Download Chapter 18:1

Southwest Asia
The Birthplace of Three Major
Religions.
Judaism
• The father of their religion is Abraham,
• along with son and grandson Issac and
Jacob.
• Their kingdoms were Israel and Judah.
• Jerusalem is their capital and religious
center,
• and has been for over 3000 years.
Monotheism
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the belief in one God.
Their book – the Torah (Old Testament)
Tenets – obedience to God’s Law.
Salvation comes by obeying the law and
the sacrificing of animals (representing
Messiah’s death).
• Houses of worship are called synagogues.
• The temple no longer exists.
The Ten Commandments
• 1. You shall have no other gods before me.
• 2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the
form of anything in heaven above or earth
beneath or in the waters below – do not worship
them.
• 3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord
your God.
• 4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it
holy.
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5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony
against your neighbor.
• 10. You shall not covet (want) your
neighbor’s house, wife, servant, ox (job),
donkey (car or pickup), etc.
Christianity
• Began in Israel while under Roman occupation.
• One hundred years later Israel will be called
Palestine.
• The first Christians were Jews who believed that
Jesus was the promised, long-awaited Messiah
(Cristos is the Greek word = Christ in English).
• Jesus claimed to be God’s son in human flesh.
(“I and the Father are one”. John 10:30)
• Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.
• Jesus taught about God’s plan of salvation…that
Messiah would suffer and die as a sacrifice for
man’s sin and be raised to life as proof He is
Messiah.
• Jesus was tried and crucified in Jerusalem.
• His followers claimed He was raised from the
dead as proof He was Messiah and He
appeared to them before ascending to heaven.
• Christ’s followers came to be called Christians.
• Their book: Old Testament + New Testament =
The Holy Bible.
• Salvation is by grace (unearned favor with God).
• Houses of worship are called churches.
Islam
• Created around 600 A.D. in the Arabian
Peninsula. (Saudi Arabia)
• Islam believes that Arabs are the ones to
receive God’s promise.
• Muslims claim Abraham as their father.
• His son Ishmael was the promised son –
not another son of Abraham, Issac.
• Muhammad believed he was God’s (Allah)
prophet (messenger).
• He claimed that the angel Gabriel revealed
the teachings of the Koran to him.
• Muslim means “those who submit to the
will of God.”
• Houses of public worship are called
mosques.
• The Koran does not cancel out the Old
and New Testament.
• Rather it provides a “corrective set of
revelations.”
• Salvation is by works or deeds.
• Can never be positive you are going to
heaven.
• They believe Jesus was a prophet – not
the son of God.
• They also believe in Moses, Job, Elijah,
Jonah, etc.
• Islam is the religion – Muslim is the
person.
Five Pillars of Faith
• 1. “I testify that there is no God but God,
and Muhammad is the messenger of
God.”
• 2. Prayer – 5 times a day facing in the
direction of Mecca (in Saudi Arabia).
• 3. Fasting – during the daylight hours in
the month of Ramadan, the month of
Muhammad’s first revelations.
• Alms giving – a tax or gift of not less than
2 ½% of one’s income, to the community
to help the poor.
• Pilgrimage – required at least once in
one’s lifetime, to the House of God in
Mecca.
End of Slide Show