The Holy Land is important for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism because
each religion has important historical events that took place in this
land. The Holy Land is where the Jews believe the First and Second
Temples were built, for Christianity the Holy Land is where Jesus was
born, lived, and was crucified, and for Islam it is where Muhammad
ascended into heaven and spoke to god. All of these events and many
other make the Holy Land important to all three faiths
Encounters between European navigators, explorers, conquerors, colonizers, merchants, missionaries and "other" peoples and cultures over the course of 4 centuries. At an immediate and practical level, conquest, colonization and trade led to modes of domination or coexistence and multi-faceted transcultural relationships. In Europe, such encounters with "otherness" led to attempts to explain and interpret the origins and nature of racial and cultural (linguistic, religious and social) diversity. At the same time, observation of alien societies, cultures and religious practices broadened the debate on human social forms, leading to a critical reappraisal of European Christian civilization.
