which is the " Pentateuque ", which corresponds to the written Torah, and a great part of books of the Prophets and the Scripts)
- The New Testament (including 4 Canonical Gospels: according to Mattew, Marcus, Lucus and John)
Protestants: The Bible cannot to be taken neither as a book of science, nor as a handbook of history. Thus making it an interpretative and not fundamental reading of the Bible.
The Protestants refer only to the Bible. The catholics practise in addition the customs and the traditions
The books constituting the Bible were composed at various times; one finds indeed different "literature styles", and, side to side with the subjects of divine inspiration, one can find some assertions which are the translation of certain profane beliefs or traditions of various times.
The New Testament is the result of a selection (in 1546 at the time of the Council of Thirty) by the church among the multiple writings recalling the life of Jesus and his teaching, done well after the death of Jesus. The excluded Gospels and censured books are called "apocryphal books" (see for example on www.geocities.com/cest_quoi_lislam/evangilede_barnabe.htm with chapter 39)
The catholics have more books in their old testament than the Protestants. Ex. the canon of
Changes introduced through different times introducing the innovations and contradictions: which explains many contradictions and incompatibilities with the modern scientific data (cf paragraph Logic)
Islam
- Quran.
- The sayings, acts, behaviors and others of facts of life of the Prophet constitute "Sunna" (like are the Gospels concerning the life of Jesus).
The "Hadiths" which are the bases of this "Sunna", relate to the acts, approvals and the words pronounced by Mohammad transmitted by his close relatives then by a chain of recognized transmitters worthy of faith.
Quran: Last revelation; word of God (with no other human contribution)
The Divine revelations transmitted to Mohammad were copied when he was alive; these transcriptions were assembled immediately after the death of Mohammad (during the 2 years which followed) to constitute the Quran
The first collections of Hadiths were written decades after the death of (Mouhammad), like Gospels were decades after the death of Jesus. In both cases, they are human testimonies on old facts. Nevertheless, for the sounna, the transmitters have been listed, and one says "according to so-and-so according to so-and-so "... and not it is said to be (by one does not know who). Islam has in effect a science which studies the life of the transmitters and their degree of credibility. From which results a strict classification of Hadiths according to the degree of reliability of their transmission.
The initial text of Quran in Arabic did not undergo any modification since the revelation (the available translations to other languages and to French in particular, suffer all, at different degrees, from the lack of expertise of their authors in one or both languages)
In spite of the multitude of scientific subjects contained in Quran, it was shown that Quran does not include any information in contradiction with modern scientific knowledge (cf paragraph Logic)
Branches
Judaism
Many branches before JC and much after JC:
Before JC (Sadducians, pharises, herodians, essenians, Zealoies, Samaritans, sanhedrins, publicans, gentils)
After JC (ebionites - of which nazaritens {Jesus Messiah} and Christians {Jesus god} -, rabbinical Judaism, reaction counter-rabbinical Judaism, geonim, Sepharades and ashkenazes, mysticism {gnosticism, kabbala and numerology, hassidism}, haskala)
Orthodox, reform, conservatives, reconstructionnists, hassidism (the )
Zionism (political doctrines related to the religion/Israel)
Christianity
Catholics (50%), Protestants (40%) and Orthodox (10%) (several branches each one)
Roman catholic church and emanations > 50% (gallican church, catho-copte, Ethiopian, Eritrean, syriaque, malankare, Armenian catholic....)
Orthodox = 10% (copte, Ethiopian, Eritrean, syriaque, malankare, apostolic Armenian....)
Protestants and emanations 40% (Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists - of which Baptists and Amish -, Anglicans - of which methodists -, American millenarists - of which Jehovah’s witnesses....)....
Islam
Sunnis (more than 85%) and Shiites
Places of Worship
Judaism
Synagogue
Christianity
Church or
Islam
Mosk
Universal Religion
Judaism
No: Addresses only to Jewish people
Like Hindouism, the Judaism addresses obviously only one people (one race)... (which explains for Hindouism in particular a strong concentration (+ of 90%) in only one country)... The fact of not being "eligible" no matter what the origin is (except in very exceptional cases very) leads to the following question: Can God be partial or unjust???
Christianity
Yes
Islam
Yes
Unique God (Monotheism)
Judaism
Monotheism
Jews had built a Calf after their exit from and adored it (worship that disappeared later on)
Jews claimed that Ozaïr (Esdras), a human, was the "son" of God! Reason: After destruction of the first
Christianity
Trinity: according to the majority of Christians (three entities in one): God = The Father + The Son + The Holly Spirit
Jesus - sone of Mary is God.
Since
The trinity is the dominant doctrine nowadays for the Christians. It was born and reinforced by Paul around year 70 after JC even if the word trinity appeared only at the end of the 2nd century, beginning of the 3rd. The Judeo-Christianity of origin (which believed in Jesus as a man and prophet: cf. Acts 2:22 "Israeli man, listen to his words: Jesus of Nazareth, approved man of God sent to you, by the miracles and wonders and signs that God made by him...") was considerably altered by Paul.
Traces of the original monotheism reappeared at the time of reform like Unitarianism "by some dissidents who denied the dogma of the Trinity because they saw an abandonment of monotheism "(Large Larousse Universal) and who believed in the "human nature of Jesus Christ" (Encyclopaedia Universalis)
In the 4 canonical Gospels, Jesus never evokes the current dogmas (original sin carried by all men; Jesus son that God sent and sacrificed to wash this sin; redemption accomplished by only having faith in the sacrifice of Jesus; Jesus is God; the Trinity)
The opposite is even sometimes found (John
which "forgot" a word of the original Greek "me, a MAN
who told you the truth"!!! I am loosing my Latin... forgiveness, my Greek!;
Ezekiel
Mattew
Islam
Monotheism
Allah = God in Arabic language
Description of God
Judaism
God eternal without beginning nor end
God Almighty but presenting human characteristics or weaknesses:
God prone to tiredness "Because in 6 days the Eternal made the skies, the earth and the sea and all their contents, and rested the 7th day "(Exodus
God can be seen: Moses sees (with his eyes) God partially from behind (Exodus 33:23) "then I will withdraw my hand and you will see me from behind, but my face cannot be seen "
God can be overcome: Fight with Jacob (Genesis 32:28-29)"Jacob will not be any more the name given to you but will be because you fought with God and men and you were winner "
God compared with a squatted lion (Numbers 24:9) "He is squatted, He lies down like a lion and a lioness: who will make him raise "
God suffering of regrets for creation of man (Genesis 6:6) "the eternal regretted having made man on the earth and his heart was broken "
"I am God and there is no body else; I am God and there is nobody like me "(Bible, Test 46:9)
Christianity
God eternal without beginning nor end
God Almighty but presenting human characteristics or weaknesses:
God prone to tiredness "Because in 6 days the Eternal made the skies, the earth and the sea and all their contents, and rested the 7th day "(Exodus
Because my father fought for you, he exposed his life... (The Judges 9:17)
God can be seen: Moses sees (with his eyes) God partially from behind (Exodus 33:23) "then I will withdraw my hand and you will see me from behind, but my face cannot be seen "
God can be overcome: Fight with Jacob (Genesis 32:28-29)"Jacob will not be any more the name given to you but will be because you fought with God and men and you were winner "
God compared with a squatted lion (Numbers 24:9) "He is squatted, He lies down like a lion and a lioness: who will make him raise "
God suffering of regrets for creation of man (Genesis 6:6) "the eternal regretted having made man on the earth and his heart was broken "
God incarnated as a man (Jesus)
Islam
God eternal without beginning nor end
God does not resemble anything existing, is not delimited (neither by a body nor distance nor time...), is not incarnated in any person or thing, is neither subject to any weakness nor imperfection...
In brief, He does not resemble anything Man can immagine
God Just
Judaism
All men are born sinners from the original sin of Adam and Eve (to be punished for a fault made by others can seem rather contradictory with the concept of Divine justice)
The responsibility for a sin is carried by the following generations / To the Jews, this responsibility is carried during 10 generations for the children born outside marriage. To the Jews and Christians, because of the role of instigator of Eve at the time of original sin, women were held liable to men and were punished by the pains of childbirth; as for the man, he is punished also by having to work very hard to gain his subsistence
Man preferred and much superior to the woman (see the part Women)
God privileges some people over the others (see the part Tolerance and Violence)
Christianity
All men are born sinners from the original sin of Adam and Eve (to be punished for a fault made by others can seem rather contradictory with the concept of Divine justice)
The responsibility for a sin is carried by the following generations / To the Jews, this responsibility is carried during 10 generations for the children born outside marriage. To the Jews and Christians, because of the role of instigator of Eve at the time of original sin, women were held liable to men and were punished by the pains of childbirth; as for the man, he is punished also by having to work very hard to gain his subsistence
Man superior to the woman (because Eve sinned the first and encouraged Adam)
Islam
All the men are born pure
Individual liability: if sin then punishment only of the sinner according to his/her acts
Equality of men and women
God does not privilege no people, no race, no color; only piety is a criterion of distinction
God Accessible without intermediary
Judaism
No intermediate clergy for exercising worship
But in case of conversion to Judaism, a commission of rabbis accepts or refuses the application according to their own criteria and predefined conditions: to consume Kasher, observe the Sabbath, to have an active life with the community...
Christianity
A clergy classified hierarchically (flawless pope receiving the Holy Spirit and authority of legislation, priests, bishops...) which has the capacity to act in the name of God (to forgive the sins, to bless...)
The Protestants consider Jesus as the only intermediary between God and them. The catholics add to that the Church and the Saints
For the Protestants: No pope, no bishop, no Priest, no theologian can be given an authority which belongs only to the Script (see Logic: Availability of original texts)
Islam
No clergy for Sunnis (more than 85% of the Muslims)
For the Shiites: Clergy = Imam = the successors of the line of Mohammad, flawless, and to whom it is obligatory to obey.
PS. The Druz are one emanation of the Shiites
The Druz and the alawetes are emanations of the Shiites, too closed and secretive, mixing the books (e.g. the Druz rest on the Quran, the pentateuque, the psalms and the new testament), with long and complex initiation rituals, with esoteric beliefs (reincarnation, the holly calf), close to a certain Christianity that they encountered (the alawetes believe in a triad Mouhammad-Ali-Salman, celebrate Christmas, Epiphany Easter and Pentecot)!
Confession to whom
Judaism
To God
Christianity
Catholic : to a priest;
Others : To God or Jesus
Islam
To God
Entry of faithful in the religion
Judaism
By birth only if they are of Jewish mother
The other entries are exceptional and difficult
Conversion: commission of Rabbis who can reject or accept a conversion (according to their own criteria and predefined conditions: Kasher, shabbat, active life within the community...)
Christianity
By baptism: (the Protestants are against the baptism of the newly born. They prefer to leave this choice to their children when those reach an age whereby they are able to have an opinion on the question)
Conversion by baptism
Islam
By birth (all Men are born with the faith in Single God)
Conversion by the sincere pronunciation of the profession of faith: "there is no other god but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet "
What do they say about Jesus
Judaism
Circoncised/Adored Single God / Fasted completely/did not eat Pork/ate only sanctified meat or bled (Kosher)/Told his companions "May peace be with you "(or Shalom): Can thus be Juif!
Messiah announced in the texts but Jesus not recognized like the Messiah
Christianity
Circoncis/Adored Single God/ Fasted completely/did not eat a Pig/ate only the meat sanctified or bled (Kosher)/Disait to his/her companions "That peace is with you "(or Shalom): Cannot thus be Chrétien?
For the Conservatives: birth of a virgin; For the Liberals: normal birth;
It was delivered by the Jews to Romans, it was wounded, humiliated, struck and finally crucifié and killed of humiliating and painful manner
God, Sons of God sent to be sacrificed to save the men, Human nature and Divine
Among Moslems Shiites, there is a concept close to the sacrifice of Jesus: that of the martyr of the Hussein Imam (wire of Ali, cousin of Mouhammad): according to an analysis of Christianty Today published the 30/04/2003, of the evangelists close to the US government, specialists in the evangelization of the Moslems think that the Shiites are of this fact easier to penetrate... Very charming (one would say a market research)!
Islam
Circoncis/Adored God Single/Fasted completely/did not eat pork/only ate sanctified or bled meat (Halal)/Said to his/her companions "May peace is with you "(or Assalamou Alaikom): Hence can be Muslim!
Jesus, the prophet, was neither crucified nor killed, nor humiliated… God saved him: Jesus was brought up living to the sky; A man on whom God put the appearance of Jesus was crucified.
One of the major prophets of the divine Revelation
What do they say about Adam
Judaïsme
First man created by God
Disobeyed God in
Christianity
First man created by God
Disobeyed God in
Islam
First man created by God
Disobeyed God in the subject related to the forbidden tree
God forgave him after after his regret
Considered as one of the prophetes
What do they say about Moses
Judaïsme
Prophet
Christianity
Prophet
Islam
Prophet
What do they say about Mouhammad
Judaïsme
Mouhammad announced as the last prophet in the Hebraic bible
Deutronome 18:18&19 "this is a prophet like you -Moses (therefore born normally, having ruled his people and died naturally) that I will give rise to, from the middle of their brothers (not of israël sons -isaac descent- but of the brothers of israël sons -ismail descent); I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I order him to. And if someone does not listen to my words, which the prophet would have said in my name (all the sourates of the Quran starting with In The Name of God ..) , then they will be accountable to me"
Genesis 49:10 "Coming from an ultimate non-Jewish prophet, to whom people owe obedience" (Mouhammad is the last prophet)
Esaïe 29:12 The prophet Esaïe talking about the revelation of a document "it will be given then to the one that does not know how to read (Mouhammad was illiterate!) while saying: Read therefore this. He replies: I do not know how to read.."
Christianity
Mouhammad announced as the last prophet in the Hebraic bible
Deutronome 18:18&19 "this is a prophet like you -Moses (therefore born normally, having ruled his people and died naturally) that I will give rise to, from the middle of their brothers (not of israël sons -isaac descent- but of the brothers of israël sons -ismail descent); I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I order him to. And if someone does not listen to my words, which the prophet would have said in my name (all the sourates of the Quran starting with In The Name of God ..) , then they will be accountable to me"
Genesis 49:10 "Coming from an ultimate non-Jewish prophet, to whom people owe obedience" (Mouhammad is the last prophet)
Esaïe 29:12 The prophet Esaïe talking about the revelation of a document "it will be given then to the one that does not know how to read (Mouhammad was illiterate!) while saying: Read
therefore this. He replies: I do not know how to read.."
Matt 10:7 "the kingdom of heavens approaches" and not "arrived" as is translated poorly by the TOB (Translation Œcuménique of the Bible) from the original Greek text!!
Matt 20:1/16 "thus the first ones will be the last ones and the last ones will be the first ones" (last revealed religion: Islam) John 14:15 prediction of the coming and the mission of another messenger of God / in the TOB: "the paraclet, the Holy spirit, that the father will send…" is a bad translation of the original Greek "the paraclet, the spirit, the saint, that the father will send…" / error aiming to conform the word of Jesus to the trinitary interpretation (while in the Greek text it is a matter of sending a holy man and not of the Holy Spirit..)
John 15: 26 and 27: "When will have come the comforting one, that I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth, that comes from Father, he will testify of me; and you also, you will testify of me, because you are with me as early as the beginning"
John
(ex. banning alcohol);
On the other hand, certain Gospels, censured and declared as apocryphal by the Church cite Mouhammad by name several times
(see for example chapter 39 of the Gospel according to Barnabé www.geocities.com/cest_quoi_lislam/evangilede_barnabe.ht )
Islam
The last Prophet : "the illiterate Prophet whom they find mentioned in the Pentateuque and the Gospil" Quran 7:157
What happens after Death?
Judaïsme
Resurrection on the day of the last judgement then Hell or
The thereafter is a relatively imprecise notion for the Judaïsme that recognizes the immortality of the soul but does not speak in an explicit way of hell or of paradise
The souls of the deaths are in a way in reserve, waiting for Olam aba, the future world under construction by the application of the Mitzvoh, the commandments. The arrival of the messianic times will mark a stage for the advent of the future world
Hell: some sort of passage in which the souls transmigrate after their earthly life, and where the soul is judged by God (but it is a matter of an exclusively spiritual world)
Christianity
Islam
The hell is temporary for the believers as long as it takes to pay for the heavy sins (eternal for the non-believers)
What determines the finale destination (Hell ou Heaven)?
Judaïsme
.
Christianity
No consensus in christianity:
For some, faith in Jesus as God and Savior is sufficient to go to the
For others, good actions must be added
For the Catholics, the baptism is necessarily added and the sacrifices for the church (until recently (notably in Vatican II) or the baptism and other sacrifices for the church are no longer the condition sine qua non).
Islam
Faith and the Good Deeds
Hell is temporary for the believers as long as it takes to pay for the heavy sins (eternal for the non-believers)
"Whoever does evil will be remunerated for that, and will not find in his favor, outside Allah, nor an ally nor a rescuer. And whoever, man or woman, does good deeds, all while being a believer... Those are the ones who will enter Heaven; and no one will do them any injustice" Quran 4:123 and 124