Abrahamic religions

From top to bottom: the star and crescent (Islam), the cross (Christianity), and the Star of David (Judaism) are the symbols commonly used to represent the three largest Abrahamic religions.

The Abrahamic religions are a grouping of three of the major religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) together due to their historical coexistence and competition;[1][2] it refers to Abraham, a figure mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, and the Quran respectively, and is used to show similarities between these religions and put them in contrast to Indian religions, Iranian religions, and the East Asian religions (though other religions and belief systems may refer to Abraham as well).[3][4] Furthermore, some religions categorized as "Abrahamic" also share elements from other categories, such as Indian religions, or for example, Islam with Eastern religions.[5]

Abrahamic religions make up the largest major division in the study of comparative religion.[6] By total number of adherents, Christianity and Islam comprise the largest and second-largest religious movements in the world, respectively.[7][page needed] Judaism is the smallest of the three major Abrahamic religions, and Samaritanism is the smallest Abrahamic religion. Bábism and Druzism are offshoots of Abrahamic religions.[8]

  1. ^ Brague, Rémi, 'The Concept of the Abrahamic Religions, Problems and Pitfalls', in Adam J. Silverstein, and Guy G. Stroumsa (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions (2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 12 Nov. 2015), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199697762.013.5, accessed 12 Feb. 2024
  2. ^ Goshen-Gottstein, Alon. "Abraham and ‘Abrahamic Religions’ in Contemporary Interreligious Discourse." Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 12.2 (2002): 165-183.
  3. ^ Kiel, Yishai. "The contours of Abrahamic identity: a Zoroastrian perspective." Geneses: A Comparative Study of the Historiographies of the Rise of Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and Islam (2019): 19-34.
  4. ^ GhaneaBassiri, Kambiz, and Paul Robertson, eds. All religion is inter-religion: engaging the work of Steven M. Wasserstrom. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
  5. ^ Schubel, Vernon James. "Teaching Islam as an Asian Religion." EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA 10.1 (2005).
  6. ^ Adams 2007.
  7. ^ Wormald 2015.
  8. ^ "Druze in Syria". Harvard University. The Druze are an ethnoreligious group concentrated in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel with around one million adherents worldwide. The Druze follow a millenarian offshoot of Isma'ili Shi'ism. Followers emphasize Abrahamic monotheism but consider the religion as separate from Islam.