Christianity vs. Islam
Juan E. Ortega
University of Texas at El Paso
Christianity vs. Islam
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world comprising more than a half of humanity. The followers of Christianity are known as Christians and the followers of Islam are known as Muslims share much common ground. Both trace their roots to Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Noah, Samuel and many others (Wikipedia, 2015). Together believe in prophecy, God’s messengers, revelation, scripture, resurrection of death, the centrality of religious community, monotheistic religion, heaven and hell, and the birth of Jesus. Also, Muslims and Christians both consider the Old Testament and the New Testament as divine scriptures.
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Also, humans cannot live the kind of life that God wants by their own power.
In the same way, Christians and Muslim both consider themselves as accountable to a community of faith. This means that believers must like their lives like brothers and sisters in their faith.
However, there are many differences between the Christian and Muslim visualizations of religious community. For example, there is no ordained ministry or hierarchy in the Islamic religious community (Al-Thani, 2015). Also, in the Islamic umma (Islamic community) there is more stress on homogeneity, on a common pattern of life thought the Islamic world, regulated by the Sharia (their religious law) (Denny, 2011), and in Christianity is separate religion and laws. Christians also have attempted to incarnate Christianity as much as possible in local cultures. For example, the Bible, hymns and text translated into local languages and have been adjusted to local cultures (Pew Research Center, 2011). On the other hand, people must learn Arabic in order to be a good
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Islam and Christianity relation needs to be explored more fully in scholarship and inter-faith dialogue in an objective way.
Works Cited
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Al-Thani, J. (2015). Retrieved from http://theislamicummah.weebly.com/
Denny. (2011). An Introduction to Islam.
Pew Research Center. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/
Purdue OWL. (2015). Online Writing Lab. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/
Qur 'an. (2015). Retrieved from http://quran.com/
Shuster, M. (2013). The Mystery of Original Sin. Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/april/mystery-of-original-sin.html
The Religion of Islam. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/3298/
Wikipedia. (2015). Prophets and messengers in Islam. Retrieved from
Islam and Christianity seem to have very little in common; however, the two actually show strong likeness, principally in the central areas. Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing in one God. While both believe in the same God, He is called by two completely different names. He is referred to as "Allah" by Muslims and "God" by Christians. Although Islam and Christianity are two different religions, their similarities in beliefs and prayers make them comparable in many aspects.
Both Christianity and Islam mirror Judaism. From Judaism, Christianity and Islam derived the doctrines of monotheism, prophecy, resurrection, and a belief in the existence of heaven and hell. Both Islam and Christianity have a holy book. Christians consider the Bible the inspired word of God, however Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God. Mohammed was merely transcribing the words of Allah, much as a court reporter does. Muslims therefore attribute greater spiritual
...all, W. The Sources of Islam. Edinburgh, Scotland: T & T Clark Sivan, Emmanuel. Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics. Enlarged Edition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001 Spencer, H. Islam and the Gospel of God: A Comparison of the Central Doctrines of Christianity and Islam, Prepared for the Use of Christian Workers Among Muslims. Delhi, India: S.P.C.K., 1998 Stott, John R. & Coote, Robert, editors. Down to Earth: Studies in Christianity and Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000 Sweetman, J. Windrow. Islam and Christian Theology. Part II Volume II. London: Lutterworth Press, 1999 Vander Werff, Lyle L. Christian Missions to Muslims. S. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2002 Zwemer, Samuel M. Heirs of the Prophets: An Account of the Clergy and Priests of Islam, the Personnel of the Mosque and 'Holy Men'. Chicago: Moody Press, 2002
Both Christianity and Islam mirror Judaism. From Judaism, Christianity and Islam took hold of the concepts of monotheism, prophecy, resurrection, and a belief in the existence of heaven and hell. Both religions also have a sacred text; Christians consider the Bible the inspired word of God, His words written and spoken through his followers. However Muslims hold the belief that the Koran is the literal spoken breath of God. Mohammed was merely transcribing the words of Allah, much as a court reporter does. With this knowledge they hold to be true Muslims hold the Koran and Islam at a higher level of truth and authenticity then the beliefs held by Christians and the Bible.
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Islam and Christianity both come from a common foundation as religions of peace, both of these religious traditions share the foundational element of peace of their beliefs. In both the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity peace is a virtue and is seen more as a sense of wellbeing than just the absence of conflict and violence. Overall peace is found in unity with God, for Christians and Muslims are taught to live a life a life of peace with others, not only in their own communities but the entire of human society. The Qur’an in Islam and the New Testament in Christianity are respectively the principal sacred texts for these religious traditions. The Qur’an and the New Testament both express the importance of peace and peacemaking as evident in Jesus’ Beatitudes “Blessed are the peacemakers”. The search for inner peace is the core message of the Qur’an and the New Testament and the adherents of both traditions are taught that inner peace will come through faithfully devoting yourself to God.
Judaism and Islam are two major world religions. They are widely followed throughout the world. These two religions have a long a delicate past that has come to describe their future.
Throughout history it is evident that many religions have been tried, tested, and, for some, radically changed. Many religions have gone through periods of time in which the way they were run or enforced underwent changes in practice and leadership. In many cases disagreements and differing outlooks among members of certain religions were to blame for these changes. Christianity and Islam are two examples of religions that have experienced changes over the course of their existence. While these religions seem to have little in common at first glance, both have strikingly similar pasts that consist of radical splits due to disagreements among members of the Christian and Islamic churches, resulting in new branches within each religion.
On the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy gives us insight to the philosophical views of a certain sect of Islam, and how it influenced it 's followers to view the world around them. Although it is helpful, this is written from a very biased position and it cannot be said that the views of the author are the views of Muslim culture as a whole. There is a constant attack on another religious group throughout the article that helps us to understand what this specific sect deems right and wrong through comparison of the groups.
Christianity & Islam, 2013, Jesus Christ in Bible and Quran, Peace and Humanity, retrieved from: http://www.christianity-islam.com
The Much common ground is shared in attempt to provide approaches to finding answers to some of the deepest questions of life. I will discuss these significant similarities focusing on human dignity, identity, difference, and guardianship. “Islam is similar to Christianity in respect to human dignity and identity in that both acknowledge creation and that God is the creator of heaven and earth”. The aspect of both subscribes to the role of prophets who were venerated in both Islam and Christianity. Due to this fact, they both are traced to the times of Abraham (Ipgrave and Marshall 14-77). The goal of each faiths’ ethos is to love God by way of obeying His commandments on guidance from their respective Holy Books. They both do broadly consist of individuals that owe their allegiance to a metaphysical deity. Owing to the fact that the two are considered Abrahamic religions. They do both captures in the strictest sense the aspect of guardianship in respect to both having belief in only one God. A belief is impliedly preaching the existence of heaven and hell. Goes on to affirm the existence of the belief of the second coming of the Savior, which affirms the faiths’ ethos towards the attainment of the religions’ goals. Aimed at promoting and achieving a holistic understanding of religion, as the flexibility to accommodate diverse backgrounds of its adherents that is always prone to abuse. Christianity and Islam’s
Jaoudi, Maria. Christian and Islamic spirituality: sharing a journey. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1993. Print.
A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam. 2nd ed. of the book. Houston: Darussalam Books, 1997. The Holy Bible: giant print ; containing the Old and New Testaments translated out of the original tongues ; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special command, authorized King James version ; words of Chri.
Islam and Christianity have a vast amount of similarities as well as differences. Islam searches for guidance from the Qur’an and Christianity depends on faith in Jesus. Islamic faith believes in the God, Allah. Above anything else, all religious Muslims obey Allah and his commandments to obtain peace. On other hand, Christianity puts faith in Jesus who is the son of God. A major concept that separates both of the religions is the fact that the God of each faith has different qualities. This means Islam and Christianity don’t worship the same God. Islam and Christianity are two separate belief systems in which two separate Gods exist.
There are many similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are also many differences that separate the three major religions of the world. This paper will delve into all three of them.