Modern Religion Christianity and Islam Study Guide
Islam Lecture #1: Muhammad
 The word Islam means “submission”
 Monotheistic creed: There is no god but God and Muhammad is his Messenger
 Muhammad: Last of a continuing chain of prophets
 Prophet: one who receives communication from God
 Islam, Christianity, and Judaism trace its ancestry to the patriarch Abraham
 Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaabah
 Kaabah means the cube; it houses a black meteorite
 The word Allah means “the God”
 Muhammad’s name means “the praised one”
 The nature of the society into which Muhammad was born was
o made up largely of nomads and merchants
o a region that sank into historical oblivion
o the people turned away from Abraham’s monotheism and into polytheism
 Muhammad’s job before he became a prophet was a caravan driver
 Hadith: stories about Muhammad’s life and sayings
 Khadija: Muhammad’s wife and biggest supporter during the early years
 Night Journey (Night of Ascension): When Muhammad traveled to Jerusalem, ascended
to heaven and came into the presence of God
 Hijra: the migration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina
o Important because it marked the change of Islam’s persecution to its
acceptance
o Marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar
 Caliph: the chief Muslim religious and political ruler, regarded as successor to the
prophet
 The Sunni and Shia sects split over a dispute about succession after Muhammad
 The Sunnis believe that Abu Bakr was rightful successor and following caliphs are elected
by consensus
 The Shias believe that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son in law was the rightful caliph
and Muhammad’s direct descendants would be his successors
 The Sunnis is the larger, more mainstream group within Islam
 The Shiites are more hierarchically organized than Sunnis and favor theocratic states
guided by religious leaders, like Iran.
 The Shiites believe that only members of Muhammad's family were legitimate
successors to him, while Sunnis felt that established clergy were acceptable successors
to Muhammad.
Lecture #2: The Qur’an and Central Teachings (Five Pillars)
 Qur’an literally means “reading” or “reciting”
 The Qur’an is the central text of Islam (Know the central texts of other religions) I will do
a The Qur’an is to Islam as “blank” is to “blank” type question
 The Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad over a period of 22 years
o The Qur’an is the eternal, uncreated, final word of God
 Sura: a chapter of the Qur’an
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The Qur’an makes references to Hebrew prophets including Adam, Moses, Abraham,
and Jesus
The two major human sins are idolatry and atheism
jinn: creatures with free will, made from smokeless fire, a lower class than the angels
the Fire: the destiny of unrepentant non-believers
Janna or Paradise: the afterlife for the good
Five Pillars: Few People Cheer for Pizza (faith, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage)
Pillar #1-Faith: believing and professing the Shahadah, the creed that states the unity of
God and the messengership of Muhammad
Pillar #2-prayer
o 5 times a day
o minaret: the tower from which the muezzin calls people to prayer
o muezzin: the chanter who calls people to prayer; the Christian equivalent
would be the church bell ringer
o Friday noon, there would be a prayer service in the mosque
o Imam: prayer leader; the name means the one who stands in front of the
congregation; function includes giving the sermon during Friday noon prayer
o Ablution: ritual washing done before prayer
o Prayer must be done facing the Kaaba in Mecca
Pillar #3: charity (or almsgiving)
o Required to donate 2 ½ percent of accumulated wealth to needy Muslims
Pillar #4: fasting
o Only required to fast during the month of Ramadan
o Must abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset
o Fasting liberates a person’s body from the heaviness of food, the faster is
more spiritually sensitive and teaches us not to allow anything from
distracting us from God
Pillar #5: hajj, the pilgrimage
o All Muslims are expected to do this once in their lifetime
o Rituals include walking around the Kaaba seven times, drink water from the
Zamam well, hold a noon to sunset prayer vigil in the field of Ararat, throwing
stones at pillar which represent the Stoning of the Devil
Sharia: Translated as "path," ________ is the whole body of Islamic law, which guides a
Muslim's life.
Hijab: a veil that covers the head and chest
the veiling of women
o Not specifically addressed in the Qur’an
o Practiced long before Muhammad was born
o Adopted from Byzantine societies
o Originally practiced by upper class women
Christianity #1: The Bible and Jesus Christ
 Jesus was born a Jew in Roman-occupied Palestine
 The Bible of all Christian churches contains the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the
New Testament
 Gospel: a word that means “the good news”; the first four books of the New Testament
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The central concern for all four gospels is Jesus’ suffering and death
Matthew, Mark and Luke are the synoptic gospels; they are called synoptic because they
are so similar in content
Synoptic literally means “seen together”
John is the non-synoptic gospel; it is less concerned with following the life of Jesus and
more about seeing Jesus as the eternal Son of God
Matthew is the gospel written primarily for Jewish believers
Matthew mainly speaks of the Messiah (the “anointed one”; the promised deliverer of
the Jewish people)
Luke is primarily written for Gentile audiences
Common era: the period since the assumed year of Jesus’ birth
Jesus’s mother was Mary who was a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit
Jesus’ name means “God saves”
Beatitudes: ten “blessed are” statements that were given during the Sermon on the
Mount
Parables: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in
the Gospels; often uses very earthly examples such as farmers, coins, and sheep
Jesus’s enemies included Sadducees, Pharisees and Scribes
Last Supper: took place on Passover, he gave instructions for the communion or
Eucharist; a ceremony of bread and wine
Baptism: a Christian rite of initiation; can involve immersion of water or sprinkling
Passion: refers to the suffering and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus
Pontius Pilate: the Roman governor that sentenced Jesus to death
Good Friday: the day of Jesus’s crucifixion
Christianity #2: The Church and Doctrine
 Pentecost: a holiday that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’s
disciples
 Paul was on his way to arrest Christians in Damascus, when he encounters the risen
Christ in the form of a blinding light and heavenly voice.
 Constantine permitted Christianity after converting to the religion
 Doctrine: a belief taught by the church
 Trinity: the union of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one God
o Muslims rejected this idea of trinity right away
 Creed: profession of faith
 Nicene Creed (Nicaea): the early council that wrote the creed that affirmed that the Son
(Jesus) was the same as God
 Great Schism (1054): the medieval division of Christianity into the Western Roman
Catholic branch and the Eastern Orthodox branch. The following were factors that
caused the schism
o Eastern Christianity was more prone to theological disputes (threats of
heresies); west was more prone to disciplinary disputes
o Eastern Christianity revolved around multiple centers including the ancient
patriarchs of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople; Western
Christianity revolved around the bishop of Rome (the Pope) to settle disputes
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o The east was deeply mystical, where as the West took a more moral and legal
direction
Orthodox: correct belief or doctrine
Icons: stylized images, usually paintings, of Jesus, Mary, and the saints
o Emperor Leo launched the campaign of iconoclasm (deliberate destruction of
religious images) because he thought that the veneration of religious images
was sinful
Papacy: jurisdiction of the Pope
o Apostolic succession: bishops receive their authority through an unbroken
line of bishops that reaches back to Christ himself
Apostle: One of Jesus’s twelve disciples; also an early preacher
o Paul was one of the most influential apostles
excommunication: when a member is excluded from church membership
inquisition: a judicial inquiry into a person’s beliefs to determine whether they are
heretical
indulgences: literally means kindness-towards; a certificate issued by the pope that is a
remission of time spent in purgatory
purgatory: a state of temporary punishment in the afterlife
Martin Luther: the most influential reformer
o His central problem was his personal struggle over how a righteous God
could forgive his sins
o Posted 95 theses on the Wittenburg door
o Was excommunicated by the pope because he disputed the legitimacy of
indulgences
o Luther’s last act of reform was to translate the Latin Bible into German so
ordinary people could read it
Priesthood of believers: Luther argued that we don’t divide Christians into two classes:
the spiritual clergy (popes, bishops, priests) and secular laypeople
Sacraments: ceremonial rituals; Catholics had seven sacraments; Luther taught only two
sacraments: baptism and Eucharist
Eucharist: also known as Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion or mass; involves eating the
bread (body of Christ) and drinking wine (blood of Christ)
Martin Luther’s work had an enthusiastic popular support because of the following:
o He attacked the sale of indulgences that the poor could not afford.
o Many Christians shared his concern about the corruption of the Church
o Many German princes saw this as a way to break away from the Church
o He supported the translation of the Bible from Latin into the vernacular
languages
Protestantism: the new branch of Christianity begun by reformers such as Luther, Calvin
and Zwingli
Denomination: one of the many branches of Protestant churches
Predestination: the doctrine that some are saved or elect by God to go to heaven, and
others are predestined to be damned; taught by John Calvin
Central belief of Christianity is the divine Sonship of Jesus
Jesus is the savior of the world; his name means “God saves”
Core of the gospel “good news message”
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Humanity is sinful
We have chosen disobedience
Through faith in Jesus, we can be washed of our sins and adopted
Redemption/atonement: the belief that the death of Jesus has paid the price
of God’s justice for all wrongdoing