Christianity and Islam

1. Christianity and Islam

2. Rise of Christianity • Some Jews began to revolt against Roman rule, resulting in all Jews being banned from Jerusalem • Jesus of Nazareth • Born in the town of Bethlehem • All knowledge about Jesus comes from the Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament • Traveled around preaching people to repent their sins and seek God’s forgiveness • People needed to seek forgiveness for the coming of Judgment Day • People were to practice humility, mercy, and charity

3. As Jesus traveled, he gathered a small group of disciples, or followers • According to the Bible, Jesus performed miracles and defended the poor • Roman authorities feared a political uprising and arrested Jesus and sentenced him to death • Jesus was crucified = nailed to a cross • Some believed he rose from the dead and spent another 40 days teaching his disciples before ascending into heaven • As a result, people began to call him Jesus Christ, the Greek word for Messiah

4. Spread of Christianity • Jesus’ disciples began to teach that all people could achieve salvation • Salvation = forgiveness of sins and the promise of everlasting life in heaven

5. The Apostles – the 12 disciples that Jesus had specifically chosen to carry out his message • Were the earliest Christian missionaries • Mostly only taught in Jewish communities • Paul of Tarsus believed that God had sent him to convert non-Jews • Without him, Christianity might have remained a branch of Judaism • The Christian message of eternal life after death appealed to many • Roman religious toleration contributed to the spread

6. Persecution • Some local officials and rulers, such as Nero, saw Christians as a threat and arrested and killed them • Fed to the lions, made them martyrs • Martyrs = people who die for their faith and thus inspire others to believe • Christianity survived and triumphed

7. Imperial approval of Christianity • Emperor Constantine became the first Christian emperor after he converted after winning a battle • He issued the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity legal within the empire and declared official tolerance of Christianity • Emperor Theodosius outlawed public non-Christian sacrifices and ceremonies • As a result, Christianity was adopted as the Roman religion and polytheism began to disappear

9. The Early Christian Church • Development of ceremonies that inspired people’s faith and made them feel closer to Jesus • Eucharist = held in memory of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples • Eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus’ death and resurrection • Baptism = people admitted into the Christian faith • Mass = religious ceremony

10. Hierarchy • Priests ran the ceremonies and instructed a small local community • Bishops = high-ranking church official who oversees a group of churches in a particular area • Many Christians believed that Peter the Apostle founded the Roman Church • Peter had been the bishop of Rome, so later bishops of Rome were seen as Peter’s spiritual heir • They took the name popes • Popes were seen as the head of the entire Christian church

11. Muhammad • Muhammad was born in Mecca and had a successful career as a merchant • While traveling on business, Muhammad met followers of Judaism and Christianity • These faiths influenced his thinking • Muhammad was a religious man who often left his home to live in a cave for extended periods • One of the times at the cave, Muhammad awoke to find himself in the presence of an angel, who commanded him to speak messages from Allah

12. Decides God has chosen him to be a prophet to spread messages • Allah was the one and only true God • Instructions on how to live to please Allah and live in paradise after death • Begins to preach in public and gains a number of followers • Muhammad moves from Mecca to Yathrib, which came to be called Medina, “the Prophet’s city” • This journey came to be known as the hegira, or hijra • The year the hegira took place became year one on the Islamic calendar (622) • This new faith was called Islam, meaning “achieving peace through submission to God” • Followers were called Muslims, claim ancestry to Abraham and his son

14. Basic Religious Teachings • Monotheistic, the Qur’an is the sacred text of Islam • The Qur’an also lays out five basic acts that are central to Islam • The Five Pillars of Islam • Belief – profession of faith • “There is no god but God (Allah) and Muhammad is the messenger of God”

16. Prayer – perform five daily prayers, always facing Mecca • Giving of alms or charity • Fasting = going without food or drink • Do this from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan, the month when Muhammad began to report the messages • Muslims believe that fasting is a way to show that God is more important than one’s own body • Pilgrimage, called the hajj, to Mecca • Pilgrims gather by the thousands to pray in the city’s large mosque • Mosque = building in which Muslims worship • Obeying Allah’s will means following the Five Pillars

18. Guidelines for good behavior outlined in the Qur’an • Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol or eat pork • Must wash themselves before praying and prohibits lying, stealing, and murder • Jihad = “struggle for the faith” • Struggle to defend Muslim communities or to convert people to Islam • Islam is a peaceful religion

20. The Qur’an teaches that Allah is the same God that the Jews and Christians worship • Muhammad considered Abraham, Moses, and Jesus to be messengers of God, but saw himself as the last prophet • Both the Jewish and Christian bibles came from God, but the Qur’an was the final message from God to humanity • Muslims are to respect Jews and Christians as “people of the book”