Salt Lake Community College

What Brings Religions Together?

Jose Rodriguez
World Religions RELS2300
Suzanne Jacobs
12/9/16

Since the beginning of time I can imagine religion being a hot topic of conversation and
today it still is. It makes one wonder where they all came from, why and how they started. I grew
up pretty religious as a child, but I only knew and learned about one type of Christian church. It
might astound my reader that until about the age of thirteen I hadnt realized there was more than
just one religion in the world. I just thought the name of Christianity was changed as it went
through time, from Jew, to Catholic, to Christian. When I came to the realization that there is
more than just the one religion that I was practicing, it confused me. What I mean by that is I
thought to myself why in the world was there more than one religion, how was it possible that
not everyone believed in Jesus Christ, and those of other Christian faiths, why couldnt they see
that Christ only had one church. It came to the point where I just ignored other peoples beliefs
throughout my time in middle school until the end of high school. However that mindset that I
had later on did change. When I had the opportunity of performing a religious service for two
years for my church, I had learned and seen many different types of religions. Talking to
individuals with different beliefs made me interested in learning their beliefs and why they
believed in them. I would think most people who have explored different religions have done so
to see which of them they should practice. But for me I chose to learn about different religions to
see how they were connected. That is why I decided to take a world religion class, and at the end
I have come to the conclusion that ultimately the different religions of the world have a lot in
common. I will compare and contrast some major religions found around the world such as
Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism to prove and shows that ultimately religions share the same
purpose.

Texts
All religions have some sort of text they use as guidelines to their beliefs. It is one of the
main sources they use to learn about how to practice their religion. For Christianity, its the
Bible, New and Old testament. It contains for them the record of how God created men, the
commandments He has given unto men, as well as the will of what he wants for His children on
earth. For Hinduism, the main sacred text they use is the Vedas, along with the Bruhmanas,
Aranyakas, and Upanishads. According to orthodox Hindus, the Vedas are not the work of any
humans. They are considered [] have been revealed, rather than written by mortals (The
Vedas, Pg 75). In them are collections of sacred hymns and chants. The Bruhmanas contain the
knowledge of performing sacred rituals, the Aranyakas are forest treaties by sages, and the
Upanishads are the teachings of spiritual leaders in the Hindu religion. Judaism uses the
Tanakh/Torah and Talmud, as a main source of how to worship and contains the laws that God
gave them. Ahavat Olam Prayer says, You have taught us the Torah and its Mitzvot. You have
instructed us in its laws and judgements. Therefore, O lord our God, when we lie down and when
we rise up we shall speak of Your commandments and rejoice in Your Torah and Mitzvot. For
they are our life and the length of our days; on them we will meditate day and night(Ahavat
Olam, Pg 282). The Tanakh is entire Hebrew bible, which is basically like the Christians Old
Testament books. The Torah are specifically the first five books of Moses which contain the
Jewish laws and the 613 commandments they follow (The Law Pg 280). The Talmud is the oral
law, which was passed down in the beginning just by men memorizing it and telling others, then
later written down.

Practices
I have found that these religions have certain beliefs, rules, guidelines, or whatever you
wish to call them that brings them a sense of happiness, peace, and security. For example, for
Christianity they believe by following the words and commandments of God they will be able to
live in a sense of paradise in Heaven with God. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in
my love; even as I have kept my fathers commandments, and abide in his love. These things
have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John
15:10-11). Here is where John an apostle of Jesus Christ has said Jesus promised us as we follow
the commandments of God we will have joy; this can be a reference to joy on earth and in
heaven. Similarly, the Hindus as well need to practice certain things to reach their ultimate goal
Moksha or liberation. In the Hindu belief or how they preferred their religion to be called
Sanatana Dharma, how they achieve that ultimate goal is living by the law of Karma, which is
basically what you give out is what you receive. As well as not only by living the rules of Karma
but by having good Dharma (carrying out ones responsibilities), Artha (having success in the
world), and Kama (love or physical pleasures). If they do all this, at the end hopefully they will
have moksha or in other words liberation. With those active in the Jewish faith, like Christianity,
they must try to follow the commandments of God found in the Torah, such as obeying the Ten
Commandments, reading from the Torah, and praying.
Prayer is another common practice found in these religions. They may not all pray in the
same way, but they all pray to a type of deity. In Christianity that would be Heavenly Father or
God, in Judaism it would be Adonai, and in Hinduism it would be Brahman, Shiva, Vishnu, etc.
In these religions prayer involves rituals. For traditional observant Jews, the morning begins
with a prayer before they open their eyes to thank God for restoring the

Soul (Sacred Practices Pg 284). For week day prayers for men, women can but are not expected
to, put small leather boxes containing biblical verses on their foreheads, upper arm and heart as
they say their prayer. With Christianity depending on which denomination you are looking at,
some pray out loud in a group, some pray silently in their mind, some recite written prayers, and
some women are required to cover their heads as they pray. (2 years church service) For Hindus
Orthodox brahmins and also common people observe many days of fasting and prayer,
corresponding to auspicious point in the lunar and solar cycles or times of danger. (Fast, Prayer,
and Auspicious Designs Pg106). Like I mention above some religions pray to more than one
deity, and Hinduism is one of these religions. The way I have seen them pray is by the
congregation following the Pujar in prayer and repeating what he was saying. (Sri Ganesha
Hindu Temple site visit). As well some Hindus will pray using the Vedic Mantras, which are
basically energy based sounds. Something else I have notice with these religions, they have a
type of singing worship associated with them. When Hindus or Jews say their prayers, or read
from their text they sing it. Some Christians as well sing as they pray or read their text, like with
Catholics when they read in Latin. (site visits)
Along with practices, these religions have a type of ritual that is performed for
individuals showing they are becoming full members or entering in to this specific religion. In
the Christianity faith, this would-be baptism. Again depending on which denomination you are
looking at, this can be preformed from infancy until old age. This is when you are cleansed by
water accepting Jesus as your savior. In the Jewish faith you are circumcised at the age of 8,
where the male (and only males) foreskin is cut off showing they are entering into
the covenant of Israel. For Hindus they have a ceremony called the Sacred Thread Ceremony,
When a boy from an upper-caste Hindu family reaches a certain age he may be formally initated

into vedic rites and invest with a sacred thread (Sacred Thread Ceremony Pg 102). This
basically begins the boys Brahmacharya/ student phase in life, and during the ceremony he is
taught how to perform certain rituals like Havan, Pranayama, and Gyatri mantra.
Gatherings:
Also, these religions have gatherings of the members to sites where they worship or
perform rituals. I know this to be true because I have been to some of these gatherings of these
three religions. The Christianity churches have different names for where they gather chapels,
cathedrals, meetings houses, etc. In a Christian service, typically they sing praises to God,
perform certain ceremonies like Eucharist, and listen to a sermon about the scriptures or
teachings of Jesus Christ. Jews have synagogues for a place of worship. In them as well they sing
praises to their God and read from the Torah, and say a specific prayer to be cleansed for their
sins (Rubbinic Judaism Pg 262). The Hindus have temples in where they meet, like a Mandir/
Hindu temple. Inside they have different shrines to their different Gods. Depending on the day of
the week, it is determined what Abhisheka Puja/ Washing ritual they perform to what God. They
do all types of rituals inside to worship their God, along with prayer.
Along with each of these religions you will find a type of spiritual leader. In the
Christianity religion, depending in which denomination, they have Popes, Prophets, Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons. Usually its a Priest who is leading a basic service at one of their meeting
houses. With Judaism, they Rabbi leads the worship at their synagogues, and at times their can
be more than one. For Hindus they have Pujari and Gurus. Pujari are the ones who
usually led their temple service. Gurus are considered to be wise man who are spiritual teachers.

Teachings:
There is something really beautiful that I had also found while studying these religions.
There was a similar teaching that they all had; to show love to others and to treat them well. For
Christianity Jesus Christ said, This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have
loved you (John 15:12). Similarly Judaism teaches, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
(Lev 19:18). Likewise, Hinduism teaches To turn someone away from your door without
feeding him or at least offering him a drink of water is a great sin, for every person is the deity
incarnate (Castes, Duties, and Life Goals pg 101). The Hindus or the people of the Vedas
follow the law of Karma, what you do unto others will come back at you. So, in order for them to
be treated well, they in turn need to treat others the same way.
As you can see there are a lot of similarities in these religions. The members of these
religions may worship in different ways, go to different places of worship, and have different
named Gods, but they are ultimately the same. They all practice their religion for their reward,
which basically is happiness at the end of their lifes. In my eyes as well, I feel like we are
worshiping the same Ultimate power who had created us. Brahman, Jehovah, Heavenly Father
whatever you want to call Him is the same Eternal being. We as humans have learned and been
taught to worship Him in different ways, but when it comes down to it, we are worshiping Him
together.

Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (The Vedas, Pg 75)
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Ahavat Olam, Pg 282).
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (The Law Pg 280).
Kings James Version, Bible (John 15:10-11)
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Sacred Practices Pg
284).
(2 years church service)
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Fast, Prayer, and
Auspicious Designs Pg106)
(Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple site visit)
Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple, Congregation Kol Ami, The Cathedral of the Madeleine (Site Visits)
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Sacred Thread
Ceremony Pg 102).
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Rubbinic Judaism Pg
262).
Kings James Version, Bible (John 15:12).
Kings James Version, Bible (Lev 19:18).
Fisher, Mary Pat Living Religions 9th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015 (Castes, Duties, and
Life Goals pg 101).