Brief Summary of World Religions

#Brief Summary of the World’s Major Non-Christian Religions

Let us briefly consider some of the world’s major non-Christian religions that most probably can rightly claim divine origins and divine maintenance in their current leadership. Literally billions of people today accept one of these as their own religion.

Hinduism. Its origins can be traced to the Indus River Valley—located just west of India in present-day Pakistan—some time between 4000 and 2500 BC. The basis of Hinduism is that everything, including God, exists in a unity or totality called Brahman. According to Hinduism, the purpose of man is to achieve “enlightenment” through repeated reincarnation cycles of birth, life, and death called samsara. “Enlightenment,” in terms we can understand, might be defined as being, to some degree, like God. Complete enlightenment consists of a oneness with God which, when achieved, allows the individual to leave this earthly plane and rejoin with God. The measure of a man’s spiritual growth (“enlightenment”) is his karma. An individual’s karma determines his next reincarnation. Greater karma, brought on by selfless acts and devotion to God helps one to be born next time at a higher level. Bad acts and thoughts will cause one to be born at a lower level, as a person or even an animal.

Hindus follow a strict caste system which determines the standing of each person. The caste one is born into is the result of the karma achieved in their previous life. Only members of the highest caste, the Brahmins, may perform the Hindu religious rituals and hold positions of authority within their temples.

Judaism. Judaism may be said to have begun with a covenant between Jehovah and Abraham about 2000 BC. The next leader of the Israelites, Moses, led his people out of captivity in Egypt and received the Law of Moses from God. Joshua later led them into the Promised Land where Samuel the prophet established the Israelite kingdom with Saul as its first king. King David established Jerusalem, and King Solomon built the first temple there. In AD 70 the temple was destroyed and the Jews were scattered throughout the world until 1948 when the state of Israel was formed.

Jews believe in one creator who alone is to be worshipped as absolute ruler of the universe. He monitors peoples’ activities and rewards good deeds and punishes evil. The capacity to live with God lies with each individual and that eternal privileged can be earned through obedience to God’s law. The Torah was revealed to Moses by God and cannot be changed though God does communicate with the Jewish people through prophets. Jews believe in the inherent goodness of the world and its inhabitants as creations of God and do not believe a savior is required to save them from original sin. They believe they are God’s chosen people and that the Messiah will arrive in the future and gather them into Israel. They believe the Jerusalem Temple, destroyed in AD 70, will be rebuilt. They also believe in a general resurrection from the dead.

Originally, Jewish scholarship was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the law (the written law as expressed in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh—pronounced Ta’ nax). They did so without the benefit of written works (other than the Bible itself). This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth in the year AD 70. As the Rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that Rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. This collective writing was the Talmud. It is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (ca. AD 200) and the Gemara (ca. AD 500). The Talmud has various compilations including the Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud (writings following the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC).

Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism was founded by Zoroaster (also called Zarathustra) in Persia in about 1000 BC. He preached monotheism with a single supreme god—Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrians believe in a dualism between Ahura Mazda and an evil spirit of violence and death. They believe this dualism takes the form of both a cosmic or literal dualism or an ethical dualism—between good and evil thoughts, words, and actions. Zoroaster’s teachings are written in the holy book, the Avesta. This book consists of abstract and sacred poetry directed toward the worship of one god, the promotion of social justice, and individual choices between good and evil. A later addition to the Avesta consisted of rituals, practices of worship, and other traditions of the faith.

Zoroastrians worship through prayers and symbolic ceremonies that are conducted before a sacred fire which symbolizes their God. They dedicate their lives to a three-fold path represented by their motto: “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds.” The faith does not generally accept converts but this is disputed by some members.

Buddhism. Buddhism developed between 560 and 490 BC out of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who, in 535 BC, reached “enlightenment” and assumed the title Buddha. He promoted “The Middle Way” as the path to enlightenment rather than the extremes of mortification of the flesh or hedonism. Long after his death, the Buddha’s teachings were written down. This collection is called the Tripitaka. Buddhists also believe in reincarnation—that one must go through cycles of birth, life, and death. After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana or heaven.

In general, Buddhists do not believe in any type of God, the need for a savior, prayer, or eternal life after death. However, since the time of the Buddha, Buddhism has assimilated many regional religious rituals, beliefs and customs as it has spread throughout Asia. So, these generalizations are no longer true for all Buddhists. This has occurred with little conflict due to the philosophical nature of Buddhism.

Shinto. Shinto is an ancient Japanese religion that developed about 500 BC. It is closely tied to nature. It recognizes the existence of various “Kami” or nature deities. The first two deities, Izanagi and Izanami, gave birth to the Japanese islands. The children of these two deities became the deities of the various Japanese clans. One of their daughters, Amaterasu (Sun Goddess), is the ancestress of the Imperial Family and is regarded as the chief deity. All the Kami are benign and serve only to sustain and protect. They are not seen as separate from humanity because humanity is “Kami’s Child.”

Followers of Shinto desire peace and believe all human life is sacred. They revere “musuhi,” the Kami’s creative and harmonizing powers, and aspire to have “makoto,” sincerity or true heart. Morality is based upon that which is of benefit to the group. There are “Four Affirmations” in Shinto:

1. Tradition and family: the family is the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved.

2. Love of nature: nature is sacred and natural objects are to be worshipped as sacred spirits.

3. Physical cleanliness: they must take baths, wash their hands, and rinse their mouth often.

4. “Matsuri”: festival which honors the spirits.

Confucianism. K’ung Fu Tzu (Confucius) was born in 551 BC in the state of Lu in China. He traveled throughout China giving advice to its rulers and teaching. His teachings and writings dealt with individual morality and ethics, and the proper exercise of political power. Confucianism originated about 500 BC. Confucius stressed the following values:

• Li—ritual, propriety, etiquette, etc.

• Hsiao—love among family members

Yi—righteousness

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• Xin—honesty and trustworthiness

• Jen—benevolence towards others. This is the highest Confucian virtue.

Chung—loyalty to the state.

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Unlike most religions, Confucianism is primarily an ethical system with rituals at important times during one’s lifetime. The most important periods recognized in the Confucian tradition are birth, reaching maturity, marriage, and death.

Jainism. The founder of the Jain community in 420 BC was Vardhamana, the last “Jina,” or spiritual leader, in a series of twenty-four who lived in East India. He attained “enlightenment” after thirteen years of deprivation. He then committed the act of salekhana—fasting to death—in 420 BC. Jainism has many similarities to Hinduism and Buddhism which developed in the same part of the world. They believe in karma and reincarnation as do Hindus, but they believe that enlightenment and liberation from this cycle can only be achieved through asceticism. Jains observe the principle of fruititarianism. This is the practice of only eating that which will not kill the plant or animal from which it is taken. They also practice ahimsa or non-violence because any act of violence against a living thing creates negative karma which will adversely affect one’s next life.

Taoism. Taoism was founded by Lao-Tse, a contemporary of Confucius in China. Taoism began as a combination of psychology and philosophy which Lao-Tse hoped would help end the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts of his time. His writings, the Tao-te-Ching, describe the nature of life, the way to peace and how a ruler should lead his life. Taoism became a religion in 440 BC when it was adopted as a state religion.

The word Tao, roughly translated as “path,” is a force that flows through all life and is the first cause of everything. The goal of everyone is to become one with the Tao. Tai Chi, a technique of exercise using slow deliberate movements, is used to balance the flow of energy or “chi” within the body. People should develop virtue and seek compassion, moderation, and humility. One should plan any action in advance and achieve it through minimal action. Yin (dark side) and Yang (light side) symbolize pairs of opposites which are seen through the universe, such as good and evil, light and dark, male and female. The impact of human civilization upsets the balance of Yin and Yang. Taoists believe that people are by nature, good, and that one should be kind to others simply because such treatment will probably be reciprocated.

Islam. Islam was founded in AD 622 by Muhammad (sometimes spelled Mohammed) who lived in Mecca (in Arabia) between AD 570 and 632. He is said to have been a direct descendant of Abraham through Abraham’s son Ishmael.

The word Islam means submission to God’s will. It is likely that Islam owed its impact on the world and its great appeal to its followers to the electrifying announcement that God had again spoken from the heavens after 600 years of silence—since the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ. The voice of a prophet was again heard in the land. As we might expect, in addition to wide acclaim, Muhammad was met with storms of derision and persecution.

Muhammad became not only a charismatic prophet to his people but the ruler of a kingdom, which, in the last two years of his life, encompassed most of the Arabic peninsula. The followers of Muhammad are Muslims (sometimes called Moslems).

The collection of the revelations of Allah (God) to Muhammad are found in the Qur’an (often transliterated as Koran). The Qur’an is revered by Muslims as Islamic scripture. It contains counsel on religious, civil, and criminal matters and is the basis of Islamic law and government.

Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last of the prophets and that there can be no prophet after him. He “closed the long line of Apostles . . . [and] there has been and will be no prophet after Mohammed” (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Lahore, 1938, in his commentary on Qur’an 33:40). In spite of this official doctrine, a large part of the Muslim world looks forward to the coming of other prophets, and has ever been eager to follow leaders claiming divine inspiration.

It is interesting that Muslim scholars describe Muhammad as a man plagued with doubts and misgivings about the nature of his calling and the authenticity of his visions. He did not claim to be a saint, and he deliberately denounced the doing of miracles. He was a prophet who did not prophesy, and therefore the doctrines of Islam are weak in the field of eschatology (the doctrines of the last days and the end of the earth).

Following the death of Muhammad, the principles of law and government in the Qur’an were interpreted by generations of learned theologians and legal scholars. Even though the Qur’an claims to be the complete and final word of God, when facing new legal and political questions not explicitly answered in the Qur’an, judges and rulers would try to formulate scholarly consensus on how to answer a question based on logical extrapolation and analogy. The result was the development of a complex Islamic law code. These later interpretations imposed upon the more “primitive” teachings of the Qur’an render every point of doctrine in Islam a disputed one.

There were enough fundamental differences between differing models of interpretation that eventually five major different legal systems developed in the Islamic world, which agree in fundamentals but often differ on many particulars. For over a thousand years, countries with Muslim majorities, including most of the Middle East, were governed by one of these five schools of Islamic law.

The duties of all Muslims are known as the Five Pillars of Islam and are:

1. Recite the shahadah at least once.

2. Perform the salat (prayer) five times daily while facing Mecca. Muslims are required to declare their faith publicly. They pray, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is his messenger.”

The five daily obligatory prayers are: early morning (after dawn and before sunrise); noon (after the sun begins to decline from its zenith until it is about midway on its course to set); mid-afternoon (after the expiration of the noon prayer time until sunset); sunset (immediately after sunset until the red glow in the western horizon disappears); and evening (after the expiration of the sunset prayer until dawn). Other obligatory prayers include the Friday noon congregation prayer and the funeral prayer. Delayed obligatory prayers must be made up if missed.

Prayer is encouraged at other times, though these are optional. This includes at times of childbirth, marriage, going to or rising from bed, leaving and returning home, starting a journey or entering a city, riding or driving, before or after eating or drinking, harvesting, visiting graveyards, and at times of distress and sickness.

3. Obligatory monetary offerings (zakah). Zakah (sometimes spelled zakaat) is referred to as “alms due” or “poor due” and is paid on the net balance after paying personal expenses, family expenses, bills, taxes, etc. Every Muslim male or female who at the end of the year is in possession of the equivalent of 85 grams of gold (approximately $1400 in 1990) or more in cash or articles of trade must give zakah at the minimum rate of 2.5% of that excess.

4. Obligatory fasting. Fasting is abstaining completely from eating, drinking, intimate sexual contacts, and smoking from the break of dawn till sunset. Obligatory fasting is done once a year for the period of the month of Ramadan (the month that Muhammad received the Qur’an from Allah), the ninth month of the Islamic year. By the western calendar, Ramadan occurs approximately eleven days earlier than the previous year. Other recommended fastings include Monday and Thursday of every week, three days in the middle of each Islamic month, six days after Ramadan following the Feast Day, and a few days of the two months before Ramadan.

5. The pilgrimage (Hajj). A pilgrimage to Mecca is an obligation of every Muslim male and female at least once in a lifetime if it is economically and physically feasible. It is the largest annual convention of faith on earth (in 1989: 2.5 million). Peace is the dominant theme—peace with Allah, with one’s soul, with one another, and with all living creatures. It is also to remember the great assembly of the day of judgment when people will stand equal before Allah.

A visit to the tomb of the prophet Muhammad at Medina is highly recommended but not essential in making the Hajj valid and complete.

Additional Muslim beliefs and practices:

1. Muslims believe that there is one God and Muhammad was his prophet. The oneness of God and the prophetic calling of Muhammad are the two most fundamental articles of their faith. Essential to joining the fold of Islam is believing in and professing faith in these two principles.

Regarding the nature of God, Muslims hold that there is one supreme Lord of the universe—that he is omnipotent, omnipresent, and the sustainer of the world and of mankind. They recite: “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is his prophet.” According to Muslims, God is incomprehensible, absolutely unique, unapproachable, indescribable, and totally unlike any other thing. It is wicked to think of man as having anything whatever in common with God. Still, man is supposed to love him, yearn to be with him, seek the reward of gazing upon his face, and in the end become completely identified with him. It is an outrageous blasphemy to think of a Son (Jesus) as participating in his glory and power. The idea that God might have children is utterly abhorrent to the Muslims. We are not his children but rather only things he has created out of nothing. And he has created us with tragic weaknesses in our nature.

A Muslim believes in Qadaa and Qadar which relate to the ultimate power of Allah. These words refer to the timeless knowledge of Allah and his power to plan and execute his plans.

2. Islam recognizes all the biblical prophets including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, and Jesus. At one point Muhammad had a famous dream of journeying to heaven from the temple at Jerusalem and there meeting Moses, Christ, Abraham, John the Baptist, Enoch, and Aaron, and seeing Adam presiding as judge over the great assembly.

The Qur’an hails Jesus as a true prophet and a great one, yet Muslim theology rejects all his teachings about his being the Son of God as false. It teaches that Mary was “the woman of truth” who conceived Jesus by the Holy Ghost and bore him when she was still a virgin, yet it deplores the idea that God should have a Son.

3. The Qur’an is regarded by most Muslims to be the very word of God. It has replaced the Bible in the lives of Muslims. The Qur’an is thought to have been sent down to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It was revealed to Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years in the Arabic language. It contains 114 Surahs (chapters) and over 6000 verses. Today, the Qur’an is regarded as the only authentic and complete book of Allah. And Allah is protecting it from being lost, corrupted, or concealed.

4. A well-known teaching in Islam is that “we come out from God and to him we shall return.” This has led to much controversy among Muslim theologians. How can we go from and return to him if he is everywhere? In nothing is a dual tradition of Islam more apparent than in the division of its great teachers into two main schools of thought. One insists on a completely formless and incomprehensible God while the other teaches of a God who has a body just like a man’s. The former school of thought reasons: “Can God have any attributes whatever without completely destroying belief in his invisible, omnipresent and unchanging oneness?” Yet a well known teacher in the other school, Abu Amir “would slap on his own thigh and say, ‘God has a real thigh, just like this one here!’” (Goldziher, Vorlesungen uber den Islam, Heidelberg, 1910, 103, 106).

Actually the ability to live with basic doctrinal contradictions would seem to be a highly developed trait among the Muslims. To an outside observer, it would seem that Islamic doctrine contains several ambiguities and contradictions. The Qur’an can define God in terms of the two schools and then go right on talking about him as a real person. It can tell us that men are lost or saved by his good pleasure alone, and through no act of theirs, and then insist that all men are individually responsible in all things. Muslims swear oaths by the Bible, which it never reads. The Muslims insist that nothing whatever can be known about God and then fill libraries with treatises on his true nature. It is outrageous presumption for anything to exist beside him, they say—yet here we are. He created absolutely everything that is out of his own perfect nature, and yet the world is full of evil. The Muslim sees what he wants to, or as he wants it to be.

5. Muslims claim: “Allah created man and appointed for each human being a fixed period of life that he is to spend upon the earth.” They hold to the concept of agency of man: “Allah has prescribed a certain code of life as the correct one for mankind, but has, at the same time, conferred upon man the freedom of choice as to whether or not he adopts this code as the actual basis of his life.” One who chooses to follow the code revealed by God becomes a Muslim (believer) and one who refuses to follow it becomes a kafir (disbeliever).

6. Muslims believe in the unity of mankind. In Islam, all men are equal, regardless of color, language, race, or nationality. It banishes all “false barriers” of race, status, and wealth. Islam removes all of these impediments to human relationships and proclaims the ideal of the whole of humanity being one family of God.

7. They believe in a life after death. The world, according to Islam, is a place of trial, and man is being judged in the world. One day, he will have to give an account of all that he did during his lifetime. After his death, he will be resurrected in a new world, and it is here that he will be rewarded or punished for his deeds and misdeeds. Those who live a life of obedience to Allah will enjoy eternal bliss in paradise or heaven, and those who disobey his commands will have to face the bitter fruits of their disobedience in hell. The real nature of paradise and hell are known to Allah only.

8. They believe in moderation in eating and drinking. The Qur’an says, “Eat and drink, but do not be extravagant” (7:31). While they acknowledge the “evils of alcohol,” a strict abstinence from alcohol does not appear to be a widespread practice.

9. There has been a limited application and practice of polygamy.

10. Both men and women are obliged to practice high moral standards and modesty of dress and behavior. To the man, the Qur’an commands: “that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.” And to the woman: “O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not be annoyed” (Qur’an 33:59). “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands” (Qur’an 24:30-31).

There seems to be nothing in Islam to support subordination and oppression of women. The Qur’an declares that men and women are equal, and the rights of women are therein protected. However, some Muslim societies have been found guilty of the oppression of women. There seems to be no doctrinal basis for this.

11. Islam does not believe in asceticism or self denial. It does not ask man to avoid material fulfillment of life. It holds that spiritual elevation is to be achieved by living piously in the rough and tumble of life, not by renouncing the world. The Qur’an states: “Our Lord! Give us something fine in this world as well as something fine in the hereafter” (2:201).

12. Islam does not separate the earthly from the spiritual—the things of God from those of Caesar. It seeks to establish an equilibrium between the material and the spiritual. Islam provides guidance for all aspects of life—individual and personal, social, material, moral, economic, political, legal, and cultural.

13. Muslims believe that angels are purely spiritual entities created by Allah. They require no food or drink or sleep. They have no physical desires or material needs. They spend their time in the service of Allah. Each is charged with a certain duty. Angels cannot be seen by the naked eye.

In the nineteenth century, European imperialists managed either to conquer nearly all Middle Eastern countries or render them tributary (obliged to pay tribute). In the process, the imperial powers brought European ideas about government and law to the region. These ideas contained the concepts of constitutionalism, parliamentary government, equality, and democracy. In reality, however, for over a century Muslims were generally treated by European powers as second-class citizens in their own lands. The usual Muslim experience was, therefore, that the European system of government was a cynical farce, intended only as a means to subdue conquered peoples.

When European colonial domination of the Middle East collapsed following World War II, newly independent Muslim states faced the enormous problems of creating new governments and legal systems from scratch. For practical purposes, most states retained the legal systems of their European colonizers, which had been in force in much of the area for over half a century. Many states retained monarchies— constitutional or otherwise. Other states attempted to formulate some type of democracy. Some flirted with Marxism or socialism. Tragically, most ultimately devolved into military dictatorships.

Today in the Middle East, the “Islamist” movement wants to change this situation, seeking to restore what they feel is the authentic Muslim political and legal system that had been in force before the coming of the Europeans. At the most basic level, Islamists believe that their societies should be based upon, organized, and run according to Islamic law as it is found in the Qur’an and its schools of orthodox interpretations. Another general Islamist goal is the elimination of the moral decadence of the West—immodesty, sexual promiscuity, drinking, drug use, greed, secularism, vulgarity—through strict moral and legal codes.

Whereas all Islamists agree that majority of Muslim countries should reestablish Islamic law as their foundational legal and political system, they often differ as to the best means to attain this goal. The vast majority of Islamists opt for moderate and peaceful means of renovation, via religious revival, education, and legal transformation through legitimate political and legal channels. Thus, many Muslim countries have Islamist political parties advocating peaceful change.

Unfortunately, some governments in the Near East—like Iran under the former shahs—were oppressive and tyrannical military dictatorships that tolerated no opposition. Some of these tyrannical leaders had the support of powerful western countries (the former Shah of Iran was supported by western powers, including the United States). In this situation, peaceful change is often impossible, leading to radicalization of Islamist groups, who come to see violent revolution as the only means of obtaining their legitimate political aspirations, precisely as happened in the Islamic revolution in Iran. The Hamas movement in Palestine is another example—an Islamist group which, after fifty years of failed negotiations, sees violent revolution as the only means to obtain independence for Arab Palestine.

Today, a large minority of Muslims throughout the Near East are Islamists. While the vast majority of these advocate peaceful and moderate means to obtain their goals, a small but growing minority are increasingly turning to violence and terrorism. For these, Jihad, or holy war, has been made obligatory, which means that the individual should, when the occasion arises, be willing to offer his life for the defense and protection of Islam and the Islamic state.

Sikhism. The Sikh faith was founded in AD 1500 by Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the Punjab area—now Pakistan. He began preaching the way to enlightenment and God after receiving a vision. After his death a series of nine Gurus (regarded as reincarnations of Guru Nanak) led the movement until 1708. At this time these functions passed to the holy text. This text, the Shri Guru Granth Sahib, was compiled by the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh. It consists of hymns and writings of the first ten Gurus, along with texts form different Muslim and Hindu saints, The holy text is considered the eleventh and final Guru.

Sikhs believe in a single formless God with many names, who can be known through meditation. Sikhs pray many times each day and are prohibited from worshipping idols or icons. They believe in samsara (reincarnation cycles) and karma, as Hindus do but reject the cast system. They believe that everyone has equal status in

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the eyes of God. During the 18 century, there were a number of attempts to prepare an accurate portrayal of Sikh customs. Sikh scholars and theologians started in 1931 to prepare the Reht Maryada—the Sikh code of conduct and conventions. This has successfully achieved a high level of uniformity in the religious and social practices of Sikhism throughout the world. It contains 27 articles. Article 1 defines who is a Sikh: Any human being who faithful believes in:

• One immortal Being.

• Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Gobind Singh.

The Shri Guru Granth Sahib (their scripture).

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• The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus.

• The baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru, and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion, is a Sikh.

Baha’i. The Baha’I Faith arose from Islam in the 1800s based on the teachings of Baha’u’llah. It was formally founded in AD 1863. It is now a distinct worldwide faith.

The faith’s followers believe that God has sent nine great prophets to mankind through whom the Holy Spirit has revealed the “Word of God.” The revelations of these prophets have given rise to the major world religions. Although these religions arose from the teachings of the prophets of one God, the separate major churches are quite different. The Baha’is feel these differences are due to the needs of the individual societies the Lord was blessing through his individual prophets.

Baha’i’s beliefs promote genre and race equality, freedom of expression and assembly, world peace, and world government. They believe that a single world government led by Baha’is will be established at some point in the future. They believe that every person has an immortal soul which cannot die but is freed to travel through the spirit world after death.

It is important that each of us, as we consider churches other than our own, maintains the capacity for “divine envy.” This is the ability to appreciate, admire, and even seek after especially strong characteristics of other churches. For example, we might admire the emphasis given to worldly thought control by the Buddhists, the rigorous study of the scripture by the Jews, or the disciplined daily prayer customs of the Muslims.