Books of God: The Three Abrahamic Religions, Their Common Truths, and Why They Need to Unite

By Michael HagHighat

There are 4.4 billion Christians, Muslims, and Jews living on planet Earth. Imagine if they were united in how their interests are represented in world affairs. Books of God examines the remarkably common truths of the three great Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and proposes a way forward for these great religions to come together and assert themselves as a united front in the global order. By being united, these three great religions can work alongside our governments and commercial enterprises to solve many of the world's problems including hunger, poverty, racial and gender inequality, injustice, and environmental degradation. In the process God and living godly will become a more significant part of the fabric of our daily lives, and how world affairs are conducted with us and not without us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Truth Spiritual Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jan 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662921827

Book preview

I

PREFACE

Since the beginning of our recorded history, the central messages of God as conveyed through God’s prophets and apostles have been simple, constant, and timeless:

• believe in God as our singular Creator, and no other god;

• do good while on this earth; and

• believe in the hereafter when we return to our Creator and face judgment for our actions.

Yet, through the passage of time, the practice of religion has become nuanced, despite intending to follow these simple yet fundamental pillars of believing in God. Religions are nuanced. Believing in God is not. The practice of religion is supposed to, and in many instances does, increase faith. But the nuances of each religion should not be at the expense of altering God’s central messages or excluding other people.

After all, God’s wish for all of us is unity. In this context, unity does not require sameness. Rather, it is an acknowledgement that we are all created equal in the eyes of our Creator, and that it is only through our deeds that we are differentiated yet part of the same magnificent universe created by God.

Though I am not a theologian or a religious scholar, as I read passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Quran, I am convinced that we not only pray to the same God, but that God’s message for all of us as conveyed by Moses, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad is the same and is consistently confirmed through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran.

The purpose of this book is not to delve into the theological framework of each religion, debate the merits of their arguments, or analyze through the lens of history the contradictions within each religion and among them. Rather, my purpose is to put forth the simple common truths of believing in God and the core principles behind living in a godly way as conveyed through these religions, and also succinctly point out their differences.

My hope in writing Books of God is to bring to light, from a common person’s perspective, the remarkably similar messages of God throughout time. My further hope is that by recognizing the commonality of God’s messages (despite the differences or the interpretive nuances of each religion), people of all faiths and their religious leaders will become more united and recognize that through unity with one another, we can achieve unity with the One, the Almighty. Amen.

II

JUDAISM

Judaism as a faith believes in a singular God who first revealed himself to Abraham, the patriarch of all Abrahamic religions, and the subsequent Jewish prophets. The most prominent of these prophets was Moses.

Beyond faith, Judaism is a total way of life and is a tapestry of theology, law, and numerous cultural traditions brought about by a 4,000-year history of participation in Judaism by different ethnicities, first in concentrated regions and then in vast geographies.

It is therefore not surprising that despite a total population of fewer than 20 million Jews compared to a total of 4.4 billion Christians and Muslims, the influence of the Jewish faith and culture on the whole of the world is so profound.

Judaism has traveled through many geographies, such as the ancient Middle East, where Abraham settled in Canaan (now roughly Israel and Lebanon), Egypt, the promised Holy Land of Jerusalem, Babylon, and beyond to other parts of the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Equally, Judaism has traveled through the historical periods of biblical Judaism (20th century–4th century BCE), Hellenistic Judaism (4th century BCE–2nd century CE), Rabbinic Judaism (2nd century–18th century CE), and Modern Judaism (c. 1750 to the present).

Judaism has experienced triumphs and struggles as it has traveled through so many geographies and historical periods. These triumphs and struggles have resulted in numerous and various movements within the religion, most emerging from Rabbinic Judaism. In modern times, the primary Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism.

The Torah, which comprises the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) is part of the Hebrew Bible known as Tanakh. The Torah narrates the history of mankind from the beginning of time. It starts with Abraham, the patriarch of all Abrahamic religions, being tested by God and submitting to him, and culminates in Moses encountering God on Mount Sinai. God reveals his laws and commandments to Moses, the most prominent of which is, I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2–3). This is part of God promising the Jewish people to make them a great nation, and the Jewish people promising to uphold God’s laws and the covenants made to him.

In terms of a fundamental belief in God, Jews believe in the singular God. Believing in no other God, they do not subscribe to the Trinity of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as God. Some Jews do not believe in the hereafter in the same sense as Christians or Muslims do. Some Jews do not believe in the hereafter at all.

Although the tenets of Judaism beyond the Ten Commandments are not as well defined as those of Christianity and Islam, the core principles are the same, including showing love for people and the betterment of life on earth.

It is interesting to note that in their history of being persecuted, Jewish people enjoyed relative peace and autonomy, first in Babylonia during the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great, and then, post-arrival of Islam, in Muslim-dominated parts of the Middle East, Africa, Spain, and most recently (50 years ago) in Iran (modern Persia before its Islamic