Comparative Religion For Dummies

Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 Conventions Used in This Book 3 How This Book is Organized 4 Part I: History is a Happening Thing 4 Part II: The Development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam 4 Part III: Shared Aspects of the Faiths 5 Part IV: Shared Ideas Among the Faiths 5 Part V: The Part of Tens 5 Part VI: Appendixes 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part I: History is a Happening Thing 7 Chapter 1: One God, Three Faiths 9 Holy Toledo! How Many Gods are There? 9 Monotheism Develops 10 Egypt tries the one-god concept 11 Yahweh steps down from the mount 12 Following Abraham’s Lead: Judaism 13 Josiah and his faith: The beginnings of Judaism 13 God becomes universal 14 God provides protection and an identity 15 Christianity: Crossing in a New Direction 16 Paul finds a way to link beliefs 16 The Christian message spreads through the empire 16 Islam: Submitting to God 17 Chapter 2: Following Abraham’s Path 19 What We Do and Don’t Know about the Historic Abraham 19 Taking a tour of Father Abraham’s neighborhood 20 Following the laws of Abraham’s time 21 Speaking Abraham’s language 22 Practicing religion before Abraham came on the scene 22 Abraham’s Early Years 23 The Beginnings of Judaism 24 Agreeing to the covenant 25 Isaac’s close call demonstrates Abraham’s love for God 25 Following the family tree 26 In Islam, Ishmael Finds a New Way 27 Jesus Joins the Genealogy 28 Three Faiths: One Founder 29 Part II: The Development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam 31 Chapter 3: Judaism: Oy Vey, What a History! 33 From Abraham, Judaism Takes the Long Road 34 Like father, like son: The leaders after Abraham 35 Over the river and through the desert, to Pharaoh’s land we go 35 Moses, Receiver of God’s Laws 36 Relying on plagues and walls of water to escape slavery 37 Counting on the Ten Commandments 38 Joshua takes control 38 The Days of the Judges 39 The Time of Kings 39 David starts a dynasty 40 Solomon rules wisely 40 Splitting into two kingdoms 40 Getting Conquered: The Jews Find Themselves in Hot Water 41 Monotheism arrives 42 Living under foreign rule 42 Christianity’s Emergence Puts the Jews on the Defensive (Yet Again) 43 How Jews Have Influenced Society 44 Emphasizing education 45 Inventing languages 46 Jewish humor: The joke’s on everyone 46 Fulfilling their dreams in America 48 Dominating the silver screen 48 Flying the Blue and White Banner of Israel 49 Chapter 4: Judaism Finds God in Everything 51 A Little of This, A Little of That 52 Maintaining Daily Practice 52 Let us pray 53 Exploring the worship wardrobe 54 Keeping kosher 55 Remembering the Sabbath 57 Observing Jewish Holidays 58 High Holy Days: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur 58 Passover: Recalling the great escape 59 Planting and harvesting holidays 61 Purim: A great reason to party 62 Hanukkah: In praise of victory and light 62 Other holidays 63 Understanding Jewish Rituals 64 Circumcision: No getting around it 64 Bar mitzvah: All grown up in God’s eyes 65 Mazel tov! Celebrating a Jewish wedding 66 Understanding Jewish Symbols .67 The menorah 67 The ark 68 The Jewish star 69 Chapter 5: Jesus and the Origins of Christianity 71 Jesus’s Life and Death 71 A remarkable birth 72 The few historical records of Jesus’s life 73 Preaching and teaching God’s word 74 Jesus’s claims stir the pot and create controversy 75 A date with the cross 76 The First Believers 76 What the early followers believed 77 The first missionary of Jesus 78 A New Religion Grows 79 The destruction of the Temple fuels growth 79 Christians separate from Judaism 80 Christian practices: It’s no mystery 80 The big time arrives: Legitimacy in the Roman Empire 81 Nicene council sets the belief 82 The Greeks split while the Romans grow in influence 83 It’s Hard to Keep Everyone Happy 84 Martin Luther spells out his displeasure 85 Protestants reform, the Church counterreforms, and fighting ensues 86 The rise of science in a Christian world 87 Conflict revives Armageddon ideas 88 Christianity Today 88 Chapter 6: Christian Beliefs and Practices 91 The First Noel: Christmas and the Roots of Christianity 92 Why a holiday for the Nativity? 93 Why December? 93 Other Christian Holidays 95 Hallelujah! He is risen: Easter 95 A solemn and somber season: Lent 97 A weekly holy day: The Sabbath 98 Happening upon Christianity’s Holy Sites 99 Seeing how sites become holy 99 Wandering around Rome and the Vatican 99 Rituals: Outward Expressions of Faith 100 One bread, one body: Communion 101 Welcoming new Christians through baptism 102 Celebrating additional sacraments 103 The Different Symbols of Christianity 103 The old rugged cross 103 What’s the bright idea behind halos? 106 Fish, lamb, doves, and more 106 Many Christians, Many Sects 106 Chapter 7: The Birth of Islam: The Prophet Submits to Allah 109 Islam, Born in the Desert 109 All roads lead to Mecca 110 Meccans become traders with the world 111 The Prophet Arrives 111 Muhammad’s early life 112 Starting out as an average guy 112 Beginning of a faith 113 Solitude leads to action 114 The faith develops: Introducing the five pillars 114 Writing the Koran 115 Muhammad Takes Command 117 Spreading the new faith 118 The Farewell Sermon 119 Breakdown at the Start-Up: Sunnis and Shi’ites Can’t Get Along 119 Choosing a leader causes strife early on 120 How Sunnis and Shi’ites practice Islam 121 The Ottoman Turks Dominate Islam 123 Chapter 8: Islam: Submission of the Faithful 125 The Core of Islam: One God with Muhammad as His Last Prophet 125 Allah: The Almighty of Islam 126 The history of Allah 127 Allah’s divine role 128 The Pillars of the Faith 129 First pillar: Creed (Shahada) 129 Second pillar: Prayer (Salat) 130 Third pillar: Purifying tax (Zakat) 131 Fourth pillar: Fasting (Sawm) 132 Fifth pillar: Pilgrimage (Hajj) 133 Meeting Some Muslim Sects 133 Ahmadiyya 134 Ismailis 134 Kahrijites 134 Kurds 135 Sufis 135 Wahhabis, or Muwahiddun 135 Gender Equality in Islam 136 Observing Muslim Holidays 137 Ramadan 137 Hijra: Turning the page to a new year 137 Ashurah: A day of many remembrances 138 Id Milad al-Nabi: Marking Muhammad’s birth and death 138 Id al-Adha: Honoring Abraham’s dedication to God 138 Lailat al-Baraa: Seeking and granting forgiveness 139 15th of Sha’ban: Shaking things up 139 27th of Rajab: A heavenly holiday 139 Getting to Know Saints in Islam 139 Common Rituals and Daily Practices 140 Getting hitched in Islam 140 Other ways of keeping the faith 141 Islam’s dietary requirements 142 The Story Behind Symbols and Colors 143 Part III: Shared Aspects of the Faiths 145 Chapter 9: Reading the Holy Words 147 The Hebrew Bible 148 Sections of the Hebrew Bible 148 When were the books written? 149 When did the books become holy? 150 Understanding the Bible through JEPD 151 It’s all Greek to me 151 The Christian Bible 152 The structure of the New Testament 152 Who wrote the books? 153 Where were they written? .153 When were the books written? 154 Drawing material from many sources 154 Jerome gets an assignment: Revise the Bible 155 The Koran 156 Revealing the Koran’s history 156 Outlining the Koran’s organization 157 Understanding the Texts 157 Translating can be such sweet sorrow 157 That’s not what that says 158 I can read it, but what does it mean? 159 Things get really complicated in the Koran 159 Where are the originals? 160 Unrolling the Dead Sea Scrolls 161 What’s in the Dead Sea Scrolls? 162 How do they help us translate the Bible? 163 Perusing Other Sacred Books 164 The insightful Talmud 164 The mysterious Kabbalah 165 Christians stick with the original reference book 166 The Hadith collects Muhammad’s sayings and teachings 166 Chapter 10: Houses of Prayer 169 Early Sacred Sites: Stone Mounds and Altars 169 The Many Lives of the Temple in Jerusalem 171 The Temple’s significance to the Jews 172 The Temple’s destruction 172 A new Temple rises 173 A battle for the Temple and its rededication 173 Romans defile the Temple 174 Herod’s version of the Temple 175 The Romans’ view of the Temple 175 The Romans burn the Temple 176 Synagogues become the Jewish houses of prayer 178 Christians Choose Churches 179 The churches of early Christians 179 Church design evolves 180 Artistry and music abound 181 Byzantine style moves in .182 Later styles emerge, but some things don’t change 182 Mosques Reflect the Prophet 182 How mosques are designed 183 Inspecting the interior of a mosque 184 Who’s Welcome for Worship? 185 Chapter 11: Religious Leaders: Keeping the Faith 187 Great Jewish Leaders of the Past 188 Prophets emerge from the shadows 188 After the prophets: Sages 189 Rise of the Rabbi 189 A rabbi’s job description 190 Education: The key to leadership 190 Modern Jewish leaders 191 Christian Leaders 192 The pope becomes the point man 192 Christianity’s organization 193 The requirements and roles of Christian church leaders 194 Church Leaders from the Early Days Until Now 195 Lighting up in the Middle Ages 195 Modern Christian leaders 196 Following Muhammad 197 Great Muslim leaders in history 197 Modern Islamic leaders 198 Chapter 12: Sacred Sites 199 Jerusalem: Important to All Three Religions 200 A city with a fuzzy origin .201 Jerusalem in history 202 Jerusalem in symbolism 205 Sacred Sites of Judaism 205 Bethel: Home of the law .206 Shechem: Future home of the Samaritans 206 Mount Moriah: Site of the Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock 206 Mount Zion: A conquered fortress 207 Mount Sinai: God and Moses’s chat room 207 In Islam, All Roads Lead to Mecca 208 Christian Sacred Sites 209 Shrine of Thomas Becket 210 House of the Virgin Mary .210 Assisi, home of Saint Francis 211 Lourdes and its healing waters 211 The Vatican: Small, but holy 211 St. Peter’s Basilica 212 Other Catholic sites 213 Chapter 13: Thy Kingdom Come: The Messiah Concept 215 The Origins of the Messiah Concept 216 Isaiah outlines a role 216 Other prophets predict a messiah 217 The messianic concept takes shape with King David 218 The messiahs disappear 218 New messianic duties surface 219 The Romans create more fervor 219 Two messiahs? 220 Later messiahs in Judaism 221 Christians Adopt Jesus as the Messiah 222 Comparing old messiahs to Jesus 223 Other messianic figures around the time of Jesus 225 Jesus wins out 228 Islam Develops a Messiah: Madhi 228 The Shi’ite vision 228 Sunnis disagree 229 Other Mahdis 229 The last Mahdi? 230 Chapter 14: Holy Catastrophe: End of the World 231 Where Did the Idea of the End of the World Come From? 231 Judaism’s Belief in the End and Its Influence on Christianity 232 The end as predicted in the book of Daniel 233 Other prophesies predict the end 234 The death of Augustus 235 The destruction of the Temple: A sign for Jews and Christians 235 Other predictions of the final year 236 The Christian notion of the “antichrist” 238 Islam’s View of the End 238 Turning to texts for support 238 The end is near 239 How the End of the World Will Take Place 240 Signs of the end 240 How the end will begin, so to speak 242 Jesus gets an encore to limited audiences 242 Rise and shine for the resurrection 243 Standing by during the destruction 243 Awaiting the final judgment 243 How about stopping in purgatory? 244 Part IV: Shared Ideas Among the Faiths 247 Chapter 15: Dealing with Sin 249 What is Sin, and Where Does It Come From? 249 Sources of sin: The Devil made me do it and other reasons 250 Considering human nature 251 Judaism: Sinners defy God’s commandments 251 Christianity: We’re born with sin 252 Islam: Sin comes from straying off the path 254 Facing Punishment for Sins 255 Judaism: God gets angry but can forgive 256 Christianity: Salvation is possible 256 Islam: Cleansing by fire 257 Receiving Redemption 257 When does redemption take place? 258 How does someone get redeemed? 260 Excommunication: When Redemption Isn’t an Option 264 Chapter 16: Good Heavens: Life after Death 265 Where Do Ideas about the Afterlife Come From? 265 Early humans: Always be prepared 266 Egyptians: Soul men who needed their mummies 266 Greeks: Dead on their feet 267 Romans: A-wandering we shall go 267 Zoroastrians: Choosing between good and evil 268 What is Heaven? 269 Who you’ll meet in heaven 270 Opening up the gates of heaven to the righteous 271 What is heaven like? 271 Why go to heaven? 273 Angels: God’s Helpers 274 Early concepts of angels 274 Angels in monotheism 276 Chapter 17: Hell in a Nutshell 279 Starting with the Roots of Hell .280 Revealing the earliest references 281 Jews’ souls go to Sheol 281 Souls in Gehenna are goners 281 Why punishment in hell? .282 What is Hell Like? 282 Judaism: Hell is distance from God 282 Christianity: Hell’s a place of torment 283 Islam: Hell features wild climate extremes 287 Speaking of the Devil 287 Early concepts of hell’s ruler 287 Judaism: Satan is God’s adversary 288 Christianity: Satan is the deceiver and prince of darkness 288 Islam: Satan encourages wrongdoing 290 Watching Out for Devilish Assistants 290 Judaism: Demons in nature 291 Christianity: The witches will get ya 291 Islam: Powerful genies aid Iblis 292 What Happens to Satan? 293 Judaism: God destroys all .293 Christianity: Satan puts up a fight 293 Islam: Judgment comes 294 Chapter 18: War and Peace: Why Can’t We All Get Along?  295 A Shared Heritage 296 Belief in one God 297 Shared internal conflicts .298 Differences, Disagreements, and Conflicts 300 Universality versus exclusivity 301 Judaism offers a solution 302 Christianity closes doors, and Islam follows suit 303 War and Not So Much Peace 304 Muslims conquer for a time 304 Christianity envelops mankind 305 Christian missionaries 305 The Jews Struggle 307 No home anywhere 308 The birth of Israel: More strife 308 Troubles continue inside Israel 308 Finding Solutions in Secularism 309 Separation of church and state in the United States 309 In the Islamic world, secularism struggles 310 Where we are today 312 What does the future hold? 313 Part V: The Part of Tens 315 Chapter 19: Ten Misconceptions about Jews, Christians, and Muslims 317 Judaism Struggles against Anti-Semitism 318 Jews belong to a separate race 318 Jews want to take over the world 318 Jews killed Jesus 318 Christianity Focuses on Fundamentals 319 Christians think God will solve their problems 319 Only good Christians go to heaven 319 A person who is “born again” enjoys a miraculous, dramatic feeling 319 Islam Emerges to Slow Understanding 319 Muslims are violent 320 All Muslims are Arabs 320 Muslims don’t believe in Jesus or other prophets 320 Muslims worship a different God 320 Chapter 20: Ten Films Drawn from Biblical Accounts 321 The Ten Commandments 322 King of Kings 322 The Greatest Story Ever Told 322 Jesus Christ Superstar 323 The Passion of the Christ 323 The Prince of Egypt 324 The Last Temptation of Christ 324 Solomon and Sheba 324 David and Bathsheba 325 Samson and Delilah 325 Chapter 21: Ten-Plus Ways Religion Influences the World 327 Read All About It: Literature 327 Music as an Expression of Faith 328 Politics and Religion: Not Always Easy to Separate 329 Bringing the Bible to Life through Art 329 Recording Biblical Stories on Film 330 Spreading the Word through Television 331 Seeking Insight into God through Science 332 Education: Wearing a Skullcap and a Thinking Cap 332 Being Holy Improves Your Health and Well-Being 333 Social Welfare: Doing unto Others 334 Disagreeing about Environmental Issues 334 Part VI: Appendixes 335 Appendix A: Timelines for Religions 337 Judaism 338 Christianity 340 Islam 341 Appendix B: Genealogies 343 Judaism and Christianity 344 Islam 348 Index 351