Think of religion as a movie…

Some time ago I was trying to remember an excellent explanation of the main religions to my girlfriend. It involved movies and sequels, I was finally able to find it back (Internet is wonderful place):

“Think of it like a movie. The Torah is the first one, and the New Testament is the sequel. Then the Qu’ran comes out, ant if retcons (Retroactive continuity) the last one like it never happened. There’s still Jesus, but he’s not the main character anymore, and the messiah hasn’t shown up yet.

Jews like the first movies but ignored the sequels, Christians think you need to watch the first two, but the third movie doesn’t count, Moslems think the third one was the best, and Mormons liked the second so much they started writing fan fiction that doesn’t fit with any of the series canon.”

— Unknown Author

It’s a bit of a shortcut but it sums it up enough to make it understandable to a neophyte.