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    Different or basically the same?

    I know Judaism, Christianity and Islam are really different from each other, but are they really considered to be different religions even though they have different symbols and traditions? Aren't all 3 basically just the same thing? Just a different way of viewing God? After all you couldn't have Christianity without Judaism and you couldn't have Islam without Christianity and Judaism. All 3 have different perceptions of the same god? So aren't they all the same religion anyway? It's kind of strange because all 3 supposedly worship the same god. The god in Islam is supposed the be the same in Christianity and Judaism, but why have different rules? All 3 are considered different but are more similar than different. All of the other religions are drastically different from each other. You'd think all 3 would be considered sects of Yahweh but how come they aren't? What's the difference between a sect and an entirely different religion? How different does it have to be to be considered it's own separate religion?

    #2
    Re: Different or basically the same?

    Originally posted by Alienist
    I know Judaism, Christianity and Islam are really different from each other, but are they really considered to be different religions even though they have different symbols and traditions? Aren't all 3 basically just the same thing?
    Yes, they are considered to be different religions for a number of reasons. They are certainly not the same thing - they are essentially all derived from the same source (The Hebrew Bible), but have evolved through separately adopting vastly different scriptures (including a great variety of oral and written religious laws for Judaism, The New Testament for Christianity and the Qur'an for Islam) which have led to the differences in beliefs. Just because three religion spring from a single source, does not make them the same religion.

    Consider two of the major differences:

    1. Christianity accepts the writings of the New Testament to be factual. They recognise the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Jews reject the claim that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and believe that the Messiah is yet to be revealed.

    2. The prophet Mohammed, the founder of what is today considered to be Islam, received the Qur'an from Allah in the year 609 - making Islam the youngest of the Big Three. The Qur'an is not identical to the Hebrew Bible. Allah is also speculated to be a completely different entity to YHWH - or, if not a different entity, a different aspect of YHWH.

    How can Judaism, for example, be "the same" as Christianity when it rejects the divinity of Jesus Christ?

    Originally posted by Alienist
    Just a different way of viewing God?
    If you strip all three religions down to their cores, then it may be said that they simply have different ways of viewing what could be the same god - however, religion is much more complex than simply recognising the same god. For instance, as a Theistic Satanist, I recognise Lilith as a goddess, but so do some Wiccans - that doesn't make us the same religion at all.

    Originally posted by Alienist
    After all you couldn't have Christianity without Judaism and you couldn't have Islam without Christianity and Judaism.
    Again, it doesn't matter that these religions share a common source or point of origin. It doesn't make them the same religion.

    Originally posted by Alienist
    All 3 have different perceptions of the same god? So aren't they all the same religion anyway?
    No.

    See my above statements.

    Originally posted by Alienist
    It's kind of strange because all 3 supposedly worship the same god. The god in Islam is supposed the be the same in Christianity and Judaism, but why have different rules?
    I could go into a tremendous amount of detail dissecting the controversy behind the title for the god of Islam, Allah, but I will not because it is truly beyond the scope of this thread. These religions essentially have "different rules" because they recognise, outside of the Hebrew Bible (the basic text from which they all originate) other sacred texts, laws and teachings which are specific to their individually-evolved mythologies.

    Islam is different, amongst other reasons, because Mohammed was given the Qur'an by Allah.

    Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic religions, is different primarily because it remained the same for long enough that a multitude of additional revelations, laws and teachings were added to its core such as the Talmud, Midrash, targumim, Zohar, Responsa and Mishnah.

    Christianity is different primarily because of its acceptance of the New Testament and a myriad of additional Christian writings and teachings.

    Originally posted by Alienist
    You'd think all 3 would be considered sects of Yahweh but how come they aren't? What's the difference between a sect and an entirely different religion? How different does it have to be to be considered it's own separate religion?
    The term sect is defined differently depending upon its context - be it cultural, religious, etc. Generally speaking, you could propose that Christianity began as a sect - perhaps you could also say the same for Islam's beginnings. "Sect" usually denotes heresy and is frowned upon, but what I would consider the turning point to be for a sect evolving into a separate religion would be attaining a large enough number of followers who accept the "heretical" or vastly different beliefs of the off-shoot group.

    In terms of Christianity, it seems more appropriate to use the term "denomination" when differentiating various (often Protestant) off-shoots such as Baptists, Methodists, etc. Many of these differ greatly from Catholocism, yet are still considered to be Christian at their core. Why? I would say primarily because they still accept the basic foundations of Christianity - Jesus Christ was the divine son of YHWH who died on the cross to redeem humanity.
    Last edited by MaskedOne; 13 Feb 2014, 19:57.

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      #3
      Re: Different or basically the same?

      Torey, just an fyi. Your grey font is very hard to read since it's almost white. :=L:
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        #4
        Re: Different or basically the same?

        Oh, weird. It looks like normal to me. I'll try to fix it... Thanks!

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          #5
          Re: Different or basically the same?

          Your edit window has passed but if you have no objections then I'll kill the tags.
          life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

          Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

          "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

          John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

          "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

          Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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            #6
            Re: Different or basically the same?

            Originally posted by MaskedOne View Post
            Your edit window has passed but if you have no objections then I'll kill the tags.
            Oh if you could fix it, that'd be awesome I was just going to re-post it without the formatting. Cheers!

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              #7
              Re: Different or basically the same?

              Originally posted by Torey View Post
              Oh if you could fix it, that'd be awesome I was just going to re-post it without the formatting. Cheers!
              No problem Tags pulled.
              life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

              Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

              "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

              John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

              "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

              Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


              Comment


                #8
                Re: Different or basically the same?

                Originally posted by Torey View Post
                Yes, they are considered to be different religions for a number of reasons. They are certainly not the same thing - they are essentially all derived from the same source (The Hebrew Bible), but have evolved through separately adopting vastly different scriptures (including a great variety of oral and written religious laws for Judaism, The New Testament for Christianity and the Qur'an for Islam) which have led to the differences in beliefs. Just because three religion spring from a single source, does not make them the same religion.
                (snip)
                If you strip all three religions down to their cores, then it may be said that they simply have different ways of viewing what could be the same god - however, religion is much more complex than simply recognising the same god. For instance, as a Theistic Satanist, I recognise Lilith as a goddess, but so do some Wiccans - that doesn't make us the same religion at all.
                This! (the entire comments really, but it was long to quote the whole thing)

                In regards to the OP...the evolution of religion is a great example of cultural evolution. And, just like in biological evolution, as some point, you get speciation. We aren't chimpanzees just because we share 98% of their genome.
                Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                  #9
                  Re: Different or basically the same?

                  With the different "Paths" of Christian belief,it takes what is referred to as "Reformers". Interesting in its reasons for the "Reform". I read that Martin Luther had fallen in love with a Nun,and that in some way motivated him in the direction of change. Also the English church separating from the Catholic pope centered base because they would not allow him to divorce.
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                    #10
                    Re: Different or basically the same?

                    In a sense Christianity believes in the Old Testament like the Jews and they think Judaism is a true religion, they just think it's incomplete because it doesn't have Jesus. Islam respects Jesus and believes he is the Messiah, but not the Son of God or God himself. Christians believe Jesus IS God. I always thought all 3 were distinctly different even though they came from the same source. Yahweh, Jesus and Allah were entirely different beings, I believed, since they had radically different rules in their religions. But all 3 recognize Abraham as the patriarch, recognize the 10 commandments, the ark of the covenant ect.

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                      #11
                      Re: Different or basically the same?

                      Its the same god...just a different interpretation--even within those religions.
                      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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