Paper4 The three Biblical faiths, namely Islam, Judaism and Christianity are the three important religions

which are so called since the all three are connected to the Bible and share some basic tenets. First and foremost, Islam, Judaism and Christianity have the common characteristic of monotheism and , ,all three major religions were constructed with the same conceptual framework, (Prof. Howard, Video Lecture 2) Until Abrahams covenant with God, humans believed that God existed in multiple forms and worshipped him in different forms but after the covenant with the foundation of Judiasm, Abraham revealed the concept of One God or ethical monotheism. (Epstein, p 14). The sacred text of Judaism known as the Jewish Bible or Torah formed the basis of the other two religions as well. The Jewish Bible consists of three parts the Torah (Book of Moses), the Pentatecuch (prophets), and the Writings (video lecture 2) and this Bible was also used by the Christians since the New Testament was added later to the Old Jewish Bible which together became the Christian Bible. Islam was also an offshoot of the Judaism which emerged in the seventh century. However, the holy text of Muslims, the Quran was not similar to the text of Jewish but the principle of monotheism was common in both and hence the basic structure of Islam was based on the principles of Judaism.Even the word Quran is related to the Hebrew word Mikrah (lesson 2, Slide 11). Islam also recognizes the prophets like Abraham, Moses and Jesus, many prophets like Abraham, Moses and Jesus are recognized by the Quran (Video Lecture 2) but they do not follow Bible like the other two religions. All three religions have the concept of monotheism in common and they are also connected through the concepts of creation, covenant, redemption, and revelation. As far as the creation is concerned, all three religions agree that God is the supreme creator, God is the Creator of the Universeand human beings are made in the image of God. (lesson 2, slide 4) All three religions also represent the concept of creation through the story of Adam and Eve. The tenet of covenant is also common to the three religions since the prophets entered into covenants with God whether it was Abraham or Moses or Muhammad. The revelation of duties and correct path for humans was done through the prophets as Abraham did for Judaism, or Moses did by revealing the Ten Commandments or as Quran was dictated to Muhammad. Lastly the concept of redemption has been interpreted in a different manner by all three religions. While the Christians believe that the redemption was already sought by Christ on their behalf when he died for their sins on the cross, the Jews seek redemption by fasting during Sabbath, visiting synagogue and observing days like Passover and Rosh Hashanah. The Muslims seek redemption by following the teachings of Muhammad and visiting Mecca. The three religions have many similarities and a few differences but all three preach about final redemption that will take place some daybecause God cares about Creation and the dignity of humanity. (lesson 2, slide 6)