God gave them freedom and that it is their free choice whether to sin or not. They believe that nothing happens by accident and that God has planned for everything and that he is Omnipotent and Omniscient. They talk about the fact that it is because of man that things do not go as God originally planned but that he knew what
would happen. In the Jewish religion we find the original Ten Commandments from which the Jewish Rabbi's formed 613 laws. However, Smith presents four of which that are used to base almost everything else off of.
First is to not murder, second is to not commit adultery, third is to not steal and fourth is to not lie. Throughout Jewish history we find many prophets or those who foretold what would happen in the future and wrote many of the books within the Bible. The Jewish people held to these books as golden and they used them as their
guides during the times that the foretold events took place. The Jewish people were constantly driven out of their lands and in 586 B.C. the Jews were conquered and were taken prison into Babylonia. At this point of deep despair they still looked upward for that is all they could look. For they found meaning in their suffering as well. They couldn't go any lower. They continued to hang onto hope which they found in a Messiah and a
Savior that was expected to come and free them all. It wasn't till after the second destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. that this Messiah was expected to come. Smith talks about four sides of this: 1. "a politico-national side which foresaw the triumph of the Jews over their enemies and their elevation to a position of importance
in world affairs, 2. a spiritual universal side in which their political triumph would be attended by a moral advance of universal proportions, 3. Restorative Messianic looked for the re-creation of past conditions typically the Davidic monarchy as idealized, 4. And End times philosophy. There was also discussion as to whether God
would come himself and him giving us a human agent to intervene and restore harmony.
The other major realm of Jewish culture is that to which they hallow life. They should rejoice in having food but first pray and give thanks to their creator for giving them the food, they should rejoice of the law given but also practice it, they should enjoy sex but in the sacredness of marriage. Also Jewish culture wouldn't be
the same without its rituals and traditions, whether it's the Passover meal to the Sabbath eve to the Day of Atonement or New Years Day. These all remind them of what life is all about and keep them
grounded in their way of life and in God. As mentioned before the Jews believe to be God's chosen people which
according to Smith may sound arrogant at first but when you look at how they use it to signify the fact of how much they've accomplished and yet they unselfishly give that glory and honor to God instead of
to themselves. It becomes almost a worthy gesture. It allows one to understand why they could consider themselves the chosen people considering all they have been through and how they have
miraculously rebounded and the great achievements they've made. Today we are living in a time were Israel has been once again rebuilt and Smith outlines four major reasons for the fact as to why
Israel was given back to the Jews. "1. The argument for security. The 1938-1945 Nazi-instigated holocaust convinced many that Jews could not hope for security in Europe. 2. The psychological argument.
Some were convinced that it was psychologically unhealthy for the Jews to be everywhere in minority status. 3. The cultural argument. The substance of Judaism was running thin and its tradition was
bleeding to death. Somewhere in the world there needed to be a land where Judaism was the dominant ethos. 4. The social, utopian argument. Somewhere in the world there should be a nation dedicated
to the historical realization of prophetic ideals and ethics." And I agree with Smith in his ending statement "how wonderful it is to be living with all this happening." We shall see what becomes of
the Israeli/Palestine conflict.
8. Muslims believe in God "Allah" and believe that there is no God but Allah and quote this almost every day of their lives. It is said that Ishmael was the leader of the Muslims whom was the son of Abraham but from
another woman then his wife Sarah.
Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. and was born in the city of Mecca his name translated means highly praised. He was adopted by his uncle due to the fact that both his parents died when he was very young
still. It is told that the angels of heaven blessed Muhammad. Through his life he was always kind hearted to people and would give to the poor. He then married a woman named Khadija and from that
point on his ministry had started to begin. He went to a cave on the outskirts of Mecca it was in this cave that it was said that the Angel Gabriel spoke to him and that Allah spoke to him and told him what to write down in the holy book of the Koran. This was done around 610 A.D. He then after finishing the book and receiving his
command from the angel left to tell his wife about it. She believed him and his religion had started. When Muhammad first started teaching his knowledge most people reacted to it violently and with disbelief he only gained a very small amount of 40 converts. The Mecca�s wanted to get rid of him
as they felt he was going to bring them trouble and was stirring an uprising. During this time a group of people from Yathrib whom through word being passed on had come to convert. The city went to
Muhammad and they went to Mecca and told the city men that they were going to leave to Medina. The Mecca�s followed them in. In the city of Medina all the people seemed to love him and treated him as
a politician of sorts. The Mecca�s attacked the city and Muhammad led a mass uprising against them and won. He then died after this in 632 A.D. The Muslims conquered violently Armenia, Persia, Syria,
Palestine, Iraq, North Africa, and Spain in a quest for world domination it seemed.