0

Comparative Religion For Dummies

eBook

Erschienen am 02.04.2015, 1. Auflage 2015
17,99 €
(inkl. MwSt.)

Download

E-Book Download
Bibliografische Daten
ISBN/EAN: 9780470386095
Sprache: Englisch
Umfang: 384 S., 4.57 MB
E-Book
Format: PDF
DRM: Adobe DRM

Beschreibung

Understand the beliefs, customs, and rituals of each faith

The fun and easy way to know the common elements of these widespread religions

Want to know more about the faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? This plain-English guide traces their evolution from their commonorigin - Abraham - and explains their different, yet linked, beliefs.You'll see how each religion developed, endured setbacks, and became a fixture in modern society - and you'll learn how members havedeveloped similar approaches to worship.

Discover:

How the belief in one God originatedThe roots of Abraham's family treeThe sacred texts of each faithMajor similarities and differencesHow these religions influenced the world

Autorenportrait

William P. Lazarus has taught religious history courses for 14 years.Mark Sullivan is a writer and editor who has studied comparative religion and philosophy extensively.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Conventions Used in This Book 3

How This Book is Organized 4

Part I: History is a Happening Thing 4

Part II: The Development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam 4

Part III: Shared Aspects of the Faiths 5

Part IV: Shared Ideas Among the Faiths 5

Part V: The Part of Tens 5

Part VI: Appendixes 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 6

Part I: History is a Happening Thing 7

Chapter 1: One God, Three Faiths 9

Holy Toledo! How Many Gods are There? 9

Monotheism Develops 10

Egypt tries the one-god concept 11

Yahweh steps down from the mount 12

Following Abrahams Lead: Judaism 13

Josiah and his faith: The beginnings of Judaism 13

God becomes universal 14

God provides protection and an identity 15

Christianity: Crossing in a New Direction 16

Paul finds a way to link beliefs 16

The Christian message spreads through the empire 16

Islam: Submitting to God 17

Chapter 2: Following Abrahams Path 19

What We Do and Dont Know about the Historic Abraham 19

Taking a tour of Father Abrahams neighborhood 20

Following the laws of Abrahams time 21

Speaking Abrahams language 22

Practicing religion before Abraham came on the scene 22

Abrahams Early Years 23

The Beginnings of Judaism 24

Agreeing to the covenant 25

Isaacs close call demonstrates Abrahams love for God 25

Following the family tree 26

In Islam, Ishmael Finds a New Way 27

Jesus Joins the Genealogy 28

Three Faiths: One Founder 29

Part II: The Development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam 31

Chapter 3: Judaism: Oy Vey, What a History! 33

From Abraham, Judaism Takes the Long Road 34

Like father, like son: The leaders after Abraham 35

Over the river and through the desert, to Pharaohs land we go 35

Moses, Receiver of Gods Laws 36

Relying on plagues and walls of water to escape slavery 37

Counting on the Ten Commandments 38

Joshua takes control 38

The Days of the Judges 39

The Time of Kings 39

David starts a dynasty 40

Solomon rules wisely 40

Splitting into two kingdoms 40

Getting Conquered: The Jews Find Themselves in Hot Water 41

Monotheism arrives 42

Living under foreign rule 42

Christianitys Emergence Puts the Jews on the Defensive (Yet Again) 43

How Jews Have Influenced Society 44

Emphasizing education 45

Inventing languages 46

Jewish humor: The jokes on everyone 46

Fulfilling their dreams in America 48

Dominating the silver screen 48

Flying the Blue and White Banner of Israel 49

Chapter 4: Judaism Finds God in Everything 51

A Little of This, A Little of That 52

Maintaining Daily Practice 52

Let us pray 53

Exploring the worship wardrobe 54

Keeping kosher 55

Remembering the Sabbath 57

Observing Jewish Holidays 58

High Holy Days: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur 58

Passover: Recalling the great escape 59

Planting and harvesting holidays 61

Purim: A great reason to party 62

Hanukkah: In praise of victory and light 62

Other holidays 63

Understanding Jewish Rituals 64

Circumcision: No getting around it 64

Bar mitzvah: All grown up in Gods eyes 65

Mazel tov! Celebrating a Jewish wedding 66

Understanding Jewish Symbols .67

The menorah 67

The ark 68

The Jewish star 69

Chapter 5: Jesus and the Origins of Christianity 71

Jesuss Life and Death 71

A remarkable birth 72

The few historical records of Jesuss life 73

Preaching and teaching Gods word 74

Jesuss claims stir the pot and create controversy 75

A date with the cross 76

The First Believers 76

What the early followers believed 77

The first missionary of Jesus 78

A New Religion Grows 79

The destruction of the Temple fuels growth 79

Christians separate from Judaism 80

Christian practices: Its no mystery 80

The big time arrives: Legitimacy in the Roman Empire 81

Nicene council sets the belief 82

The Greeks split while the Romans grow in influence 83

Its Hard to Keep Everyone Happy 84

Martin Luther spells out his displeasure 85

Protestants reform, the Church counterreforms, and fighting ensues 86

The rise of science in a Christian world 87

Conflict revives Armageddon ideas 88

Christianity Today 88

Chapter 6: Christian Beliefs and Practices 91

The First Noel: Christmas and the Roots of Christianity 92

Why a holiday for the Nativity? 93

Why December? 93

Other Christian Holidays 95

Hallelujah! He is risen: Easter 95

A solemn and somber season: Lent 97

A weekly holy day: The Sabbath 98

Happening upon Christianitys Holy Sites 99

Seeing how sites become holy 99

Wandering around Rome and the Vatican 99

Rituals: Outward Expressions of Faith 100

One bread, one body: Communion 101

Welcoming new Christians through baptism 102

Celebrating additional sacraments 103

The Different Symbols of Christianity 103

The old rugged cross 103

Whats the bright idea behind halos? 106

Fish, lamb, doves, and more 106

Many Christians, Many Sects 106

Chapter 7: The Birth of Islam: The Prophet Submits to Allah 109

Islam, Born in the Desert 109

All roads lead to Mecca 110

Meccans become traders with the world 111

The Prophet Arrives 111

Muhammads early life 112

Starting out as an average guy 112

Beginning of a faith 113

Solitude leads to action 114

The faith develops: Introducing the five pillars 114

Writing the Koran 115

Muhammad Takes Command 117

Spreading the new faith 118

The Farewell Sermon 119

Breakdown at the Start-Up: Sunnis and Shiites Cant Get Along 119

Choosing a leader causes strife early on 120

How Sunnis and Shiites practice Islam 121

The Ottoman Turks Dominate Islam 123

Chapter 8: Islam: Submission of the Faithful 125

The Core of Islam: One God with Muhammad as His Last Prophet 125

Allah: The Almighty of Islam 126

The history of Allah 127

Allahs divine role 128

The Pillars of the Faith 129

First pillar: Creed (Shahada) 129

Second pillar: Prayer (Salat) 130

Third pillar: Purifying tax (Zakat) 131

Fourth pillar: Fasting (Sawm) 132

Fifth pillar: Pilgrimage (Hajj) 133

Meeting Some Muslim Sects 133

Ahmadiyya 134

Ismailis 134

Kahrijites 134

Kurds 135

Sufis 135

Wahhabis, or Muwahiddun 135

Gender Equality in Islam 136

Observing Muslim Holidays 137

Ramadan 137

Hijra: Turning the page to a new year 137

Ashurah: A day of many remembrances 138

Id Milad al-Nabi: Marking Muhammads birth and death 138

Id al-Adha: Honoring Abrahams dedication to God 138

Lailat al-Baraa: Seeking and granting forgiveness 139

15th of Shaban: Shaking things up 139

27th of Rajab: A heavenly holiday 139

Getting to Know Saints in Islam 139

Common Rituals and Daily Practices 140

Getting hitched in Islam 140

Other ways of keeping the faith 141

Islams dietary requirements 142

The Story Behind Symbols and Colors 143

Part III: Shared Aspects of the Faiths 145

Chapter 9: Reading the Holy Words 147

The Hebrew Bible 148

Sections of the Hebrew Bible 148

When were the books written? 149

When did the books become holy? 150

Understanding the Bible through JEPD 151

Its all Greek to me 151

The Christian Bible 152

The structure of the New Testament 152

Who wrote the books? 153

Where were they written? .153

When were the books written? 154

Drawing material from many sources 154

Jerome gets an assignment: Revise the Bible 155

The Koran 156

Revealing the Korans history 156

Outlining the Korans organization 157

Understanding the Texts 157

Translating can be such sweet sorrow 157

Thats not what that says 158

I can read it, but what does it mean? 159

Things get really complicated in the Koran 159

Where are the originals? 160

Unrolling the Dead Sea Scrolls 161

Whats in the Dead Sea Scrolls? 162

How do they help us translate the Bible? 163

Perusing Other Sacred Books 164

The insightful Talmud 164

The mysterious Kabbalah 165

Christians stick with the original reference book 166

The Hadith collects Muhammads sayings and teachings 166

Chapter 10: Houses of Prayer 169

Early Sacred Sites: Stone Mounds and Altars 169

The Many Lives of the Temple in Jerusalem 171

The Temples significance to the Jews 172

The Temples destruction 172

A new Temple rises 173

A battle for the Temple and its rededication 173

Romans defile the Temple 174

Herods version of the Temple 175

The Romans view of the Temple 175

The Romans burn the Temple 176

Synagogues become the Jewish houses of prayer 178

Christians Choose Churches 179

The churches of early Christians 179

Church design evolves 180

Artistry and music abound 181

Byzantine style moves in .182

Later styles emerge, but some things dont change 182

Mosques Reflect the Prophet 182

How mosques are designed 183

Inspecting the interior of a mosque 184

Whos Welcome for Worship? 185

Chapter 11: Religious Leaders: Keeping the Faith 187

Great Jewish Leaders of the Past 188

Prophets emerge from the shadows 188

After the prophets: Sages 189

Rise of the Rabbi 189

A rabbis job description 190

Education: The key to leadership 190

Modern Jewish leaders 191

Christian Leaders 192

The pope becomes the point man 192

Christianitys organization 193

The requirements and roles of Christian church leaders 194

Church Leaders from the Early Days Until Now 195

Lighting up in the Middle Ages 195

Modern Christian leaders 196

Following Muhammad 197

Great Muslim leaders in history 197

Modern Islamic leaders 198

Chapter 12: Sacred Sites 199

Jerusalem: Important to All Three Religions 200

A city with a fuzzy origin .201

Jerusalem in history 202

Jerusalem in symbolism 205

Sacred Sites of Judaism 205

Bethel: Home of the law .206

Shechem: Future home of the Samaritans 206

Mount Moriah: Site of the Wailing Wall

and the Dome of the Rock 206

Mount Zion: A conquered fortress 207

Mount Sinai: God and Mosess chat room 207

In Islam, All Roads Lead to Mecca 208

Christian Sacred Sites 209

Shrine of Thomas Becket 210

House of the Virgin Mary .210

Assisi, home of Saint Francis 211

Lourdes and its healing waters 211

The Vatican: Small, but holy 211

St. Peters Basilica 212

Other Catholic sites 213

Chapter 13: Thy Kingdom Come: The Messiah Concept 215

The Origins of the Messiah Concept 216

Isaiah outlines a role 216

Other prophets predict a messiah 217

The messianic concept takes shape with King David 218

The messiahs disappear 218

New messianic duties surface 219

The Romans create more fervor 219

Two messiahs? 220

Later messiahs in Judaism 221

Christians Adopt Jesus as the Messiah 222

Comparing old messiahs to Jesus 223

Other messianic figures around the time of Jesus 225

Jesus wins out 228

Islam Develops a Messiah: Madhi 228

The Shiite vision 228

Sunnis disagree 229

Other Mahdis 229

The last Mahdi? 230

Chapter 14: Holy Catastrophe: End of the World 231

Where Did the Idea of the End of the World Come From? 231

Judaisms Belief in the End and Its Influence on Christianity 232

The end as predicted in the book of Daniel 233

Other prophesies predict the end 234

The death of Augustus 235

The destruction of the Temple: A sign for Jews and Christians 235

Other predictions of the final year 236

The Christian notion of the antichrist 238

Islams View of the End 238

Turning to texts for support 238

The end is near 239

How the End of the World Will Take Place 240

Signs of the end 240

How the end will begin, so to speak 242

Jesus gets an encore to limited audiences 242

Rise and shine for the resurrection 243

Standing by during the destruction 243

Awaiting the final judgment 243

How about stopping in purgatory? 244

Part IV: Shared Ideas Among the Faiths 247

Chapter 15: Dealing with Sin 249

What is Sin, and Where Does It Come From? 249

Sources of sin: The Devil made me do it and other reasons 250

Considering human nature 251

Judaism: Sinners defy Gods commandments 251

Christianity: Were born with sin 252

Islam: Sin comes from straying off the path 254

Facing Punishment for Sins 255

Judaism: God gets angry but can forgive 256

Christianity: Salvation is possible 256

Islam: Cleansing by fire 257

Receiving Redemption 257

When does redemption take place? 258

How does someone get redeemed? 260

Excommunication: When Redemption Isnt an Option 264

Chapter 16: Good Heavens: Life after Death 265

Where Do Ideas about the Afterlife Come From? 265

Early humans: Always be prepared 266

Egyptians: Soul men who needed their mummies 266

Greeks: Dead on their feet 267

Romans: A-wandering we shall go 267

Zoroastrians: Choosing between good and evil 268

What is Heaven? 269

Who youll meet in heaven 270

Opening up the gates of heaven to the righteous 271

What is heaven like? 271

Why go to heaven? 273

Angels: Gods Helpers 274

Early concepts of angels 274

Angels in monotheism 276

Chapter 17: Hell in a Nutshell 279

Starting with the Roots of Hell .280

Revealing the earliest references 281

Jews souls go to Sheol 281

Souls in Gehenna are goners 281

Why punishment in hell? .282

What is Hell Like? 282

Judaism: Hell is distance from God 282

Christianity: Hells a place of torment 283

Islam: Hell features wild climate extremes 287

Speaking of the Devil 287

Early concepts of hells ruler 287

Judaism: Satan is Gods adversary 288

Christianity: Satan is the deceiver and prince of darkness 288

Islam: Satan encourages wrongdoing 290

Watching Out for Devilish Assistants 290

Judaism: Demons in nature 291

Christianity: The witches will get ya 291

Islam: Powerful genies aid Iblis 292

What Happens to Satan? 293

Judaism: God destroys all .293

Christianity: Satan puts up a fight 293

Islam: Judgment comes 294

Chapter 18: War and Peace: Why Cant We All Get Along?  295

A Shared Heritage 296

Belief in one God 297

Shared internal conflicts .298

Differences, Disagreements, and Conflicts 300

Universality versus exclusivity 301

Judaism offers a solution 302

Christianity closes doors, and Islam follows suit 303

War and Not So Much Peace 304

Muslims conquer for a time 304

Christianity envelops mankind 305

Christian missionaries 305

The Jews Struggle 307

No home anywhere 308

The birth of Israel: More strife 308

Troubles continue inside Israel 308

Finding Solutions in Secularism 309

Separation of church and state in the United States 309

In the Islamic world, secularism struggles 310

Where we are today 312

What does the future hold? 313

Part V: The Part of Tens 315

Chapter 19: Ten Misconceptions about Jews, Christians, and Muslims 317

Judaism Struggles against Anti-Semitism 318

Jews belong to a separate race 318

Jews want to take over the world 318

Jews killed Jesus 318

Christianity Focuses on Fundamentals 319

Christians think God will solve their problems 319

Only good Christians go to heaven 319

A person who is born again enjoys a miraculous, dramatic feeling 319

Islam Emerges to Slow Understanding 319

Muslims are violent 320

All Muslims are Arabs 320

Muslims dont believe in Jesus or other prophets 320

Muslims worship a different God 320

Chapter 20: Ten Films Drawn from Biblical Accounts 321

The Ten Commandments 322

King of Kings 322

The Greatest Story Ever Told 322

Jesus Christ Superstar 323

The Passion of the Christ 323

The Prince of Egypt 324

The Last Temptation of Christ 324

Solomon and Sheba 324

David and Bathsheba 325

Samson and Delilah 325

Chapter 21: Ten-Plus Ways Religion Influences the World 327

Read All About It: Literature 327

Music as an Expression of Faith 328

Politics and Religion: Not Always Easy to Separate 329

Bringing the Bible to Life through Art 329

Recording Biblical Stories on Film 330

Spreading the Word through Television 331

Seeking Insight into God through Science 332

Education: Wearing a Skullcap and a Thinking Cap 332

Being Holy Improves Your Health and Well-Being 333

Social Welfare: Doing unto Others 334

Disagreeing about Environmental Issues 334

Part VI: Appendixes 335

Appendix A: Timelines for Religions 337

Judaism 338

Christianity 340

Islam 341

Appendix B: Genealogies 343

Judaism and Christianity 344

Islam 348

Index 351

Informationen zu E-Books

„E-Book“ steht für digitales Buch. Um diese Art von Büchern lesen zu können wird entweder eine spezielle Software für Computer, Tablets und Smartphones oder ein E-Book Reader benötigt. Da viele verschiedene Formate (Dateien) für E-Books existieren, gilt es dabei, einiges zu beachten.
Von uns werden digitale Bücher in drei Formaten ausgeliefert. Die Formate sind EPUB mit DRM (Digital Rights Management), EPUB ohne DRM und PDF. Bei den Formaten PDF und EPUB ohne DRM müssen Sie lediglich prüfen, ob Ihr E-Book Reader kompatibel ist. Wenn ein Format mit DRM genutzt wird, besteht zusätzlich die Notwendigkeit, dass Sie einen kostenlosen Adobe® Digital Editions Account besitzen. Wenn Sie ein E-Book, das Adobe® Digital Editions benötigt herunterladen, erhalten Sie eine ASCM-Datei, die zu Digital Editions hinzugefügt und mit Ihrem Account verknüpft werden muss. Einige E-Book Reader (zum Beispiel PocketBook Touch) unterstützen auch das direkte Eingeben der Login-Daten des Adobe Accounts – somit können diese ASCM-Dateien direkt auf das betreffende Gerät kopiert werden.
Da E-Books nur für eine begrenzte Zeit – in der Regel 6 Monate – herunterladbar sind, sollten Sie stets eine Sicherheitskopie auf einem Dauerspeicher (Festplatte, USB-Stick oder CD) vorsehen. Auch ist die Menge der Downloads auf maximal 5 begrenzt.

Weitere Artikel vom Autor "Sullivan, Mark/Lazarus, William P"

Alle Artikel anzeigen