Download The Foundations of Judaism

The Foundations of Judaism
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and was founded 3500 years ago in the Middle East.
Jews believe that God appointed the Jews to be his chosen people in order to set an example of holiness and
ethical behavior to the world. The birth of the Jewish people and the start of Judaism are described in the
first 5 books of the Hebrew Holy book, called the Torah. It describes how God chose the Jews to be an
example to the world, and how God and his chosen people worked out their relationship.
Jews regard Abraham as the father of the Jewish people. Abraham was the first person to teach the idea
that there was only one God-this is called monotheism; before then, people believed in many gods, which is
known as polytheism. God asked Abraham to leave his home and country and he makes Abraham three
promises: the promise of a relationship with God, numerous descendents and land. The only problem is that
both Abram and his wife, Sarah were old people and childless. They will have to leave their homeland and
they don't even know who this God is! But God caused Sarah to become pregnant with Isaac. By doing this
God showed that he was in control of even the processes of nature like having children. God also showed
that in order to keep his promises to his chosen people he would intervene in the world and alter it. Later,
God tested Abraham’s obedience by ordering him to kill his much-loved son Isaac as a sacrifice.
God had promised that Abraham's descendents would come through Isaac, so the level of faith he displays is
quite astonishing. Abraham trusts God and takes his son, as directed, up a mountain. At the very last minute,
God intervenes and spares Isaac's life by providing another animal (a ram) for sacrifice. The important thing
to learn here is the uniqueness of the Covenant relationship between God and Abraham. For the first time,
we see the beginning of a two-way relationship: God doing something for Abraham, and Abraham doing
something for God. The blessings of God are passed on from one generation to another. The covenant
between God and the Jewish people is a thread running throughout the early parts of the Torah, and is the
foundation of Judaism. God asks Abraham to do certain things, in return for which he will take special care
of them. The covenant between God and Jews is the basis for the idea of the Jews as the chosen people.
Jewish men are circumcised as a symbol of this covenant.
God promised to make Abraham the father of a great people and said that Abraham and his descendants
must obey God. In return God would guide them and protect them and give them the land of Israel. But it
wasn’t simply a matter of obeying rules - God didn't just want the Jews to follow a particular set of laws, but
to live their lives in such a way as to show the world that God actually was the one and only all-powerful
God, whom people should follow and worship. God guided the Jewish people through many troubles, and at
the time of Moses, Judaism’s most important prophet, he gave them a set of rules by which they should
live, including the Ten Commandments.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/
Information about Judaism
Converting to Judaism is not easy. It involves many lifestyle changes and about a year of studying.
Becoming a Jew is not just a religious change: the convert not only accepts the Jewish faith, but becomes a
member of the Jewish People and embraces Jewish culture and history.
Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights.
The festival marks the phenomenal victory of a group of Jews called the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks,
the most powerful army of the ancient world.
When they came to light the eight-branched temple candelabrum, the menorah, they had enough oil to last
only a day.
But the menorah miraculously stayed alight for eight days. This became known as the miracle of the oil.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year festival and commemorates the creation of the world. It lasts 2 days.
Rosh Hashanah is also a judgement day, when Jews believe that God balances a person's good deeds over
the last year against their bad deeds, and decides what the next year will be like for them.
Passover is one of the most important religious festivals in the Jewish calendar. Jews celebrate the Feast of
Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) to commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of
Egypt by Moses. Every week religious Jews observe the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day, and keep its laws and
customs.
The Sabbath begins at nightfall on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday.
The synagogue is the Jewish place of worship, but is also used as a place to study, and often as a community
centre as well.
Every synagogue contains an Ark, which is a cupboard where the Torah Scrolls, which contain the text of
the Hebrew Bible, are kept, and a desk from which to read the Torah. At the proper moment in the service
the Ark is ceremonially opened, and the Torah scroll is carried in procession to the reading desk, unrolled to
the reading chosen for the day and laid on the reading desk.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/
The Foundations of Christianity
Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.1 billion followers worldwide. It is based on the
teachings of Jesus Christ, who lived in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. Christians believe he is the son of
God and use his life as the foundation for their religion. Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah
promised in the Old Testament. Christians recognize Jesus as the Son of God who was sent to save mankind
from death and sin. His teachings can be summarized, briefly as the love of God and love of one's neighbor.
The roots of Christianity are related to Judaism. Like Jews, Christians view Abraham as an important
figure.
The traditional story of Jesus tells of his birth in a stable in Bethlehem in the Holy Land, to a young virgin
called Mary who had become pregnant with the son of God through the action of the Holy Spirit. After the
story of his birth, little is known about Jesus until he began preaching at the age of about 30. He then spent
three years teaching, healing and working miracles. Jesus stated publicly that he spoke with the authority of
God. This claim angered the religious authorities in Palestine and they handed Jesus over to the Roman
authorities as a revolutionary.
He was tried for heresy, condemned and put to death by means of crucifixion. On the Sunday following his
execution, some of his female followers discovered that the tomb into which his body had been placed was
empty. According to the Bible, Jesus then appeared to them, alive, and his followers began to believe that
God had raised Jesus from the dead. The Christian holiday Easter celebrates this event, which is called the
Resurrection.
It has been suggested that the work of Jesus Christ and the impact of his death and resurrection would not
have made any lasting impact on the world were it not for the missionary work of a man named Paul. Before
his conversion Paul had been violently opposed to the Christian faith as taught by Jesus and after his death,
by his disciples. Saul experienced a dramatic conversion, and began to believe in Christianity. Some of his
letters to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline
Paul's theology. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church
which would otherwise have remained nothing more than another Jewish sect. Paul established Christian
churches throughout the Roman Empire, including Europe, and beyond - even into Africa.
There are many key beliefs in Christianity. Original sin is a Christian doctrine that says that everyone is born
sinful. This means that they are born with a built-in urge to do bad things and to disobey God. Christians
believe that original sin explains why there is so much wrong in a world created by a perfect God, and why
people need to have their souls 'saved' by God.
Christians believe that human beings can't cure themselves of original sin. The only way they can be saved
from its consequences is by the grace of God. The only way people can receive God's grace is by accepting
his love and forgiveness, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem their sins, and getting
baptized.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
The Eucharist, which is also called the Holy Communion, Mass, the Lord's Supper or the Divine Liturgy, is a
sacrament accepted by almost all Christians. The Eucharist is a re-enactment of the Last Supper, the final
meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion. At the meal Jesus
ate bread and wine and instructed his disciples to do the same in memory of him.
Essentially the Orthodox Church shares much with the other Christian Churches in the belief that God
revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and a belief in the incarnation of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection.
The Orthodox Church differs substantially in the way of life and worship. The Catholic Church, based in
Rome and headed by the Pope, is the oldest institution in the western world.
Foundations of Islam
Islam began in Arabia and was revealed to humanity by the Prophet Muhammad. Those who follow Islam
are called Muslims. Muslims believe that there is only one God. The Arabic word for God is Allah. The word
Islam means 'submission to the will of God'. Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1
billion followers. Islam was revealed over 1400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia. According to Muslims, God sent
a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to His law. Jesus, Moses and Abraham
are respected as prophets of God. They believe that the final Prophet was Muhammad.
Abraham is called Ibrahim by Muslims. They see him as the father of the Arab people as well as the Jewish
people through his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Abraham is a very interesting figure because he is depicted
in the Qur'an as somebody who, from a very early age, had problems trying to understand God and trying to
discover God. That, ultimately, God was not the star or the sun or the wind or the moon - all these forces that
he saw - God was in something else.
And so from that perspective, Abraham is considered to be neither a Jewish person, nor a Christian person
nor a Muslim, but somebody who knows that there is really only one God. There have been thousands of
prophets and numbers of messengers but there are only four or five that have been designated a specific title
according to Islam: Jesus is one, Moses is one and the Prophet Muhammad is one but also Abraham, who is
known as a friend of God.
Muslims believe that Islam is a faith that has always existed and that it was gradually revealed to humanity
by a number of prophets, but the final and complete revelation of the faith was made through the Prophet
Muhammad in the 7th century CE. Muhammad was born in Mecca in Saudi Arabia in 570. He was a deeply
spiritual man, and often spent time in meditation on Mount Hira. The traditional story of the Qur'an tells how
one night in 610 he was meditating in a cave on the mountain when he was visited by an angel who ordered
him to recite words which he came to believe were the words of God. During the rest of his life Muhammad
continued to receive these revelations. The words were remembered and recorded, and form the text of the
Holy Qu'ran, the Muslim scripture.
Believing that God had chosen him as his messenger Muhammad began to preach what God had revealed to
him. Within ten years Muhammad had gained so many followers that he was able to conquer Mecca. From
this time on he was generally accepted by the faithful as the true final Prophet of God. Muhammad
continued to lead his community both spiritually and in earthly matters until his death in 632.
After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, the young Muslim federation came under strain. Some of the
tribes decided that as their loyalty to Islam had been primarily to Muhammad himself, his death allowed
them to end their allegiance to Mecca and to Islam. To make things more difficult, the Prophet had not left
clear instructions as to who should lead the community after his death. The words Sunni and Shi'a appear
regularly in stories about the Muslim world but few people know what they really mean. They both agree on
the fundamentals of Islam and share the same Holy Book, but they differ about the question of who should
have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad as leader of the emerging Muslim community after his death.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle or effort, and it means much more than holy war.
Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle:
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A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
The struggle to build a good Muslim society
Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary
Many modern writers claim that the main meaning of Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle, and this is
accepted by many Muslims.
However there are so many references to Jihad as a military struggle in Islamic writings that it is incorrect to
claim that the interpretation of Jihad as holy war is wrong.
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Muslims base their laws on their holy book the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.
The Sunnah is the practical example of Prophet Muhammad.
There are five basic Pillars of Islam.
These pillars are the declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting
and a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca