Compare Christianity, Islam and Judaism

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are three of the most influential world religions in history. While Judaism isn't as large as Christianity and Islam, its impact on the world has still been as profound. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are sometimes called "Abrahamic religions" because they trace their history to the ancient figure of Abraham, first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

What do Christianity, Islam, and Judaism believe about God, the universe, people, and the afterlife, and how do those convictions compare with each other? The charts below are intended to start answering those questions. As a brief guide of the similarities and differences of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, the following chart compares the statistics, origins, history and religious beliefs of these three great monotheistic faiths.

	Christianity	Islam	Judaism
etymology	followers of Christ (Greek christos, Messiah)	Arabic, "submission"	of the Kingdom of Judah
adherents called	Christians	Muslims	Jews
date founded	c. 30 CE	622 CE	c. 1800 BCE (Abraham); 6th cent. BCE (Pentateuch); or 70 CE (destruction of Second Temple)
place founded	Southern Levant (modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan)	Arabian Peninsula	Southern Levant (modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan)
languages	Aramaic and Greek	Arabic	Hebrew
founders	Jesus, Peter, Paul	Muhammad	Abraham, Moses
expansion	within 60 years, churches in major cities in Palestine, Turkey, Greece and Rome; entire Roman Empire by end of 4th cent.	within 12 years, entire Arabian peninsula; within 100 years, Muslim world stretched from the Atlantic to China	little expansion; mostly confined to Palestine area throughout history
schisms	Catholic-Orthodox (1054); Catholic-Protestant (1500s)	Shia-Sunni (c. 650 CE)	Reform-Orthodox (1800s CE)
branches	Roman Catholic; Eastern Orthodox; Protestant	Sunni, Shi'a, Sufism	Orthodox, Reform, Conservative
main locations	Europe, North and South America, Africa	Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia	Israel, Eastern Europe, USA
	Christianity	Islam	Judaism
adherents (world)	2.2 billion	1.6 billion	14 million
adherents (USA)	159 million	3.3 million	5.6 million
adherents (Canada)	21 million	500,000	350,000
adherents (UK)	51 million		320,000
texts	Bible (Hebrew Bible + New Testament)	Qur'an (sacred text); Hadith (tradition)	Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); Talmud
Hebrew Bible	canonical; called "the Old Testament"	noncanonical and corrupted but useful as a inspired text	canonical
Apocrypha	canonical (Catholic) or useful but noncanonical (Protestant)	noncanonical	noncanonical but useful
New Testament	canonical	noncanonical and corrupted but useful as a inspired text	noncanonical
creeds	Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed	Six Articles of Faith	13 Articles of Faith
religious law	canon law (Catholicism)	Sharia	Halakhah
	Christianity	Islam	Judaism
religious authority	Bible (all), ecumenical councils and creeds (Catholic and Orthodox), papal decrees and canon law (Catholic), continuing revelations (Pentecostal)	Qur'an, Hadith	Bible, Talmud, halakhah
doctrine of scripture	views vary: most believe inspired by God; some believe literal Word of God, inerrant in original languages	inspired, literal word of God; inerrant in original language	views vary
prophets	Biblical prophets were true prophets of God	Biblical prophets were true prophets; Muhammad is the final and greatest	Biblical prophets were true prophets of God
god(s)	One God, who is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; angels; demons; saints	One God (Allah in Arabic); the same God revealed (imperfectly) in the Jewish and Christian Bibles	One God: Yahweh (YHVH)
spiritual beings	angels and demons	angels, demons, jinn	angels and demons
revered humans	saints, church fathers	prophets; imams (especially in Shia Islam)	prophets
Messiah	Jesus Christ is the Messiah awaited by the Jews	Sunni: the Madhi (Messiah) will come in the future; identity is known only to Allah; Shi'a: was born in 869, is now the Hidden Imam	the Messiah will come in the future
Jesus	Son of God, God incarnate, Word of God, Messiah, savior of the world	true prophet of God, whose message has been corrupted	false prophet
birth of Jesus	virgin birth	virgin birth	normal birth
death of Jesus	normal death plus spiritual suffering	Jesus did not die, but ascended bodily into heaven (a disciple died in his place)	normal death
	Christianity	Islam	Judaism
resurrection of Jesus	affirmed	rejected, because Jesus did not die; he ascended into heaven during crucifixion	denied
second coming of Jesus	affirmed	affirmed	denied
revelation	through Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself), recorded in Bible	through Muhammad, recorded in Qur'an	prophets, recorded in Hebrew Bible
human nature	Created good but all inherit "original sin" from Adam, causing a tendency to evil	born with equal ability to do good or evil	two equal impulses, one good and one bad
salvation	correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments (Protestants emphasize faith alone)	correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars	belief in God, good deeds
predestination	affirmed by most denominations	affirmed
afterlife	Resurrection of body and soul; eternal heaven or hell (most denominations); temporary purgatory (Catholicism)	eternal Paradise or eternal Hell	Not emphasized; views vary: no afterlife, shadowy existence, World to Come (similar to heaven), Gehenna (similar to hell), reincarnation
view of Christianity	true religion	respected as fellow "People of the Book" but have wrong beliefs and only partial, corrupted revelation	false interpretation and expansion of Judaism
view of Islam	respected as a fellow monotheistic religion, but Muhammad is not seen as a true prophet	true religion	false interpretation and expansion of Judaism
view of Judaism	true religion but with incomplete revelation	respected as fellow "People of the Book" but have wrong beliefs and only partial, corrupted revelation	true religion
	Christianity	Islam	Judaism
house of worship	church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall	mosque	synagogue, temple, schul
day of worship	Sunday	Friday	Saturday
clergy/leaders	priest, bishop, archbishop, patriarch, pope, pastor, minister, preacher, deacon	imams	rabbis
practices	Prayer, Bible study, baptism, Eucharist (Communion), church on Sundays, numerous holidays.	Five Pillars: Faith, Prayer, Alms, Pilgrimage, Fasting. Mosque services on Fridays. Ablutions before prayer. No alcohol or pork. Holidays related to the pilgrimage and fast of Ramadan.	Circumcision at birth, bar/bat mitzvah at adulthood, observing Sabbath, wearing tallit and tefilin, prayer services
major holidays	Easter, Christmas, saints' days (some denominations)	Al-Hijra, Ramadan, 'Id Al-Fitr	Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Purim
symbols	Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha/omega, chi rho	Star and crescent; name of Allah in Arabic; color green; mosque silhouette.	Star of David, chai, hamsa, tree