christianity
Christianity's role in the world has changed at many points throughout history, and there have been times (such as in the second century, and even in some modern day countries) when Christians have been persecuted for their beliefs. On the other hand, there have been many points when this religion has been dominant in the world, or its followers have been intolerant of other non-Christian religions.
In terms of religious importance, Christians have many teachings about fellowship, how to have a strong relationship with God, and how to live a good life. As a result, the Christian religion is extremely important to its believes, as it directly affects how many of them go about their daily lives, and how they treat others. An example of the importance of these teachings, as well as how they impact the lives of Christians can be seen in the Ten Commandments. These are the ten laws that, according to the Bible, were sent to Moses by God for all Christians to follow on their path to living righteous life.
jews
muslims
According to Inside Islam, Muhammad did not believe that he was creating a new religion. Instead, he felt that he was furthering the religion created by earlier prophets. Because he felt that Islam shared the same theological lineage as Christianity and Judaism, Jerusalem symbolized a connection between those faiths. Muslims also believe that Muhammad met the past prophets and led them in prayer in Jerusalem, which helped to give it context within the broader tradition of monotheism.
Muhammad said that Muslims should visit the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, the mosque in Medina and Masjid al-Aqsa, which means the furthest Mosque, in Jerusalem. This has helped Muslims to continually hold Jerusalem in high esteem.
Jerusalem was captured by Muslims in 637, who made it the chief shrine of Islam after Mecca. The Dome of the Rock was constructed in the city between 688 and 691 on the site where Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to the heavens.
God helped Moses to remove the children of Israel (the Jews) from bondage in Egypt, and God promised the Jews a promised land, flowing with milk and honey. Those who left Egypt had some crises of faith that resulted in a long journey through the wilderness, but eventually they were commanded to go into the land that would become Israel (and Jerusalem would become capital). Some time after the children of Israel took over the land, God gave them King David, who loved God and wanted to build God a temple in Jerusalem in which people could worship Him. However, it would be David's son, Solomon, who would build the temple. God came to dwell in the part of the temple called the "Holy of Holies." As with the time they were in Egypt, the children of Israel had more crises in faith, often abandoning God for the local deities and not following the commandments God had given them. As a result, God sent them into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Eventually they came back to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple, which had been destroyed. The rebuilding was not nearly as nice as the original temple, but it stood until about 70 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, when the Romans destroyed it. The Old Testament of the Bible describes all these and other events, which demonstrate why Jerusalem is so important to the Jews.
