ws and Muslims. Muslims have fought with Muslims, with Hindus, and with western nations for political and religious freedom or domination. The need to understand people of varying faiths is of paramount importance.
"Today is the day of salvation or liberation or escape or fulfillment. The streets and the marketplaces, as well as the airwaves and the temples, are the sounding boards for a plurality of religious voices, faith statements and lifestyles." Religions are like living organisms--they grow and mature, they may affect millions, indeed hundreds of millions, of followers. And some have died, while others have undergone radical reforms. This paper will examine four of the world's principal religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Of these, Judaism and Hinduism are the oldest, that of the Muslims the youngest. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a common heritage recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures and alternately in the Qur'an, rooted in the belief in one God--YHWH, Jehovah, Allah--the Creator of the Universe. Hindus do not point to a single prophetic source for the origin of their religion, nor do they worship a single deity, but rather a panoply of gods and goddesses who are responsible for the sum of the universe.
Judaism traces the origin of human history to God's creation of man and woman--Adam and Eve--about 5700 years ago. Judaism is founded on a personal relationship with God through the prophets and patriarchs. God is "creator, preserver, sustainer, judge, and end of life." God's revelation of Himself to mankind, and His law and commandments have been given through the Hebrew nation, which has preserved this oral tradition in the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah (or, Law), the Prophets, and the Writings.
The relationship between God and the Jewish people is principally an ethical one. As long as the Law was obeyed, the people had God's protection. Disobedience would incur the wr...