Patriarchal Religions

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  Religion is belief in God in a particular manner, which is particularly based on Gods will, what were His intentions when He created us, the universe? Religion involves a lot of spiritualism, observing various beliefs and commands, which are more like a behavior code that humans should follow as a sign of obedience to God or rather, follow given laws as stipulated by the word of God. The laws are identified as sharia in Islam, Halakhah in Judaism and the canon law in Christianity. Patriarchal simply means having a male dominant environment or rather male biasness. That means in the case of patriarchal religions the males dominate giving them the top seats. Obligating them to make major decisions and fully be in charge. It is very evident especially in the three religions that are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The general overseers’ positions are given to male. The Christian religion is trying to embrace women and placing them as leaders though not all denominations approve the same

For instance the Roman Catholic who have their overall general as the Pope. They have literally refused to have women into priesthood the best they can do is have them as sisters or nuns. Judaism is also trying to incorporate female leaders but at a very slow pace. The Muslims do not allow their female counterparts into the mosque during their worship days.      The patriarchal religions can also be refereed to as Abrahamic religions. They differ as well as resemble one another in one way or the other. According to Eden (2006), Judaism refers itself as the religion of the offspring of Jacob the founder being Abraham or Moses. As for Christianity, it started as a section of Judaism, which was called Jewish Christianity, later it became a separate religion after differing on some beliefs its founder being Jesus. Islam was founded by Muhammad based on teachings of the Quran. The Christians use the bible, which also has the New Testament whereas the Jews use the bible without the New Testament and the Islam use the quran.

The three religions have some common factors such as monotheism, which is, to believe in one God. They believe in one God though they refer to Him using different names. All the same, Christianity differs slightly in that they believe in one God yes but they also believe in the holy trinity, which entails God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit. That is to say, God in three.

The Abrahamic religions also believe in one eternal God maker of heaven and earth who also functions as the supreme ruler. They believe that He gives His divine will through His holy word, which He was able to have it written by making use of prophets. He gave them visions as well as spoke to them giving them the ability to write the same. Also that there shall be a judgment day that will define where one will spend his eternity based on his conduct here on earth. People shall go either to heaven or to hell, heaven being for those who obeyed His commands whereas hell will be for those who disobeyed Him. The religions also resemble in that they believe in the word of God and that they have to make choices in life between good and evil concerning obeying God. There is also the story of creation to resurrection and finally judgment. There also were town that were very symbolic to the three religions. For instance, Jerusalem is a holy city for the Judaism believers, as for the Christians it was where Jesus was brought for dedication. In the Islam perspective, it was the city of David and Christ. They also have festivals that are also part of their religion. The religions also have similarities when it comes to issues pertaining to food. Judaism and Islam have very strict measures when it comes to the mater of food. The Christians also have some restrictions such as they are not allowed to eat blood but as compared to the other two Christianity is a bit loose on issues concerning food.

Worship is showing devotion, acknowledgment, praising and serving God. The Patriarchal Religions worship God in various ways. For instance, they worship God through their giving’s. Whereby they give offerings, tithe and first fruits of their produce. They also observe the Sabbath day, which is a day that is kept as a rest and worship day. The only difference is that the days differ. For instance, Christians have Sunday as their Sabbath day, Jews have Saturday and the Muslims have Friday as their Sabbath day. However, the Muslims do not refer to the Sabbath day as a rest day but rather a special worship day. They do not believe that God got tired after creation. They also have fasting periods to help intensify their talk and relationship with God. They all pray to God. Among the differences in worship are they pray to God but the Christians pray using the holy trinity whereas Judaism and Islam pray to a singular God as per Rolfe (2004). Their Sabbath day is not a common day they differ.  The clergy in all the three religions differ in names. For instance, the Muslims refer to their clergy as Imams, the Jews call them Rabbi while Christians call them Bishops, minister, priests or pastors. The Muslims and Christians believe that Jesus died by crucifixion but the Jews believe Jesus did not die but rather ascended to heaven during cruxification.only Christians believe that Jesus resurrected but the latter do not believe so. The three religions work hard to spread the good news through various ways. Christianity has managed to have the largest number of followers followed by Islam then Judaism. Judaism encourages conversion but does not have an active use of missionaries as Christians do. All the same, one is able to convert and become a Jew if he follows a given set of laws that he will be subject to. All the same, they put emphasis on being righteous.  , as they prefer a good person who is not a Jew other than a Jew who is labeled as being bad for the fact that he is not righteous. Christians put a lot of emphasis on missionary works so that they convert as many as possible in the whole world. Many churches, mosques and synagogues are being established as worship centers hence people have easy access of such centers. They are also using technology such as computer or telecast, whereby they have programs based on their religion, which preaches or teaches the word of God, discussions on that particular religion, they also come up with outreach programs such as open-air teachings. Giving out of written articles that emphasize on those religions. Articles such as magazines. In addition, establishing projects such as schools, digging of bore holes as an initiative to assist the society. This works as a good reminder to the society of a given religion. The religions are also taught in schools as part of the curriculum. The students are exposed to such religion study and are tested on the same. All the same, the students are only subject to take a religion study that he or she is part of. For instance if the student is a Christian the student will only take Christian religious education and not Islam or Judaism Sometimes due to differences disharmony has risen but if they are to spread the good news, they have to beat their differences as said by McClatchy, (2011).