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The religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes called "Abrahamic religions", because they all accept the traditions of that God (Hebrew: Yahweh or YHWH; Arabic: Allah; Aramaic: Elah or Alaha) revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham.
The theological traditions of all three religions are thus to some extent influenced by the depiction of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible, and the historical development of monotheism in the history of Judaism.
The "Abrahamic God" in this sense is the conception of God that remains a common attribute of all three traditions. In all of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice omni-benevolence, omnipresence.
As the creator, he is also imagined transcendent, meaning that he is outside space and outside time and therefore not subject to anything within his creation, but at the same time as personal and involved, susceptible to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures with punishments or rewards.
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The development of monotheism during Classical Antiquity was a process of complex interaction between philosophical and religious traditions, specifically between the philosophical monotheism of The One in Platonism and the strict monolatrism of Second Temple Judaism, giving rise to syncretized traditions such as Hellenistic Judaism.
The split between Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism and Early/Proto-orthodox Christianity was a slowly growing chasm between Christians and Jews in the first centuries of the Christian Era. Even though it is commonly thought that Paul established a Gentile church, it took centuries for a complete break to manifest. However, certain events are perceived as pivotal in the growing rift between Christianity and Judaism. Some scholars propose a model which envisions a twin birth of Proto-Orthodox Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism rather than a separation of the former from the latter. For example, Robert Goldenberg asserts that it is increasingly accepted among scholars that "at the end of the 1st century CE there were not yet two separate religions called "Judaism" and "Christianity"".[1]
Daniel Boyarin proposes that nascent Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity were intensely and complexly intertwined. The theological split of Judaism and Christianity was complete with the development of the Athanasian Creed during the 4th century and its widespread adoption as Christian orthodoxy by the 6th century. The radical monotheism of Islam (tawhid) as formulated in the 7th century is a reaction to the preceding centuries of Christological debate. The Qur'an makes this explicit by commenting on Christian doctrine, as in e.g. sura 2:116,
For this reason, early Islam was long considered one of many Christological heresies in medieval Christianity,m e.g. by John of Damascus (born c. 676) in his Fount of Wisdom.[2] It was only with the Crusades of the High Middle Ages that Islam came to be considered a separate religion.
The conception of God in Rabbinical Judaism is strictly monotheistic. The God of Israel in the Torah is known by two principal names, YHWH being God's "personal name", used when God is depicted as an active character, while Elohim is used when God is depicted more as an impersonal or abstract principle. The proper name YHWH, probably historically "Yahweh" came to be avoided for tabuistic reasons in Second Temple Judaism, around the 3rd or 2nd century BC. From that time, occurrence of the name in scripture was replaced by Adonai "my Lord" in liturgy.
Judaism adheres to the view that people who follow the Noahide covenant, are said to worship the one true God with no need of conversion and no need to join a religion to fulfill man's duties to the creator.
Christianity originated within the realm of Second Temple Judaism and thus shares most of its beliefs about God, including his omnipotence, omniscience, his role as creator of all things, his personality, Immanence, trascendence and ultimate unity and supremacy, with the innovation that Jesus of Nazareth is considered to be in one way or another, the fulfillment of ancient prophecy and/or the completion of the Law of the prophets of Israel.
Most Christian denominations believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the incarnation of God as a human being, which is the main theological divergence with respect to Judaism and Islam. Although personal salvation is implicitly stated in Judaism, personal salvation by grace and a recurring emphasis in right beliefs is particularly emphasized in Christianity, often contrasting this with a perceived over-emphasis in law observance as stated in canon Jewish law, where it is contended that a belief in an intermediary between man and God is against the Noahide laws, and thus not monotheistic.
For most Christians, beliefs about God are enshrined in the doctrine of Trinitarianism, which holds that the three persons of God together form a single God. The doctrines were largely formalized at the Council of Nicea and are enshrined in the Nicaene creed. The Trinitarian view emphasizes that God has a will, and that God the Son has two wills, divine and human, though these are never in conflict but joined in the Hypostatic union. However, this point is disputed by Oriental Orthodox Christians, who hold that God the Son has only one will of unified divinity and humanity, a doctrine known as Miaphysitism.
A small minority of Christians hold non trinitarian views, largely coming under the heading of Unitarianism.
In Islam, God is believed to be the only real supreme being, all-powerful and all knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe[3][4] Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular (tawhid).[5] He is unique (wahid) and inherently one (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent.[6] According to the Qur'an there are 99 Names of God (al-asma al-husna lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of God.[7][8] All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine Arabic name.[9] Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Most Gracious" (al-rahman) and "the Most Merciful" (al-rahim).[7][8]
Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing his glories and bear witness to his unity and lordship. According to the Qur'an, "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" (Qur'an 6:103)[4]
God in Islam is not only majestic and sovereign, but also a personal God: According to the Qur'an, he is nearer to person than person's jugular vein. He responds to those in need or distress whenever they call him. Above all, he guides humanity to the right way, the "straight path".[10]
Islam teaches that God is the same God worshipped by the members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism (29:46).[11] This is not universally accepted by non-Muslims, as Islam denies the divinity of Jesus Christ as a son of God, Islam views that God does not have any offsprings or descendants, He created all things including prophets such as Jesus Christ. Most Muslims today believe that the religion of Abraham (which now split into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are of one source, which is The Almighty God.
The Bahá'í Faith is a new religious movement that split off Islam in 1844. It considers itself the natural descendant of a chain of revelations that supersede not only Abrahamic religions, but all other world religions as well, reinterpreting all these and its respective founders as manifestations of the will of God.
Though inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of the events in this world, with a mind, will and purpose. Bahá'ís believe that God expresses this will at all times and in many ways, including through a series of divine messengers referred to as Manifestations of God or sometimes divine educators.
In expressing God's intent, these manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world.Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, nor to create a complete and accurate image.
Bahá'u'lláh often refers to God by titles (e.g. the All-Powerful, or the All-Loving). Bahá'ís believe that this anthropomorphic description of God amounts to Bahá'u'lláh, in his capacity as God's manifestation, abstracting him in language that human beings can comprehend, since direct knowledge of the essence of God is believed impossible.
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