Similarities and Causes for Unfamilirity between Christianity and Islam

A religion can be thought of as a paradigm comprised of dogmas, cultural structures, and world views that govern the connection between an order of being and the human race. The majority of religions use cultural narratives, iconography, and sacred histories to elucidate the radix and meaning of not only life but also the universe. Devotees of a certain religion derive their morals, values, beliefs, and life choices from their respective indoctrinated convictions. Currently, there are approximately 4 thousand varying religions that an individual may subscribe to. However, I am only going to address two of the most dominant faith traditions; Islam and Christianity. Regardless of my own religious beliefs, there is no denying that Islam and Christianity share many similar tenets that go unrecognized or ignored by followers of each monotheistic faith. The identification of these similarities and the causes for unfamiliarity between the two religions is my paramount goal within the parameters of this paper.

Analysis of Similarities

Islam and Christianity share a fundamental connection in terms of historical narrative and tradition. These two creeds are considered Abrahamic religions, meaning that they are both monotheistic faiths with Middle Eastern/West Asian origins, the apogee of which is their recognition of Abraham’s spiritual traditions (Smith, 1998). These Abrahamic religions were first oriented towards to needs of the people of the desert and as such are commonly colloquially referred to as desert religions. Within the realm of comparative religion, these desert religions share some peculiar yet consolidating characteristics when compared to Dharmic and Taoic religions. Firstly, the coalescing aspect of Abrahamic religions, I...

... middle of paper ...

...re means for us to break down these barriers of unfamiliarity and unawareness. I will not campaign for devotion to monotheism, however I will encourage the exploration of both Christianity and Islam, as well as Judaism and most other Dharmic and Taoic religions so that we may all wake up to the similarities we share across supposedly different faiths and humanity as a whole.

Works Cited

Hunt, E. (1982). Holy Land pilgrimage in the later Roman Empire AD: 312-460. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Peters, F., & Esposito, J. (2006). The children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Momen, M. (1985). An introduction to Shiʻi Islam: the history and doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Smith, J. (1998). Critical terms for religious studies. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press