Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

The New Testament contains the teaching of Jesus and Jesus describes God as a loving father who will take care of those who love him and want to follow the path of righteousness. Jesus’s message was to reveal the path through his words and actions, so that all could achieve spiritual perfection and salvation in preparing for life after death. Jesus makes clear that each person’s relationship with God is intensely personal nurtured through worship, reflection, and personal prayer. During his ministry, Jesus also traveled around Palestine teaching and performing miracles such as healing the sick and disabled, casting devils out of the possessed, restoring the dead to life, walking on water, cleansing lepers, and feeding 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and fish. The miracles were widely interpreted as confirming his special spiritual status and possible divinity. Jesus focused his attention on the disinherited people, the poor, the outcasts, the prostitutes, and even the most despised. Jesus preached that in the next life, the favored individuals would include the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourners, and the seekers of righteousness, the pure in heart, the merciful, the peacemakers, and those who have been prosecuted for spreading the gospel. In addition to complete devotion to God, Jesus’s message was of love and devotion to others and preached that in extending ourselves to the less fortunate in society, we are symbolically worshiping God. Jesus promised a spiritual kingdom that would be fully realized only in the future. By devoting yourself to God and following the path of righteousness, you could become spiritually transformed in this life and prepare yourself for eternal life at the end of time. Islam: The world’s second largest religion is Islam, which views itself as the ultimate expression of the monotheistic tradition that began when God spoke to Abraham. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the founder of Islam is believed by Muslims to be the last of the great prophets from Abraham to Jesus and to have received uninterrupted divine word from God. Jesus is also viewed as a prophet, but Muslims believe that his message was corrupted by followers who insisted on his divinity. God revealed his messages to Muhammad and these revelations constitute the text of the Qur’an, which is the holy book of Islam. Those who choose to follow Allah (the Arabic word for “God”) are ensured an afterlife of splendid treasures in paradise. However, those who do not embrace and submit themselves to Allah will be called to account at the Last Judgment and will suffer the terrifying torments of hell. The Qur’an reveals the central patterns of worship known as the Five Pillars of Islam which is known as the outer practice of Islam. Its main purpose is to bring remembrance of God into every aspect of daily life and practical ethics into the fabric of society. The Five Pillars spell out the way of Muslim life and its purposes: ● Shahadah is the First Pillar: This is the profession of faith that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. This is the foundational stone of Islam. Although Islam believed that there are many names for God, it is a religion built on one God and it is our responsibility to totally submit to God’s will in every dimension of our lives. ● The Second Pillar is Salat: The principle of praying five times a day in a prescribed manner. It is the response of the natural yearning heart to pour fourth its love and gratitude toward its Creator. ● The Third Pillar is Zakat: The yearly setting aside of a portion of one’s wealth for the benefit of others. There are always those who possess more material things than others and Islam tries to bring balance to this situation by asking those who have much to help lift the burden of those who have less. ● The Fourth Pillar is Sawm: This is observance of the holy month in the Arabian calendar and involves fasting as a means of spiritual devotion. This is the period in which Muhammad

©2018

Achieve

Page 32

of 126