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100-568: The foundation was founded by Jon Stryker , heir to the Stryker Corporation medical supply company fortune. The foundation has offices in New York City and Cambridge, England . Arcus has been called "the world's largest private funder of ape conservation" and "the nation's largest LGBT funder". Stryker has explained the relationship between the foundation's focus areas as “bound by the common themes of compassion and justice…We don’t use

200-494: A $ 200,000 planning grant and a $ 2.1 million project grant to Kalamazoo College to develop a social leadership center on campus. The Arcus Foundation also donated $ 5 million to cover the construction costs of the 10,000-square-foot building, now called the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. In January 2012, Stryker's foundation awarded a $ 23 million endowment grant to support the center's operations and programming into

300-654: A $ 5.6 million grant to fund the tuition and financial support of 50 Posse Scholars from the Los Angeles Unified School District . The grant, which supported the enrollment of 10 Posse Scholars in five consecutive academic classes at Kalamazoo College, was made in partnership with the Posse Foundation , a national organization that pairs high-performing public high school students from underrepresented groups in higher education with full, four-year academic scholarships at colleges and universities throughout

400-550: A Mediterranean-style house in Palm Beach, Florida , designed by famed American architect Marion Sims Wyeth . The house, built in 1924, features a west-facing facade that has been designated a historic landmark since 1990. In June 2010, Stryker expanded the property where the house sits by purchasing an adjoining ocean-access lot that included the former residence of Jimmy Buffett and Jane Buffett for $ 18.5 million. Stryker also owns multiple properties in his native Kalamazoo , and

500-526: A condition of the donation, several conservation easements were placed on the property to ensure that the land remains protected and accessible to the public in perpetuity. In August 2006, Stryker formed the political action committee Coalition for Progress to fund the election campaigns of Michigan Senate and Michigan House of Representatives district candidates, particularly from the Democratic Party . Stryker personally contributed $ 4.7 million to

600-684: A conservation easement to protect against any future development of the riverfront land. The property's parking area and extensive network of trails, including on-foot access to the Hudson River , is managed by the Open Space Institute and is open to the public, with the exception of a 21-acre residential area. He briefly owned an apartment in the Time Warner Center in New York City 's Columbus Circle before selling it in 2007. Abrahamic religions The Abrahamic religions are

700-662: A direct ancestor; in any case, the emphasis is placed on faith being the only requirement for the Abrahamic Covenant to apply (see also New Covenant and supersessionism ). In Christian belief, Abraham is a role model of faith, and his obedience to God by offering Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his son Jesus. Christian commentators have a tendency to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity subsequent to, and sometimes rather than (as in supersessionism), being applied to Judaism, whose adherents rejected Jesus . They argue this on

800-600: A former member of the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith–based and Neighborhood Partnerships, became its executive director. Yvette Burton served as CEO from 2010 to 2012. In April 2012, Annette Lanjouw was appointed as interim executive director. In September 2012, Lanjouw returned to her role as vice president of strategic initiatives and great ape programs when Kevin Jennings became executive director,

900-607: A fundraising event hosted by Mighty Cause and now run by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries to benefit great ape sanctuaries across Africa, Asia and North America. The foundation also supports the UN's Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to address threats to the survival of great apes. The foundation publishes a series of publications entitled "State of

1000-459: A grant of $ 120,000 from the Arcus Foundation. The grant's stated intent was “to recruit and equip LGBT supportive leaders and advocates to counter rejection and antagonism within traditionally conservative Christian churches.” The CNA story questioned whether the grant had biased RNS's coverage of traditional religion, specifically citing an RNS article on Cardinal Raymond Burke . In response to

1100-916: A grouping of three of the major religions ( Judaism , Christianity , and Islam ) together due to their historical coexistence and competition; it refers to Abraham , a figure mentioned in the Hebrew Bible , the Christian Bible , and the Quran respectively, and is used to show similarities between these religions and put them in contrast to Indian religions , Iranian religions , and the East Asian religions (though other religions and belief systems may refer to Abraham as well). Furthermore, some religions categorized as "Abrahamic" also share elements from other categories, such as Indian religions, or for example, Islam with Eastern religions . Abrahamic religions make up

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1200-669: A link between economic development for people and ape conservation — social justice for people can truly enable conservation. In 2016, Jon Stryker and his sister Pat Stryker each gave $ 5 million to the Equal Justice Initiative to help fund a national memorial to victims of racial lynching in the United States. The siblings made the donation in honor of their late father, Lee Stryker. In 2017, Stryker donated $ 1.275 Million to expand Virgin Islands National Park with

1300-582: A modern sanctuary, which today provides lifetime care for more than 250 chimpanzees rescued from biomedical research laboratories. In 2017, Stryker was named a Patron of Nature by the International Union for Conservation of Nature . In 2023, Stryker joined the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation's Council for Hope. Stryker has made significant contributions in the name of conservation and social justice causes to his hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan , and his alma maters Kalamazoo College and

1400-568: A national organization that works to support the candidacies of openly LGBT officials at all levels of government. He was awarded the Creating Change Award by the National LGBTQ Task Force in 2008. He received the 2014 Global Vision Award from Immigration Equality , a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers, detainees, and binational couples. He received

1500-579: A reflection of its social justice purpose. It was described as a "log cabin the Jetsons ordered from the 2062 Whole Earth Catalog" and "laudable simply for being eloquent and humane," in a 2014 New York Times architectural review. The building was designed by Jeanne Gang of the Chicago-based firm Studio Gang Architects . Stryker also makes contributions in support of the college's study abroad programs and enrollment diversity efforts. In 2008, he established

1600-452: A role which he held for five years. Upon Jennings' departure, Lanjouw and Jason McGill were named Arcus's co-executive directors. In January 2020, Lanjouw was appointed as Arcus's Chief Executive Officer. Jon Stryker Jon Lloyd Stryker (born c. 1958) is an American architect , philanthropist , and billionaire heir to the Stryker Corporation medical technology company fortune. As reported by Forbes , Stryker's net worth

1700-554: A state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota. In 2013, Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States. Stryker married his long-time partner Slobodan Randjelović in December 2016. He has two children from a previous marriage. He lives in New York City and maintains a home in New York state's Hudson River Valley . He previously owned

1800-518: Is a universal religion (i.e. membership is open to anyone). Like Judaism, it has a strictly unitary conception of God, called tawhid or "strict monotheism". The story of the creation of the world in the Quran is elaborated less extensively than in the Hebrew scripture, emphasizing the transcendence and universality of God, instead. According to the Quran, God says kun fa-yakūnu . The Quran describes God as

1900-532: Is a Kurdish religion which combines elements of Shi'a Islam with pre-Islamic Kurdish beliefs; it has been classified as Abrahamic due to its monotheism, incorporation of Islamic doctrines, and reverence for Islamic figures, especially Ali ibn Abi Talib , the fourth caliph and first imam of Shia Islam . A number of sources include the Baháʼí Faith established in the 19th century, since it historically emerged in an Islamic milieu, and shares several beliefs with

2000-411: Is a collective religious descriptor for elements shared by Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . It features prominently in interfaith dialogue and political discourse but also has entered academic discourse . However, the term has also been criticized for being uncritically adopted. Although historically the term Abrahamic religions was limited to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, restricting

2100-505: Is a registered architect in Michigan and is president of Depot Landmark LLC , a development company specializing in the rehabilitation of historic buildings. Stryker is a founding board member of Greenleaf Trust , a privately owned bank in Kalamazoo, Michigan . In 2017, Stryker joined the board of trustees of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City . Stryker served on the board of

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2200-677: Is also sometimes classified as Abrahamic, in particular due to its monotheism and use of the Bible as scripture. Chrislam , a group of related Nigerian religious movements which seek to syncretise Christianity and Islam, is sometimes also considered a minor Abrahamic religion. Other African diaspora religions, such as Haitian Vodou and Candomblé , are not classified as Abrahamic, despite originating in syncretism between Christianity and African traditional religions, since they are not monotheistic, and Abraham plays no role in them. Scholarly sources do not classify Sikhism as an Abrahamic religion, but it

2300-467: Is controversial, given Mandaeism does not accept Abraham as a prophet, despite revering as prophets several other figures from the Jewish scriptures – on the contrary, they believe that Abraham was originally a priest of their religion, but became an apostate from it. Druze is another religion which emerged from Islam in the 11th century, and hence is sometimes also considered an Abrahamic religion. Yarsanism

2400-467: Is credited with built-space revitalization efforts in the city. He unknowingly purchased the commercial building that once housed his grandfather's Orthopedic Frame Co., which eventually became Stryker Corp ., before learning of the building's origins in 2003. Stryker maintains a home in Garrison, New York , along the Hudson River . In June 2013, Stryker purchased the 129-acre property and placed it under

2500-484: Is estimated at $ 4.2 billion. Stryker is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation , which primarily supports great ape conservation efforts and LGBT social justice, and has awarded over $ 500 million in grants. The threatened colobine species Rhinopithecus strykeri is named after him. Stryker was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan . He is the youngest grandchild of Homer Hartman Stryker , founder of

2600-878: Is its connection with the Miʿrāj , where, according to traditional Muslim belief, Muhammad ascended through the Seven heavens on a horse like winged beast named Buraq , guided by the Archangel Gabriel , beginning from the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount , in modern times under the Dome of the Rock . Even though members of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not all claim Abraham as an ancestor, some members of these religions have tried to claim him as exclusively theirs. For Jews , Abraham

2700-507: Is known by different names. Each of these religions preaches that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives. However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods—but rather in three persons , or hypostases, united in one essence —the Trinitarian doctrine , a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations, conflicts with Jewish and Muslim concepts of monotheism. Since

2800-493: Is one of the leading funders of great ape conservation efforts around the world. Through the Arcus Foundation, Stryker gave more than $ 10 million in 2013 to support great ape conservation efforts. Stryker is a founding board member of the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy , a 90,000-acre not-for-profit wildlife conservancy in central Kenya 's Laikipia County . The land, formerly a game reserve and ranching area,

2900-519: Is openly gay, is one of the world's leading philanthropic donors to the LGBT community . His Arcus Foundation is the top LGBT-specific grant-making organization in the United States, giving more than $ 17 million a year to organizations working toward social justice for LGBT people in 2013. Stryker is a Platinum Council donor (giving US$ 50,000 or more in annual contributions) to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund ,

3000-483: Is primarily a revered ancestor or patriarch (referred to as Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו in Hebrew ) "Abraham our father") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the " Promised Land "). According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post- Flood prophet to reject idolatry through rational analysis, although Shem and Eber carried on

3100-415: Is singular ( tawḥīd ) unique ( wāḥid ) and inherently One ( aḥad ), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to Islamic teachings, God exists without place and according to the Quran, "No vision can grasp him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things." God, as referenced in the Quran, is the only God. Islamic tradition also describes

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3200-431: Is sometimes popularly misconceived as being one, in particular due to the theory that it is a syncretism of Hinduism and Islam, which was popular in older accounts but has been rejected as inaccurate by contemporary scholarship. Zoroastrianism is not considered an Abrahamic religion, since Abraham is not part of Zoroastrian religious traditions. All Abrahamic religions accept the tradition that God revealed himself to

3300-495: Is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence. In contrast to the Jewish and Christian traditions, which depict God usually as anthropomorph, the Islamic conception of God is less personal, but rather of a conscious force behind all aspects of the universe only known through signs of nature, metaphorical stories, and revelation by the prophets and angels. Islam emphasizes that God

3400-455: Is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you." With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come". It is this covenant that makes Abraham and his descendants children of the covenant. Similarly, converts, who join the covenant, are all identified as sons and daughters of Abraham. Abraham

3500-676: Is typically viewed as the heresy of idolatry by Islam and Judaism. Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE, when according to Biblical tradition David established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah . Since the Hebrew Bible relates that Isaac's sacrifice took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates even these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for

3600-582: The Hasmonean Kingdom , and modern Israel). It has been majority Jewish since about 1852 and continues through today. Jerusalem was an early center of Christianity . There has been a continuous Christian presence there since. William R. Kenan, Jr., professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Virginia , Charlottesville, writes that from the middle of the 4th century to the Islamic conquest in

3700-723: The Ishmaelites are descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael in the Arabian Peninsula. In its early stages, the Israelite religion shares traits with the Canaanite religions of the Bronze Age ; by the Iron Age , it had become distinct from other Canaanite religions as it shed polytheism for monolatry . They understood their relationship with their god, Yahweh , as a covenant and that

3800-954: The Last Supper in an "upper room" (traditionally the Cenacle ) there the night before he was crucified on the cross and was arrested in Gethsemane . The six parts to Jesus' trial—three stages in a religious court and three stages before a Roman court—were all held in Jerusalem. His crucifixion at Golgotha , his burial nearby (traditionally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ), and his resurrection and ascension and prophecy to return all are said to have occurred or will occur there. Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, third after Mecca and Medina . The Al-Aqsa , which translates to "farthest mosque" in sura Al-Isra in

3900-568: The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2021. In 2024, Stryker was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences . Stryker is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation , a private international philanthropic organization primarily supporting great ape conservation efforts and LGBT causes, as well as other social justice endeavors. Stryker was named one of

4000-459: The PAC . The Coalition for Progress paid for significant advertising in the 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election in support of Jennifer Granholm , who was re-elected as Governor of Michigan over Republican opponent Dick DeVos . In August 2012, Stryker donated $ 325,000 to the nonprofit group Freedom to Marry Minnesota , which helped to organize the defeat of a referendum that would have placed

4100-651: The University of California at Berkeley . In 2000, Stryker established the Arcus Endowment at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design . The endowment supports a wide range of critical and creative activities at the intersection of LGBT issues and urban design and planning. In 2010, Stryker gave an additional $ 1 million to create a new chair position at the college named the Arcus Chair in Gender, Sexuality and

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4200-579: The Washington, DC –based Faithful America to “promote greater media visibility for Christians who denounce the abuse of religious-freedom arguments to oppose full equality” for LGBT people. Arcus has also awarded at least $ 200,000 to a coalition of groups seeking to "counter the narrative of the Catholic Church" and "to support pro-LGBT faith advocates to influence and counter the narrative of the Catholic Church and its ultra-conservative affiliates." In 2014,

4300-655: The prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel (Bani Israil), the Zabur ( Psalms ) revealed to Dawud ( David ) and the Injil (the Gospel ) revealed to Isa ( Jesus ). The Quran also mentions God having revealed the Scrolls of Abraham and the Scrolls of Moses . The relationship between Islamic and Hebrew scriptures and New Testament differs significantly from the relationship between

4400-741: The restrictions on pork consumption found in Jewish and Islamic dietary law), and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháʼí Faith not shared by Judaism (e.g., the prophetic and Messianic position of Jesus ). Jewish tradition claims that the Twelve Tribes of Israel are descended from Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob , whose sons formed the nation of the Israelites in Canaan ; Islamic tradition claims that twelve Arab tribes known as

4500-514: The siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), forced Jews to reconcile their belief-system with the destruction of the Second Temple and associated rituals. At this time, both Judaism and Christianity had to systematize their scriptures and beliefs, resulting in competing theologies both claiming Abrahamic heritage. Christians could hardly dismiss the Hebrew scriptures as Jesus himself refers to them according to Christian reports, and parallels between Jesus and

4600-523: The " sons of God " rather than "children of Abraham". For Muslims, Abraham is a prophet , the " messenger of God" who stands in the line from Adam to Muhammad, to whom God gave revelations, , who "raised the foundations of the House" (i.e., the Kaaba ) with his first son, Isma'il , a symbol of which is every mosque. Ibrahim (Abraham) is the first in a genealogy for Muhammad. Islam considers Abraham to be "one of

4700-507: The 16th century, the birth and growth of Protestantism during the Reformation further split Christianity into many denominations . Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches , Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization . Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran . Although it considers Muhammad to be the Seal of

4800-663: The 1st century as a sect within Judaism initially led by Jesus . His followers viewed him as the Messiah , as in the Confession of Peter ; after his crucifixion and death they came to view him as God incarnate , who was resurrected and will return at the end of time to judge the living and the dead and create an eternal Kingdom of God . In the 1st century AD, under the Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth ; Christianity spread widely after it

4900-418: The 2015 Visionary Award from the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Network. In 2015, Stryker spearheaded, together with Jurek Wajdowicz , the ongoing international series of LGBT-themed photography books published by The New Press . In October 2019, Styker donated $ 2 million to Spelman College for the first ever queer studies chair at an HBCU ( Historically black colleges and universities ). Stryker

5000-460: The 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things." In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted. As time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer , stating that the Father is in Heaven ), others based on theological reasoning. In Islamic theology , God ( Arabic : الله Allāh )

5100-436: The 7th century AD, Islam was founded by Muhammad in the Arabian Peninsula; it spread widely through the early Muslim conquests , shortly after his death. Islam understands its form of "Abrahamic monotheism" as preceding both Judaism and Christianity, and in contrast with Arabian Henotheism . The teachings of the Quran are believed by Muslims to be the direct and final revelation and words of God . Islam, like Christianity,

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5200-482: The Abrahamic faiths, including monotheism and recognising Jewish, Christian and Islamic figures as prophets. Some also include Bábism , another 19th century movement which was a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith – but while most followers of Bábism became Baháʼís, a minority did not, and Bábism survives today as an independent religion, albeit only with a few thousand remaining followers. Rastafari , an Afrocentric religion which emerged from Christianity in 1930s Jamaica,

5300-415: The Abrahamic religions themselves. Proponents of the term argue that all three religions are united through the deity worshipped by Abraham. The Catholic scholar of Islam Louis Massignon stated that the phrase "Abrahamic religion" means that all these religions come from one spiritual source. The modern term comes from the plural form of a Quranic reference to dīn Ibrāhīm ("religion of Ibrahim"),

5400-411: The Apes" which reviews threats, research and policy implications for apes. The publication was first introduced at the 2014 United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya. The Arcus Foundation is a major supporter of LGBT social justice. In January 2011, the foundation made a $ 23 million grant to establish the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan . It

5500-572: The Arabic form of Abraham's name. In Christianity, Paul the Apostle , in Romans 4:11–12 , refers to Abraham as "father of all", including those "who have faith, circumcised or uncircumcised." From its founding, Islam likewise conceived of itself as the religion of Abraham. The Bahá’í scriptures state that the religion's founder, Baháʼu’lláh , descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah 's sons. The appropriateness of grouping Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as "Abrahamic religions" and related terms has been challenged. Adam Dodds argues that

5600-432: The Biblical stories of creation and redemption starting with Abraham in the Book of Genesis . The distant God asserted by Jesus according to the Christians, created a form of dualism between Creator and creation and the doctrine of Creatio ex nihilo , which later heavily influenced Jewish and Islamic theology. By that, Christians established their own identity, distinct from both Greeks and Jews, as those who venerate

5700-399: The Built Environment. In 2016, Stryker was named the inaugural recipient of the college's Catherine Bauer Wurster Award for Social Practice. The award honors the legacy of Catherine Bauer Wurster and recognizes the significant achievements of a CED alumnus toward advancing social justice, environmental conservation, and fair urban development. In 2009, Stryker's Arcus Foundation awarded

5800-453: The CNA report, RNS's editor-in-chief denied that the Arcus grant had any influence over editorial decisions at RNS. In December 2015, the Arcus Foundation announced $ 15 million in funding to boost the transgender movement in the U.S. and globally to increase job opportunities and fight a "rising tide of violence against transgender people". Urvashi Vaid was the executive director of the foundation from 2005 to 2010. In May 2010, Fred Davie,

5900-469: The LGBTQ community. The foundation has allocated funds to promote civil liberties and oppose religious liberty exemptions, including a $ 600,000 grant to the ACLU in 2013 to support the Campaign to End the Use of Religion to Discriminate, and a 2014 grant of $ 100,000 to the American Civil Liberties Foundation supporting “communications strategies to convince conservative Americans that religious exemptions are 'un-American'". In 2014, Arcus awarded $ 75,000 to

6000-409: The New Testament and the Hebrew Bible . Whereas the New Testament draws heavily on the Hebrew Bible and interprets its text in light of the foundations of the new religion, the Quran only alludes to various stories of Biblical writings, but remains independent of both, focusing on establishing a monotheistic message by utilizing the stories of the prophets in a religious decentralized environment. In

6100-414: The Quran and its surroundings are addressed in the Quran as "the holy land". Muslim tradition as recorded in the ahadith identifies al-Aqsa with a mosque in Jerusalem. The first Muslims did not pray toward Kaaba , but toward Jerusalem. The qibla was switched to Kaaba later on to fulfill the order of Allah of praying in the direction of Kaaba (Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:144–150). Another reason for its significance

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6200-421: The annual Hajj pilgrimage. The conception of God as universal remains a common feature of all Abrahamic religions. The Abrahamic God is conceived of as eternal , omnipotent , omniscient and as the creator of the universe . God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence , and omnipresence . Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is also transcendent , but at

6300-461: The basis that just as Abraham as a Gentile (before he was circumcised ) "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" (cf. Rom. 4:3, James 2:23), "those who have faith are children of Abraham" (see also John 8:39). This is most fully developed in Paul's theology where all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham. However, with regards to Rom. 4:20 and Gal. 4:9, in both cases he refers to these spiritual descendants as

6400-526: The category to these three religions has come under criticism. The late-19th-century Baháʼí Faith has been listed as Abrahamic by scholarly sources in various fields since it is a monotheistic religion that recognizes Abraham. The figure of Abraham is suggested as a common ground for Judaism, Christianity, Islam and a hypothesized eschatological reconciliation of the three. Commonalities may include creation , revelation , and redemption , but such shared concepts vary significantly between and within

6500-409: The college. In 2015, Stryker donated 22-acres of land running along the west fork of Portage Creek in Kalamazoo, Michigan , to the Kalamazoo Nature Center . In addition to the land donation, Stryker committed to giving as much as $ 700,000 as part of a 2-to-1 matching grant that would go toward a proposed multi-phase restoration of the property and an environmental education facility on the site. As

6600-448: The conception of a divine Trinity is not amenable to tawhid , the Islamic doctrine of monotheism, Islam regards Christianity as variously polytheistic . Christianity and Islam both revere Jesus ( Arabic : Isa or Yasu among Muslims and Arab Christians respectively) but with vastly differing conceptions: However, the worship of Jesus, or the ascribing of partners to God (known as shirk in Islam and as shituf in Judaism),

6700-537: The country. In 2001, Stryker made a $ 5 million grant in support of the college's highly ranked study abroad programs. In 2018, Stryker donated $ 20 million to Kalamazoo College to establish a 10-year scholarship program for students of color, first-generation students and those from lower-income families. Stryker has donated $ 66 million to the college in total. For his efforts, Stryker received Kalamazoo College 's 2010 Distinguished Service Award, which goes to alumni who have made exceptional personal contributions to

6800-544: The creator of "heavens and earth", to emphasize that it is a universal God and not a local Arabian deity here. While many sources limit the list of Abrahamic religions to only include Judaism, Christianity and Islam, some sources include other religions as well. Samaritanism diverged from Judaism in the 6th to 3rd centuries BCE; although sometimes considered a branch of Judaism, most consider it to be an independent Abrahamic religion. Some sources consider Mandaeism to be an Abrahamic religion – however, that classification

6900-424: The deity of Jesus. After several periods of alternating persecution and relative peace vis-à-vis the Roman authorities under different administrations, Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire in 380, but has been split into various churches from its beginning . An attempt was made by the Byzantine Empire to unify Christendom , but this formally failed with the East–West Schism of 1054. In

7000-432: The deity promised Abraham a permanent homeland. While the Book of Genesis speaks of multiple gods ( ʾĔlōhīm ), comparable to the Enūma Eliš speaking of various gods of the Canaanite pantheon to create the earth, at the time of the Babylonian captivity , Jewish theologians attributed the six-day narrative all to Yahweh , reflecting an early conception of Yahweh as a universal deity. The monolatrist nature of Yahwism

7100-405: The first Muslims" (Surah 3)—the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost, and the community of those faithful to God, thus being referred to as ابونا ابراهيم or "Our Father Abraham", as well as Ibrahim al-Hanif or "Abraham the Monotheist". Also, the same as Judaism, Islam believes that Abraham rejected idolatry through logical reasoning. Abraham is also recalled in certain details of

7200-611: The foundation provided grants to organizations that address LGBTQ and immigration issues, including United We Dream Network, the Transgender Law Center , Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and others. In April 2015, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) published an article disclosing that the Religion News Service (RNS), a U.S. news agency focused on religion, ethics, spirituality and moral issues, had received

7300-505: The future. The endowment was the largest donation in the college's 182-year history and one of the largest given to any undergraduate institution in the United States for a social justice purpose. Opened in 2014, the center's mission is to support the pursuit of human rights and social justice by developing emerging leaders and sustaining existing leaders in the field of human rights and social justice. The center's modern design has been noted for being "nonhierarchical, open and inclusive" in

7400-480: The language of animal rights- it’s more about compassion and conservation language…Another connection is justice. In our work for human rights, we are among those trying to expand traditional ideas of social justice to include sexuality and gender…social justice for people can enable conservation." According to the OECD , Arcus Foundation's financing for 2019 development decreased by 7% to US$ 15.1 million. Arcus Foundation

7500-445: The largest major division in the study of comparative religion . By total number of adherents, Christianity and Islam comprise the largest and second-largest religious movements in the world, respectively. Judaism is the smallest of the three major Abrahamic religions, and Samaritanism is the smallest Abrahamic religion. Bábism and Druzism are offshoots of Abrahamic religions. The term Abrahamic religions (and its variations)

7600-633: The later definitive form produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381 . Trinitarians, who form the large majority of Christians , hold it as a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways. The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in

7700-439: The medical supply company Stryker Corporation . Jon's father, Lee Stryker, died in an airplane crash in 1976. Stryker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in 1982. He now serves on the college's Board of Trustees and was the recipient of the college's 2010 Distinguished Service Award. He also received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley . Stryker

7800-560: The middle of the 7th century, the Roman province of Syria Palaestina was a Christian nation with Jerusalem its principal city. According to the New Testament , Jerusalem was the city Jesus was brought to as a child to be presented at the temple and for the feast of the Passover . He preached and healed in Jerusalem, unceremoniously drove the money changers in disarray from the temple there, held

7900-406: The name is given to Moses when YHWH calls himself " I Am that I Am ", ( Hebrew : אהיה אשר אהיה ’ehye ’ăšer ’ehye ), seemingly connecting it to the verb hayah (הָיָה), meaning 'to be', but this is likely not a genuine etymology. Jewish tradition accords many names to God, including Elohim , Shaddai , and Sabaoth . In Christian theology , God is the eternal being who created and preserves

8000-513: The nation's Top 50 donors by the Chronicle of Philanthropy every year from 2006 to 2012 and again in 2014. He was named to Forbes' list of America's Top 50 Givers in 2018. Speaking to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in 2008, Stryker explained that the Arcus Foundation's two primary areas of focus, while seemingly unrelated, are bound by the common themes of compassion and justice: Great apes are under huge threat. They are becoming extinct in

8100-663: The natural world." Stryker also has an interest in wildlife, and apes in particular, motivating the foundation's other focus area. The foundation's great apes and gibbons strategy funds projects that promote conservation of the world's gorillas , chimpanzees , bonobos , orangutans , and gibbons in 24 ape -range landscapes in 19 countries in Africa and Asia, as well as in the U.S. and Kenya, where apes are cared for outside of their range. The foundation also funds projects that advocate strengthening international protection of great apes and sanctuaries. Arcus advocates increased recognition of

8200-457: The patriarch Abraham. All of them are monotheistic , and all of them conceive God to be a transcendent creator and the source of moral law . Their religious texts feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings. Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups. In

8300-464: The prophets , Islam teaches that every prophet preached Islam, as the word Islam literally means submission, the main concept preached by all prophets. Although the Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God, other Islamic books considered to be revealed by God before the Quran, mentioned by name in the Quran are the Tawrat ( Torah ) revealed to

8400-605: The purchase of an 11.8-acre property on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands . Stryker is a donor of the New York Community Trust , which announced in 2020 that it would donate $ 75 million to the city's social services and cultural non-profit organizations that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. He received the Jeanne and Joseph Sullivan Award from Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center in 2012. Stryker, who

8500-738: The restoration and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple (the Third Temple ) on mount Moriah, close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year in built Jerusalem," and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. Jerusalem has served as the only capital for the five Jewish states that have existed in Israel since 1400 BCE (the United Kingdom of Israel , the Kingdom of Judah , Yehud Medinata ,

8600-485: The rights of great apes to live free of abuse , exploitation and private ownership. The Arcus Foundation funding provided to Save the Chimps in 2002 purchased the 190-acre Fort Pierce facility to house and rescue chimps de-acquisitioned by the U.S. Air Force and by entertainment companies. Arcus also provided a $ 3.7 million grant to Save the Chimps to purchase the lab and chimpanzees of Dr. Frederick Coulston . The foundation

8700-448: The same time personal and involved, listening to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures. Jewish theology is unitarian. God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence, and interacts with mankind and

8800-494: The term "Abrahamic faiths", while helpful, can be misleading, as it conveys an unspecified historical and theological commonality that is problematic on closer examination. While there is a commonality among the religions, their shared ancestry is mainly peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. Alan L. Berger , professor of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University , wrote that "while Judaism birthed both Christianity and Islam,

8900-684: The three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are both subordinate. One seeks salvation or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see divine revelation as outside of self, nature, and custom. All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although one who

9000-604: The three monotheistic faiths went their separate ways" and "each tradition views the patriarchal figure differently as seen in the theological claims they make about him." Aaron W. Hughes , meanwhile, describes the term as "imprecise" and "largely a theological neologism ." The common Christian doctrines of Jesus's Incarnation , the Trinity , and the resurrection of Jesus , for example, are accepted in neither Judaism nor Islam. There are fundamental beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are likewise denied by most of Christianity (e.g.,

9100-602: The tradition from Noah . Christians view Abraham as an important exemplar of faith , and a spiritual, as well as physical, ancestor of Jesus. For Christians, Abraham is a spiritual forebear as well as/rather than a direct ancestor depending on the individual's interpretation of Paul the Apostle , with the Abrahamic covenant "reinterpreted so as to be defined by faith in Christ rather than biological descent" or both by faith as well as

9200-456: The wild, and they are being used in the biomedical and entertainment industry then just being thrown away. We don't use the language of animal rights — it's more of a compassion and conservation language. That's one common ground — the compassion side. Another connection is justice. In our work for human rights, we are among those trying to expand traditional ideas of social justice to include sexuality and gender. In our great apes work, we often see

9300-461: The world. Christians believe God to be both transcendent and immanent (involved in the world). Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline Epistles and the early creeds , which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus . Around the year 200, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus and came close to

9400-564: The world. In Judaism, the one God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob , who is the guide of the world, delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt , and gave them the 613 Mitzvot at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah . The national god of the Israelites has a proper name , written Y-H-W-H ( Hebrew : יהוה ) in the Hebrew Bible . The etymology of the name is unknown. An explanation of

9500-611: Was adopted by the Roman Empire as a state religion in the 4th century AD. Paul the Apostle interpreted the role of Abraham differently than the Jews of his time. While for the Jews, Abraham was considered a loyal monotheist in a polytheistic environment, Paul celebrates Abraham as a man who found faith in God before adhering to religious law. In contrast to Judaism, adherence to religious law becomes associated with idolatry. While Christians fashioned their religion around Jesus of Nazareth ,

9600-453: Was also involved in the publication of Opening Doors: Carole Noon and Her Dream to Save the Chimps , a book about Carole Noon and her organization's efforts on behalf of apes. Arcus has also supported Jane Goodall 's work around great ape conservation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as that of Max Planck Institutes and others. The foundation started "Giving Day for Apes,"

9700-415: Was founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan , in 2000 by Jon Stryker , a U.S. architect, philanthropist, social and environmental activist, billionaire stockholder , and heir to the Stryker Corporation medical supply company fortune. Stryker's own acceptance of his sexual orientation and experiences coming out as gay led him to found Arcus based on the philosophy that "people can live in harmony with one another and

9800-499: Was further developed in the period following the Babylonian captivity , eventually emerging as a firm religious movement of monotheism. With the Fall of Babylon , Judaism emphasised concepts such as messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven and hell, angels and demons, among others, into their belief-system. Christianity traces back their origin to

9900-460: Was purchased in 2003 by U.K-based conservation organization Fauna and Flora International through a major donation by Stryker's Arcus Foundation . He is also the co-founder and Board Chair of Save the Chimps , the world's largest chimpanzee sanctuary located in Fort Pierce, Florida . Stryker funded the purchase of a 190-acre abandoned grapefruit grove in 1997 and oversaw its transformation into

10000-471: Was the largest grant in the history of the university. In 2013, the Arcus Foundation launched a new Social Justice Initiative which works with faith communities around the world to build cultural acceptance for LGBT people. In 2017, Arcus founded the Global Religions Program to work with the three Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) to promote tolerance and advocate on behalf of

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