Hello Everyone,
I am new to this forum...and I hate to hijack anyone's posts etc, but I think that I might be able to clarify a few things for I Want To Be A Christian. I am no expert, but I am currently working towards my degree in Religious Studies & Journalism. I am a Christian. I have studied Islam, Judaism, Christianity etc. There is a lot of information, so bear with me I Want To Be A Christian....
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all Abrahamic religions. Meaning that we share common values and origins. All 3 religions started with Abraham. Abraham had a son Ishmael with his maid Hagar. See Genesis 16:3 (New International Version)
So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
According to the Bible he lived 137 years. See:
Genesis 25:17 (New International Version)
Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.
The Quran views him as a prophet. Muhammad was related to Ishmael.
Abraham was married to Sarah (Sariah) and had a son with her named Issac. Issac was the son that received Gods blessing, not Ishmael.
There was a problem (jealousy between Sarah & Hagaar) and Hagaar & Ishmael left Israel. Ishmael was given blessings by God. 1- To make his descendents one great nation. 2- That his descendents would live in hostility with all of his brothers. (Muslim,Jewish conflict) 3- That his descendents would live to East of all of his brothers. See:
Genesis 16:11-13 (New International Version)
The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child"
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers."
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
See also:
Genesis 17:20 (New International Version)
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
Also:
Genesis 21:8-21 (New International Version)
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."
Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, "I cannot watch the boy die." And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
To make a really long story short Ishmael was the “founding father” of Islam indirectly and Issac was the path that the Jews and Christians followed.
Judaism came first (around 2000 BC), then Christianity (around 5 BC) (Jesus was a Jew) and then @ 600 years AFTER the crucifixion of Jesus, Islam was established.
Judaism:
The true worship God started with Adam and Eve, of course. The Jewish religion started around 1500 BC.
as a nation, but it was practised first by Abraham around 2000 BC. The oldest preserved religious book is the Old Testament containing the 39 books from Genesis to Malachi. The first was written around 1450 BC, while the last one was written around 400 BC.
Christianity:
Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the mid-first century. The Christian Church had been in existence about 300 years before the Roman Catholic Church. They were the equivalent of today's Messianic Jews. The so called Roman Catholic Church started when the Bishop of Rome became prominent in the Council of Laodicea and became the head of all the Christian Churches. The Protestant Church came into existence in the 16 century or almost 500 years ago.
The New Testament containing 27 books from Matthew to Revelation was written from 50 AD to 96 AD.
Islam came on the scene in about 600 AD
Yes, the Bible is the word of GOD.
How do we know that Jesus was the promissed Messiah?? There are hundreds of prophesies about Jesus in the Old Testament. Too many to list here. Google "fulfilled prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament" and have a read. There are different translations of the Bible, but they all mean the same thing (some people find King James Version hard to understand)
I hope this has helped in making a link between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I think that getting all of the facts is vital for someone trying to make such a huge decision as to which religion to choose (Christianity or Islam) so that all the doubts about Jesus are clarified etc.
I’ll shut up now! lol