The Middle East can be called the most turbulent region in the contemporary world, with large-scale wars in the Middle East, Israel's war of aggression against Lebanon and the Iran-Iraq war, small armed conflicts, and international events that shocked the world have occurred frequently. The Arab world has become the hottest spot in international strife.
As of 2023, a total of 6 large-scale wars have been fought. First time: May 15, 1948 - February 24, 1949; Second time: 29 October - 7 November 1956; 3rd: 5 June - 11 June 1967; 4th time: 6 October - 26 October 1973; 5th: 6 June - 29 September 1982; The sixth is the Palestinian-Israeli war.
An important factor is deep-seated religious disputes. The Middle East is the common birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Islam came to the fore and spread the most, and the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Middle Eastern countries were Muslims, known as Islamic countries. The contradictions between religions and sects within a religion are intertwined, complex and sharp, and often integrated with domestic political struggles. The sectarian social structure in the countries of the Middle East and the sectarian politics that wield state power have become a source of endless sectarian disputes.
Conservative and extremist religious exclusion is the main cause of the chaos in the Middle East, and during the Saddam period, the three forces of Iraq's Shia, Sunni and Kurds strangled each other, causing perennial civil strife. And now in Syria, where Alawite and other factions are killing each other, making the people miserable. In a word, the more open and moderate the political system, the richer and more stable the country, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Egypt.
The three most important religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Judaism and Christianity share common roots, but there are also deep differences. The Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God and opposed the idea of a "Trinity." Christians believe that the Jews did not accept the salvation of Jesus, God's greatest gift, and had a certain prejudice and hostility towards the Jews, especially during the Middle Ages. However, on the whole, the relationship between the two is mostly harmonious, which is a contradictory relationship of love and killing.
Islam, on the other hand, is more exclusive to Judaism and Christianity, especially after Israel's peak after the restoration of Palestine, and the nearly 200-year crusades that have fully demonstrated the hostile relationship between Christianity and Islam. Islam considers the Qur'an to be the final and most perfect revelation, while both the Tanakh and the Bible are old revelations that have been altered or distorted. Islam considers Jesus' resurrection and ascension to heaven to be a fabrication, nor does it recognize Jesus as the Son of God or the Messiah, only that He was an important prophet. Islam also rejects the idea of the Trinity and holds that Allah is the only God.
Let's take a closer look at the evolving relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
★ Historical origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are three juxtaposed religions, all with their own unique historical origins and cultural backgrounds. The three religions were founded at very different times, but in fact they all have the same source, the same true God, and are related.
Judaism: Judaism dates back to around 2000 BC, and its beliefs and traditions continue to this day. Judaism believes that God is the creator and sovereign of the universe, they believe in prophets and scriptures, and follow the principles of monotheistic beliefs.
Judaism is the earliest of the three denominations in which they believe that God (Jehovah) is the only God, the creator of all things and the Lord of the universe. God made a covenant with the Jews of Israel through their patriarch Abraham to make them God's chosen people. The central belief of Judaism is the Tanakh, including the Torah (also known as the Torah) received by Moses, which encompasses the legal, historical, cultural, and moral teachings of Judaism. The ultimate goal of Judaism is to look forward to the coming of the Messiah, a man who is considered God's chosen Savior to save the Jews and all mankind and establish a kingdom of peace and justice.
Christianity: The history of Christianity can be traced back to the life of Jesus Christ, and its beliefs and traditions continue to this day. Christians believe that God is Trinity, the Creator and Lord of the universe, and they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that His life deeds are an example and guide for mankind.
Christianity, on the other hand, developed from Judaism, believed that Jesus was the Messiah and fulfilled the new covenant between God and mankind through his death and resurrection, atoning for the sins of mankind. The death and resurrection of Jesus is considered central to the Christian faith, and His redemption enabled mankind to regain God's grace and salvation. The resurrection of Jesus is also seen as a pivotal event in the Christian faith, proving that He is the Son of God with God's power and God's glory. Christians believe that Jesus is one of God and man, both man and God, and that He has both God's nature and human nature. This idea is known as "dualism," which holds that Jesus had both divinity and humanity, and this perfect combination enabled him to connect with God and humanity, become a central figure in the Christian faith, and refer to him as Christ (meaning "anointed" or "savior").
Islam: The history of Islam dates back to around the 7th century BC, and its beliefs and traditions continue to this day. Islam considers Allah to be the creator and master of the universe, they believe in prophets and scriptures, and follow the principles of monotheistic beliefs.
Islam developed from Judaism and Christianity, and they believed that Allah (Allah) was the only God, the creator and sustainer of all existence. Allah conveyed the final revelation to mankind through the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, which is regarded as the basis of Muslim beliefs and practices. The Qur'an was transmitted by Allah through the angel Jibreel to Muhammad, who recorded these words during his life and taught them to his followers. Therefore, Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last messenger of Allah, who delivered the words of Allah and conveyed the true teachings to mankind.
01 Poor Israelis were driven out of their homes several times
The origins of ancient Judaism can be traced back to the 18th century BC in the area of Israel and is one of the oldest religions in the world. Before the adoption of ancient Judaism, this group of people was called Israelites, and their scripture was called the Book of the Law, and later Christianity called the Old Testament.
According to historical records, in the 14th century BC, Jews went to Egypt for work and vacation and began to live in harmony with Egyptians, but later the number of Jews increased, and the Egyptians began to persecute Jews and turn them into slaves. Judaism believed that there was only one god called Jehovah, which was different from the faith of the Egyptians, so the Egyptians began to suppress the Jews.
Jews persecuted in Egypt began to rebel and struggle in order to maintain their faith and cultural traditions. Around 1223 BC, the Egyptian pharaoh took hostages from various Hebrew tribes in a castle to prevent the Jews from fleeing. At this time, Moses, the tribal leader of Judah, led the tribal people to the wilderness of Egypt and persuaded them to leave Egypt and go to a new land, Canaan (present-day Palestine), which was an important reason for the birth of ancient Judaism.
In conclusion, the origins of ancient Judaism are closely related to the Jewish experience in Egypt. The Jews persecuted in Egypt rebelled and struggled to preserve their faith and cultural traditions, which eventually led to the birth of ancient Judaism.
God could not bear the suffering of His Jewish people, so He sent Moses as a prophet to the Jews to lead the Jews back to God's Promised Land, probably in present-day Palestine Israel, and finally under Moses' leadership, the Jews who lived in dire straits fled Egypt.
When the Egyptian soldiers were chasing behind, Moses took his cane and stretched out to the Red Sea, splitting the sea in two, allowing the Jews to successfully cross the sea and get out of trouble, which is the famous book of Exodus.
On the way back to the city, Moses said wait for me, I will go and sign a contract, and then I climbed Mount Sinai, where Moses received the ten commandments of God's son, which are the 10 laws of God and the Jewish people, such as loyalty clauses, you cannot contract with anyone other than me, it is forbidden to worship idols, and so on.
In this way, Moses made a contract with God, and the contract stipulated that the Jewish license must abide by the contract, so that when the end times come, they can receive God's salvation, the point is that this contract is limited to Jews only, and no other people God recognizes.
After that, the Jews established their own Jewish kingdom, and popular kings such as King David and King Solomon appeared, but it did not last long, and then a stronger kingdom was born: the Kingdom of Babylon 2.0.
Why 2.0, because there was an old Babylonian kingdom before. In 597 B.C., the kingdom of Judea was destroyed by Babylonian 2.0, and the Jews were expelled from their homes and once again became slaves, the captives of Babylon.
Fortunately, 50 years later, Cyrus the Great of Persia destroyed the Babylonian Kingdom 2.0 and told the Jews that everyone could go home, and with the help of the Persians, the Jews were able to return to their homeland and lived a good life.
In 70 AD, the Romans captured Jerusalem and destroyed their second temple, after which the Jews suffered persecution and discrimination from the Romans until 135 AD, when they were forced to leave Palestine and become a nomadic people. Jews were scattered throughout the world, often suffering varying degrees of persecution and discrimination, such as the Holocaust in medieval Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, Jews began to resettle in Palestinian areas and actively fought for their independence and statehood. During World War II, Jews were again subjected to the Holocaust and genocide. Eventually, after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Jews gained their own land, and the country became the spiritual and cultural center of the Jewish people.
This trip abroad for further study is 2000, but they believe that we have a contract, God will not break it, even if we go abroad for further study, as long as we are tenacious and endure suffering, we will finally be saved.
The Bible is their covenant with God, and God will protect the Jews as long as the covenant is kept. The content of the contract is quite strict, in addition to the Ten Commandments, there are more than 600 precepts. In terms of eating alone, pork cannot be eaten, and the food in the sea can only be eaten scaly, so crabs, shrimp, eels and other human delicacies, they cannot eat.
02 The Emergence of Jesus - The Birth of Christianity
As mentioned earlier, this contract is only limited to Jews who can sign, so God will only save them when the end of the world comes, and then Jesus appeared, although Jesus is Jewish, but he believes that all human beings are equal, no matter who believes in God, can sign a contract can be saved.
As a result, Jesus was reported to have been sentenced to death by the Romans and crucified. Later, Jesus rose from his death and preached His teachings to believers, and Jesus was considered the Savior. The Greek pronunciation of the Savior is Christ, and these people are called Christians.
Because Christians refused to worship Roman gods, this was seen as a betrayal of the state. But in 313 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, outlawing Christianity, which was an important turning point in Christian history. In the following centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire and in 380 AD, the state religion of the Roman Empire.
During the Middle Ages, there was a split within Christianity. In 1054 AD, there was a great schism between East and West Christianity, becoming the two main denominations of Orthodox and Catholic. In the 16th century, Martin Luther initiated the Reformation, which led to the emergence of Protestantism. Since then, many different denominations and branches of Christianity have emerged, such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, etc.
Later, everyone compiled the teachings of Jesus into the New Testament, Christians believe that because of the appearance of Jesus, he helped everyone re-sign the covenant with God, and after concluding a new agreement to re-sign, now not only Jews can be saved, ordinary people can be saved as long as they believe in God, so the new covenant is called the New Testament.
So as far as Christians are concerned, the contract of Judaism is called the Old Testament, and Christians are scriptural, both old and new. Judaism, on the other hand, considers this to be fundamentally heretical.
03 In cave contemplation, Islam was founded
So how was Islam created?
The founder, Muhammad, was originally a merchant in a camel caravan, and in his early years he traveled around and met many Judaisms and Christians, Judaism is very united, while Christianity is equal for all, and both religions inspired him.
After the age of 40, Muhammad was meditating in a cave one day, when suddenly the archangel Gabriel appeared, saying that you are a prophet of God and have been subjected to Allah. Islam was founded by decree after the revelation of the name of the god whom Islam believed was the sole Creator of the universe).
Muslims believe that God is also their Allah, and it is true that they first signed a contract with the Jews, but the Jews did not keep the contract properly; Therefore, God chose Jesus as a prophet to pass on God's message to mankind, but these human beings established Christianity without permission, and Jesus is obviously just a prophet who does not have a godhead, but he is worshipped as a god, which we cannot accept.
So God re-enlisted Muhammad as a man to contract with the Arabs, and Muhammad was God's last prophet and would not sign with anyone again.
Islam also split into Sunni and Shia after Muhammad's death, and there was a major dispute between the two main factions over Muhammad's legitimate successor and leadership. Sunnis believe that Muhammad's most trusted and capable companion should serve as caliphate (representing Allah ruling Muslim society), while Shiites believe that Ali, the designated heir of Muhammad's family, should serve as caliph. This division has led to many civil wars and bloody conflicts, and continues to this day affecting the political, social and religious aspects of the countries of the Middle East. In addition to Sunnis and Shiites, Islam has several schools such as Sufis, each with different beliefs, rituals, laws, and traditions.
Islam has expanded rapidly in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and other places, and formed Islamic civilization, which benefits from the superior geographical location of the Arabian Peninsula, located at the intersection of the three major plates of Europe, Asia and Africa, which is convenient for cultural exchanges with various places; On the other hand, it benefited from the idea of "jihad" advocated by Muhammad, that is, spreading the way of Allah by force and giving material benefits or soul salvation to participants.
For Muslims, whether Old or New, they consider it scriptural, but their Koran is the best. Islam then rose along with the Arab Empire, and the two complemented each other.
effect
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have all had a profound impact on human history and culture. Jews made outstanding contributions to science, art, literature, commerce, and other fields, and had an important influence on Western thought and values.
Christianity played an important role in European history and contributed to the formation of Western civilization and modern society. Christianity has also spread globally and has been culturally communicated and integrated with different regions and peoples.
Islam has established a powerful and splendid civilization in the Middle East and has made remarkable achievements in science, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and other fields. Islam has also spread in regions such as Asia and Africa and has interacted and influenced local cultures and traditions.
In short, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all the world's three major monotheistic religions, which have a common origin, but also have different development and characteristics. There are links and conflicts between them, cooperation and competition, similarities and differences. They are all important components of human spiritual civilization and important factors in human history and reality.