Islam and Christianity - are they really the same religion?

[Dave RP]

Here is an extract from the dreaded Wikipedia on Islam and Christ:

"In Islam, ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Arabic: عيسى بن مريم‎, lit. 'Jesus, son of Mary'), or Jesus, is understood to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God (Allah) and al-Masih, the Arabic term for Messiah (Christ), sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new revelation: al-Injīl (Arabic for "the gospel"). Jesus is believed to be a prophet who neither married nor had any children and is reflected as a significant figure, being found in the Quran in 93 verses with various titles attached such as "Son of Mary" and other relational terms, mentioned directly and indirectly, over 187 times. He is thus the most mentioned person in the Quran by reference; 25 times by the name Isa, third-person 48 times, first-person 35 times, and the rest as titles and attributes.

The Quran (central religious text of Islam) and most Hadith (testimonial reports) mention Jesus to have been born a "pure boy" (without sin) to Mary (Arabic: مريم‎, translit. Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, similar to the event of the Annunciation in Christianity. In Islamic theology, Jesus is believed to have performed many miracles, several being mentioned in the Quran. Over the centuries, Islamic writers have referenced other miracles like casting out demons, having borrowed from some heretical pre-Islamic sources, and from canonical sources as legends about Jesus were expanded. Like all prophets in Islamic thought, Jesus is also called a Muslim, as he preached that his followers should adopt the "straight path". In Islamic eschatology, Jesus returns in a Second Coming to fight a False Messiah (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) and establish peace on earth.

In Islam, Jesus is believed to have been the precursor to Muhammad, attributing the name Ahmad to someone who would follow him. Islam rejects the divinity of Jesus and teaches that Jesus was not God incarnate, nor the Son of God, and—according to some interpretations of the Quran—the crucifixion, death and resurrection is not believed to have occurred, and rather that God saved him. Despite the earliest Muslim traditions and exegesis quoting somewhat conflicting reports regarding a death and its length, the mainstream Muslim belief is that Jesus did not physically die, but was instead raised alive to heaven."

Are these two religions really the same, and only separated by interpretations of things that happened between one and two thousand years ago?

Look at it - Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, ascended to heaven and will return to fight a false messiah...... sound familiar?

To me it looks as if the differences between these religions is wafer thin?

 

[Radagast]

Islam and Christianity - are they really the same religion?

No. For one thing, Christianity says that Jesus is God, and Islam passionately denies this. There are other major differences.

 

[Chinchilla]

Are these two religions really the same, and only separated by interpretations of things that happened between one and two thousand years ago?

There is majority difference , well Allah is not Yahweh that's the difference . Quran claims that Mahomet was just next prophet after all these OT prophets like Moses , David , prophets in Psalms ect.

All you have to do is compare Quran with books of Moses , Psalms and see if they agree . In these 5 book of Moses we read that prophet of God has to agree with previous ones or his prophecy is not of God or he spoke of himself .

Deuteronomy 13 King James Version (KJV)
13 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Let's see an example of what Mahomet is telling us about Allah's will and what Moses is telling us about Yahweh's will .

Mahomet's revelation about Allah's will :
"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim). — Sahih Muslim, 41:6985

Deuteronomy 4
4 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.


As we can see Mahomet is telling the group which he calls believers of Allah to destroy Jews while Yahweh from Mose's Books is telling us that Jews will be never forsaken nor destroyed .

 

[Tolworth John]

To me it looks as if the differences between these religions is wafer thin?

No while there are similarities they are not the same.
There are similarities between a boat and a plane but they are different so it is between islm and Christianity.

islam denies that we are saved by faith in Jesus.
It denies that Jesus is God, that he died and rose again.
islam teaches that one is saved by good works, the murder of non-muslims being one.
It also teaches that there god lies. In that it teaches that Jesus wasn't crucified, another person appeared to be Jesus and he was crucified. That this deception was allowed to continue untill mohamed appeared, by there god.

 

[Barney2.0]

It would be like asking if Manichaeism is the same religion as Christianity. Islam is a separate religion from Christianity which takes philosophical and theological ideas from it as it does with many other faiths such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Manichaeaism etc. Isa is not the Arabic word for Jesus rather it’s mispronunciation of the East Syriac term Isho written in the Arabic alphabet, it however has no meaning in Arabic. The actual linguistic Arabic term for Jesus is Yasu derived from West Syriac Yeshu and from Galilean Aramaic Yeshu (the language Jesus spoke) and ultimately from the Hebrew Yeshua. The concept of Jesus surviving the crucifixtion and being taken to Heaven unharmed is a development of Gnostic ideas with no historical basis, as everyone knows Jesus was crucified and suffered a painful death. The rejection of the divinity of Jesus was not something unique to Islam, but was an idea already shared by numerous heretical offshoots of Christianity which predated Islam by centuries and were actively preaching in Arabia. Why do you think Arabia was called “The Mother of Heresies?” Islam is a heretical offshoot of the Abrahamic faiths which mixes the ideas of many faiths which predate it to create a new faith.

 

[Dave RP]

No while there are similarities they are not the same.
There are similarities between a boat and a plane but they are different so it is between islm and Christianity.

islam denies that we are saved by faith in Jesus.
It denies that Jesus is God, that he died and rose again.
islam teaches that one is saved by good works, the murder of non-muslims being one.
It also teaches that there god lies. In that it teaches that Jesus wasn't crucified, another person appeared to be Jesus and he was crucified. That this deception was allowed to continue untill mohamed appeared, by there god.

The point I am making is they both follow the same god, both acknowledge Jesus as very special indeed, both believe Jesus will return to judge and destroy the devil, both believe in heaven and hell. To me the religions are so similar they can be considered almost as one and it is only cultural context or differing interpretations which separates them. That is why I find conflict between these two religions to be almost as ludicrous as as the catholic/ protestant wars/ conflicts of the 16th-20th centuries.

 

[Serving Zion]

They both operate under the same law of the same God (there is only one God, and He does not show favouritism). The difference is in who the messenger is. Christianity is a lineage of prophets who have spoken for The Holy Spirit, and have culminated in Messiah, who then gave up His body that we may become co-heirs with Him (consider Matthew 21:33-46). Islam makes no claim to represent the same spirit that spoke through the prophets, and the same spirit does not make any claim over the Qu'ran, so the Qu'ran was brought forth by a different spirit. It even makes that claim of it's own accord.

 

[Daniel9v9]

In some respects, Islam is closer to Judaism as they are both work-righteousness religions, whereas Christianity is properly God's grace through the visible image of God: Jesus Christ.

Christians do not worship the same God as Islam (nor Judaism - contrary to some beliefs), for we worship Jesus.

 

[Radagast]

both acknowledge Jesus as very special indeed

There is a huge difference between "Jesus is God" and "Jesus is a prophet."

 

[brinny]

The point I am making is they both follow the same god, both acknowledge Jesus as very special indeed, both believe Jesus will return to judge and destroy the devil, both believe in heaven and hell. To me the religions are so similar they can be considered almost as one and it is only cultural context or differing interpretations which separates them. That is why I find conflict between these two religions to be almost as ludicrous as as the catholic/ protestant wars/ conflicts of the 16th-20th centuries.

See post #5.

 

[Dirk1540]

The strongest historical fact in all of Christianity is the death of Jesus of Nazareth on a cross by Roman crucifixion. Muslims say that this did not happen. Muslims choose to differ with Christians over our most grounded fact in history.

Ok how about theology? Muslims claim that Jesus of Nazareth did not die on a Roman cross. How on Earth do you even begin to claim these are identical religions if Jesus never died on the cross? Using the same event, you should be both historically & theologically baffled at how anyone would call these the same religion

 

[Norbert L]

Here is an extract from the dreaded Wikipedia on Islam and Christ:
...

Are these two religions really the same, and only separated by interpretations of things that happened between one and two thousand years ago?

Look at it - Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, ascended to heaven and will return to fight a false messiah...... sound familiar?

To me it looks as if the differences between these religions is wafer thin?

There's another approach that's fairly popular, it's one that Oprah Winfrey wildly promoted during her show and still exists to some extent today. It's the idea that there are many ways to God. The claims made by Jesus and by his disciples run counter to such a belief are NOT wafer thin. Acts of the Apostles 4:12 John 14:6

Also, if a person believes what is found in the Bible or Koran as ancient writings totally subject to our present day interpretation, then they're not seeing or able to tell the whole truth. Those people who actually wrote the material and reported on the events understood what they were writing down. It meant something to them and in many passages it absolutely doesn't need our "interpretation". So when you look at the Bible and the Koran and see how they convey their message about Jesus and God, these aren't wafer thin differences. They're huge.

The way I see what is happening when comparing the two religious writings is, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

 

[Athanasius377]

both acknowledge Jesus as very special indeed,

There is a short creed that can be found in the Al Aqsa mosque that reads "There is no God but Allah and He has no Son or concubine). Christianity teaches that Jesus is God while Isa is an important prophet but a just a man. The gulf between these two positions cannot be understated because it means Christians believe in a different God. Islam teaches that Christians by believing Jesus is God are committing the sin of Shirk, meaning we worship something other than Allah. Ask an orthodox Muslim and see if he/she believes Christianity and Islam are in fact the same (or similar) religion. I bet the answer you receive will revolve around this very point.

 

[Dave RP]

There is a short creed that can be found in the Al Aqsa mosque that reads "There is no God but Allah and He has no Son or concubine). Christianity teaches that Jesus is God while Isa is an important prophet but a just a man. The gulf between these two positions cannot be understated because it means Christians believe in a different God. Islam teaches that Christians by believing Jesus is God are committing the sin of Shirk, meaning we worship something other than Allah. Ask an orthodox Muslim and see if he/she believes Christianity and Islam are in fact the same (or similar) religion. I bet the answer you receive will revolve around this very point.

I listen to Islamic radio sometimes (Voice of Islam, a London based radio station) and the other week they had a one hour special on why Jesus wasn't divine. It was actually quite interesting, the discussion revolved around quotes from the Bible and Muslim theologians discussing them and coming up with their interpretation. They discussed how Jesus could have survived the Crucifixion, and therefore was alive when placed in the tomb and still alive when he ascended to heaven. The main point being that normally crucifixions lasted three days, but according to Marks Gospel Jesus was only on the cross for 6 hours, their argument was that a strong man in his prime could easily survive 6 hours on the cross. Therefore they came to the conclusion that the bible supported the Quo-ran in allowing the fact that Jesus may have survived the cross. Therefore all his subsequent acts were easily justified by the fact that he was never dead.

They acknowledged Jesus importance in the "end days" and his defeating the forces of evil and his judgement. The only difference was whether or not he died on the cross and was resurrected.

Both religions state there is only one god, both state you shall have no other god but me, Christianity fudges this with the difficult concept of father, son and holy spirit being three separate things but the also one thing - and most Christians would struggle to explain that.

Hence I still maintain that these two religions have way more in common than many people realise , and that is that was more publicly acknowledged, there would be a lot less strife in the world. If I ever develop a belief in god, it will be one god only, for all humanity, not just those who happen to be taught a particular religion.

 

[Dave RP]

The strongest historical fact in all of Christianity is the death of Jesus of Nazareth on a cross by Roman crucifixion. Muslims say that this did not happen. Muslims choose to differ with Christians over our most grounded fact in history.

Ok how about theology? Muslims claim that Jesus of Nazareth did not die on a Roman cross. How on Earth do you even begin to claim these are identical religions if Jesus never died on the cross? Using the same event, you should be both historically & theologically baffled at how anyone would call these the same religion

See my response #14 above.

 

[bcbsr]

Here is an extract from the dreaded Wikipedia on Islam and Christ:

"In Islam, ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Arabic: عيسى بن مريم‎, lit. 'Jesus, son of Mary'), or Jesus, is understood to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God (Allah) and al-Masih, the Arabic term for Messiah (Christ), sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new revelation: al-Injīl (Arabic for "the gospel"). Jesus is believed to be a prophet who neither married nor had any children and is reflected as a significant figure, being found in the Quran in 93 verses with various titles attached such as "Son of Mary" and other relational terms, mentioned directly and indirectly, over 187 times. He is thus the most mentioned person in the Quran by reference; 25 times by the name Isa, third-person 48 times, first-person 35 times, and the rest as titles and attributes.

The Quran (central religious text of Islam) and most Hadith (testimonial reports) mention Jesus to have been born a "pure boy" (without sin) to Mary (Arabic: مريم‎, translit. Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, similar to the event of the Annunciation in Christianity. In Islamic theology, Jesus is believed to have performed many miracles, several being mentioned in the Quran. Over the centuries, Islamic writers have referenced other miracles like casting out demons, having borrowed from some heretical pre-Islamic sources, and from canonical sources as legends about Jesus were expanded. Like all prophets in Islamic thought, Jesus is also called a Muslim, as he preached that his followers should adopt the "straight path". In Islamic eschatology, Jesus returns in a Second Coming to fight a False Messiah (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) and establish peace on earth.

In Islam, Jesus is believed to have been the precursor to Muhammad, attributing the name Ahmad to someone who would follow him. Islam rejects the divinity of Jesus and teaches that Jesus was not God incarnate, nor the Son of God, and—according to some interpretations of the Quran—the crucifixion, death and resurrection is not believed to have occurred, and rather that God saved him. Despite the earliest Muslim traditions and exegesis quoting somewhat conflicting reports regarding a death and its length, the mainstream Muslim belief is that Jesus did not physically die, but was instead raised alive to heaven."

Are these two religions really the same, and only separated by interpretations of things that happened between one and two thousand years ago?

Look at it - Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, ascended to heaven and will return to fight a false messiah...... sound familiar?

To me it looks as if the differences between these religions is wafer thin?

No, the two religions are way different and incompatible on essential matters.

Conflicts Between the Gospel and the Koran
There are in fact many contradictions between the gospel and the Koran, and as the Koran affirms Jesus as a prophet but Jesus does not likewise affirm Mohammed as a prophet we are left to conclude that Mohammed was neither a prophet of God nor did he even grasp the gospel message itself. For God's legitimate messengers would not contradict what God's former messengers said. And yet Mohammed in the Koran does contradict what God's former messengers said, even while affirming those messengers as being from God. Just like Muslims today Mohammed simply ignored their message. Muslims today are relatively ignorant about what Jesus said. Their teaches may feed them a few verses, but overlook those which contradict the Koran such as I have noted below.

Jesus' Death and Resurrection
The Bible declares that Jesus died and rose from the dead. Even Jesus declared this before and after his resurrection:

Before his Resurrection:

Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." Mark 9:31After his Resurrection:Jesus told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day" Luke 24:46But the Koran denies that Jesus died and rose again:And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. [4.157]
Jesus as The Son of God
Jesus declares in the Bible that:"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."John 3:16-18But the Koran denies this sayingHe (Allah) begets not [112.3]
"Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: So believe in Allah and His apostles. Say not "Trinity": desist: It will be better for you: For Allah is One God: Glory be to Him: (Far Exalted is He) above having a son." [4.171]

"In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary." [5.19]

The Koran not only denies that Jesus is the Son of God, but also condemns those who believe he is.the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away![9.30]And yet who does the Koran declare was Jesus' father? Ask a Muslim. For Jesus father according to the Koran was no human being but the Spirit of God.
In the gospel Jesus himself extensively speaks of his relationship with God his Father, as for example in the following:

John 5:
17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work
to this very day, and I, too, am working."
18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him;
not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth,
the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
26 For as the Father has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
John 10:36
Jesus said, "Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ’I am God’s Son’?"

The Jesus of the Koran
Though the Koran acknowledges the virgin birth and the fact that Jesus did miracles, it denies much of what the Bible records of Jesus. Thus the "Jesus" of the Koran is not the "Jesus" of the Bible. Nor is the god of the Koran the God of the Bible. Islam is an antiChrist religion."Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist— he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." 1John 2:22,23

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Here is an extract from the dreaded Wikipedia on Islam and Christ:

"In Islam, ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Arabic: عيسى بن مريم‎, lit. 'Jesus, son of Mary'), or Jesus, is understood to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God (Allah) and al-Masih, the Arabic term for Messiah (Christ), sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new revelation: al-Injīl (Arabic for "the gospel"). Jesus is believed to be a prophet who neither married nor had any children and is reflected as a significant figure, being found in the Quran in 93 verses with various titles attached such as "Son of Mary" and other relational terms, mentioned directly and indirectly, over 187 times. He is thus the most mentioned person in the Quran by reference; 25 times by the name Isa, third-person 48 times, first-person 35 times, and the rest as titles and attributes.

The Quran (central religious text of Islam) and most Hadith (testimonial reports) mention Jesus to have been born a "pure boy" (without sin) to Mary (Arabic: مريم‎, translit. Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, similar to the event of the Annunciation in Christianity. In Islamic theology, Jesus is believed to have performed many miracles, several being mentioned in the Quran. Over the centuries, Islamic writers have referenced other miracles like casting out demons, having borrowed from some heretical pre-Islamic sources, and from canonical sources as legends about Jesus were expanded. Like all prophets in Islamic thought, Jesus is also called a Muslim, as he preached that his followers should adopt the "straight path". In Islamic eschatology, Jesus returns in a Second Coming to fight a False Messiah (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) and establish peace on earth.

In Islam, Jesus is believed to have been the precursor to Muhammad, attributing the name Ahmad to someone who would follow him. Islam rejects the divinity of Jesus and teaches that Jesus was not God incarnate, nor the Son of God, and—according to some interpretations of the Quran—the crucifixion, death and resurrection is not believed to have occurred, and rather that God saved him. Despite the earliest Muslim traditions and exegesis quoting somewhat conflicting reports regarding a death and its length, the mainstream Muslim belief is that Jesus did not physically die, but was instead raised alive to heaven."

Are these two religions really the same, and only separated by interpretations of things that happened between one and two thousand years ago?

Look at it - Jesus was born of a virgin, performed miracles, ascended to heaven and will return to fight a false messiah...... sound familiar?

To me it looks as if the differences between these religions is wafer thin?

Wafer thin? If this is the case, then there's only a wafer thin difference between the Apostle Paul and Mohammad. And I think we all know that would be a joke of a comparison.

 

[RDKirk]

The point I am making is they both follow the same god, both acknowledge Jesus as very special indeed, both believe Jesus will return to judge and destroy the devil, both believe in heaven and hell. To me the religions are so similar they can be considered almost as one and it is only cultural context or differing interpretations which separates them. That is why I find conflict between these two religions to be almost as ludicrous as as the catholic/ protestant wars/ conflicts of the 16th-20th centuries.

No, they do not follow the same God. If anything, Islam follows the different god that Marcion pointed out.

 

[Dave RP]

Wafer thin? If this is the case, then there's only a wafer thin difference between the Apostle Paul and Mohammad. And I think we all know that would be a joke of a comparison.

Well in a way Paul and Mohammed are very similar. Both had a vision of God, it changed both their lives and both became followed by millions. Although their message may be different the background is similar. That's my point.

 

[Dave RP]

No, they do not follow the same God. If anything, Islam follows the different god that Marcion pointed out.

There is only one god according to these religions, the god of Jesus. Abraham, Moses etc. They do follow the same god, just in a different way.