Optional Project
WHAT DO VARIOUS HOLY BOOKS OF MAJOR WORLD 
RELIGIONS SAY ABOUT WOMEN?
Compiled by: Fereshteh. T. Bethel, Ph.D.          
e-mail:  ftbethel@aol.com

Please carefully read and examine each of 
the verses of the scriptures of the enclosed 
four major world religions, and on four pages 
typed, double-spaced (one page per religion) 
answer the following four questions:  IF IN 
THIS DAY AND AGE a woman is a devoted follower 
of any of these four religions,

1)	What would her self-concept be like?  
How would she most likely perceive herself?
2)	How would her self-perception affect 
the way she relates to her husband?  Would she 
consider herself equal, lower or higher than him?
3) 	How would her beliefs impact the way she 
would raise her sons and daughters?  
	Would she treat them differently because 
of their gender?
4)	Finally, how would her belief system impact 
the way she would relate to other men or boss at work 
and in the international arena?  Would she consider 
herself inferior, equal or superior to them?
5)	On the 5th page, try to integrate the 
scriptures of the four religions and state if 
there are any differences, similarities or 
progression to them.

Please support your position by citing sources 
from the holy scriptures of each of these four 
religions which are reflected in the following 
compilation or any other ones from the actual 
Holy Book.

Historical and Contextual Background

Judaism: Founded about 1350 B.C. by Moses whose 
main purpose was to teach the Hebrews about 
the oneness and supremacy of God, obedience to 
His ten commandments and 613 laws and bringing 
about family and tribal unity. He freed the 
Israelites from the bondage of the Egyptians 
and brought them to their homeland (Palestine).  
The Jews, for several hundred years lived a 
nomadic life, moving from place to place.  
The conditions of life were very difficult with 
problems of sanitation, disease, health and 
extreme cruelty of man against man.  Many of 
the laws and punishments brought by Moses were 
accordingly severe in order to fit the needs of 
the people of those days.  The Holy Book 
attributed to Him is called the Pentateuch or 
Torah, but the Christians refer to it and other 
scriptures as the Old Testament (covenant) as 
compared to New Testament.  Moses and other 
prophets who were under His dispensation foretold 
the coming of the Messiah and other prophets.  
There are about 14 million Jews in the world, 
of whom about 5.5 million live in the United States.

Christianity: Founded about 2000 years ago by 
Jesus Christ.  At this point in history, the 
conditions of living had somewhat improved and 
people were more stationary living in towns.  
The major purpose of Christ was to fulfill the 
prophecies of the past (Moses and other prophets) 
by bringing the latest message of the love of God 
to the people of Palestine.  He subtly changed the 
two laws of divorce and the Sabbath, and said if you 
had believed in Moses you would have believed in me.  
He promised His followers the existence of a spiritual 
life after the physical death and sought from them 
obedience to His exhortations and admonitions.  He 
foretold His second coming and the coming of another 
prophet or Comforter.  Christ Himself was persecuted 
and crucified at the hand of His enemies.  The holy 
book attributed to Christ is called the New Testament.  
Christian scholars estimate that it took approximately 
1600 years for both the Old and New Testaments to be 
written and compiled by some 40 men.  There are about 
two thousand denominations in Christianity of which the 
Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity 
are the major ones.  Unlike Roman Catholicism's seven 
sacraments, Protestants generally recognize only two -- 
Baptism and Holy Communion or Eucharist.  The doctrine 
of the Trinity -- that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit 
is upheld by some branches and not by others.  However, 
just about all of the major sects uphold the authority 
of the scriptures, the sovereignty of God and the 
essential element of personal faith for salvation.  
From the historical perspective, apparently Christianity 
brought about the actualization of the concept of 
city/state unity.  Amongst the major religions, 
Christianity is geographically the most wide spread 
Faith in the world.

Islam: Founder is Muhammad who appeared in 622 A.D. 
in Mecca, Saudi-Arabia when people were living a 
nomadic lifestyle and the conditions were very harsh 
and difficult.  His followers are called Muslims.  
Muhammad claimed to be the Messenger of God and the 
Comforter foretold by Christ.  His Holy Book is called 
the Quran which was dictated by Him and written down 
by His amanuenses (secretaries).  He called the 
idol-worshippers of Arabia to the worship of the 
one true and transcendent God and thus, suffered 
severe persecution at their hands. Muhammad said: 
"Say: 'God is One, the Eternal God.  He begot none, 
nor was He begotten.  None is equal to Him'".  
The five pillars of Islam are: Witness-affirming 
the absolute unity of God and accepting the 
prophethood of Muhammad; Worship-offering prayers 
five times a day; Charity-paying annually at least 
2.5% of wealth that has been in one's possession 
for one year to help the needy and to "purify" 
one's own possessions; Fasting-abstaining totally 
from food, drink and conjugal relations from dawn 
to sunset by the able-bodied adults during Ramadan, 
ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; Pilgrimage-
visiting the Ka'bah in Mecca at least once in a 
lifetime if financial and physical circumstances 
permit during the 12th month of the Islamic lunar 
calendar.  Muhammad endorsed the divinity of Moses and 
Christ and foretold the coming of future messengers.  
From the historical perspective, it seems that 
the actualization of the concept of national unity or 
otherwise known as nationhood came about after 
the rise of Islam. Today there are more than one 
billion Muslims in the world, about 85% of whom are 
members of the Sunni branch of Islam, and the 
remaining 15% belonging to the Shiáh sect.  In 
numerical size, Islam is comparable to Christianity.

Baha'i Faith: The year of the inception of this 
Faith is 1844 in Persia, where it was considered 
to be morally the most corrupt place on earth.  It 
is the youngest of the world's independent religions 
whose main goal is to bring about the unity of humanity, 
world peace and tranquillity.  Its Prophet-Founder 
was Baha'u'llah, (Arabic for "the Glory of God") (1817-1892).  
The main principles of this Faith are: oneness and supremacy 
of a personal God, oneness of humanity, divine origin and 
essential unity of all the major religions:  "This is the 
changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in 
the future.  Let him that seeketh, attain it."  He taught 
the reality of all the Prophets/ Messengers to be one 
because they all come from the same source (God), each 
fulfills the prophecies of the one before him, 
their station is one, and that the only difference 
between them is the intensity of their revelation 
(message/teachings) which advances according to the 
requirements of the time.  So, according to 
Baha'u'llah, if you deny any one of the Founders of the 
major world religions, you have essentially 
denied all of them, because they are all one spiritual 
reality.  Other teachings of Baha'u'llah are: 
independent investigation of truth, universal 
education, equal rights and opportunities for men and 
women, elimination of all forms of prejudice and 
harmony between science and religion.  Since reality 
is one, science and religion are considered to be 
the different manifestations of the same reality.  The 
spiritual laws for its adherents include daily 
obligatory prayer, fasting, chastity, monogamy, 
family unity, etc.  There is no professional clergy in 
the Baha'i Faith and in place of it there is a 
divinely-ordained administrative order that consists of 
elected individuals (without electioneering) serving on 
local, national and global institutions.  The spiritual 
and administrative center of this Faith is in Haifa and 
Acca, Israel, where the final resting places of its 
Forerunner (The Bab, meaning the "Gate") who 
suffered persecution and martyrdom with thousands of 
His followers, and its Founder (Baha'u'llah) who 
was stripped of His belongings, tortured, beaten, 
three times poisoned, and imprisoned are situated.  
In their voluminous writings, Baha'u'llah and His 
successors set forth a practical plan as a remedy for 
the ills of humanity and the establishment of a new 
world order or civilization based on justice and 
peace.  Baha'u'llah, who claimed to be the return of 
Christ and other Prophets of the past, stated that 
another Prophet/Messenger would appear after no less 
than a thousand years.  After Christianity, the 
Baha'i Faith is the second largest religion in its 
geographic spread with a diverse following of about 
6 million adherents from more than 250 
countries/territories of the world.