history of western religions

Most historians credit Judaism as the first and oldest widely practiced monotheistic religion. Jews (followers of Judaism) believe in one God who has made a covenant, or agreement, with them where Jews would occupy a great nation if they believed in God. Characteristic of an ethnic religion, a person is born into this faith and is considered Jewish if his or her mother is Jewish. Judaism has a rich history that must be understood to understand current distributions and issues. So as promised, let’s let Abraham take it away with story:

Abraham was a rich pastoralist who was born in Ur (Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia). He was married to Sarah, who was the mother of Isaac, who became a tribal leader of the Jews. According to Islam, Hagar was Abraham’s second-wife and the mother of Abraham’s older son, Ishmael, who becomes the Father of Arabs. He then moved to Anatolia (located in present-day Turkey), where he received the 1st Covenant between God and Man. Here, Abraham had to prove his love and devotion toward God by sacrificing his son, Isaac. He agreed and his will to do so was enough for God (Isaac wasn’t actually killed by Abraham). This same story exists in Islam, but the son that is to be sacrificed is Ishmael. Abraham is instructed by God to move to Canaan, “The Land of Milk and Honey,” along the Jordan River Valley in present day Israel. His descendants, who were promised to be the rulers of this land by God, would be known as the Hebrews. The key dividing difference between Judeo-Christian beliefs and Muslim beliefs is that Judeo-Christian followers trace their roots back to Isaac while Muslin followers trace their roots back to Ishmael, which we will discuss later.

God unleashes 10 plagues on the Egyptians, where the 10th and last one involves the Angel of Death killing every first born Egyptian son. Moses instructs the Hebrews in Egypt to paint their doors with lamb’s blood so that the Angel of Death can “pass over” their houses. It is from this event that the high Jewish holiday of Passover arises and the accompanying Seder dinner. It is this 10th plague that forces the Egyptians to release the Hebrews. Moses and the starving Hebrews are left wandering in the desert, where they eventually begin to doubt that God will help them. This is known as the 40-year Exodus. For this reason, Moses’s generation never reaches Canaan and is the next generation that survives and occupies Canaan. From this event, we have the highest Jewish holiday- Yom Kippur (also known as the Day of Atonement). This holiday involves a day-long fast with much prayer that commemorates the struggles that the early Hebrews faced during the Exodus.

During these 40 years, Moses receives the 10 Commandments (also known as the Mosaic Laws). However, in the meantime, the Hebrews begin to lose faith in God yet again and start praying to a golden calf! When Moses comes to know about this, he gets very furious and breaks the 10 Commandments, which get replaced. In the end, the next generation reaches Canaan. While the Hebrews were gone, other tribes had settled the land of Canaan. Thus, the Hebrews had to battle these tribes, and they ended up winning. The Hebrews then divide into 12 tribes (1o in the North in Israel- Israelites- and 2 in the South in Judea-Jews). Tribal leaders were known as judges and these judges decided that Saul would be the first king. After Saul, David takes over and establishes a capital in Jerusalem. We then have David’s son, Solomon, take over. Solomon was the greatest of the Hebrew kings and is often considered to one of the wisest rulers of all time. Unfortunately, after Solomon’s death, the kingdom plunges downward and weakens significantly. Other tribes start to attack the Hebrew Empire, leading to multiple wars. It is during this time that we get the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, which celebrates a miracle where the Jews take shelter in a temple that only had enough oil for the candles to last 1 night, but instead the candles lasted 8 nights.

In 586 BCE, the Babylonians defeated the Hebrews and in 570 BCE, the Jews were taken to Babylon, which marks the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity, which lasts for 70 years. This also starts the Jewish Diaspora (people without a homeland). But even in Mesopotamia, the Jews continued to follow their religion in secret, and after 70 years, the Jews returned to Canaan. But this is still not the end of the story! Around 100 BCE, the Romans takes control of Palestine (the name of Canaan given by the Romans), which results in several uprisings. One such uprising was seen from the Zealots, a group of radical Jews. When the Romans chased after the Zealots, the Zealots took shelter in King Herod’s Palace of Masada and the Jews ultimately commit mass suicide to avoid being killed by their enemies. This served as the last straw for the Romans and in 70 CE, the Jews were yet again moved from Canaan to other major cities, including Alexandria, Cairo, Antioch, Byzantium, and Rome. This prolonged Diaspora lasts for 2,500 years. This is where we will start Christianity.

Christians are simply followers of Christ. Though it may be surprising to you, Christ was a Jew and died as a Jew. Early Christians preached that Christ was the promised savior, which was a part of the Covenant. These Christians were very apostolic, in that they wanted to adopt a softer, less violent approach by spreading their teachings. Different versions of Christianity emerged, with Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Antioch Christians in Central Turkey, Orthodox Christians (split from the west during the Great Schism) in eastern Europe, Roman Christians in Rome, and Protestants (split during the Reformation) in parts of northern Europe. Christianity was widely adopted through the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, where the Roman emperor Constantine allowed Christianity to be followed within the Roman Empire. Through the Great Schism in 1054, the Roman and Orthodox Churches split and the Protestant group developed in northern Europe through the Reformation. You may be thinking that the Christians would treat the Jews well, unlike the Romans. However, the opposite is true. Jews had to settle in eastern Europe because of persecutions by the Christians and the Orthodox Christians were more accepting. Even in eastern Europe, there were periodic persecutions called pogroms and the Jews had to reside in ghettos. In the late 1800s, a movement called Zionism started, where the Zionists claimed a “Return to the Promised Land.” The Promised Land refers to Israel, which God had promised to the Hebrews. One of the greatest known genocides in human history is that of the Holocaust, where 6 million Jews were killed in Nazi Germany. Support for Zionism soared after WWII. After this long journey of struggle and persecution, Israel finally declared itself a state in 1948. Of course, the surrounding Palestinians did not stay calm and three major wars followed the Israeli independence, which we will further discuss later. For now, though, let’s move on to our last Western religion- Islam.

In 600 CE, a child by the name of Mohammad was born. As a young trader, Mohammad visits Mecca often. In Mecca, he falls in love with a rich widow by the name of Khadija. At age 40, he leaves to meditate in the mountains, where he is visited by Archangel Gabriel and is given the word of God as written in the Quran. Mohammad becomes known as the Seal of the Prophets because, according to Islam, he was the last prophet to receive God’s word following other great prophets, including Abraham. The word Islam itself means “to submit to the will of God.” Mohammad starts to spread his teachings that he obtained from God, including the idea that the Kaaba (the black meteorite on which Abraham prepared to sacrifice Ishmael) and the Holy Well of ZamZam were creations of God, not pagan entities. As a result, the pagans of Mecca began to oppose Mohammad and forced him to flee to another city called Medina. This occurred in 622 CE and is known as Anno Hijra, or “year of flight.” This marks the first year of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Mohammad’s teachings are accepted and the people of Medina elect him as the leader of the city. In a battle, he defeats Mecca and Mohammad returns to Mecca to enshrine the holy Kaaba.

The Kaaba in Mecca today

However, no great leader lasts forever. Mohammad eventually died, and the next leader had to be chosen. There were two potential people who could be Mohammad’s successors, or caliphs: Abu Bakr (Mohammad’s father-in-law) and Ali Hussein (Mohammad’s son-in-law). Turns out, Abu Bakr became the first caliph. However, by the 4th caliph, there were two contrasting viewpoints within Islam. Sunnis were Muslims who were followers of the path, or the Sunna. They believed that you didn’t have to be a descendant of Mohammad to be a caliph. The other group were the Shias, who were followers of Ali Hussein, and believed that the caliph should be a descendent of Mohammad. To this day, the Shias and Sunnis are two sects, or divisions,of Islam. Ali Hussein was the fourth caliph, which led to his assassination and a civil war between the two sects. The Shia win in the and the capital gets moved to Baghdad (in Iraq). The Muslims allow Jews and Christians to follow their religions as they are considered to be “Followers of the Book” and have the same roots as Islam. As discussed previously, the first Crusades is initiated when the Seljuk Turks (which convert to Sunni Islam) invaded Jerusalem and denied pilgrimages. The Seljuk Turks evolve into the Ottoman Empire and led to the spread of Islam all over Eurasia, but fell after WWI. The areas that they controlled were then divided up and controlled by France and England through the Sykes-Picot agreement.

Basic knowledge of western religions

Now that we have covered all of the history regarding the three Western religions, it will be much easier to understand the core concepts of each religion. Here is a table outlining all the critical principles in each religion: