What do the Abrahamic faiths have in common? They share a belief in a single, all-powerful God as the creator and sustainer of the universe. This view was not always the case; earlier Jewish texts maintain that the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob was just one among many gods and goddesses of the ancient Middle East. This changed about 700 B.C.E., however. By that time monotheism had become commonplace in Judaism. It also became true in Christianity and Islam.

In each of the Abrahamic faiths, God is the absolute power, and it is the believers' unwavering duty to follow God's ways in their daily lives. Islam puts special emphasis on such unquestioning obedience to God. By way of contrast, Christianity and Judaism have a scriptural tradition of questioning, arguing, and debating with God.