The religious beliefs practiced by African people differ from Christianity in many aspects. First of all, they emerged in specific and rather secluded communities and for a very long time they did not come into contact with other cultures or religions (Crafford, 1996, p 2).

Secondly, they are not unified and written down; there are no canonical sources which would lay down the core principles of African traditional religions, their ritualistic procedures, and ethics.

This paper is aimed at discussing the main tenets of African traditional religions. In particular, it is necessary to critique them from the perspective of Biblical teachings. We need to identify those values, beliefs and practices which are consistent with Christian principles.

Moreover, it is vital to pinpoint those aspects of African religions which contradict Biblical teaching. On the basis of this analysis one can work out strategies of evangelizing a follower of an African Traditional Religion.

Beliefs, Values and Practices in harmony with Biblical teachings
Overall, it is possible to single out several typical characteristics of , they are as follows:

the belief in mystical powers;
the belief in spirits;
the belief in gods;
the belief in Supreme being (Turaki, 2000, n. p.).
First of all, we need to speak about African conception of God or Supreme Being who is considered to be the origin or the primal cause of life (MBiti, 1989, n. p.). Certainly, unlike Christianity, African traditional religion is not monotheistic, since African people worship lesser divinities and spirit.

Nonetheless, they do acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being who is involved in the creation of the universe. More importantly, we should mention those attributes which are ascribed to God.

He is eternal, omnipotent, and good (MBiti, 1989). These beliefs are quite consistent with Judeo-Christian tradition and Biblical narrative.

Apart from that, it is important some values and practices related to African traditional religion. One of them is respectful or even revered attitude to the ancestors (Turaki, 2000). This respectful attitude is not always analogous to worshipping and African people do not always attribute supernatural qualities to their ancestors.

To some degree, this practice is reconcilable with Christian outlook. To prove this point, one can refer to one of the Ten Commandments, Honor your father and your mother (English Standard Version, Exodus 20:12).

This maxim is mentioned in the New Testament as well. The most important thing is that according to African Traditional Religion, the main task of a human being is to achieve harmony with one another and nature.

Beliefs, Values and Practices in conflict with Biblical teachings
There are several aspects of African Traditional religions which are inconsistent with Biblical teachings. One of them is the mythological interpretation of time. The thing is that African people regard history as a cycle that is going to continue forever (Mbiti, 1989).

This belief implies that human beings are deprived of power or free will. Another thing which is very important is the destiny of the soul. According to the beliefs of African people, when a person dies, he/she turns into a spirit that can act as an intermediary between God and man (Mbiti, 1989).

Such vision of the soul is contrary to Christian tradition which lays strong emphasis on such notions as paradise and hell.

The action of human beings are not rewarded or punished in the afterlife, and this is the main difference of African Traditional Religions from Christianity. One should bear in mind that such perception of the soul can result in moral irresponsibility.

In order to show the perils of such a worldview, Christian missionaries should refer to numerous passages in the New Testament describing the afterlife of a human soul, for instance, the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus (English Standard Version: Luke 16: 19).

However, the most important difference between Biblical teachings and African religions is the worshipping of divinities and spirits. They are a part of cosmology, and can have direct impact on a persons life. From Christian perspective, such a belief and practice border on idolatry and contradict the first commandment.

Such notion as magic is inherent to African religious practices (Turaki, 2000), and it is not compatible with Abrahamic religions like Christianity. It suggests that a human being can and become alike to a Supreme Being.

In order to correct these beliefs and practices, Christian pastors and missionaries should use the arguments from the Old and the New Testaments that condemn magic and sorcery and show the dangers of trying master the powers of a Supreme Being.

Evangelizing a follower of an African traditional religion
A person, who tries to evangelize the followers of African traditional religion, must first show that Christianity gives more definitive answers about the moral values of human beings, the interaction with one another and with God. T

he key task is to convince them that Christianity provides clear and concise rules that benefit both individual and community. To prove this point, a pastor can refer to Exodus, name the Ten Commandments and to the Sermon on the Mount.

It is vital to emphasize the point that Christianity views a human being a creature with free and good will who can resist evil and change the course of events if he/she wants to.

Christianity not only offers consolation to a person, but explains the ways of self-improvement. These are the main arguments that should be made by Christian missionaries.

Moreover, they must be supported by real-life examples that would eloquently demonstrate the application of Biblical teaching to everyday problems encountered by people. Without them, one will find it very difficult to evangelize a follower of an African traditional religion.

Conclusion
African Traditional Religions share with Christianity the belief in God or Supreme Being who is omnipotent, omnipresent, all-knowing, and ,most importantly, good. However, African people do not have monotheistic theology which is the main premise of Abrahamic religions.

Furthermore, they regard spirits and lesser divinities as intermediaries between human beings and God. Their religious practices imply that a person can obtain some supernatural powers and that sorcery and magic. This aspect contradicts the main tenets of Christian tradition.

The Basics of Islam
Introduction
Islam is the religion with the second biggest number of followers all over the world succeeded only by Christianity. Its adherents live in the Middle East, northern Africa, south Asia and south East Asia (Anderson, 1985, p 91). Since its founding, Islam has spread from east to west at a rapid rate.

This religion has always been closely connected with Christianity, and very often the relations between Muslims and Christians were tense if not hostile. This paper seeks to discuss the origins of Islam, its development, and major beliefs.

Moreover, it is necessary to analyze the major similarities and differences between these religions. Finally, the main task is to present a feasible strategy for witnessing to Muslims.

Origins and Founder
Prophet Muhammad was born in AD 570 in Mecca (Anderson, 1985, p 93). His father Abdullah passed away before his birth. He was brought up by his mother till the age of six when she too him under the care of his grandfather.

His grandfather did not live long enough to see his grandsons teenage and . Yet, it has to be admitted that scholars do not know much about the early life of Muhammad.

Before prophet hood Prophet Muhammad was commonly known as the truthful and the trustworthy in Mecca. He felt uncomfortable with the practices of the people of the city and showed no interest in their religious practices, especially idol worshiping (Boa, 1990, p 66).

He began prophesying at the age of 40 in Mecca, at that time he received revelations accompanied by seizures (Boa, 1985, p 68). His revelations were accepted by a relatively few number of people, including his wife, Khadijah and cousin, Ali (Boa, 1985, p 68).

At the early stages, Mohammed and the small group of newly converted Muslims faced several difficulties and even persecutions at the hands of the pagan Arabs and he decided to go to Medina with his companions.

His migration helped him work for spreading Islam in an environment of peace as the people of Medina wholeheartedly welcomed him and promised protection from pagans (Boa, 1985, p 68). Islam gained strength in Medina where many people readily accepted Islam and helped the Muslims gain sufficient man power.

Several wars were fought between the pagans and the Muslims during the years of Prophets life after migration to Medina. Initially, Muslims used force only to defend themselves but in later year many conquests took place and many areas were brought under the control of Muslims (Boa, 1985, p 67).

Muhammad lived for 23 years after becoming a prophet. During these years, he established Islam and its social, political, judicial and economic systems all over the land of Arabia. He left behind The Quran and his traditions (Ahadees) for the Muslims to refer to for guidance.

Overall, it is possible to say that Muhammad came into prominence when he explicitly expressed discontent with religious practices of the then Arabic community. However, unlike Jesus, who resisted every form of violence, Mohammad frequently relied on force.

Moreover, unlike Jesus, he managed to acquire a high status in the then society during his lifetime and his revelations met widespread recognition of the contemporaries.

Beliefs and Practices
While discussing the main beliefs and practices of Islam, one should focus on the five pillars on which this religion is based.

The fist pillar is the Kalmah and its recital. Kalmah postulates that There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. (Quran, as cited in Boa, 1985, p 71). Kalmah sets a stress on the monotheism of Islam and the leading status of Mohammad.

The second pillar is the Salat or prayer. It is mandatory that a Muslim prays a minimum of five times every day. Apart from Salat, there are voluntary prayers which can be performed by an individual.

The third mandatory practice of Islam is Saum or fasting in the month of Ramadan (the 9th month of the Islamic calendar). Fasting has been prescribed for Muslims to help them gain self-restraint and control over their worldly desires.

The fourth pillar is the Zakat or obligatory charity. All Muslims who have savings of more than the Nisab or prescribed level are obliged to spend 2.5% of their savings in charity (Boa, 1985, p 71). A person has the freedom to spend more than the minimum amount due.

Finally, we need to speak about the fifth element of Islam, the Hajj or the pilgrimage to Mecca. Hajj or the pilgrimage is an obligation due only on the individuals who can afford both physically and financially to go to the holy cities of Makah and Medina and perform the pilgrimage.

Those who do not possess the resources to fulfill this obligation are spared.

Articles of Faith in Islam
At this point, it is necessary to discuss the main tenets of Muslim faith. The first article of faith is Tawheed or to believe in the oneness of Almighty God. The second obligation of a Muslim is to believe in angels of Allah.

As it has been mentioned before, Quran sets emphasis on monotheism of Islam and its close relations with Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Judaism (Boa, 1985, p 71).

Nonetheless, one should take into account that Muslims regard the concept of Trinity as polytheistic; this is one of the major differences between the two religions.

According to the third article of faith, a Muslim must acknowledge 28 prophets, who are mentioned in the Old Testaments and in the Gospels (Boa, 1985, p 70). More importantly, the fourth tenet of Islamic tenet is the belief in all the prophets sent by Allah to this world.

Muslims believe that all the prophets were sent with the same message from Allah and all of them are equal. The Holy Quran discourages any kind of distinction to be made amongst the messengers or the prophets of Allah (Boa, 1985, 71).

This principle is very important since it enables to draw connections between Islam and Christianity, especially the teachings of Jesus Christ. The fifth article of faith is the belief in the Judgment day.

The last or the Judgment day will be the day when all human being will be brought to answer for their doings during their worldly life. Again this is another similarity between Islam and Christianity.

Finally, we need to mention the sixth article of faith or the belief in Qadar or the destiny. Islam teaches that destiny of every individual is written by Allah and no one can change it except Allah Himself.

This sense of fatalism is rather untypical of Christian tradition which is based on the premise that a human being has a free will (74). The denial of any article of faith is tantamount to an act of disbelief.

Allah 1, The God in Islam
The Quran teaches that Allah is eternal, omniscient and omnipotent. Allah (GOD) has existed always and will exist forever. The knowledge of Allah cannot be comprehended by humans as He knows everything.

Allah is all powerful. The Quran teaches that Allah is One and only God whom the world should obey. There is nothing comparable to Him as He is above His creations.

According to The Quran, Allah cannot be seen or heard and neither does Allah have a gender as gender is an attribute of man not God. The Quran lays out the principles on which Allah judges humans. He is the most just, fair and most merciful.

Muslims worship on Allah as The Quran and sayings of Prophet Muhammad clearly state that only Allah is worthy of worship. Among His countless attributes are the attributes of mercy and wrath.

The Quran mentions in various chapters about the mercy of Allah on all of His creations and at the same time His anger and wrath to which only the most evil and wretched are entitled.

The important difference from Christian tradition is that God is not anthropomorphic and any attempt to understand his motives by means of human reasoning is doomed to failure.

Islam and Christianity
One can single out several similarities between Islam and Christianity. These religions are monotheistic; both of them rely on the idea that God is an all-knowing and omnipotent being, caring about people.

More importantly, Jesus Christ is revered by Muslims and Christians. These religions have many common theological sources, for instance, the Pentateuch, Psalms, and the Gospels (Boa, 1985, p 71).

Nevertheless, the Quran clearly disagrees with the concept of Trinity in Christianity as Islam only teaches to worship one God. The Quran disagrees with Christianity over the divine status of Jesus Christ and clearly states that Jesus was a prophet who was sent to his people with a message from God.

For Muslims, the belief in the divinity of Christ is not mandatory for salvation; in fact, it runs contrary to their articles of faith.

In their turn, Christians may recognize Islam as a Semitic religion; yet, they refuse to accept Muhammad as a prophet of God.

They regard him as a person who learnt from Judaism and Christianity and also saw dreams which he interpreted in his own way and presented to the people of his time as the word of God. This notion is totally rejected by Muslim theologians.

Evangelizing Muslims
If a Christian tries to evangelize Muslims, he/she should refer to differences in the perception of God. While judging the deeds of human beings Allah simply weighs good and bad deeds of a person. Hence, law can be regarded as an imposed necessity, rather than moral obligation (McCurry, 1994).

Moreover, Christianity pays more attention to a persons will rather than his/her fate. It attaches importance to moral responsibility and choice and not to fatalism. This can be regarded as its advantage over Islam, and Christian missionaries can make this argument.

Additionally, one may point out that Jesus was the only prophet who was raised from the dead by God and this makes him unique among prophets and suggests his nature is divine.

The main strategy will be to draw similarities between the passages in the New Testament and in the Quran, especially those ones, which indicate at sinless life of Jesus and closeness to God.

Conclusion
Islam and Christianity have similar origins and some of their articles of faith are similar to one another. These religions do not agree on such issue as the divinity of Jesus Christ and his role. Muslims consider him to be a messenger of God while Christians believe him to be a Supreme Being.

Yet, comparative analysis of the New Testament and the Quran suggests that he is really different and maybe even superior to other prophets, especially if we are speaking about his moral integrity and perfection.

Judaism
Introduction
Judaism is the first world religion that suggested monotheistic theology according to which there is only one God, who is all-powerful, omniscient, eternal and good. Later it gave rise to other Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam.

This paper is to discuss Jewish Messianic expectations; more importantly, it is aimed at showing that Jesus did fulfill messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.

Jewish Messianic Expectations
Judaism has a ; yet, the messiah or moshiach is normally viewed as a military or political leader, who will observe the Ten Commandments, win battles for his country, and make righteous decisions (English Standard Version2, Jeremiah 33:15).

Most importantly, moshiah will be a human being; this person will not have divine or supernatural qualities (Rich, 2006). This idea is entirely alien to Judaism.

There are several indispensible conditions for the arrival of the Messiah, for instance, disrespectful attitude of children to their parents, peoples inability to repent their sins (Rich, 2006).

According Jewish Messianic expectations, this person will accomplish some of these deeds: to spread the knowledge of God throughout the world (Isaiah, 11: 2), to restore the cities of Israelites (Ezekiel 16: 55), and eradicate illness, hunger and war (Isaih, 25: 8).

Overall, the core of Messianic expectations is the belief that moshiah will bring Jewish nation to prominence and make the Law of Moses universal.

Jewish Rejection of Jesus Messianic Claims
The New Testament provides several examples of how and why Jesus was rejected by the community. One of the main reasons is that his views and ideas were new or even unprecedented for them.

For instance, John mentions that many people and some of his disciples abandoned him when he proclaimed, Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (English Standard Version, John 6: 54). It is possible to say that they misunderstood his words.

It should be noted that this conversation took place in a synagogue, where no one was allowed to make such statements.

The second and probably most important reason is his criticism of the Sanhedrin priests. First of all, need to speak about the incident which is normally known as the Cleansing of the Temple.

According to Mathew, Jesus cast the money-changers out of the Temple and said, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers (Matthew 21:12-17). The phrase my house emphasizes Jesus divine nature, and it could provoke retaliation of high priests.

Moreover, one can refer to the famous Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen which is mentioned in the canonic Gospels.

It tells a man who entrusted with the task of maintaining a vineyard to tenants or husbandmen. When this man sent his son to take the part of the crop, the tenants killed him. According to Luke, the priests perceived this parable as accusation (Luke 20:9-19).

One can also argue that many people misunderstood Jesus and viewed him as a rebel or mutineer against the Law of Moses, although he never spoke anything against the Ten Commandments and pointed out that his intention was to improve or elaborate this set of beliefs and practices (Luke, 16: 31).

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