Evolution and Growth of Life Guidance From the Abrahamic Religions

(with help from Chat GPT)

Over time, the guidance and directives of how to live and behave evolved for the Abrahamic religions. The New Testament scripture gives new guidance that was not in the Old Testament. The Quran offers further instructions and takes them a bit further. I want to stress the word "evolved" with regards to values, morality and culture, instead of the word "changed." Islam still holds the Ten Commandments as sacred as does Christianity and Judaism.

Judaism has three main sects: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, along with other minor movements. Each has their own interpretation of how best to live. Note that there are passages in the Old Testament with values and directives which modern society finds abhorrent today. Exodus 21, of the Old Testament allows slavery and polygamy. Men are allowed to sell their daughters as slaves. Exodus 21:16-17 is a great example of a directive incompatible with modern society.

" 16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins."

Christianity has literally hundreds of different sects, each of which seems to pick and choose what pieces of scripture they hold sacred and which they choose to ignore. Many Christians will cite passages from the Bible to justify their values and beliefs, and then feel they can discard passages like Exodus 21 because they don't like them.

From what I can tell, Islam is largely uniform in how they interpret scripture and that the distinction between Shia and Sunni is more political than theological. The Sufi do have the distinction of having an emphasis on the mystical, but they are just as much Muslim as those who are not Sufi.

Judaism

The Ten Commandments

  1. I am the LORD your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.
  2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
  3. Remember to keep holy the LORD's Day.
  4. Honor your father and mother.
  5. You shall not kill.
  6. You shall not commit adultery.
  7. You shall not steal.
  8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

Old Testament Scripture

  1. Love your neighbor
    "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
    - Leviticus 19:18
  2. Care for the poor and vulnerable
    "If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you."
    - Leviticus 25:35
  3. Be honest in business
    "Do not have two differing weights in your bag-one heavy, one light."
    - Deuteronomy 25:13
  4. Be slow to anger
    "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools."
    - Ecclesiastes 7:9
  5. Defend the oppressed
    "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow."
    - Isaiah 1:17
  6. Be humble before God
    "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
    - Micah 6:8
  7. Avoid gossip
    "Do not go about spreading slander among your people."
    - Leviticus 19:16
  8. Keep your word
    "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it; for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin."
    - Deuteronomy 23:21
  9. Control your speech
    "The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered."
    - Proverbs 17:27
  10. Care for foreigners
    "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."
    - Leviticus 19:33–34

Christianity

New Testament Scripture

  1. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
    "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven."
    - Matthew 5:44-45
    (While the Old Testament teaches kindness to strangers and even to some enemies, it does not go as far as loving enemies and actively praying for them.)

  2. Forgive without limit
    "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
    - Matthew 18:22
    (Old Testament law included forgiveness in certain contexts, but Jesus pushes for unlimited, repeated forgiveness.)

  3. Turn the other cheek
    "If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."
    - Matthew 5:39
    (This rejects personal retaliation, going beyond the OT's "eye for eye" justice principle.)

  4. Bless those who curse you and do good to those who hate you
    "Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you."
    - Luke 6:27-28
    (This active benevolence toward enemies is distinct from OT guidance.)

  5. Do not judge, or you too will be judged
    "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
    - Matthew 7:1
    (The Old Testament calls for righteous judgment in legal matters, but Jesus here addresses personal, critical attitudes.)

  6. Seek to serve, not to be served
    "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve."
    - Matthew 20:26-28
    (This reverses worldly ideas of status, going beyond OT leadership ideals.)

  7. Give in secret
    "When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."
    - Matthew 6:3-4
    (The OT commands charity but does not stress secrecy and humility in giving.)

  8. Store up treasures in heaven, not on earth
    "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven."
    - Matthew 6:19-20
    (The OT speaks of spiritual reward, but Jesus explicitly reorients life away from material security.)

  9. The Golden Rule as a universal principle
    "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
    - Matthew 7:12
    (The OT contains similar ideas in Leviticus 19:18, but Jesus universalizes it as a concise summary of all moral law.)

  10. Love as the ultimate commandment
    "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
    - John 13:34
    (While the OT commands love for neighbor, the "as I have loved you" standard-self-sacrificial love modeled on Jesus-is new.)

Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam

  1. Shahada (Declaration of Faith):
    This pillar is the Muslim profession of faith, declaring that "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger".
  2. Salah (Prayer):
    Muslims are obligated to perform five daily prayers at specific times throughout the day.
  3. Zakat (Charity):
    This pillar involves giving a portion of one's wealth to the poor and needy.
  4. Sawm (Fasting):
    During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.
  5. Hajj (Pilgrimage):
    If physically and financially able, Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

Scripture from the Quran

  1. Prohibition of interest (riba) in financial dealings
    "Those who devour usury will not stand except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into madness… Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden usury."
    - Surah Al-Baqarah (2:275)
    While the Bible warns against unjust gain and has restrictions on lending with interest to fellow Israelites, the Quran flatly forbids interest-taking in all circumstances as inherently unjust.

  2. Obligation of zakah as a structured social duty
    "Establish prayer and give zakah, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves-you will find it with Allah."
    - Surah Al-Baqarah (2:110)
    The Bible teaches charity, but zakah in the Quran is a formal, fixed-rate obligation for all eligible Muslims, not just voluntary generosity.

  3. Ummah-based collective responsibility
    "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided."
    - Surah Al-Imran (3:103)
    The Quran strongly emphasizes the unity and collective moral accountability of the Muslim community (ummah), not just individual righteousness.

  4. Prohibition of intoxicants and gambling as social harms
    "O you who have believed, indeed intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid them that you may be successful."
    - Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:90)
    The Bible condemns drunkenness but does not absolutely forbid alcohol or gambling; the Quran bans them outright.

  5. Requirement to return trusts, even to enemies
    "Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice."
    - Surah An-Nisa (4:58)
    While the Bible teaches honesty, the Quran makes a point of fulfilling trusts and contracts even with non-Muslims and adversaries.

  6. Etiquette of greeting and responding to greetings
    "When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with one better than it or (at least) return it equally."
    - Surah An-Nisa (4:86)
    The Bible values kindness, but the Quran formalizes social etiquette as a moral duty.

  7. Prohibition of backbiting as eating the flesh of your dead brother
    "Do not backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it."
    - Surah Al-Hujurat (49:12)
    The Bible condemns slander, but the Quran's vivid metaphor and explicit ban on all forms of backbiting (even if true) is stronger and more categorical.

  8. Command to verify news before acting on it
    "O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful."
    - Surah Al-Hujurat (49:6)
    The Bible warns against false witness but doesn't give this explicit procedural command to verify reports before taking action.

  9. No compulsion in religion
    "There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong."
    - Surah Al-Baqarah (2:256)
    The Bible teaches free will in following God but does not explicitly formulate this as a guiding social law.

  10. Balance in spending - neither miserly nor extravagant
    "And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but hold a medium [way] between those [extremes]."
    - Surah Al-Furqan (25:67)
    The Bible praises generosity, but the Quran adds specific guidance about moderation in personal economics.