a struggle between islam and christianity

[BoomShad]

i have been struggling with the two for many years having come from a multiracial and religious background iv had difficulty.

i know that both call them selves monothiestic but are they really that much similar?

 

[Echetus]

Islam is the work of one man, Christianity is the work of God.

 

[hedrick]

Yes and no. There are a fair number of common ideas. And both look to some of the same Biblical background (though Muslims reject a lot of what the Bible says).

The key issue is, not surprisingly, Jesus. The idea of God actually appearing in human form and suffering, much less dying is inconceivable to a Muslim. So despite a reasonable amount of overlap, the centers of the religions are different.

We're also in a different place historically. Christianity has been through the Enlightenment. Not all of us like it, but the influence is there. A lot of Islam is closer to pre-Enlightenment Christianity. I don't want to encourage stereotypes: there are moderate and liberal Muslims, and Muslims who use critical thought. And there are people, and areas of the world, where Christianity is pre-critical. But still, I think the center of gravity is different.

But there are still areas of potential cooperation and understanding.

 

[paul1149]

You'll get the conservative - liberal spectrum of followers across both religions. But if you want to know the essential differences, go to the source texts. You will find that Muhammad and his teachings could hardly differ more from Jesus and His.

 

[DCJazz]

In a nutshell, Muslims worship a different god than Christians.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Hi,

I have been a Christian for many years, and have studied Islam from time to time, when I have had encounters with Muslims. And there are no similarities what so ever. Islam was a violent and abusive religion, where as Christ told his followers to love one another.

As an example of abuse in Islam take the following verse from the Koran which allows the beating of a wife.

Qur'an (4:34) - "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great."

As for my statement about it being abusive, Muhammad was warlike, killed scores of people, beheaded apostates, allowed the killing people who disagreed with him. Whipped and stoned people. This is not a religion any person should be bought up in.

Christ on the other hand told his followers to "love their enemies, do good to those who hate you", and rather than fight opposition to flee from it. If you want a loving God go with Jesus, if you want a murderer go with Muhammad.

 

[jack4022]

Muslims, Christians, and Jews have the same God essentially, the God of Abraham (Ibrahim). The trouble is determining the nature of said God. Who are his prophets? Is he a single being, or does he have multiple parts? Does he have an earthly incarnation, or no? Is another incarnation coming, if so is this the first or second arrival of said incarnation?

 

[joey_downunder]

To put it simply - Christians believe that Jesus is God Himself made flesh; have the Gospels and Letters to early churches written by apostles (and students of apostles) in the New Testament.


Muslims believe that Jesus is a mere prophet and Muhammad was the final prophet. They reject the Bible's gospels in favour of gnostic gospels that deny Jesus died on the cross. Islam and the Crucifixion of Jesus | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

Who are you going to believe- apostles who walked with Jesus for 3 years and/or students of them or someone who lived 5 *centuries* later?

 

[dogs4thewin]

One HUGE difference is how each faith says you get to Heaven. In Christianity God (through His son Jesus) did the work of bringing human beings to Himself and having us only accept it. It is NOT based on what WE can do to please God for Him to accept us. On the other hand, in Islam it is based on works, They believe that the only way to be certain you will go to Heaven is to die in a Holy War, other than that you will not know if you have committed enough good works to please God and get into Heaven until AFTER you die.

 

[DennisTate]

One HUGE difference is how each faith says you get to Heaven. In Christianity God (through His son Jesus) did the work of bringing human beings to Himself and having us only accept it. It is NOT based on what WE can do to please God for Him to accept us. On the other hand, in Islam it is based on works, They believe that the only way to be certain you will go to Heaven is to die in a Holy War, other than that you will not know if you have committed enough good works to please God and get into Heaven until AFTER you die.

A good commentary ALLorNOTHINGall4CHRIST.....

On the other hand I believe that an Islamic Mystic or Sufi Moslem....if you asked them if the Apostle Paul would be defined as a Moslem, perhaps a majority of the most educated ones would say yes....and they would mean it!!!!!

If you asked them if Paul probably made it to heaven.....again most Islamic Mystics or Sufi Moslems would probably again say yes.....I could be wrong but this is my impression of Islamic Mysticism at this time.

The Apostle Paul was obviously on a metaphorical Jihad of sorts for Rabbi Jesus/Yehoshua. He also made his calling and election sure.....and an abundant way was prepared for him to go to heaven......even though he continued to question even his own motivations right up until the end of his life!!!!

Anybody remember the verse where the Apostle Paul states that he thinks that he is doing OK in his relationship toward God....but he would not be dogmatic????!!!!


1Corinthians 7:40

But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

On one level I suspect that Paul wrote the last part of this verse in this way because he humbly remembered the times when he persecuted the Church of God....thinking that he was doing God a service?????!!!!!

 

[ViaCrucis]

I suppose the only thing I'll say at present is that if one is interested in knowing what Christians have historically and traditionally taught (regardless of denomination) one simply can read the Historic Creeds, the most important being the Nicene Creed, it's so important that it is often simply called "The Creed". You can read it here.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Gospel Trafficker]

Having spent 5 years studying Islam in 2 Masjids (masjid Ahlu Sunnah, and Masjid Omar Ibn Sayyid), I have been asked to prove why I believe that Islam is false and Christianity is Truth. Here is my reply.

First, the Qur'an and Hadith state that Allah is self sustaining. He needs nothing, and is dependent upon no-one. If this statement, which is made via various Islamic scholars, found in the authorative books of Islam (Qur'an / Sūrah Āl `Imrān: 2 , Sūrah TāHā: 111 etc., and Hadith Muslim: On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifaari ) can be proven false, then one can conclude that Islam itself is false.

To be fair, we will dictate this same statement upon Christianity. The Christian God is self sustaining. He needs nothing, and is dependent upon no-one (Isaiah 40:12-17, 27-31, etc.).

We will propose a hypothetical statement on both Christianity and Islam. By using human logic, we will see which one of these statements holds true.

Hypothetically, if all of Allah's creation was to be removed from existence (Jinn, angels, prophets, mankind, animals, all types of beings, etc.) and it was Allah alone that was left, COULD ALLAH HAVE RELATIONSHIP? Answer; NO! A relationship is to have relations. More than one is required to have relations. Therefore, the most fundamental and important teaching of Islam known as TAWHID (the Oneness of Allah) dictates that Allah would be absolutely DEPENDENT upon His creation to have relationship or community. This is a direct proof of the fallacy of Islam. It's own teachings implode within when they are viewed in light of logic.

Now, from a Christian standpoint;

Hypothetically, if all of God's creation was to be removed from existence (angels, demons, prophets, mankind, animals, and all other types of beings, etc) and God alone was left, COULD GOD HAVE RELATIONSHIP? Answer; YES! A relationship is to have relations. More than one is required to have relations. Therefore, one of the most fundamental and important teaching of Christianity known as the Trinity, or more accurately, the Godhead; Colossians 2:9, (GOD the Father, GOD the Son, and GOD the Holy Spirit) demonstrate direct proof that that God would not need anyone or anything to have a relationship. In fact, He IS relationship. He IS community!

This simple test of logic can easily demonstrate the fallacy of Islam (or any other oneness religion), and the Truth of Christianity on a basic level.

*NOTE* To those Muslims (or others) who will say you can state that Jesus is not God because in the Bible He never said He was (and I beg to differ, but I digress), you to must also them apply the same standard to your Prophet Mohammad as Mohammad NEVER said in the Qur'an that he was a Prophet. So therefore, by your own standards and logic, You are denying the prophet-hood of Mohammad. He cant be one as he never said in the Qur'an that he was one.**

 

[2PhiloVoid]

i have been struggling with the two for many years having come from a multiracial and religious background iv had difficulty.

i know that both call them selves monothiestic but are they really that much similar?

Hello Shad,

To begin with, both are Abrahamic Religions, being that they similarly trace their theological 'genealogies' to Abraham and God's Promises to him. The first difference between Christianity and Islam is that the former trace God's fulfillment of promises through Isaac (with Judaism as the background), but the latter traces the promises through Ishmael. So, the overall theological context is tied together....but the contention is found in the respective claims as to where the promises begin to culminate later in history. With Christianity, the promises culminate with Jesus, but with Islam, it is Muhammad.

So, there are some similarities in the way each traces their theological structures, but there is a difference in how each becomes final. One, by Jesus as Son of God, the other with the Prophet Mohammad who denies that Jesus is the Son of God (but still a messianic prophet). The challenge for us then becomes one where we have to untie these 'cousins' of faith to gain some clarity as to which one is the most truthful.

Peace
2PhiloVoid