Through His teachings and example, Jesus attempted to add His own divine knowledge or revelations to the Biblical teachings of Judaism--as had many who spoke on behalf of God before Him. Although, He was rejected by most Jews, He and his teachings laid foundations for what would become Christianity.
I believe every holy book contains words that were either spoken or revealed by God. They were spoken or revealed to people who were either inspired or predisposed to hear, remember and communicate them. Each holy book is holy to those who believe in it, are inspired by it, and attempt to live their lives according to its teachings. All of the great religious teachers throughout the ages may have been communicating with specific groups, but their messages had worldwide implications. The actual messages from God reside in what all such messages, revelations, gospels, and commandments have in common--the Golden Rule being one otfthem.
Abraham was the father of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish faith, and likely many other religious faiths. Different peoples either found or was found by God through experiences that were unique to them, and through the words of men who claim to have communicated with The Creator. But God is father--and likely mother--of all people. How God reveals Himself to us and how our faith assimilates His presence into our lives may be unique to our individual or cultural nature and to our needs and circumstances. Nevertheless, they are there.
When God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses, He was not sending a message applicable only to Jews, with no thought of people in other parts of the world. There was only one god, who is God. So there is no such thing as Jews having their god, and other peoples having theirs.
Likewise, when Jesus told His disciples to "teach all nations…to observe whatsoever things I have commanded you." He likely was not talking about expanding Judaism--or even the religion for which His teachings eventually would become the foundation: He was talking about spreading to all peoples God's formula for living together peacefully, productively and joyfully. Jesus summed up all commandments up into two commandments: Love the Lord our God with all our mind, body, soul and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves--love that is often beyond our ability to feel, but always within our ability to demonstrate.
Other people through the ages have made images to represent God, giving themselves something tangible to see, and maybe even to touch. These people did not believe the images were God. After all, they had made them or seen them made. Likely, they simply believed (or perhaps hoped) that God would meet them at the images--and we have no way of knowing that He didn't.
But there seems to be a need for some people to believe that everything which is like or associated with themselves must be better or superior to person, things or experiences that characterize others. That kind of thinking makes it easy for some people to attribute to "radical Islam" terrorism by certain residents of countries where Islam is the dominant religion. If a similar group of aggrieved or misled people from the United States carried out acts of terror in Europe--or even within the United States, the same people would not label the group as "radical Christianity." The United States was attacked on 9/11 by Al Queda, not "radical Islam." Credit or blame should be placed where it is due. Just as not every person who attends or belongs to a church congregation is a Christian in thought and action, neither is everyone who bows at a mosque to the Muslim faith.
Jesus made it clear (regardless of the religion): He said, "by their fruit you shall know them." He said that because here are people in most religions who seek out within their holy books, not sources of truth and guidelines for living, but translations, impressions and interpretations that validate their desire to live and act counter to the basic teachings of the religion.
I don't know why it is that some people want God to care more about them than His other creations. They want it so much that, if God doesn't show that He cares more for them, they will take matters into their own hands, and make it appear that He does: Their accumulation of wealth at expense of others becomes, for them, examples of God's blessings. They will break commandments and still be able to convince many people that wealth and political power are evidence of their being favored and more blessed by God.
Religious tolerance is the ability to permit and live peacefully with those who practice religious faiths with which one disagrees. Tolerance acknowledges the right of Americans to practice religion according to the dictates of their hearts so long as that right does not infringe on the rights of others. Consequently, people can be tolerant of other religious and yet believe that their religion and holy book are connecting them with The Almighty. The problem is when they believe on theirs connect with The Almighty. Can we remain true to our own faiths and be more than just tolerant toward other religious faiths?
It seems that those of us in the pews tend to be more liberal in our acceptance of the legitimacy of other religious faiths than are the leaders of the various faiths. Many of these leaders merely choose not to admit that other religions also may be litigate. Jesus told his disciples that He had "other sheep who are not of this fold." Who were these other sheep? Jesus said these sheep know his voice and did whatsoever He commanded. One might conclude that sheep anywhere who did as Jesus commanded--regardless of the holy book that contained the teachings--were His.
Sometimes people who are not religious leaders have been inspired with truth. Long before Jesus lived, Confucius stated that we should "do unto others as we would have them do unto us". And although they were contemporaries, neither did the philosopher Socrates ever meet the prophet Jeremiah--as some religious scholars suggest must have happened--to account for Socrates' profound faith in God and belief in life after death.
Almighty God is creator and sustainer of both the realized and unrealized.
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