Comparative Religions

I sat down with a friend of mine recently for lunch. On our agenda to discuss was comparing religions. She would know. Her theological journey in life has spanned Irish Catholic, American Catholic, American protestant, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), Muslim, back to Greek Orthodox. She wore the hijab for nearly two years and among her friends, neighbors and townsfolk caused much talk. Then she abruptly ceased wearing it and returned to an earlier church.

That is when I asked if we could talk about all of this so I could better understand the religious perspectives she has lived through. Although this would help me understand her, I really wanted to understand the underlying principles of the various religions. Those were the things confusing me.

She gladly agreed and we had a wonderful chat. Here are some thoughts we shared.

The Godheads of the various religions remain the same. God is God for Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths. They have different names: Allah is the Muslim God; Yaweh is God to Jews (among many other names!); God is God for Christians. They do not differ.

The Bible is also a constant. The first five books of the Old Testament is the Pentateuch for both Christians and Jews; the Old Testament remains the same for both Jews and Christians. And the Bible is a holy book to Muslims as well. Their Quran dovetails with the Bible. Both are holy texts.

Prophets are similar as well. Abraham for Jews. Mohammad for Muslims. Christ for Christians. It might interest Americans to learn that Christ is venerated by Muslims as a prophet; they simply do not believe he is the Messiah. In that Muslims agree with Jews: Christ is not the Messiah; yet another will appear before end times.

Love, peace and self responsibility: are these handled the same among the three religions? Absolutely yes. All three religious faiths preach and teach us to love each other as ourselves. We are taught responsibility for our actions and lives. Do not blame others before we have assessed our own failings and roles in failures.

I came away from our discussion feeling much better about these religions prospering in America and all over the world. The different paths that believers have taken over history is at the root of what separates them from others in their own faith traditions. Sad but true, just like America came to war over slavery and its abolition. So Muslims came to war over their own traditions. These disagreements led to violence and mayhem even within families. This is what has fueled huge historical upsets in the Middle East over many hundreds of years. Jews understand this; they have warred within their faith (and others) for thousands of years.

Is it no wonder, then, that American Christians fight over their own sects, denominations and faith traditions?

As I stated earlier, loving one another as ourselves is the answer to all of this distress. Our faith bearers and creators bade us do this. Why then do we resist following their dictates?

I guess it is human nature to shrug off the yokes of authority whether God-given or man made, huh?

And so it goes. There is much to be learned from comparing religious faiths. There is also much to learn why we do not heed such authority in our lives.

Tsk. Tsk!

April 22, 2016