Monotheism
...conception of a single and transcendent God.” Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, as I have previously mentioned, are the principle monotheistic religions in the modern world and are based upon the idea that there is only one God, the Creator of the universe and all that exists. Throughout this course, both this semester and last semester, we have read parts of the Holy Bible and the Quran. The Old Testament of the Bible is the holy text for Christianity and for Judaism as well, and the Quran is the sacred book for the religion of Islam. These religious texts speak of one God who is superior to all that exists. In the Islamic religion, Allah is their God. Allah is the High God of the Arabian pantheon who was thought to be very similar, if not identical, to the same God worshiped by the Christians and Jews. Muhammed was a holy prophet who is said to be the founder of the religion of Islam. He was the messenger of Allah and spoke Allah’s word, which was later written and translated into the Quran. The Bible and the Quran both tell how the world was created and how each of us came into existence, but in slightly different ways. “The Christians accept Genesis as Scripture – that is, God’s true word – and so their account of the Creation is identical with that of the Jews. For the Muslims, on the other hand, the Scripture called the Quran superseded the book of Genesis, although its source is the same.” (A Reader on Classic Islam, chapter 1, pg. 1) In both religious texts, however, God or Allah is shown to be the single creator of the universe and for that we owe our entire existence. Instead of believing that there is a god or goddess for almost every aspect of life and of death, like the Sumerian’s thought in the book Inanna, Christians, Jews and Muslims believe that there is only one sole creator who is responsible for all things big and small. “It is God who created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them, in six spans, and then assumed all authority. You have no protector other than Him, nor any intercessor. He regulates all affairs from high to low. Such is He, the knower of the unknown and the known, the mighty and the merciful, who made all things.” (Quran 32:4 – 9) And with this belief, all must devote their lives to Allah in order to live meaningfully in hopes of one day in the afterlife being reunited with God Himself in heaven. Islam means submission to one God, Allah, and Christianity and Judaism incorporate the same ideal in their religion. Followers of God...