Essay

Essay

1. Similarities between Judaism and Islam

Although Judaism and Islam are completely different religions, there are some striking similarities. The primary similarity is that they are both monotheistic and worship the same God. Muslims use the word “Allah” which is actually the Arabic translation of God. Therefore, it is clear that the God of both the religions is the same. This God is believed to be the master of the entire universe and the creator of everyone irrespective of religion. However, both religions do not believe Jesus to be the savior and is not divine and was neither raised from the dead. Both religions however, believe in non-human heavenly bodies like angels as both their books have mentions to angels (Peters & Esposito, 2008).

Both religions believe that in the past God communicated to people through his prophets and they both believe in the same prophets. Muslims and Jews also believe that God is the judge of all and judges who goes to heaven and who goes to hell on the basis of this work on earth. Another similarity is that both the Jews and Muslims consider Jerusalem as a holy city due to which they both lay claims on it. The reason Jerusalem is considered a holy city is because at one point of time, both these religions considered the Jews to be the chosen people of God.

Regarding food, both religions do not allow their people to consume pork as this meat is considered to be unclean. The reason for such similarities is that Muslims also follow the teachings of Abraham just like the Jews. In fact, they both follow the same teachings gives the reason why they are so similar to each other.

2. Similarities between Zoroastrianism and Christianity

Zoroastrianism and Christianity share some similarities although there are major differences between the two. The similarities include the belief in one God although they have different names. They also believe in the Holy Spirit as Ahura Mazda has a Holy Spirit with the same characteristics as that of the Christians (Neusner, 1993). The Holy Spirit of both religions is believed to help them to fight evil because resisting evil is one of the main requirements of both religions and in order to achieve happiness, people from both religions have to spread good thoughts. The reason is that they both believe that good is eventually prevail over evil.

Christians believe that Jesus is their savior and will come again to save people from sin. Zoroastrians also believe that Saoshyant will come and save humanity by helping them fight evil. With respect to evil, both believe that the leader of Sin is Satan although he has a different name in Zoroastrianism. Similarly, they both believe in angels and archangels along with heaven as being paradise and hell as a place where people are punished for their sins (Peters & Esposito, 2008).

Both religions also believe that God communicated with his people through the prophets. In the Bible, there are several references of God communicating to his ...