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Keypoints on this page
	Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the same roots and have many beliefs and practices in common.
	All three religions have added to God's original teachings, inventing their own ideas and incorporating ideas from other religions.
	Over the years, Jews, Christians and Muslims have all used their religious beliefs as an excuse to promote violent nationalism.
	Today, Israel is under threat from the followers of Islam, as the Bible predicted it would be before Christ returns to set up God's worldwide kingdom.

Jerusalem - the meeting point of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

It is amazing to think that Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three of the major religions in the world which cover more than 40% of the world’s population, each have their roots in the Jewish Old Testament Scriptures.  

For hundreds of years the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) was the only written source of information about the Creator and His purpose with the earth.  It was revealed to Moses through the inspiration of God (inspire = God breathed) and written down at about the time of the Exodus some 1400 years before the birth of Christ.  Later the remainder of the Old Testament was added including the historical books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, the Psalms and the prophetic books. 

Jesus emphasised in his teaching an understanding of the Old Testament based on the ‘spirit’ rather than the ‘letter’ of the law (the Torah).  His teaching is found in the Gospel records and the writings of the Apostles.  These writings are found in the New Testament, which was completed in the first Century AD.  

Muslims believe that Mohammed (Mahomet) had a series of divine revelations which, after his death in 632 AD, were put together to produce the Koran.  This was based mainly on the Old Testament as he was influenced by a Jewish community in the predominantly pagan country of Saudi Arabia.  He recognised the value of Jewish monotheism and their Scriptures and accepted the basic tenet that faith in the Word of the one God (Allah) was essential. 

Common ideas and common problem
Today we have three distinct religions all with a common origin and all stating that acceptable worship is to honour God and to believe in His Word. They all agree that there is to be judgement on mankind in the future and that  ‘justification by faith’ will be the basis of acceptance by God.  They also agree that love of our neighbour is the second great commandment, as Jesus himself said: 

‘…Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’ [Matthew 22.37-40]. 

Mohammed added to this the need for prayer throughout the day, a principle to which all Jews and Christians would subscribe.  Later, in his ‘five pillars of wisdom’ he included the value of the self-discipline of fasting at Ramadan and the benefit of pilgrimage to Mecca.   

With much in common, and with submission to the will of God being paramount, (Islam means submission) how is it that we see so many Jews, Christians and Moslems involved in war and violence around the world? 

No excuse for war, terrorism and persecution
We recognise that the Jews, under God's direct instructions, destroyed the Canaanites as they entered the Holy Land.  But that does not excuse or justify Jew or Arab or Christian fighting over territory today.  It did not justify the Sword of Islam in the 8th Century AD, or the Crusades in the 10th Century AD, or the Spanish Inquisition.  It does not justify the atrocities in Northern Ireland, in Bosnia, in Israel, in Afghanistan or in Iraq.  None of these man made wars are in keeping with the Bible message in the New Testament for Jesus said to his disciples: 

‘…Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’  [Matthew 5.44] 

So where did these major religions go wrong and did the Bible predict these events? 

Changing the word of God
Over the years since Israel became a nation, the Jews developed their oral traditions, which were collected together in the Talmud.  This became of equal, if not more importance to the Jews than the Torah.  The Pharisees were roundly condemned for this by Christ: 

‘...Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your traditions’ [Matthew 15.6]. 

The Jews meticulously copied the inspired writings of the Old Testament letter by letter, so that it is unchanged over thousands of years.  It is obviously essential not to corrupt the Word of God with the ideas of men.  The Word of God is timeless and He does not change.  The Apostle John tells us to check all claims to be inspired against the original Divine revelation: 

‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world’ [1 John 4.1]. 

Or to quote the prophet Isaiah: 

‘To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them’ [Isaiah 8.20]. 

When the New Testament was compiled in the first Century AD, it was this criterion that was set and there is no conflict between the Old and New Testaments.  However the Christian community could not resist falling into the same error as the Pharisees and soon the ideas of the Greeks involving the immortality of the soul, a trinity of Gods and going to heaven or hell at death, crept into their teaching and into Christian literature.  In fact new doctrines are still being added today in the form of papal encyclicals and 're-interpretation' of the Bible's meaning to fit today's views and practices.  The result is that there are now many differences in the beliefs of Jews and Christians. 

Children reading the Koran in Ibadan, Nigeria.

In the 7th Century AD the sayings of Mohammed were written down in the Koran. His ideas were based on the Old Testament.  The fundamentals were sound but he rewrote much of the history in the Bible in terms of the Arabs instead of the Jews.  Furthermore he incorporated several of the Greek based doctrines introduced by the Christians.  These include going to heaven or hell at death but not the trinity.  

In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we learn about Abraham and his descendants.  He had two sons - Isaac and Ishmael.  It is easy to understand how a descendant of Ishmael would feel aggrieved at God's choice of Isaac and want to rewrite the narrative but Mohammed claimed to reverence the Word of God so how could he change it?  This represents a separation between the Almighty and the Word that He spoke.  This is the same basic problem that has arisen throughout history.  Man in his arrogance wants to do things in his own way rather than accept that God is in control. 

The Bible clearly states that the Messiah would come from the descendants of Isaac.   God said to Abraham ‘in Isaac shall thy seed be called’ [Genesis 21.12].  This seed or descendant was the seed in which all families of the earth would be blessed, as God said to Abraham [Genesis 12.3] and that seed was Christ as the Apostle Paul tells us [Galatians 3.16].  The letter to the Galatians was written 600 years before the Koran.  

Perhaps Mohammed obtained the Torah from the Jews in Arabia and had not read the New Testament.  If that is the case, it is sad that he did not realise that the Arab nations and the rest of the Gentiles do not need to rewrite history.  The blessings promised to Abraham were to affect all nations: 

‘And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen (Gentiles) through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham’ [Galatians 3.8,9]. 

The followers of Islam recognise that Jesus Christ was a prophet.  Indeed the Shiite Moslems in Iran expect Jesus to return as the Messiah. The Sunni Moslems expect another prophet.  Again we have the same problem.  Mohammed accepted the one God but rewrote the Scriptures and now his followers have additional books to add to the Koran. 

Why do men wish to rewrite history?  The answer seems to revolve around nationalism, which is the second reason for the problems of these three major religions. 

Nationalism
The importance of nationalism in religion can easily be seen in the many religious wars that have occurred throughout the centuries.  Men use religion as an excuse for political ends.  This is due to the greed of human nature and also a misunderstanding of the Word of God. 

The Bible clearly states that God and not man is in control of the nations but men still insist on rampaging through the earth using religion as an excuse for all kinds of evil.  The prophet Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar, the proud ruler of ancient Babylon, of this: 

‘...that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.’ [Daniel 4.17] 

Or again in the New Testament the message is the same: 

‘God that made the world and all things therein…hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.’ [Acts 17.24-26] 

This being the case, all those who claim to believe the Word of God and to have faith in His prophecies, should recognise that fighting over territory is pointless.  The Islamic principle of 'submission' is hardly a characteristic of terrorists who commit atrocities in the name of their religion. 

The pointless nature of religious war, especially between Jew and Gentile, was carefully explained by Paul in the 3rd chapter of his letter to the Galatians.  He tells us that the two sons of Abraham were an allegory – they represented something.  Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman Hagar, represents the Jewish nation under the bondage of the Law of Moses.  The law could not make them free from the bondage of sin.  Isaac, born to the free woman Sarah, represents those who have faith in Christ and are free from sin having forgiveness through him.  Looked at in this light we should rejoice not in being a Jew or an Arab or any other nationality but in being a son or daughter of God.  Paul concludes: 

‘For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise’ [Galatians 3.26-29]. 

So we have Jews, Christians and Moslems all rewriting the Scriptures instead of living by its tenets.  No believer of the Bible can ever take up the sword against another for political or territorial reasons except under the instruction of God after the return of Jesus Christ.  It was Mohammed who said  ‘The best jihad is the Word of God.’ So what does the Bible have to say about the outcome of the present turmoil? 

Islam in prophecy
In the 4,000 years since the separation of the two sons of Abraham into Jew and Arab we can see a continuous fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. God said to Abraham: 

‘And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed’ [Genesis 21.13]. 

Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran on the east of the Sinai peninsular and as God predicted: 

‘He will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.’ [Genesis 16.12] 

This has certainly been fulfilled.  Ishmael had 12 sons which are listed in the book of Genesis and the numerous Arab nations descended from him are still in the same geographical area today [Genesis 25.13-18].  Esau, the eldest son of Isaac, married one of Ishmael's daughters [Genesis 28.9] after giving his birthright to Jacob his twin brother.  This complicates further the relationship of Jew and Arab. 

In the letter to the Hebrews we are told that Esau represents all those who choose materialism instead of having faith in God [Hebrews 12.16,17].  How ironic it is that the extreme minority of Moslems that have become terrorists, repudiate the materialism of the western nations and yet continue to use their territorial lust to promote racial hatred.  The same contradictions are apparent in all Jews and Christians who take up the sword with nationalism in their hearts. 

Islam and the future
All three religions have an expectation of Judgement to come, whether at the hand of Jesus Christ or some other prophet.  The prophecies of the coming Kingdom of God are therefore relevant to Jews, Christians and Moslems. 

Ishmael dwelt in Paran and Esau dwelt in Edom, to the south and east respectively of present day Israel.  Today there are Arab nations on all sides of Israel and Moslem nations extend to the east across Africa and north to the Balkans and to the southern states of the previous USSR and to the west to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Many of these nations are hostile to the nation of Israel.  In Psalm 83 we find a list of ten nations around Israel which include Edom and Ishmael who have said: 

‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance’ [Psalm 83.4]. 

This is a very prevalent and current attitude in the Middle East and the escalation of the long running hostilities has been expected for a long time. As has happened many times to Israel in the past, Israel forgets its relationship to God’s purpose and eventually runs into trouble.  When the nation of Israel turns to God in their extremity, then He will send their Messiah who will save them and also offer salvation to all who have faith in the one true God. 

The coming judgement of the nations is imminent.  The criterion for acceptance into the kingdom of God is the same for Jews, Christians and Moslems, indeed for all men and women.  If we can reject the additional ideas, doctrines and traditions that men have consistently added to the Word of God, accept it and respond to its teaching, then there is a hope for each of us.

More information
Misunderstood religious fundamentalism