t the narrative functions as explanation of why the Jews as heirs of the history recounted in these books, are uniquely obligated to God. That distinctive mythic element of Jewish experience survives the harsh lessons of narratives of the culture's past, with the Jews claiming to retain special connection to the divine and setting their culture apart from all others.
2. The most obvious manner in which Christianity and Islam are similar is in their monotheism. Like the Jews, the Christians deposited faith in one God (although a Trinitarian God comprising three Persons). For Muslims, the declaration is more stark, that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger (prophet).
Both Christianity and Islam consciously appropriated religious beliefs and practices associated with religions established earlier in history, while also rejecting the earlier faiths as inappropriate for the religious future and asserting their own superiority. In the case of Christianity, Jesus is represented as both heir of the old law and representative of the new: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come, not to abolish them, but to fulfill them" (Matt. 5.17). Even so, Jesus constantly challenged the scribes and Pharisees who prescribe sundry laws "you have heard" but whose holiness must be surpassed if the people are to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 5.20). When Jesus is brought to the chief priests (Matt. 26), he is characterized as having declared himself Son of God, a blasphemy punishable by death. His answer makes a claim for his special status vis-a-vis of the old law.
I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64).
As lord, Son of David, Son of Man and/or Son of God, Jesus can fulfill what he likes and overtake and marginalize what he dislikes about the old law. A similar dynamic operates with Islam. Muh...