Christian Tradition

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 429.

Christians believe in a God who is manifested by the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus, the incarnate Son of God the Father, is the perfect man, the Christ. Christians believe he was fully human, was born to a virgin (Mary), and was crucified, buried, and then resurrected from the dead into a state of eternal life. For the Christians, Christ is the embodiment of God's ability to love and forgive.

He is the Messiah; by following Christ's example, human beings, too, can become one with God.

The Christian tradition begins with the assumption that the world is real and meaningful because God created it. Human beings are significant because God created them in his image. Time is important because it began with God's creation of the Earth and will end when his purpose has been fulfilled. The world, therefore, is God's arena, with each human having only one lifetime to heed God's word. Each person is important to God, which in turn makes individuals important to each other.

From a Christian perspective we can look at the Mormons whose whole way of life stems from their religious convictions. Mormons value the family: for them, family relationships are of prime importance. They believe they are a chosen people, they have a strong work ethic, they have prohibitions against smoking and drinking, and they believe strongly in missionary work. The church is their main interest and the social center of their lives.

Islam

In the Middle East, we find an orientation that is similar to the one in Western countries. This should not seem surprising because Islam grew out of the Judaic-Christian tradition.

According to the Islamic faith, Muhammad was the heir to the religious mantle passed down by the prophets of the Bible. Like many of the prophets, Muhammad was concerned with establishing a new social order as well as delivering religious message. Muslims believe that their god, Allah, has spoken to human beings many times in the past: to Adam, Moses, Abraham, and Jesus. But the passage of time and human waywardness have clouded over the message. When Allah spoke to Muhammad, the prophet wrote down the divine words in the Koran, the holy book of Islam. To a Muslim, the Koran is the unique word of Allah, without comparison and beyond question. Muslims believe that in the Koran, Allah has spoken completely, and will not speak again. Thus, Muhammad is the last of the prophets.

The key to our understanding the nature of the Islamic world view comes from the name Islam. Islam is the infinitive of the Arabic verb meaning "to submit." The word Muslim is the present participle of the same verb. In short, a Muslim is one who accepts and submits to the will of Allah.

Like Christians, Muslims worship a personal God with a profound interest in moral behaviour.

This God created the universe and calls forth a community of beings and charges them with the responsibility to realize righteousness. But the God of Islam is distinctive because he dominates the world scene and acts in history.

He is concerned with whole communities and societies as well as with individuals. Muslims believe that everything, good or evil, proceeds directly from the divine will as it is irrevocably recorded on the Preserved Tablets.

This orientation, of course, produces a strong belief in fatalism: whatever happens is according to God's will.

Another important aspect of Islam is that it is as much a way of life as a relationship with God. Muhammad, who was God's messenger, was both a political and religious prophet.

Hence, there is no separation of church and state. The wisdom of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, makes it clear that there is not a religious compartment to life, but that religion is life.

Islam is a concerted codification of all values and ways to behave in each and every circumstance from child-rearing to eating. In the Arabic world even architecture and art forms stem from Islam.

Islam as a way of life is austere. There is no drinking of alcohol; believers must pray five times each day, and women must be modest and submit to men.