Back to the Bible?
It has often been reported that the world’s three major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all enjoy a common origin. That they are able to precisely delineate their ancestry to the Garden of Eden and the dispensation of their faiths through the patriarch, Abraham. Of course, all these accounts are originally recorded in the Bible and all three religions are ardent in asserting their faith’s direct and unbroken connection to this ancient holy-book. So much so, if pressed, to the exclusion of the other two.
Can these three systems of worship trace their essential ideology back to the Bible? Can any one of them plausibly substantiate its Biblical dictum?
Judaism and Christianity have obviously, and they admit themselves to have, evolved over the centuries. Islam underwent a major rift after the death of their Prophet Mohammed in 632 C.E., but the controversy in Islam involved clerical succession, (still a lethal issue in Islam to this day), but, Islam’s theology itself, contrary to that of Judaism and Christianity, did not undergo any major transformations. However, the question still remains as to whether or not any of the three are completely candid in their collective and/or individual claims of divine authenticity. Or, does each of them have some explaining to do?
I am not asserting the correctness or incorrectness of any of the three or citing a preference for any one over the other. In fact I am neutral, the subject being purely academic to me. I am merely comparing them to the texts they themselves claim to represent.
Research reveals that the underlying principles of their primary theologies actually do have a common origin, but it may not be the one you might think. Ironically, you will find that Islam and the modern manifestations of Judaism and Christianity have more in common with Greek mythology and African animism than with the actual tenets of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.
Let’s make a few revealing comparisonsâÂ?¦
ISLAM MODERN
JUDAISM MODERN
CHRISTIANITY ANIMISM
MYTHOLOGY
PAGANISM
SPIRITISM ORIGINAL
JUDAISM ORIGINAL
CHRISTIANITY WORSHIP ‘YAHWEH’ BY NAME NO NO NO NO YES
Joel 2:32*
Psalm 83:18 YES
Acts 2:21*
Romans 10:13* THE SOUL A SEPARATE PART OF MAN YES YES YES YES NO
Genesis 2:7 NO
1st Cor 15:45 THE SPIRIT OF MAN HAS A CONSCIOUS-NESS THAT SURVIVES DEATH YES YES YES YES NO
Ex 34:12
Josh 23:11-13 Psalm 2:2,3 NO
Matt 4:8,9
Rev 13:1,2,17,18 Rev
19:11,19 SPONTANEOUS LIFE AFTER DEATH VS. SCRIPTURAL HOPE OF RESURREC-TION AFTER ARMAGEDDON YES YES YES YES NO
Job 14:14
Isa 26:9
Dan 12:2,4,9 NO
John 5:28,29 John 11:24,25
2nd Tim 2:18 NATIONALISTIC DIVISIONS SUPERSEDING
SPIRITUAL
BROTHERHOOD YES YES YES YES NO
Lev 19:18,34 NO
1st Cor 1:10
Galatians 3:28 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL YES YES YES YES NO
Ezekiel 18:4 NO
Acts 3:23
Revelation 16:3 HELLFIRE YES YES YES YES NO
Jeremiah 7:31
Jeremiah 32:35 NO
Rev
20:13-16
Rev
20:14; 21:14 GOD’S PERSONAL NAME “YHWH” CAN BE REPLACED BY OTHER NAMES OR IS COMPLETELY UNIMPORTANT YES YES YES YES NO
Exodus 6:3
Psalms 83:18 Isaiah 12:2 Isaiah 26:4 NO
Matthew 6:9,10
John 12:28
John 17:6 HEAVEN IS THE REWARD FOR ALL GOOD PEOPLE YES YES YES YES NO
Psalm 37:29 NO
Matthew 5:5 GOD ACCEPTS MANY FORMS OF WORSHIP AND SECTARIANISM YES YES YES YES NO
Exodus 20:5
Deut 6:13-15
Psalm 147:19,20 NO
Matt 4:22
Acts 17:23,30,31
Romans 10:2,3 DEMONSTRATE UNCOMPROMIS-ING FAITH IN THE BIBLE AS THE ONLY INSPIRED WORD OF GOD NO NO NO NO YES
Psalm 119:105
Isaiah 55:11 YES
John 17:17
1st Thes 2:13
2nd Tim 3:16
2nd Peter 1:21
These issues alone represent a solid basis for initiating legitimate inquiry, and there are many other controversial points that could be examined, but should there exist even one?
Individually, each began as one unified faith. Now all are fractionalized into several, at times deadly, feuding groups. Christendom, who started out worshiping the same ‘one God’ of Israel, has since developed a totally divergent ‘three-in-one’, (or one-in-three), god system.
Obviously, many people feel that religion should be progressive and change with the times. Some feel that ‘sacred’ truth should be resistant to purely ‘human’,(i.e., political, economic, social, culturalâÂ?¦),pressures.
As an objective observer, I don’t find either of these schools of thought problematic in themselves. However, what I do find problematic, considering the fact that these religions have credulously demanded Prima Versa recognition for hundreds of years, is that they are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, a stifling stranglehold on hundreds of cultures and the hegemony of the wealth of nations.
I am only saying that if you are assuming the authority to siphon off a significant percentage of the earth’s monetary assets, if you are going to assume the authority to enthrone or dethrone governments and influence public policy, if you are going to assume the authority over life and death itself, all based on your assertion of representation of a higher authority, in this case the Bible, and by extension the God of the Bible himself, then it is only reasonable to expect that any apparent discrepancies between your testimony and the testimony of that Authority should be explained and explained very well.
At the heart of this discussion is a matter of lying versus telling the truth. It is as simple as that.
All three each claim to be the (last) bastion of truth.
Is that true?
