One God, Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Lecture 10 - Defining the Community

Introduction:

The believers in the One True God have organized themselves into faith com-

munities, whose boundaries had to be wardened and defined.

A. Definitions of a Community

1. Jewish Community - A Nation of Kinsmen
   a. The earliest Jewish Community, the “Beni Israil,” shared an actual kin-
   ship. This particular tribal group also shared a God. The rabbinic definition
   of a Jew is “someone born of a Jewish mother.” This is also accepted by
   the state of Israel in the case of a claim to “the right to return.”
   b. Jews were not content to rest on this particular definition. Much atten-
   tion has also been paid to “what” is a Jew.
   c. One of the answers, and the one that prevailed, is the Pharasaic answer.
   To be a Jew, one must imitate or approximate the holiness of God. This
   includes separating oneself from “impurity,” whether from the Gentiles or
   non-observant Jews.
   i. The priority regulations are laid out in the Torah, most of which
   include the avoidance of unholy things and the observance of cer-
   tain dietary laws.
   d. Romans regarded Jews as a “religio” and a “natio,” both a religious
   and ethnic community.


2. Christians, A Serious Identification Problem
   a. How Jewish were they? Most were converted Jews, but there were
   increasing numbers of Gentiles.
   b. Soon Christians began to define themselves not merely as followers
   of Jesus but as followers of Jesus, the Messiah of the world, and
   the son of God.
   c. One of the crucial elements of the survival of the Christians was
   whether or not they would stay with the Bible (the Old Testament),
   which they did.
   d. Christians rejected the idea of cutting themselves off completely from
   Judaism, its scripture, its beliefs and some of its practices. That has
   extended through modern times and is evident in church services today.

Before beginning this lecture you may want to...

Read F.E. Peters’ Judaism,Christianity and Islam: The World and the Law

and the People of God, Volume II, Chapter 6.

Consider this...

1. One may be born a Jew; one must become a Christian or a Muslim.


2. Are the Christians a Jewish sect? Are the Muslims a monotheistic sect?


3. Are the Shi’ites orthodox Muslims?

LECTURE TEN