Religion, in any form, will always be a hot topic that is strongly debated. Some will say that religion is just for the weak so they can have some kind of comfort. Some will say that religion is important but not any specific one. Others will say that they have the truth and, therefore, the others are unimportant. However, when we take an objective look at world religions, we must ask the question, "What separates one from the other?" This is an important question.
Each religion claims to have something that another one doesn't, but this isn't entirely true. If you take a look, you will notice that the world's major religions can all be similar at times. Let's look at a few.
There are three, main, monotheistic (one God) religions in the world; Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. There are even more religions when you add in polytheism. So what do any of these religions have (or claim to have) that none others have. What separates any of these religions from any other one?
Each of these beliefs all have many doctrines, many of which contradict other beliefs. So, if they contradict, can they all be right? Or is that too extreme? Wouldn't it be also too extreme to say that none of them hold the answer?
Let's briefly look at a few of things that separate religions.
Islam; not much more than a conglomeration of Eastern religions, Christianity, and Judaism, teaches that there is one God, Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet. They teach that Mohammed is the greatest and last prophet.
Islam, currently the fastest growing religion, had its start sometime in the early seventh century A.D. It started with a man named Mohammed. According to Mohammed, when he was forty years old, Allah came to him and told him that he was to be the messenger of Allah's true religion, Islam. He did this by entrusting His message, the Quran, to him. Over the next twenty plus years, Mohammed created the first Islamic state and made Islam into a popular, monotheistic religion with many converts.
"Those who believe (in the Quran), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians...and (all) who believe in God and the last day and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." The Qur'an, 2:62
They have a basic belief when it comes to salvation. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam does not teach that another's blood will atone for one's own sin. They teach that to do good (evidenced by the five pillars) and believe in God is the basis for salvation. They recognize Allah as merciful and does good to those who do good.
Islam, containing several sects, is now one of the world's largest religions with some 21% of the world as Muslim.
Judaism, according to the Bible, goes back to the creation of mankind, but technically became a religion with Abraham and his descendants around the 19th or 18th centuries B.C.
The Torah begins with the creation of the world and continues through history, through the law given to Moses, and so on. The Old Testament contains a history of the Jewish people until it goes silent several hundred years before Christ.
The 1st century A.D. and the destruction of the temple saw the rise of Rabbinical Judaism which reinterpreted the way Jews worshipped and obeyed the laws and, basically, lived. Although there are several sects of Judaism, the most popular is Rabbinical Judaism.
Atonement for sins is necessary. Methods of atoning for sins have changed since the conception of Judaism (and the world). In pre-Rabbinical Judaism a sacrifice would have been necessary, but now, depending upon the sect, atonement can consist of temple worship, petitions of forgiveness, making right old wrongs, Yom Kippur, and more. The highest good for the Jew is to keep the law, the Talmud and Rabbinical law.
Biblical Christianity saws its birth after the death of Christ during the 1st century A.D. It does not attempt to separate itself from Judaism, rather Christianity is supposed to be post-Messiah Judaism. Christians recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah (God in the Flesh) that the Jews are still looking for today. Christians see the Old Testament as relevant to them as it is relevant to the Jews, but believe that they are no longer in bondage to the law, that Christ came to free us from the shackles of sin.
Atonement for sins is possible through shed blood, but no longer through the shed blood of animals. Christians recognize that shed blood is crucial to cover sins (as the penalty for sins is death) and that Jesus Christ was the last sacrifice and is capable of covering the sins of all that call upon Him. Christians believe that, to Glorify God, we are to follow His commandments but realize that good works are not able to cover for the sins that have been committed.
According to the Bible, there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. The only way for us to have forgiveness is through the shed blood of the only Person Who does not deserve death (For He is without sin) but took it on Himself anyway in an act of Grace.
Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, and Biblical) is the worlds largest religion with some 33% of the world calling themselves Christians.
So, what separates these three? What makes anyone different from the other?
Could it be the works-based salvation that Islam and Judaism both preach but that Biblical Christianity does not? It's true. Christianity is vastly different from every other religion in that they preach there is nothing that sinful man can do that will save himself. Salvation is also not based on religion (What man can do) but it is based on a relationship (God reaching out to man). Christianity is also different in that they claim to have a Father-Child relationship with God. No other religion claims that. Christianity is also different in that Jesus Christ (unlike Mohammed, Confucius, Buddha, and many others) has never been find. He is the only figure in religion to have come back from the dead. Even Islam believes that Jesus was real, albeit they do not believe in the resurrection. They believe that He was not killed but taken up by God. But even Mohammed didn't have this privilege!
The Bible also separates itself from other religious texts in that it does not contradict itself. It was written by FORTY different writers over a span of fifteen-hundred years, and yet it has no flaws! The Quran (Written by ONE man), however, has many.
Jesus Christ separates Christianity from every other religion. Every other religion is based upon one's own works, what man can do to attain salvation. But Christianity realizes man can do NOTHING at all. Man is a sinful creature and must rely on their shed blood as punishment, except that God in the flesh, Jesus, died for OUR sins in order to forgive us if we ask it.
Religion; mans attempts to reach God. Christianity; God's attempts to reach man.