Adult Forum Winter: Three Abrahamic Faiths
Three trees with intertwined roots (and branches). This winter during the Adult Forum discussion we will be exploring the ways in which the three Abrahamic religions are intertwined, Sundays at 9:15 AM. Primarily this will be focusing on the connections with Judaism in Scriptures, and briefly on Islam’s connections with Christianity and Judaism.
The first week will focus on introductions two the two other faiths. If you like to learn ahead, some trusted resources are linked below. The book we would recommend for deeper reading about our religious neighbors is God is Not One by Stephen Prothero. This is a good book for all adult readers that carefully and balanced-ly teaches about the most influential religions. It is available in all formats with many inexpensive paperbacks available online.
Judaism
It is important for considering the oldest and current relationships that there are three phases of Jewish religious history: Ancient, Second Temple, and Rabbinical. The Jewish practices of most of the Hebrew Scriptures is Ancient – and not what is practiced today, much like much of what one means by ‘church life’ right now is not identical to what it would have meant a thousand years ago. The Judaism that Jesus knew was Second Temple, although the beginnings of what would become Rabbinical Judaism were already in existence (like synagogues).
Two good links to learn a whole lot about Judaism and Jewish History (and antisemitism) are:
https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/who-are-jews-…
Islam
While Jesus was born in a pious practicing Jewish community (and was Jewish), the prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca which seems to have been a place where spirituality and religious practices were wildly synergistic, with devoted practitioners of many religions and other spiritual identities, sometimes crisscrossing and blending. Christian practices and Jewish practices and Abrahamic heritage was likely a strong part of this mix. This is part of why many Biblical persons and stories remain a part of the Islamic ‘universe’ even if they are not mentioned in the Quran.
https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam.aspx