Christians, Jews, and Muslims
Why can’t we all get along? INTRODUCTION
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Christians, Jews, and Muslims
Why can’t we all get along?
Contents
Introduction 3
CHRISTIANITY 8
One Way vs The Way 8
Jesus heals the blind man 9
God’s chosen people and The Promised Land 10
Jesus speaks fo the Chosen People: The Parable of the Tenants 11
Paul Defines God’s Chosen People 11
Hagar and Sarah 13
The Deicide Accusation 14
Christianity and Islam 14
The Crusades
Ann Coulter
Bring your swords Luke 22:35-38 15
Rebuilding of the Third Temple 17
Christianity and the war - Lindsay Graham 17
JUDAISM 18
Judaism is based on: Torah, Talmud, and Kabbelah 18
God’s “Chosen People” and the “Promised Land” 18
The plan for the Zionization of the Holy Land 19
Moving forward to 1948: The establishment of Israel 20
Gaza 22
The attack. The response. 22
Current statistics on the incursion into Gaza 23
The wars in Iran and Lebanon 23
God will punish those who punish Israel 24
Genesis 12:1-4
Numbers 24:5-14
Matthew 25:31-46
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Those who fight against Israel 26
Zechariah 12:1-6
Zechariah 2:6-12. 6
Isaiah 41:11-13. 11
Why War? Is there any other choice? 27
Why slaughter? 27
Are you Christian? You are an idolator 30
Talmud
The Talmud Explained 32
What The Talmud Says About Non-Jews 35
Are there Jews who actually follow The Talmud? 39
Discussion: The Tree of Life Synagogue Attack 39
ISLAM 42
An Overview to understand Islam and the Quran 42
Understanding Jihad 43
Muhammad’s Initial Efforts
Attempts at Persuasion: Persecution, Killing, and Displacement
A closer look at what’s in the Quran 45
Top 7 Destructive Sins (Al-Mubiqat) from Hadith 47
Additional Major Sins Often Ranked Highly from Hadith 47
Some selections from the Hadith 48
Comparing and contrasting the nature of Muhammad to Jesus 52
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Introduction
Why the fuss? Why can’t we all get along? We all worship the same God. We all are descendants of Abraham.
Jews through Isaac. Muslims through Ishmael. Christians through Jesus.
Does it matter if God is called Yahweh? Allah? Or God?
Are Jews God’s “chosen people?”
Are not ALL people children of God?
Would an all-powerful, ALL-LOVING God choose one group over another? Does that even make sense?
Are we not ALL God’s Chosen People not because God chose us, but because WE CHOSE GOD?
Jews follow Yahweh, Muslims follow Allah through Muhammud, and Christians follow God through Jesus.
IT’S THE SAME GOD! Why can’t we respect each other and get along?
Is it because each group wants exclusivity to the all-powerful God? To claim and harness God’s power FOR THEMSELVES?
If that’s what THEY want…
What does GOD want?
Each of the 3 religions that have descended from Abraham have loaded up their Holy Books with plenty of ammunition. When the Tanakh, the Quran, and the Bible did not sufficiently establish superiority and justification for animosity, war, conquering, and elimination, additional Holy Books were added. The Talmud, The Hadith. And the edicts of the “Church.”
Hence, we end up with crusades, holy wars, holocaust(s), and downright hatred. All in the name of “God,” a God that in all three religions is the SAME GOD.
Note: We think of the Jewish Holy Book as the Torah. The Torah refers to the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament. The Tanakh contains the 39 books of the Old Testament although it combines some to end up with 24 books. The (hated) Samaritans only accepted the Torah. There are still a handful of people identifying as Samaritans today. Their Holy Site is Mount Gerazim, not Jerusalem. The relation with most Jews is now, basically, “who cares?” Orthodox Jews still do not recognize them, but there are only about a 1000 of them, so not worth fussing over.
Most Samaritans, however, have converted to Islam. Interesting. Is it possible that, as a group that only accepted Pentateuch, they could easily move away from the Isaac lineage and accept the Ishmael lineage?
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Possibly. However, most of the Samaritans had intermarried with non-Jews (read Arabs) so they had moved further away from Judaism. And by intermarriage they no longer contained enough bloodline to be considered Jewish. Besides, in the eyes of the true Jewish believers, they “sold their birthright and practiced idolatry years ago.” They left the club ages ago.
In reality, many Samaritans faced “forced conversion” to Islam (1021 A.D.) Jewish people considered it a just punishment for them turning their backs on “true Judaism.”
Additional Note: Speaking of forced conversion, recall North Africa was once a Christian stronghold and very active in the Roman Catholic Church. The Ummyad invasion of North Africa included forced conversion to Islam. These people strongly identify with this religion today. So it is not unusual to see Samaritans as firm Muslims today even though their original exposure to the religion was “forced” on them.
Many are somewhat familiar with the Old Testament of the Bible, although most have no clue what 98% of the laws say, have no clue the violence that is not only described but is encouraged, even COMMANDED. The Torah is similar to the Old Testament. But most have no clue what it is in the Quran. They just hear enough propaganda to think it contains but one message: Kill all the Jews.
As the three religions competed over the years, the message was changed. Additional “holy books” were added. For the Jews it was the Talmud (Mishnah - orally transmitted laws and traditions) (70 - 500 A.D.) and the Midrash - rabbinical commentaries (400-1200 A.D.), and for the Muslims it was the Hadith (7th through 10th centuries). Christianity has undergone revision and reinterpretation as well, from the Apostle Paul to the Council of Nicea to Saint Augustine to the plethora of ecumenical councils over the years.
Despite years of study I admit I am not even close to well-versed in ANY of these texts. That is not the point of this study. These texts all need to be taken IN CONTEXT. And we don’t always know the context. Or the words may simply be an overreaction to an isolated event - perhaps an understandable reaction given our humanness. Such a reaction as to the invasion of Muslim terrorists into Israel. And likewise the reaction of Israel decimating Gaza. A gut reaction of “kill them all.”
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So let’s look at what each of the three religions says about the others. What stirs the pot. What riles up the radicals. What is used to justify the misunderstandings, the hatred, the violence, the wars.
Is there any chance of us EVER getting along?
Are there any groups who benefit from the continued friction? Can just a few destroy the peace for the rest of us? Can the quest for religious domination ever be tempered? Can nationalist prejudice ever be controlled?
CAVEAT: Please understand these are not necessarily majority views of each religion. There may be views of your own religion you have never heard of. Very often these views are held by a minority of orthodox believers. Recognize the power they can still generate to sway the masses when threatened or attacked. The history of religious wars for centuries and centuries will attest to that.
Here is our starting point:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWd8cGhjXKA/?igsh=MmJ5cHR1YWpsdGF5
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The Lineage of Abram
The 3 major religions of the Middle East all stem from Abram. It is included in the Holy Books of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. To understand the commonality, and to understand the conflict, knowledge of Abram, who became Abraham, is a must.
The account of the lines of the Jews, Muslims, and other descendants of Abram.
Abram
(Became Abraham)
Hagar Sarai (Became Sarah) Keturah
(slave of Sarah) (Abraham’s 1st wife) (Abraham’s 2nd wife)
Ishmael Isaac 6 sons (Midian)
Arab peoples Israel Other Arab peoples
Muslims Jews Muslims
Abram’s firstborn son wasn’t with his wife, Sarai. It was with Hagar, her servant. A surrogate. At first Sarai was supportive, then she turned on Hagar. Hagar ran away, but an angel told her to return: …you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
God then miraculously provided Sarai and Abram with a son when they were in their 90’s. Isaac. Isaac - the father of Jacob. Jacob, who renamed himself Israel. Jacob, the father of the 12 sons. The 12 sons that represented the 12 tribes of Israel.
In a covenant with God, Abram changed his name to Abraham. Sarai changed her name to Sarah. His son, Isaac, as the oldest - even though he wasn’t the oldest, would become the father of the “chosen people.” What we now know as the Israelites. The nation of Judaism. The Jewish people.
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Ishmael, God had big plans for him, too. God promised him a great nation. But they were not the “Chosen people.” Those were the descendants of Isaac. The son of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Not Ishmael, the son of Abraham and a concubine. A slave. A lesser woman. Inferior. Not worthy of being “chosen.” The descendants are the Arab peoples. The Muslims. The nation of Islam.
Are you beginning to feel the tension? Are you beginning to hear the slurs? Are you beginning to hear the putdowns? Concubine. Slave woman. ILLEGITIMATE! A “wild donkey, this Ishamel, the angel said he won’t get along with ANYBODY!
Because THIS, this is where it comes from.
NOTE: Seldom mentioned, Abraham had a second wife after Sarah. He had 6 additional sons with her, one being Midian, head of the line of Midianites. We will discuss the Midianites in a later lesson. They were also considered Arab peoples.
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