Prophecy in the Abrahamic faiths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Prophecy in the Abrahamic faiths - Essay ExampleIn Judaism, male prophets including Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and female prophets like Huldah and Miriam are considered the mouthpieces of God, Moses being the greatest of these prophets (Swidler, Duran, and Firestone 2007, p. 39). In Christianity as well, messiah and the other prophets, including Moses are considered as Gods spokespersons (Swidler, Duran, and Firestone 2007, p. 39). Some others such as those mentioned in early Christian writings are withal considered prophets. Islam also believes in the authenticity of the Jewish and Christian prophets, apart from the sentiment in the prophethood of Muhammad. The similarities among the prophets of the Abrahamic faiths are mostly in terms of their teachings, i.e. they preached monotheism, the oneness of God. They denounced idol worship and belief in false gods. They brought in social order to their nation and worked towards delivering the people from oppression and misery. They served as guides, foretellers, and warners against guilts. The prophets of the Abrahamic faiths also gave the holy scriptures to their people. All these holy books were a give of divine inspiration. All the prophets taught the concept of good and evil, life in the hereafter, heaven and hell, the Day of Judgment, angels, Satan, etc. All the prophets trace back their lineage to Prophet Abraham. 11 Differences between Prophets of the Abrahamic Faiths 11 Jews do not believe in the prophethood of saviour and Muhammad (Honda, Alderman and Korneliussen n.d). In Christianity, Moses is believed to be a prophet, yet Muhammad is not considered to be a prophet. In Islam, however, both Moses and Jesus are revered as prophets. However, one difference in the Muslim and the Christian belief is that while the Christians believe Jesus to be more than a prophet, the Muslims view him only as a prophet. They do not believe him to be the son of God, unlike the Christians. Moreover, while Christians as sociate theology with Jesus, Muslims believe that he was able to perform miracles only by the will and permission of God. Furthermore, unlike the Christian belief, the Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified (Honda, Alderman and Korneliussen n.d). As Nasr explains, the Quran does not accept the crucifixion of Jesus, but rather mentions that Jesus was taken to heaven (4157-58 cited in Phipps 1999). The Muslim belief about Prophet whirl is also different from the Christian and Jewish belief. fit in to Islam, although Adam was considered to have sinned upon eating the forbidden fruit, humankind is not responsible and the concept of original sin is denounced in Islam (Schirrmacher n.d.). However, according to the biblical version, Adam transgressed the commandment of God by eating the forbidden fruit, and so brought death and sin to the entire human race, the rapprochement of which is possible only through the death of Jesus (Schirrmacher n.d.). 12 The main difference between Jesus and Moses, as per Christian belief, is the divinity they associate with Jesus (Carmody and Carmody 1996). As per Christian faith, although Moses is a great religious hero and the medium of Gods amazing grant of the covenant, Jesus was more than that (Carmody and Carmody 1996, p. 187). According to them, Jesus sacrificed himself for humankind, fashioned a new covenant