The Lives of Jesus and Muhammad - Paper

The Lives of Jesus and Muhammad - Paper

  • Submitted By: jennwalk56
  • Date Submitted: 10/10/2010 10:47 AM
  • Category: Religion
  • Words: 1478
  • Page: 6
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The Lives of Jesus and Muhammad
The largest religions in the world are Christianity and Islam possessing adherents numbering into the billions with each faith tracing their origins to a common ancestry in the patriarch Abraham. These monotheistic religions center on the lives, teachings, and deaths of prophets considered chosen through revelation by their respective god. More than 500 years separate the time Jesus and Muhammad walked the earth, though from very different backgrounds there are similarities in their personal histories as well as the impact of their lives on the creation and development of their respective religions through the ages.
Jesus was born to the devout Jewess Mary and her carpenter husband Joseph; his birth dates to between four and seven years before the first year of the Common Era in the town of Bethlehem. According to gospel Jesus’ conception occurred through the miracle of the Holy Spirit before Mary and Joseph began a sexual relationship with his birth in Bethlehem fulfilling the Hebrew prophecies the Messiah would be born of the lineage and in the home of King David. Gospel offers genealogy tracing Jesus through David back to Abraham (Fisher, 2005). The only recorded gospel accounting of the early childhood of Jesus show his wandering away from his parents into the temple to discuss religion around the age of 12 (Religion Facts, 2009).
Ancient Himis manuscripts translated by Nicolas Notovitch in 1894 tell the legend of Jesus, known as St. Issa, spending 17 years in India and Tibet between the ages of 13 and 29 as teacher and student of Buddhist and Hindu holy men. The legend chronicles the journey from Jerusalem to Benares in which he dwelt peacefully with Vaishas and Shudras as recorded by Brahmin historians with Jesus still referred to today as a Buddha in this region (Reluctant Messenger, 2009). Despite the legend of St. Issa, popular gospel does not have Jesus entering the narratives until he is approximately 30...

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