JESUS & MOHAMMED

Jesus & Mohammed

Jesus & Mohammed

Jesus and Mohammed are the central icons of two of the largest religions in the World: Christianity and Islam. Together, they have influenced the lives of more people in the last two thousand years than any other. Both are highly regarded figures amongst their followers. This paper will focus on comparing and contrasting the lives and influence they had on their respective religions. This paper will also trace their historic lives, compare the impact that each leader's death had on the religion, describe how each was and/or is worshipped, and explain how their teachings are being applied in the World today.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem sometime between 8 BC and 29 AD. Most Christians believe that Jesus was conceived divinely by the Virgin Mary, although she was married to Joseph the carpenter at the time. Not much is known about his early life except that he may have trained as a carpenter under his father in the small town of Nazareth (The Life of Jesus, 2004). According to the Gospels, Jesus was baptized when he was about 30 years old and began his teachings that lasted between one to three years. The teachings were delivered through the use of parables (stories with metaphorical meanings) to large crowds in Galilee in Northern Israel and Perea in Western Jordan. He also recruited 12 close disciples to continue his work while he was away.

The Gospels depicted Jesus as performing a number of miracles including turning water into wine, walking on water, healing the sick, exorcising demons, and even raising a man from the dead (Jesus, 2006). Jesus was a preacher of the ideas of love, humility, forgiveness of sin and realizing everlasting life in the kingdom of God. His teachings were very popular with most but were considered subversive by Roman authorities and Jewish leaders. Ultimately, Jesus was arrested for blasphemy in that he claimed to be the Messiah. He was then turned over to the Roman authorities where he was put on trial and sentenced to death by crucifixion. A strong Christian belief is that he was revived from the dead on the third day of the crucifixion and rose to Heaven.

Mohammed was born into a rather wealthy family in Mecca, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, in 570 AD. He never had the chance to get to know his father, as he passed away before he was born. He only knew his mother for a short time. She died when he was just six years old. After his mother died, Mohammed was raised by his uncle, Abu Talib, the leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraish tribe, which Mohammed also belonged to (Muhammad, 2006).

Mohammed had the pleasure of travelling with the trading caravans of his uncle during his growing up. Later, he married Khadija, a 40-year-old wealthy widow when he was just 25. He spent a considerable amount of time meditating in the caves of ...