Monothiesm And The 3 Abrahamic Faiths

I've been listening and watching Rabbi Toviah Singer's youtube videos recently and have learnt some interesting things from him.

He spends a lot of his time answering questions from the public, such as "Does the Quran call Jews Apes", "Does the Quran hate Jews" etc etc.

Its a good place to hear a non-muslim who is well versed and capable of quoting all Abrahamic religious sources (the Quran, The Bible and Talmud) address many of the misconceptions of each religion.

I learnt today that Jews can pray in my Mosque and are welcomed to, whereas neither me nor a Jew are allowed to pray in a Church, unless its unitarian.

I also learnt that religios and practicing Jews regard Muslims as the closest thing to them, and give them the term "Benai Noah" and righteous Monothiestic Gentiles, whereas those who follow St. Paul are considered to be idol worshipers.

Are Christianity and Islam Idolatry

Interesting stuff, although the recurring mention of the trinity issue in Christianity always feels a bit odd - I'm from Portugal, where that religion is the default (the extent to which most people actually practice it is another topic on its own...), and I attended a catholic school for several years, but I always get the impression the the trinity issue is way more of a big deal among scholars/academics and maybe people of other religions than to most christians, whom at most are used to mentions of "Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit" in their prayers, which may roughly translate into a more distant notion of divine origin and will, a divine earthly presence during a very specific period in time, and divine influence on all things.

Then again, I get the impression that with all the observances that christianity disregarded as it split from judaism, perhaps the focus on compassion that I guess was sort of supposed to define christianity (my simplistic way of looking at monotheistic history is that judaism established a foundation, christianity (re)emphasized compassion and then islam (re)emphasized self-discipline) wasn't quite enough to define a distinct religious identity in its early days, and much arguing over concepts and founding principles must've followed...

Extra Credits recently did an interesting series on early christian history that covers a lot of ground I'd never even heard of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ZZeCDGHJE&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5BuNVhOt8Ls82Cr20yo6Y_p&index=7

I love extra credits - especially their videos on Gaming and MMO's.
Back on subject, I think you hit the nail right on the head; many Christians aren't practicing Christians and even fewer are knowledgeable and well versed in Christian fundementals and core beliefs.
If you were to ask the average Muslim or Jew about what differences there are between their religions they would likely be closer to fact than the average Christian. In addition what is considered religious by modern western christian standards might be considered the bare minimum by Jewish/Islamic standards in terms of knowledge of one's own beliefs and faith.

I like to watch Bart Erhman for such things because I enjoy listening to reason, rationality and common sense.

Bart talks about the New Testament's lack of credibility:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-cZncVmtIU

Its worse than that by far. The vast majority of American Christians are practicing heretics.

Although I am Jewish I have a STRONG interest, and background, in Christian theology. I am currently perusing this book:

Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics
Amazon but cheaper on Google Play.

We are cousins Blazed. Our roots are in Semitic peoples. Our original languages are Semitic languages and still so close. Our religions are both inclusive as vs. the exclusive Christian religions. Both our faiths revolve around a book, not symbols of a god.

Loona, the Nicene trinity is a bedrock of Christianity, and one of the three impossible things that Christians must accept on faith. Because of the trinity many religious scholars, some of them Christian, consider Christians polytheists. The Mormons are actually practicing polytheists as they consider the Father and the Son as separate beings and don't accept the Nicene trinity at all. (I have no idea where they fit the holy spirit in.)

Blazed, Yeah Catholics are idolators, but the Eastern Orthodox has gone through periods of iconoclasm as fierce and destructive as any the Moslems have, although shorter lasting. Yet they they follow Paul. They just do not accept the primacy of Peter's church.

Interesting side note. Christianity is often referred to as "the Paulian heresy" by theologists and historians, even Christian theologists and historians.

Bad Religion isn't that name already taken by a band...I smell a law suit !

Technically, we're all apes.

My favorite video of Richard Dawkins was him walking up to an black man and calling him an African ape, but I digress.

The real question is when is Dawkins going to evolve...

Funny that you should bring it up; the "Nicene" trinity is something that keeps coming up in the literature I am taking in about Christianity. Didn't know Jesus was voted into the office of God 300 years after his death. And I always thought that the Gospels were written by his Disciples. Had no idea that the new testament was in such a bad state as far as credibility is concerned.

I was watching another interview with Rabbi Daniel Lapin about Islam and Muslims and couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Basically how the 12 sons of Isa'ac would fufuil the legacy of making the one true God worshiped by the nations (which Muslims also believe and revere them as Prophets and Messangers) - whats odd is, for the first time, I heard a Jewish Rabbi speak of Ismael (Ishmael).

On the commonality between Jews and Muslims:

Is'ra'el and Is'ma'el
-So Is'ra'eel basically means to bring those to worship Eel. El = God

-Is'ma'eel basically means heard by or listened to by Eel = God or listen to God or listen to listened by God

Isma'a in Arabic means = to listen
El in Arabic means = THE in singular denotation and is sometimes used to specify "the one".

Then he spoke of how Ismael,although the elder of the two, would allow Isaac to lead. And this is interpreted by both faiths that Isaac's children would be prophets first.

Its funny how all 3 religions contest one thing, and one thing alone and that is the root of their differences; Jesus

Islam agrees with Christianity in Jesus being a man of God, just not God himself.

Islam agrees with Judiasm in that any religion that sees any man being appointed to the stature of God is idoltary.

I wish the world could just agree to disagree and get busy doing some good work.

The Holy Spirit is also viewed as a separate personage. They further break from the Nicene stance with their doctrine that the Father and Son have physical bodies.

This sketch always comes to mind when the topic of religious observances in christianity comes up, despite the exagerations:

I actually was going to learn about Islam watching PBS but they need to spice up Islam. It literally put me to sleep.

Islam needs to make some action movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger basically!

I think more people would be willing to convert to Islam if they had a better marketing team. It is kinda hard when ISIS is killing gays chopping people's heads off etc. Might want to reconsider some of that... but that's just a suggestion1

Give it time. Apple is rolling out their new decapitation ad campaign soon, so it could actually become trendy.

I can take anything to Market - even ISIS. I would put a Jurrassic Park/ Army of the evil dead vibe up, something along the lines of:

Forgot to ad, the above should be read by Dan Akroid, just like how he did the Ghost Busters Television Commercial in the movie.

This guy makes everything epic sadly he has passed on to the movie theater in the sky:

In a world full of jihad one man is determined to defeat the terrorists enter the movie voice guy:

before we get back on topic,

Not sure if this counts:



While the series' writer is a hijabi muslim, religion is far from something that dominates the comic's stories, but does make it feel a bit more relatable if it's a distant reality from your own - heck, in the very first pages a hijabi character mentions she's using her hijab against her parents' will, who see that as a phase. This was an interesting perspective to come across for me, since here in the Netherlands hijabis are a lot more common than they were back in Portugal, and I can't help but wonder about the weight that religion has in each one's life - I'm more used to religion not really being being a visible part of an individual's life outside their churches or homes...

I'm not a christian or anything, but COME ON!! This is even too much for someone like me. Its blatent and for all to see. All you who have been screaming conspiracy for years, I'm sorry I blew you off so easily and thought you were crazy. WTF IS THIS ***?!!

Yes and No. Its complicated.

I had a set of beliefs I thought were Islamic. I went down a path based on those beliefs. On that path I thought my pre-determined beliefs were being reinforced. However on a subconsciouse level (the best way I can put it) other beliefs were forming in parellel. At some point these two set of beliefs came into conflict with each other, and I had to choose to either remain in my comfort zone or step out and forward, requestioning everything with the newly attained realization I acquired. I decided to step out and forward.

10 years ago or more, I would have been one of those "muslims" on the streets of London telling women to cover up, telling people this was a halal only zone.

Today, that's as far from who I am as possible.

I don't see things in "us" and "them" anymore. I don't see creed, color, or one's claim to faith. I see people.

If you want to know what the big realization was that changed me from a hardliner to what can be viewed as a liberal by western terms, and Muslim in my own terms, it is this:

Judgement of who we are is reserved for God, and God alone.
We as humans can only judge each others' actions.
As deeply religious as I am, and as deeply as misguided as I was previously, I always had one fundemental belief that allowed me to climb or crawl out of darkness - and that was that God is all entirely good, all entirely merciful.

I worked in the news business for almost a decade. That decade was pretty bad for Arabs and Islam. 2000-2008.

When the second intifida in palestine happened, I was outraged. Everyday we were broadcasting images of Palestinians being beatdown. It was more than just rooting for the underdog. I grew up with a lot of misplaced and exiled Palestinians. They were my friends, and I married one.

In the context of having grown up in the US, and lived my adult life in the Arab world and seeing both sides.. one day I'm sitting down in the news gallery after a very bad broadcast, and my producer asks me whatsup? and I said I'm just so tired of seeing these people butchered like animals.. where is the world? how can this ***go on? I hate that pig Ariel Sharone.

My producer said something that left a very long lasting effect on me and put me on the path towards enlightenment - she said "at least the Israelis have an Ariel Sharone. To his people he is a lion, a protector, a gaurdian, a hero and he regards his people's blood as important and worth something. Where is our lion, our hero, our protector?

To sum it up, I learnt compassion and empathy. I could see the Israeli point of view. I know believe there is hope for peace, people just need to judge each other less and empathise more. Does that mean the likes of Ariel Sharone aren't my enemy? Obsolutely not. But that doesn't make him a demon, and it makes him human. And I could sit down and have a conversation with him, and relate to him, and maybe there would be an opportunity for me to make him see me and the Palestinians as I see him. Maybe he could change, just like I changed.

On the topic of the roots of modern Christianity, some recommended readings:
"The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance" - Bruce M. Metzger
And, if you can read Arabic:
"The correct reply to those who altered Christ's religion" (al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh) by Ibn Taymiyyah.

There are a lot of reasons why I left my faith but this is one statement that I could not believe while living in the world we do. Many religions have a response to the problem of evil but I have yet to hear one that was convincing to me.

Uhhhhh.... Look, from a very shallow level I can understand the notion of why people think that suffering is some kind of proof of no god, but it's actually a terrible argument.

Many religions see the afterlife as being something insanely better than this life, to a degree that no amount of money could ever match. Not only that, it's supposed to be permanent. As in, much, much longer than a few measly years of suffering. This both kills your death being totes super bad argument as all as the rich man argument.

There are some really good, thought-provoking arguments against religion in general. That wasn't one of them.

I hope there is an afterlife cause being surrounded by feminists...well you get the idea !