Abrahamic religions of our time

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Abrahamic religions are theological teachings that at their core have institutions dating back to Abraham, the ancient Semitic patriarch. All these beliefs, one way or another, recognize the Old Testament as a sacred text, which is why they are also called "religions of the Book." Also at the heart of such teachings is Revelation - the proclamation

God to man of His will and the proclamation of the way of Salvation of the soul. In this sense, the Bible (like the Torah) is a fixation, a record of divine Revelation. Through the study and interpretation of the Holy Book, a person must unravel the will of his Creator.

Abrahamic religions that have survived to this day are divided into world religions - Christianity and Islam, and private ones - Judaism, Karaism, Rastafarianism and Bahaism. The historical cradle of all these beliefs was, of course, Judaism. Originating at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC on the territory of the ancient Semitic kingdoms of Israel, Judea and Canaan,these views became a revolutionary breakthrough among pagan cults. If we approach the study of the Torah as a symbolic code, and not the annals of the history of the Jewish people, we can identify the main elements that have become common to all subsequent teachings of the Book: monotheism, the creation of the visible world from nothing, and the linearity of time.

In the 1st century A. D. e. in the province of Judea, then part of the Roman Empire, Christianity was born, which quickly spread throughout the vast territory of this state - from North Africa to the British Isles, and from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia Minor. Abrahamic religions - Judaism and Christianity - even then had significant differences between themselves. Despite the fact that the new belief originated in the Semitic environment, its adherents believed that the covenant of God and Moses should be interpreted not as an agreement between the Creator and the Jewish people, but as with all mankind. In this sense, "the people of Israel" becomes anyone who "believes and is baptized."

Such Abrahamic religions as varieties of Judaism (Pharisees, Sadducees) proceeded from the fact that the agreement B

og and Moses is that the Jews must sacrifice their foreskin to God, and in return the Lord will grant them a kingdom on earth. The messianism of Judaism "migrated" to Christianity, which recognized the Pentateuch, but at the same time brought to the fore the New Testament given to mankind by Jesus Christ. It is the figure of the Savior that is revered by believers - for them He is the Messiah, equal to God, who gave His Covenant and is coming to judge the living and the dead at the endtimes.

In the 7th century, Islam appears in Arabia. Taking the early teachings of Christianity and Judaism as a basis, he, nevertheless, declares himself not so much as a continuation or development of these teachings, but rather proclaims himself the only righteous faith. The psychology of religion, especially a new one, often needs to be reinforced by ancient texts. In the case of Islam, we see the assertion that the faith proclaimed by Muhammad is the true, in its purest form, the religion of Abraham, which Jews and Christians have distorted. Muslims believe that anyone who has accepted faith in the one and only Allah and His prophet is already becoming a son of Israel. Therefore, Islam has become a world religion, in contrast to Orthodox Judaism, which believes that the people of Moses are Jews by blood. However, Muslims do not recognize the divine nature of Jesus Christ, considering him one of the prophets.

The concept of religion as a revelation is characteristic of all Abrahamic beliefs. But at the same time, Judaism recognizes the Sinai revelation, Christianity - the decalogue of the Commandments of Christ, and Islam considers the prophecy of the last of the prophets - Muhammad - the most important, completing all other prophecies. Recently, despite political problems and radical followers, there has been a tendency in the educated environment to converge between these worldviews.