Key Concepts in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Torah

The first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible.

Tanakh

The whole Hebrew Bible (Law, Prophets, Writings).

Talmud

Rabbinic discussions on how to live out the Torah.

Problem in Judaism

Breaking the covenant with God.

Solution in Judaism

Faithfulness to the covenant through Torah, worship, and repentance.

Covenant

A binding promise between God and the Jewish people.

Trinity

One God in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Jesus in Christianity

Fully God and fully human; Savior and Messiah.

Problem in Christianity

Sin separates humans from God.

Solution in Christianity

Salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection, by grace through faith.

Shared features of Christianity and Judaism

One God, Hebrew Scriptures, covenant ideas, prophets.

Christianity's rejection of Judaism

The binding authority of Mosaic ritual law.

Islam

Submission to God.

Muhammad

The final prophet who received the Qur'an.

Qur'an

God's final revelation in Arabic.

Problem in Islam

Pride and forgetting God.

Solution in Islam

Submission to God and practicing the Five Pillars.

Five Pillars

Shahada (faith), Salat (prayer), Zakat (charity), Sawm (fasting), Hajj (pilgrimage).

Jihad

Struggle — inner spiritual striving and, sometimes, defense of the faith.

Three main branches of Islam

Sunni, Shia, Sufi.

Shared features of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

One God, prophets, sacred texts, law/ethics, worship, history with a purpose.