Judaism Christianity & Islam Made Simple?

1. Judaism-Christianity-Islam
Professor CHEE- 2.2015
What do these three religions have in common?
What are their differences?
What is the Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions and
their shared heritage?

2. All Three Share their Faith in God, the same God
Yahweh = God =
Allah (Arabic word
for God)
Tokapi Palace, Istanbul, 1595

3. It all starts here: Mesopotamia or the region called
Southwest Asia or also known as the Middle East
Abraham of Ur
Is from here

4. The Three Share an Abrahamic Tradition:
Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar
Judeo-Christian Tradition:
the sacrifice of Isaac (Abraham’s
second son with wife Sara)
versus
The Islamic tradition:
the Sacrifice of Ishmael (Child
of Abraham & Hagar) in the
Islamic tradition, the first
born but with the Egyptian
concubine Hagar
The Sacrifice of Ishmael, unknown
date, Shiraz

5. What are their differences?
On the Messiah and Jesus Christ
Jews: waiting for Messiah, Jesus is the Jewish son of
a carpenter
Christians: Jesus is the Messiah and the son of God
Muslims: waiting for Messiah, Jesus is a prophet
Other differences: Time, languages, geographic
locations

6. Judaism: the Pentateuch, The Torah
o Tenth – Sixth century BCE?
o Originally written in Hebrew,
Aramaic, & other parts in
Greek
o Jews or the Hebrews lived
among & borrowed
polytheistic beliefs of the
Mesopotamians
o The Tanakh, written in 200
BCE- 100 CE?
o Judaism: Jesus is the Son of a
Carpenter
Tanakh, 11th C, Iraq

7. Moses & Monotheism
o Famous story - Fourteenth
Century BCE??– Moses (&
brother Aaron) leads the
Hebrews out of Egypt
o Shared story among all
three: Judaism, Christianity
& Islam
Painting from the Sixth Century Syriac
Bible (Eastern Aramaic)

8. Mt. Sinai, Holy site for all three Religions

9. The burning
bush?

10. Tree of Good and Evil versus
the Tree of Life
Evil or sin
gendered in the
Judeo-Christian
tradition?
Tree of Life in
the Islamic
tradition
the Tree of Life (Bahrain)

11. Year 1 – Christian
Calendar

12. Christianity and how
it starts.
A Jewish son of a carpenter,
hangs out with the poor,
homeless, prostitutes and
talks revolutionary talk in the
Roman Empire
You know the story, he does
not live long.
~28-35 CE Matthew. “The Sermon
on the Mount,” or “the Beatitudes”
Sixth century mosaic from Ravenna,
Italy

13. Coptic Christian Writings
Early Christian
writings from
Egypt, written in
Coptic script
predates early Greek
versions of the Bible.
The Coptic cross is similar to the
ankh, the Egyptian symbol for
eternal life.

14. Borrowed Egypt’s Isis & Horus?
FYI… Christianity may
have incorporated and
blended elements of
ancient Egyptian and
other African religions
into Christianity. For
example the story of
Horus, the child of the
goddess Isis who died
and was resurrected…
a powerful symbol of
rebirth for ancient
Egyptians

15. Paul & the Roman Empire in the first century:
Paul or Saul of Tarsus (Turkey) spreads Christianity
(and authors most of the Bible’s New Testament)

16. Christianity’s Earliest Christian Churches
Divisions based primarily on
locations, as well as theology
o Ethiopian Coptic (Axum)
o Egyptian Coptic (Alexandria,
then Cairo)
o Roman Catholic (Rome)
(“western tradition” and hence,
you are probably most familiar
with this one)
o Greek Orthodox (Constantinople
or the former Greek Byzantion)

17. Axum King Ezana (r.320-360) (modern Ethiopia),
Creates the first Christian Empire in the World
o Axum stopped erecting stelaes or obelisks and
changed to building crosses
o The Roman Emperor Constantine Asks Ezana for
Advice, 4th Century, two Superpowers of the time
Obelisk (stelaes) at over 115 feet– largest
funerary or grave markers in the world
Axum (Ethiopian) coin – 4th Century CE

18. Ethiopian Monarchs Draw their Lineage to the
Solomonic Dynasty
Kebra Negast - Thirteenth
century text – Oxford
Library?
Menelik, son of Solomon &
Queen Sheba creates a new
lineage - Solomonic
dynasty
Axum - Ark of the
Covenant

19. Origins of the Egyptian Coptic Church
teaches that Jesus fled
from King Herod (or
King Agrippa)’s
persecution to find
refuge in Egypt

20. Alexandria – Egyptian Coptic
St. Mark & the Egyptian Coptic Church
o St. Mark was the first apostle of
Egypt, coming to establish the
church there in 41 CE.
o His first convert, Anianus became
the first or second patriarch of
Alexandria, or the Coptic church
in Egypt
o Other great theologians like St.
Augustine & Arius from Egypt
Coptic Church Garbage Village

21. 312 - Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337) legalizes
Christianity & creates the Roman Catholic Church

22. Roman Catholic (Rome) &
Greek Orthodox Churches (Constantinople)
split over icons, language & geography

23. The Christian Bible –mid-Fourth Century Earliest
Copies
The Bible – two earliest
versions:
o Codex Vaticanus
o Codex Sinaiticus (St
Katherine’s copy, most of
the pages are now held at
the British Library)
o 700+ animal skin parchment
leaves
Earliest surviving copies
with two early Christian
texts not found in modern
Bibles
www.codexsinaiticus.org

24. Brief Introduction to the Origins of Islam
Islam means
“submission” to
God, or Allah
Jesus was a prophet
Muhammad (570-632)
“seal of the
prophets”
Tokapi Palace, Istanbul, 1595

25. Islam & the Ka’ba
o ” to God, or Allah
o The Ka’ba built by
Abraham and his
son Ishmael),
according to
Muslims
o The Ka’ba is a
reflection of a house
of worship in
heaven on earth, in
Mecca

26. 650s Compilation of the Quran or Koran:
LACMA Museum
Islam Prioritizes the Word of God and Not Icons

27. The Expansion of Islamic Empire, 632-733 C.E.
“Islam” as religion/culture/regime – spreads because of trade

28. The Fragmentation of the Roman Catholic Church
or Western Christendom:
Martin Luther critiques and breaks away from
Roman Catholicism and starts the Protestant
Reformation
(1517 – Ninety-Five Thesis)
Not the first to criticize the church, but one of
the first to survive executions and be
successful
Martin Luther (1483-1546)

29. The Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther (and John Calvin) attack Roman Catholic
church practices
o Indulgences
o Sacraments
o Priestly authority, & hierarchy esp the Pope
Luther (and John Calvin) pre-occupied by the question:
“What must I do to be saved?”
oFaith, & how to get to faith?
oPrayer
oReading the Bible: Bible translated from Latin
into vernacular, coincided with new printing
technology

30. Protestant Reformation Spreads
o France: John Calvin (1509-1564)
codifies Protestant teachings
while in exile in Geneva, spreads
in France
o Germanic states: princes take
opportunity for political control
and spreads
o England: King Henry VIII (r.
1509-1547) has conflict with Pope
over requested divorce
o England starts the Anglican
church by 1560 – (Catholic
light?) – King as head of
church instead of the pope
John Calvin (1509-1564)

31. In Conclusion:
Judaism-Christianity (Catholic-Protestant) -Islam
Similarities:
cousin religions, all worship the same God!
All three written in Semite languages: Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Arabic
Shared stories & traditions
Differences:
Perspectives on the Messiah or Jesus Christ
Time, language, cultures
Geographic locations and power dynamics split
churches

32. Copyright
Grace Chee
2015
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