Religious Beliefs
Senior 4 · General and Religious Studies
Religious Beliefs
Lesson 1 of 5
40 min
Figure 1 shows the world's religious groups in 2020. Jews are the smallest bar: about 14.8 million people, 0.2% of humanity. Yet without Judaism there would be no Christianity and no Islam as we know them. Jesus was a Jew who read the Torah in the synagogue; the Qur'an names Moses more than any other prophet and calls Jews and Christians "People of the Scripture" (in Pickthall's translation). More than half of the world's population belongs to a faith that traces itself back to Abraham.
This unit studies seven religious traditions. It begins with the oldest of the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, and its central book, the Torah.
Definition
Judaism: the religion of the Jewish people, based on the covenant between God and Israel and on the Torah.
Torah: "teaching" or "instruction". In the narrow sense, the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy); in the wide sense, all Jewish teaching, written and oral.
Covenant: a binding agreement; in Judaism, the relationship in which God chose Israel and Israel promised to live by God's commandments.
Mitzvah (plural mitzvot): a commandment. Jewish tradition counts 613 in the Torah.
Shema: the central Jewish declaration of faith, from Deuteronomy 6:4, recited morning and evening.
Sabbath (Shabbat): the seventh day, from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, kept holy as a day of rest.
Synagogue: a Jewish house of prayer and study. Rabbi: a teacher of Jewish law.
Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which all trace their faith to Abraham.
1. One God. The Shema states it: "Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). God is the creator, one and indivisible, without image.
2. The covenant. God made a covenant with Abraham: "I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you" (Genesis 17:7). It was renewed with Moses at Mount Sinai, where Israel received the Ten Commandments.
3. The Torah as a way of life. Jewish tradition counts 613 commandments in the Torah, covering worship, food, family, justice and care for the poor. Obeying them is the people's response to God's covenant love. Rabbis explained and applied them in the oral Torah, later written down in the Mishnah and the Talmud.
4. The Sabbath. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God" (Exodus 20:8–10). Families share a meal, pray and rest.
5. The Messiah and the world to come. Many Jews await a Messiah, a descendant of King David, who will bring peace and justice; they do not accept that Jesus was the Messiah. Beliefs about life after death vary between Jewish groups.
The medieval rabbi Maimonides (twelfth century) summarised Jewish belief in thirteen principles, among them the existence and oneness of God, the truth of prophecy, the Torah given to Moses, God's justice and the coming of the Messiah. It is the most widely recognised summary, though not all Jews accept every principle in the same way.
| Practice | What happens | Belief it expresses |
|---|---|---|
| Reading the Torah | A portion of the scroll is read aloud in the synagogue every Sabbath, completing it once a year | The Torah is God's living teaching |
| Kosher food laws | Only permitted animals; meat and milk kept apart | Holiness in everyday life |
| Passover (Pesach) | A family meal retells the escape from slavery in Egypt | God frees the oppressed |
| Yom Kippur | The Day of Atonement: fasting, confession and prayer | Repentance and forgiveness |
| Bar and Bat Mitzvah | At 13 (boys) or 12 or 13 (girls) a young person becomes responsible for the commandments | Each person enters the covenant |
Today Jews belong to several movements. Orthodox Jews hold that the whole Torah, written and oral, binds unchanged; Conservative Jews keep the law but allow careful change; Reform Jews treat the commandments as guidance to be applied freely in modern life.
| Judaism | Christianity | Islam | |
|---|---|---|---|
| God | One God | One God in three persons (Trinity) | One God (Tawhid) |
| Abraham | Father of the Jewish people | Father of all who believe | A prophet and friend of God |
| Moses | Greatest prophet; received the Torah | Prophet and lawgiver | Prophet who received the Tawrat (Torah) |
| Jesus | A Jewish teacher, not the Messiah | The Messiah and Son of God | A great prophet and the Messiah, not divine |
| Holy day | Sabbath (Saturday) | Sunday (Saturday for Adventists) | Friday congregational prayer |
Worked example: reading Figure 1
Pew gives 14.8 million Jews as 0.2% of the world population. Check the size of the world population this implies:
Because 0.2% is rounded (the true share could be anything from 0.15% to 0.25%), the estimate only shows that the world held several billion people, about 7 to 8 billion. A rounded small percentage gives a rough total, so use the published totals where you can. The three Abrahamic groups together: , more than half of humanity.
Warning
Common mistakes
Important
Discuss. The Shema asks believers to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might". How could keeping the Sabbath or the food laws be a way of loving God? Do Christians and Muslims have practices that play a similar role?
CrashCourse Religions #8: "What Does it Mean to Be Jewish", about 13 minutes. Note the place of the Torah, the covenant and the Sabbath, and the difference between the Jewish movements.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the opening, Figure 1 (drawn from Pew data), the tables, the worked example and the exercises.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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