The Consecration of Jerusalem as Sacred Space in Christianity and Islam (Research Paper Sample)

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The Consecration of Jerusalem as Sacred Space in Christianity and Islam
Christianity and Islam have virtually the same history of their origin. Both religions have similarities occasioned by their origin association with Judaism in the ancient times of inception. Judaism is the mother of these two religions, and that explains the similarities that can be observed in the way of worship between Christianity and Islam. This paper will address the origin of Christianity and Islam, the location and design of architectural work of the Church of Holy Sepulcher and Dome of the Rock and the main tenets of each religion in reference to the city of Jerusalem.
After Prophet Muhammad died, the Islam leader, there has never been adequate evidence to reveal the origin of many architectural structures of Islam. However, numerous writers reveal that the cities of Mekkah, Madina and Jerusalem were considered the holiest places by Muslims in the ancient times, where some structures that explain important symbolism in the Islam religion are available. Some of the architectural structures are the Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and some mosques in the towns of Kuifah, Fustat and Basrah. The Dome of the Rock is believed to have been the greatest architectural work in the history of Muslims, which held great significance to the religion. History explains that prophet Muhammand could have built it to commemorate his reception of the main Muslim’s religion principles from God (Schein 175-195).
Dome of the Rock
Similarly, the “Dome of the Rock” also played an important role in the history of Christianity. This means that Christians also had their beliefs about the structure, which was virtually equivalent to the Muslims’ ones. To Christians, the structure poses as a sacred place but its reverence in Christians cannot be exploited fully since many Arabs who were Muslims occupied the area around it. This made the influence around the structure and its history to Christians dissolved completely. However, it is also imperative to understand that both Islam and Christianity are related to Judaism in different aspects. The connection among these three religions is brought by the explanation on the link of the three with the story of Abraham. Abraham had a son promised by God, but before then he was tempted and got a child with his servant. However, God answered Abraham’s prayers and fulfilled His promise by letting Abraham’s wife conceive, and give birth (Ousterhout 66-78).
Faithfulness of Abraham
Thus, Islam religion is based on the faithlessness of Abraham, which is depicted by his impatience to wait for the Lord and allowing his wife to get a kid with their servant. On the other hand, Christians are believers and faithful ones in reference to the Abraham’s story. However, Jews combines both religions by believing in God but realizing the faithlessness of Abraham and believing in neither Jesus Christ nor Prophet Muhammad. This means that Islam and Christianity stemmed from Judaism then followed their independent paths by revering Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ respectively as their saviors (Stager 183-194).
Abraham’ sons were Ishmael and Isaac, where Ishmael was the son who was born out of the affair with the servant, and Isaac being the promised son from God. Thus, it is argued that Islam is a product of Ishmael while Christianity and Judaism from Isaac. However, upon the birth of Jesus Christ, Judaism differed with Christianity because they did not believe Jesus Christ was the son of God. However, the different theories indicate Judaism as the main religion since Abraham was Jewish (Rabbat 13-18).
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was a significant symbol in Christianity that resembled Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion, the Entombment and the resurrection respectively. This was an important structure in the history of the Christian religion since it showed great significance in the life of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was a son of God and was sent to the world to save people from their sins. The sequence of events from the early life of the messiah to his crucifixion is articulated by the presence of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There are many architectural structures in the Church that also help push the message of Jesus Christ into people. Similarly, the “Dome of the Rock” serves the same purpose as that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was a stature that was built as a commemoration of the origin of Islam religion, which was brought about by Prophet Muhammad. These two structures play a critical role in the articulation of the Islam and Christianity theories that seek to identify specific beliefs, values and virtues (Stager 183-194).
Judaism
By tracing the origin of these religions, one understands that they were solely from Judaism. The Israelites of ancient times were Jewish and there practices can easily be equated to the current practices of modern day Christianity. However, the difference that rifts Christianity and Judaism is the fact that Jews did not believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. They only believed that Isaac was the only son who was brought to the world for a particular reason. In the end, God requested Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac to test his faith. This is what clearly marks the difference in these religions including the artifacts that support these theories. On the other hand, Islam is believed to have stemmed from the ancestry of Ishmael (Rabbat 13-18).
However, Christianity and Islam formed strong foundations that have enabled them spread to many parts of the world today. In comparison, the population of Muslims is less than that of Christians since the beliefs and values of Christians tend to have captured the souls of many. It is also critical to understand that among the Christians, there are different denominations. There are Catholics, protestants, Methodists and Anglicans. All these groups believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God who came to salvage people on earth from their sins. However, there are different beliefs that form the rifts among these denominations. This means that Christianity has been evolving, basing on different tenets. For instance, the Catholic Church originally stemmed from Rome, Italy. The Catholic Church believes that people must not be restricted to living alcohol-free lives. Responsible alcoholism is tolerated since they believe that Jesus Christ and his disciples took wine that was alcoholic during the last supper (Neuwirth para 2).
Catholism
In Jerusalem, the Jews had the Catholic way of lifestyle in upholding their Christian values and beliefs. This is because they tolerated some vices that cannot be accepted on other denominations of Christianity. However, Islam does not have the groups like Christianity since they only believe in one prophet, who is Muhammad. Islam has its root in Arabic countries and is not spread as much as Christianity all over the world. The tenets of Islam are arguably not human as a whole. For instance, the Holy war (Jihad) that Muslims believe in, is not human since it encourages murder. Muslims believe that when a believer kills a person during war, he or she is bound to go to heaven. According to history and the scope of human rights governing people today, Jihad is simply murder. The origin of Islam, which is Judaism did not encourage such acts. The subsequent prophets manipulated the beliefs and values to their own wishes, and some of the rules defy humanity. However, history shows the link among the religions and the sacred bit that human beings tend to infringe every day by coming up with religions that go against humanity principles (Rabbat 13-18).
In Judaism, Jerusalem has always been a holy city. It is depicted in early texts that the holy city remains to be a unique place of worship and memory. This notion holds an important place in Jewish culture, but fails to elucidate similar meaning in other religions; specifically Christianity and Islam as believers fail to hold a personal view and similar conviction of the city. Every year, many people visit Jerusalem to visit various sites that are termed as holy in the bible. These individuals are unlike tourists as they carry Bibles rather than archaeological materials and guides. The sites and places like Bethlehem, the “Mount of Olives” and Nazareth are places that are related with Jesus. The Christian Bible does not force individuals to make pilgrims to the holy city, however, since the third Century, Christians started to visit the holy land for prayer and investigation of various sites. Consequently, it was only after the fourth Century that pilgrimage to the Holy Land became a norm, because construction of churches and the uncovering of Tombs began. With its widespread, Church leaders reminded their followers that the Bible does not command Christians to make such visits (Markus 257).
In the middle ages, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was one of the holy places as a traditional site for Entombment, Resurrection and Crucifixion of Jesus. Its position is significant, as it is regarded as being at the center of the globe. Moreover, the events it commemorates are also very important to the Christian religion. It was a zone of pilgrimage for the Crusaders and it provide a sense of inspiration to them. The Holy Sepulchre holds a significance meaning to the various religions in the world while it history has resulted top numerous disputes among religious communities. Since the 4th C, the church has been in constant usage, due to its religious significance especially to Judaism (Bahat 26-45).
The history of the site that portrays much importance to the Jews, Christians and Muslims, as its history elucidates years of destruction and re4structuring of the site. The churc...