... On my fiftieth birthday my brother gave me this book. Written by Karen Armstrong - a British ex nun, now a journalist and author, Oxford educated. It took me awhile to get around to starting it. Then I plodded through the first half of the book, which is largely historical. Very slowly. The second half is much more interesting. I really started reading ... . Fundamentalism in Judaism is less relevant to us, except to the extent that it fuels the conflict between Arabs and Israelis. As late as the 16th century, Muslims, although past the zenith of their power in the world, had considerable...

• Word Count: 3937
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... been a regular visitor to Israel over the years for talks with the Israeli government. He has also met Israeli leaders in London and other world capitals on many occasions. It would be interesting to know, therefore, exactly what deals have been agreed behind closed doors leading to the treaty between Israel and Jordan ... the art of divide and conquer, and it is not too difficult to see who is doing both the dividing and the ruling. Ever since the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia declared "Jihad" against the Zionists, saying that Muslims should only travel to Al-Aqsa with the intention ...

• Word Count: 1174
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... deteriorated. National catastrophes and the Messiahs coming were seen as imminent and soon-coming events. Out of these concerns evolved both Christianity and classical, or rabbinic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism evolved on for about five more centuries. In these five centuries they made a few changes to their beliefs: they replaced the Temple with the Synagogue, the priests with Rabbis, and sacrificial ... earliest of the Taoists were shamans who lived in harmony with their natural environment. They made many advances in fields of natural science, like astronomy. Shamans served their commun...

• Word Count: 9202
• Approx Pages: 37
• Grade Level: High School

... hard. It is hard to get people who are good friends to agree with each other sometimes. But other times, people or religions cam agree on things so well, that they are very similar in an abundance of ways. In the article "The Legacy of Abraham" written by David Van ... ," (Biema 3). Abraham first fathers his first boy Ishmael, who was produced by Sarah's Egyptian salve, Hagar. They then received a blessing and miracle very late in life; God told Abraham that he would bring him and his wife a son. Abraham had a great amount of faith in God, as you may ... Abraham's followers must be circu...

• Word Count: 783
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and overviews of these four religions (Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism), rather the in-depth study of concerns and practices throughout past and present times. My goal is that through reading this, you will gain understanding of basic beliefs, but more importantly gain an understanding of difficulties faced due to faith practices within a different culture than our own. We live in ... faced by Christians, I want to list some recent headlines about Christian issues in China. * China Church Leaders Sentenced * House Churches - A Family In Hiding... * Some Christians Resisting China's...

• Word Count: 3474
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of our country's present state of affairs - belittled and feared in their own US neighborhoods. Being a Muslim isn't something that an individual does on his/her own, but is a community identity and shared responsibility. Practicing true Islam is a way of life, requiring a complete surrender to the religious ... the culture as a whole. These Americans feel that their stereotypes are justified after the events of September, 2001 and more recently the attack on our own ground of protection at Fort Hood. Historical foundation of Islam At almost 1,400 years old, Islam's Muslim religion is on...

• Word Count: 3077
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School