islam and christianity similarities essay

Christianity vs. Islam

Christianity and Islam have more in common than most people know — they are both monotheistic Abrahamic religions , and Jesus Christ is an important, revered figure in both religions.

Followers of Christianity — called Christians — believe in the Holy Trinity , and that Christ, the son of God, walked the earth as the incarnate form of God ("the Father"). Most Christians also believe Christ will return at the end of the world.

Muslims (followers of Islam) consider Jesus Christ to be a [Messenger-vs-Prophet-in-Islam|prophet, a messenger of God]] and a messiah. However, they believe that Muhammad was the last prophet and he recorded the word of God verbatim in the Quran.

Comparison chart

Early history.

In many ways, Christianity and Islam were radical for their times, often preaching tolerance, respect, and equality between different races and classes, despite rigid monotheism. This initial progressive nature resulted in considerable persecution but ultimately did not stop the development, evolution, or expansion of either religion. Ultimately, early Christianity and Islam were spread by exploration, trade, missions, warfare, and colonization.

According to the New Testament , Jesus Christ had a number of followers prior to his execution in Golgotha , but the concept of Christianity as a religion did not truly exist until after his crucifixion, when his most ardent followers, such as the Roman Apostle Paul , began writing and speaking of Christ's reported miracles.

Christianity acquired many of its terms and beliefs from the Hellenistic Judaism and Greco-Roman paganism that were dominant at the times and places of Christianity's earliest development. The Roman Empire, with its common language—Latin—crossing great swaths of land, helped spread Christianity, especially after Emperor Constantine (around 300 CE) converted to the religion, ordered the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , and adopted the cross for his army's banners. To learn more about early Christianity, its development, and the spread of the religion, watch the Crash Course video below.

By the time Islam was formed in 622 CE, Roman Catholicism, the most widespread form of Christianity, already had its 69th Pope— Pope Boniface V . In Mecca, in the Arabian Peninsula where Islam began, there was a melting pot of faith that included Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and those who worshipped Mesopotamian gods. It was in this place and time that Muslims believe Muhammad was visited by the angel Gabriel and told to begin writing down the word of the one true god, Allah.

Many in the region saw monotheism as a threat, eventually forcing Muhammad to migrate with his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE in what is known as the Hijra . Most consider this the beginning of Islam as a religion, as the migration brought many new followers to the fledgling faith. In 630 CE, Muhammad and his followers were able to return to Mecca in a near-bloodless conflict.

Murji'ah , an early Islamic philosophy that promoted tolerance of a wide variety of beliefs within Islam (leaving the judgment of Muslims to Allah), likely smoothed the way for early conversions. Within 100 years, Islam had spread rapidly east and west of the Arabian Peninsula. A Crash Course video that covers Islam's development, expansion, and how it split into two main branches can be watched below.

Short Timeline of Christianity and Islam

Note: Dates are historical estimates.

• 5 BCE: Jesus is born in the Roman province of Judea. Christians generally believe he was "born of a virgin," Mary.
• 26 CE: John the Baptist begins ministry.
• 28 CE: Jesus begins his ministry.
• 33 CE: Jesus is arrested and executed by way of crucifixion. Christians believe he rose from the dead three days later and ascended into heaven. Christianity begins.
• 44 CE: James, Jesus' older brother, becomes a primary leader in Jerusalem's Christian community.
• 57 CE: Paul the Apostle is arrested in Jerusalem after failing to help Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians reach a compromise regarding the depiction of Jesus.
• 62 CE: James is stoned to death.
• 63 CE: The Temple of Jerusalem, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is built.
• 64 CE: Roman Emperor Nero blames Christians for the burning of Rome .
• 66 CE: Mark begins writing his version of Jesus' life.
• 70 CE: Rome takes over Jerusalem and destroys its temple, more or less ending the more Jewish branch of Christianity.
• 73 CE: Matthew and Luke write their versions of Jesus' life, partly based on Mark's version.
• 75-90 CE: John writes his version of Jesus' life.
• 90 CE: The Romano-Jewish historian Josephus writes of the life and death of Jesus . Scholars often believe his words have been tampered with over the years.
• 125 CE: The earliest surviving New Testament writing, written by John, is roughly dated as being from this year.
• 380 CE: Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.
• 397 CE: The Councils of Carthage decide which gospels and other written works will be considered canon books of the Bible versus which will be considered apocryphal.
• 570 CE: Muhammad is born in Mecca.
• 610 CE: Muslims believe this is the year Muhammad is first visited by the angel Gabriel.
• 610-622 CE: Muhammad begins his ministry. Islam begins.
• 622 CE: Muhammad and his followers migrate from Mecca to Medina in what is known as the Hijra. The Islamic calendar begins and the Prophet's Mosque is built. The first Islamic state begins when a constitution is drafted that combines Medina's government with Islam..
• 623 CE: Muhammad marries Aisha . Muslims generally view this marriage favorably, but Aisha's age—nine, to Muhammad's 53—causes great controversy outside of the Islamic faith today.
• 628 CE: The Treaty of Hudaybiyah is created, allowing Muslims in Medina to make pilgrimages to Medina.
• 630 CE: Muslims peacefully overtake Mecca after the Treaty of Hudaybiyah is dissolved. Other faiths' idols are destroyed and Mecca becomes an Islamic state.
• 632 CE: Muhammad dies from an illness. Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law (Aisha's father), becomes caliph (spiritual leader).
• 633-655 CE: Islam is spread through warfare. Muslim armies take over Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria, the North African coast, and portions of the Byzantine and Persian empires.
• 650 CE: Caliph Uthman forms a committee to standardize and reproduce the Qur'an. Muhammad's dialect of the Quraysh tribe is chosen as the standard dialect.
• 656-661 CE: Islam's first civil war; the Shia and Sunni sects form.
• 675 CE: Sufism forms.
• 1096 CE: The First Crusade , a three-year battle between Christians and Muslims, begins.

Jesus Christ in Islam and Christianity

Jesus Christ, son of Mary is, of course, the most important figure and namesake in Christianity. Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God, and that along with God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is part of the Godhead, or Holy Trinity. Christian belief is that Jesus' mother Mary was a virgin, that Jesus died when he was crucified, and that he was resurrected on the third day after his death.

Several of these beliefs about Jesus are shared in Islam . Muslims also believe in

• virgin birth
• that Jesus Christ could (and did) perform miracles
• the second coming of Jesus during the apocalypse

Where Islamic beliefs about Jesus differ is that Muslims believe that Jesus, although he was crucified, never actually died but ascended to heaven. God raised Jesus to Himself. Because Jesus never died, Muslims do not believe in the resurrection .

Position of Mary

As the virgin mother of Jesus Christ, Mary is an important figure in both Christianity and Islam. Mary plays a larger role in practices of some sects of Christianity, particularly Catholicism , where statues of Mary abound. In Islam, Mary is considered the best woman God ever created, and free of sin.

Beliefs and Practices

Beliefs and practices among Christians and Muslims vary greatly across the world and among certain demographics. Within Christianity, Catholics and Protestants often have very different beliefs, and Protestantism itself holds denominations as varied as evangelical fundamentalism and Unitarianism. In Islam, similarly large differences exist between Sunni, Shia, and Sufi Muslims and their beliefs. These differences have run so deep that Catholics and Protestants, Sunnis and Shiites, and Christians and Muslims have sometimes warred against each other over their beliefs.

A few major similarities exist between Christians and Muslims. Both belief systems are monotheistic, encourage or require the practice of daily prayer, and believe in the importance of many of the same figures, though their interpretation of them is often very different. Likewise, certain basic principles are generally supported within both faiths: the Ten Commandments for Christians and the The Five or Seven Pillars of Islam for Muslims. Heaven and Hell, angels, demons, and spirits, are generally accepted by both religions, as is an apocalypse.

Similar to Judaism, Islam tends to have stricter guidelines or rules than Christianity does. In modern Christianity, most hardline rules are found in the Old Testament and more related to Judaism, and many of the rules found in the New Testament are downplayed. For example, Christians may or may not "keep the Sabbath holy" by resting, even though doing so is a commandment, and most freely eat whatever they want, including pork and foods not blessed by religious leaders, something that Muslims and Jews do not do under halal and kosher dietary restrictions.

Two of the biggest differences found among Christian sects/denominations when it comes to scripture have to do with how literally the Bible is interpreted, whether it is considered the inerrant word of God as passed down through various writers or seen as being "inspired" and metaphorical, and whether "good works" or "faith alone" is most important for entry into heaven. Some Christians believe the Bible should be at the foundation of all matters: politics, education, charity, etc. Others believe their faith is personal and private and that Christian scripture really only applies to Christians.

Muslims believe there have been many prophets and messengers sent by Allah throughout time, but that their messages have been corrupted by man. They believe Muhammad was the latest and final prophet and that the Qur'an is the only uncorrupted holy message in the world. The vast majority of Muslims believe the Qur'an is the inerrant word of Allah, as passed down through the Prophet Muhammad, and can and should be part of every aspect in life, even when it comes to matters such as banking, warfare, and politics. The governmental enforcement of Islamic beliefs and practices is known as Sharia law. In a 2012 Pew Research study on Muslim political beliefs , a majority of people in Pakistan, Jordan, and Egypt felt laws should strictly follow the Qur'an, while people in Tunisia, Turkey, and Lebanon were less inclined to want their governments to follow the Qur'an.

Christians and Muslims' sociopolitical views often go hand-in-hand with how literally they interpret the Bible or Qur'an, with the most traditional and fundamentalist of both religions rejecting certain matters of gender equality, same-sex marriage, the theory of evolution, etc.

Belief in an imminent apocalypse that is soon to transpire varies by region among Christians and Muslims, but in many cases both groups do believe it will occur at some point in the future. There are many similarities between their versions of the apocalypse as well, having developed from similar or even the same texts.

Some Muslims believe as Christians do, that Jesus will be the one to return at the end of the world; the difference is that Muslims believe Jesus' return is a sign, not the actual end, and that his purpose is to destroy Christian symbols and convert Christians to the true religion of Islam. Other Muslims, such as the Shia Twelvers , believe Jesus is a minor figure in the apocalypse, if even present, and that a figure known as the Mahdi —Islam's 12th imam who has been hiding since the 9th century—will be the one who returns and helps cleanse the world of evil.

Demographics

With over 2.1 billion followers, over half of which are Catholic, Christianity is the world's largest religion. Islam, with over 1.5 billion followers, is the world's second largest religion; Sunnis make up 80-90% of Islam's adherents. Because the two religions are the largest in the world, one or the other is generally the dominant faith in nearly every country, with a few exceptions in Asia where Buddhism or no religion is dominant.

• Christianity's Influences - Patheos Library
• Christianity's Missions and Expansion - Patheos Library
• Christianity's Origins, History, and Beliefs - Patheos Library
• History of Islam - ReligionFacts
• How Muslims View the Qur'an - ApologeticsIndex
• Islam Timeline - Faithology
• Islamic History - University of Georgia
• Islam's Missions and Expansion - Patheos Library
• Mapping the Global Muslim Population - Pew Research
• Most Muslims Want Democracy, Personal Freedoms, and Islam in Political Life - Pew Research
• Muslim Beliefs in Angels, Fate, the Afterlife, and the End Times - Pew Research
• Muslim Views of the Apocalypse - Huffington Post
• Overview of Christian History - ReligionFacts
• Timeline of Islam - PBS Frontline
• Timeline of Islam - ReligionFacts
• The Trial of Jesus: A Chronology - University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Wikipedia: Christian
• Wikipedia: Muslim
• Wikipedia: History of Christianity
• Wikipedia: History of Islam
• Wikipedia: Islamic schools and branches
• Wikipedia: List of Christian denominations by number of members
• Wikipedia: Origins of Christianity
• Wikipedia: Quran
• Wikipedia: Timeline of Christianity
• Wikipedia: Christianity
• Wikipedia: Islam

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Comments: Christianity vs Islam

Anonymous comments (5).

October 10, 2013, 3:42am whoever wrote this is wrong, self harming is not permissible in Islam. Repenting yes, self harm no. — 76.✗.✗.82

May 6, 2014, 7:38pm I am grateful. this has shown me the differences between us — 86.✗.✗.181

February 25, 2014, 6:08pm Thanks, this really helped me! And to everyone trying to push their beliefs on others, and being rude to other faiths, please, can't we learn to love and tolerate? I'm Catholic, but I have no problem if you don't believe the same thing as me. — 81.✗.✗.177

June 3, 2014, 6:37pm I'm a Christian and i am tired of the ignorance shown by many people towards both Islam and Christianity. No, Muslims are not terrorists. I have a lot of respect for Islam and its followers, and i don't follow the media garbage often said about the religion. People should also know that Christians worship only one God, not three as is often claimed. Just because God appeared in three different forms does not mean there are three Gods, it means that God can appear in different forms, after all he is God isn't he. He is able to do literally anything. Just because there are different names for God doesn't mean he changes, he is always the same God, and always will be. — 86.✗.✗.210

May 28, 2014, 11:04am Enes you completely took scripture out of context and left out important parts of the verses. In fact that is how satan deceived man from the beginning. He twisted the word of God to deceive eve. This is what your doing now enes. — 108.✗.✗.194

• Catholic vs Protestant
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Global Analysis

What is islam’s relationship to christianity.

The theological analysis of the Bible and the Quran

The Quran is a book of the utmost importance and influence in the world today. It is the foundational text of Islam, and through the Islamic sharia it shapes legal systems, politics, ethics, cultures, and worship for a quarter of the world’s population.

The intriguing Quran

There are many things about the Quran that are hard to understand and can seem puzzling. It is not an easy read. However, for Christians perhaps the most intriguing thing about the Quran is its many allusions to biblical stories and characters. Although Islam has offered a most effective challenge to Christianity during the past 1,400 years, conquering and then Islamizing four of the five patriarchates in the Pentarchy of late antiquity—Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople—the text of the Quran draws heavily upon the Bible. The two most frequently named figures in the Quran are Moses (136 times) and Abraham (69 times). Jesus is mentioned by name six times as frequently as Muhammad.

One of the striking things about the Bible-in-the-Quran is the puzzling combination of knowledge and the lack of it.

One of the striking things about the Bible-in-the-Quran is the puzzling combination of knowledge and the lack of it. For example, although it contains hundreds of references to biblical figures and events, the Quran seems to consider Mary the mother of Jesus (Miriam in Hebrew) to be the same person as Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron. In a surah (chapter) of the Quran called ‘The Family of Imran’ (Biblical Amram of Exod 6:20) there is an account of the birth of Mary to the ‘wife of Amram’, after which she is brought up by Zakariah, the father of John the Baptist (Surah 3:35–37). Then again, in Surah 19:28, Mary is called the ‘sister of Aaron’. [1] These observations give rise to the question: ‘How can the Quran know so much about the Bible, while at the same time, not know that a thousand years separated the family of Amram from the family of Jesus of Nazareth?’

This is by no means the only inconsistency between the Bible and the Quran. Some others are the appearance of a Haman, a name familiar from the book of Esther, in the court of Pharoah at the time of Moses (Surah 28:6); the participation of a ‘Samaritan’ in the golden calf episode from Exodus 32 (Surah 20:85, 87, 95); and a reference to Saul choosing his warriors based on whether they scooped water with their hands or drank by lapping with their mouths (Sura 2:249), which surely goes back to the story of Gideon in Judges 7.

I do not mention these mismatches between the Quran and the Bible for apologetic or polemical purposes, but simply to underscore this important question: ‘What is so much of the Bible doing in the Quran?’

A ‘Christian heresy’?

Down the centuries, a repeated Christian response to the rich and peculiar vein of biblical materials which runs through the Quran has been to conclude that Islam arose from what was originally some kind of sectarian Christianity. Thus John of Damascus, writing a century after Muhammad, claimed that Muhammad, ‘after conversing with an Arian monk concerning the Old and New Testament, fabricated his own heresy.’ [2] Other luminaries who have held a similar view have included Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, and Martin Luther, some claiming Arian influence, others Nestorian. Until modern times this perspective has been so prevalent that it could be considered the conventional Christian explanation for the biblical materials found in the Quran.

John of Damascus Greek icon (14th century)

This framing of Islam as a Christian heresy has stimulated two opposite impulses. One is to correct what are taken to be ‘errors’. This was the approach of John of Damascus. A contrasting response has been what Bishop Kenneth Cragg has called a process of retrieval. [3] Cragg’s idea of retrieval was that Christians ought to undo or reverse the divergence from the gospel, by removing the veil which obscures the true Christ within Islam. This approach seeks to affirm what is true in the Quran by unveiling it. Some authors—and Cragg is an example—have argued that the veil is only in place because of Christian failure, because ‘Islam developed in an environment of imperfect Christianity.’ [4] Thus, for Cragg, the retrieval is also a ‘restitution.’ [5]

An alternative thesis

But what if both ‘correction’ and ‘retrieval’ are misguided? What if the whole idea of Islam arising from Christian roots is a derogatory error? Is it possible that neither the correction approach nor the retrieval approach is valid?

The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion by Mark Durie

In my book, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes, [6] I explored an alternative thesis, that there is a deep theological disconnect between the Bible and the Quran, too deep to sustain the view that Islam arose out of Christianity or Judaism in any meaningful sense. Yes, the Quran incorporates biblical (and extra-biblical) Christian and Jewish materials, but it repurposes them to serve a radically different theological agenda: the Quran marches to the beat of its own theological drum. I concluded that the sheer volume of biblical reflexes in the Quran is not actually evidence of a deeper ‘family-tree’ affinity between Islam and Christianity.

In one example, the Quran refers repeatedly to Jesus (Isa), and even calls him the Messiah ( al-Masih ), but this is a Christ without a Christology, for there is no explanation of what a Messiah might be. The sound shape of the messianic title has been carried over into the Quran, but nothing of its meaning.

The sheer volume of biblical reflexes in the Quran is not actually evidence of a deeper ‘family-tree’ affinity between Islam and Christianity.

The theological difference between the Bible and the Quran runs deeper than superficial similarities might first suggest. For example, the Quran lacks a covenantal theology to frame a saving relationship between human beings and Allah. A careful linguistic analysis of the quranic Arabic words mithaq and ahd , sometimes translated as ‘covenant,’ reveals that in the Quran God does not enter into reciprocal binding obligations with people; such relationships only exist between human beings. Putative quranic ‘covenants’ between God and people in the Quran are actually obligations imposed by God upon his human slaves.

To be sure, the Quran borrows materials prodigiously from Christian and Jewish sources, but not for forming its theology. For example, the idea of warring in the name of God was current among Christians at the time of the Quran, which picked up and incorporated ideas and practices from contemporary Christianity, [7] but the Quran does this without drawing upon biblical theologies of warfare. Instead, it creatively develops its own war theology, fitting what is taken from contemporary Christian practices into a framework of pre-Islamic Arab raiding culture. [8]

At first sight monotheism is a theological idea the Bible and the Quran have in common, but first appearances can be deceptive. In the Torah the call to monotheism is about exclusive covenantal loyalty to Yahweh: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ (Deut 5:7). However, the Quran’s idea of God’s oneness is grounded in Arabic ideas of client-protégé relationships and, negatively, in the assertion that no idea of propriety partnership ( shirk ) can be applied to God. These metaphors owe little if anything to the Bible, but are grounded in the values of Arab culture, for example the insight that it is disastrous for a slave to be owned by two masters (Sura 39:29).

The list of key biblical theological concepts, which were not taken up into quranic theology, includes the idea of the presence of God, the concept of holiness, and the idea that sin is a breach of relationship that can be repaired through atonement.

If not a family tree, then what?

Many Christians assume that Islam developed out of Judaism and Christianity. This is itself a manifestation of the conventional ‘Christian heresy’ view of Islam. Behind this, a ‘family tree’ model assumed, in which the root is Judaism. This branches out into Christianity, and then later Islam branches off. My research suggests that this way of thinking is a false lead, which pays too much attention to superficial similarities and not enough to theology.

I wrote in The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes that ‘a challenge of modeling the relationship of Islam to Judaism and Christianity is to be able to refer to a conceptual framework for the genesis of a faith that can accommodate a pattern of extensive influences combined with evidences of significant disconnections, which is what we know to be the case with the Quran.’ [9] If Islam and Christianity are not in some kind of kinship relationship, how then are we to conceptualize a connection which resulted in a very large volume of biblical content being absorbed into the Quran? If not a family tree, then what?

I proposed that the Quran was produced by a process of hybridization, in which Christian and Jewish influences provided the superstrate.

In The Qur’an and its Biblical Reflexes I drew on two metaphors. One is a building metaphor. Islam’s relationship to Christianity is not like that of a church which has been transformed into mosque, like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Rather it is more like a church has been demolished, and its materials have been repurposed for the construction of a mosque, rather like the pillars in the mosque at Qairawan in Tunisia, which were repurposed from earlier churches, long since demolished. [10]

The other metaphor I drew on was linguistic hybridization. Some languages are formed by combining materials from a superstrate language and a substrate language (or languages). An example is Haitian Creole, for which the superstrate was French, and the substrate West African languages. The result is that Haitian Creole’s words are largely French, but its grammar, morphology, and phonology—its heart—is pure West African.

I proposed that the Quran was produced by a process of hybridization, in which Christian and Jewish influences provided the superstrate, while pre-Islamic Arab language and culture provided the substrate, including much of the theology.

Concluding reflections

The observation that the Quran does not have a ‘family tree’ relationship with Judaism and Christianity should not in any way be considered pejorative. If the Quran ‘is neither a text subsidiary to the Bible, nor is it to be attached to a genetic family tree alongside it,’ [11] then Christians can be liberated from thinking of Islam as some kind of Christian heresy, and begin to understand it for what it actually is, and not what at first sight it might appear to be to Christians.

The perspective offered here, if valid, could have profound implications for coexistence between the two faiths, including for interfaith dialogue.  [12] It also has implications for mission. It means that both missionaries and dialogue partners can set aside the tasks of ‘correction’ or ‘retrieval’, for these two opposite approaches are really but two sides of the ‘heresy’ coin.

My findings offer an invitation to Christians to ponder the similarities and (deep) differences between Islam and the two biblical faiths, Judaism and Christianity, with fresh eyes.

• Muslim scholars were of course aware that this identification conflicts with the biblical accounts, and some Muslims would reject the suggestion that the Quran identifies Mary of the gospels with Miriam of Exodus. Instead, they suggest that these quranic passages are to be interpreted typologically, eg ‘sister of Aaron’ means she was of the same tribe as Aaron.
• Daniel John Janosik, John of Damascus, First Apologist to the Muslims: The Trinity and Christian Apologetics in the Early Islamic Period (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2016), 261.
• Kenneth Cragg, The Call of the Minaret 2nd edn (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1985), 218-42.
• Cragg, The Call of the Minaret , 219.
• Cragg, The Call of the Minaret , 220.
• Mark Durie, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion (Maryland: Lexington Books, 2018).
• Thomas Sizgorich, Violence and Belief in Late Antiquity: Militant Devotion in Christianity and Islam (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 275
• Durie, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes , 229–39.
• Durie, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes , 254.
• I owe these helpful metaphors to Dudley Woodberry’s ‘Contextualization among Muslims Reusing Common Pillars,’ International Journal of Frontier Missions 13:4 (1996), 171–86.
• Durie, The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes , 256.
• Editor’s note : see ‘Islam: An Infographic,’ in Lausanne Content Library , 3 June 2018, https://lausanne.org/content/islam-an-infographic . Also, ‘10 Priorities for Christian Engagement with Muslims (an except),’ in Lausanne Content Library , 12 May 2016, https://lausanne.org/content/10-priorities-christian-engagement-muslims-excerpt

Photo Credits

John of Damascus. Icon from Athos, dated to the beginning of 14th century (Source: Wikipedia , Public Domain , PD-old-70 )

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The Similarities and Differences between Islam and Christianity (part 1 of 2): The Same but Different

Description: islam and christianity  are thought of as two monolithic religions.  this is an explanation of what islam and christianity believe about the scriptures, the prophets and the trinity..

• By Aisha Stacey (© 2017 IslamReligion.com)
• Published on 15 May 2017
• Last modified on 20 Jan 2020
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Both Islam and Christianity encourage their followers to dress and behave modestly, and both believe that being charitable and showing compassion are desirable qualities in a human being.  They both place emphasis on prayer and communication with God, both call on people to be kind and generous, and both counsel treating others the way you would expect to be treated.  The two religions expect their followers to be truthful, stay away from major sins and ask for forgiveness.  And both religions respect and love Jesus and expect him to return to earth as part of their end of days narratives. 

Members of both religions would have us believe that they are poles of apart but their histories begin in exactly the same place, in the Garden with Adam and Eve.  It is in the life of Prophet Abraham that their paths begin to diverge and as if to add emphasis to their mutual beginning Islam and Christianity along with Judaism are known collectively as the Abrahamic faiths.

The Prophets

According to the Quran, Abraham was known as the beloved servant of God; because of his deep devotion, God made many of his descendants Prophets to their own people.  The story of Prophet Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his son is known in both Christianity and Islam.  In Islam, that son is Ishmael [2] and it was through his lineage that Islam was established through Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.  In Christianity, the son in the sacrifice narrative is Isaac [3] .  Through the line of Isaac come many Prophets including Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus. 

One of Islam’s six pillars of faith requires that a Muslim believes in all of the Prophets.  To reject one is to reject them all.  Muslims believe that God sent many Prophets, one to every nation.  Some we know by name and others we do not.  Prophet Muhammad is known to have said that all the Prophets are brothers to one another. [4] Thus you will find that all the Prophets mentioned in the Bible are respected and acknowledged by Islam.   Many of them are mentioned by name in the Quran with detailed life stories.  Islam treats all Prophet with respect and rejects the stories in the Bible that ridicule and tarnish some of the Prophets.   

Christianity acknowledges that Prophet Muhammad existed but does not endow him with Prophethood.  Throughout Christian history he has been called a liar and a lunatic; some people even associated him with the devil.  On the other hand, Islam considers Prophet Muhammad to be a mercy from God to humankind.  As far as Jesus is concerned Christians and Muslims have many similar beliefs.  Both believe that his mother Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to him.  Both religions believe that Jesus was the Messiah sent to the people of Israel and both believe that he performed miracles.  Islam however says that such miracles were performed by the will and permission of God.   Islam calls Prophet Jesus the slave and messenger of God and he is held in great esteem as one man in a long line of Prophets and Messengers all calling the people to worship One God.  Islam rejects completely the notion that Jesus is God or is part of the Trinity.

The Trinity

The Trinity is the core belief of Christianity that says that there is One God who has three manifestations, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God has a son called Jesus who is also God and it is through Jesus that a person can reach the Father.  The Holy Spirit, also God, is the divine force, that mysterious force responsible for faith.  The Trinity is sometimes depicted as the wings of a dove or tongues of fire.   It is a controversial doctrine that came about as an attempt to reconcile the teaching of the Bible and the early Christian church.  Disputes over the nature of Jesus lead to the Roman emperor Constantine convening the Council of Nicaea in CE 325.  And it was the doctrine of the Trinity that caused the split between the eastern and western churches.  Even today many people are unable to understand or explain the doctrine that they profess. 

Believing themselves to be monotheistic is something common to both Islam and Christianity.  Monotheism is a word derived from the Greek words ‘monos’ meaning only and ‘theos’ meaning god.   It is used to define a Supreme Being who is all-powerful, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the One responsible for life and death.  Muslims however believe that they practice pure monotheism unadulterated by concepts such as the Trinity.  The core belief of Islam is that there is no god worthy of worship but God; it is a simple concept in which worship is directed to God Alone. 

The Scriptures

Muslims derive their understanding of the nature of God from the Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad.  The Quran explains that all the divine books of Christianity, the Old Testament, including the book of Psalms, and the New Testament containing the Gospels of Jesus were revealed by God.  Therefore, Muslims believe in the Bible when it does not differ from the Quran.  Muslims believe only what has been confirmed in the Quran and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad because Islam says that much of the original text of both the Old and New testaments has been lost, altered, distorted or forgotten.

Muslims believe the Quran to be the last revealed text and the exact words of God brought down to Prophet Muhammad through the agency of Angel Gabriel.  Christianity however believes that the Bible was inspired by God and written by a number of different authors.   

[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/27/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/

[2] Quran 37:101 - 103

[3] Genesis 22

[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari

The Similarities and Differences between Islam and Christianity (part 2 of 2): Similar but very different

Description: islam and christianity have very different things to say about original sin, salvation and the last days of jesus..

• Published on 22 May 2017
• Last modified on 22 May 2017
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Original Sin

The story of Adam and Eve exists in both Christianity and Islam.  On the surface the stories seem to be the same.  Adam is the first human being, Eve is created from his rib, and they lived tranquilly in Paradise.  Satan is with them in Paradise; he misguides or tempts them into eating fruit from the forbidden tree.   But apart from the bare outlines, the stories differ greatly.   The Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, tell us that Satan did not come to Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent, nor did he trick them into eating the forbidden fruit.  Satan misguided and deceived them, and they made a grave error of judgment.  This was not the fault of Eve alone rather Adam and Eve share the burden of the mistake equally.

At no point in the Quranic story are we told that Eve was the weaker of the two or that she was responsible for the temptation of Adam.  They made the decision together, and sometime later they realized their grave mistake, felt remorseful and begged for God’s forgiveness.  God forgave both of them.  In light of this, we can see that Islam has no concept called original sin.  The descendants of Adam are not punished for their ancestor’s actions.   God says in the Quran that no one is responsible for another person’s decisions.  "… no bearer of burdens shall bear another’s burden..." (Quran 35:18) Islam has no concept that a human being could be born sinful.  Rather, people are born in a state of purity and naturally inclined to worship God.  Their slates are clean; there is nothing for them to be forgiven for or to repent for. 

One the other hand, the Christian doctrine of original sin teaches that humankind is born already tainted by the sins of Adam and Eve.  Jesus, they say, was born and did die in order to atone for the sins of humankind.  If you believe that Jesus’ death expiated your sins, then the door to salvation is opened to you.  Islam rejects this completely.  Islam teaches that Prophet Jesus was sent to the Israelites to affirm the message of all the Prophets before him; that God is One, with no partners, associates, or offspring, therefore, there is nothing worthy of worship except Him. 

Because Islam believes that every human being is born free from sin, to remain in this state a person needs only to follow God’s commandments, and try to live a virtuous life.  If one falls into sin but then feels repentant, he or she should seek God’s forgiveness.  Forgiveness should be sought directly from God; there are no intermediaries.   Quran and Prophet Muhammad tell us that God’s forgiveness is easily attainable.  In the authentic traditions we find that Prophet Muhammad said, "God spreads out His hand at night to accept the repentance of the one who sinned during the day, and He spreads out His hand by day to accept the repentance of the one who sinned during the night, (and that will continue) until the sun rises from the west.  " [1]

Say, ‘O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)!  Despair not of the Mercy of God, indeed God forgives all sins.   Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ (Quran 39:53)

Sincere repentance assures forgiveness, and salvation is attained through submission to the will of God.  The human being will only find true contentment and security when he is able to have hope in God’s mercy and forgiveness whilst fearing the consequences that come from displeasing Him.  In Islam staying connected to God is the key to salvation, and Quran tells us that sincere belief combined with good deeds and behavior will result in eternal life in Paradise.

In Christianity however, salvation is another thing altogether.  It is the death of Jesus Christ that results in salvation.  Particularly in Roman Catholic theology, it is the death of the innocent Jesus, the perfect blood sacrifice, which results in salvation.  His death takes away the sins of all people who accept Jesus as the son of God and believe in his resurrection.  Some Christian denominations add that good works and the development of good moral characteristics aids in a person’s salvation.  Still others require that a person is baptized.

The Crucifixion and Jesus’ Return

Whilst Islam and Christianity agree that a crucifixion did take place, they disagree on whether or not Jesus himself was crucified and died.  The idea of Jesus dying on the cross is central to the Christian belief, but it is rejected by Islam.  The Islamic belief about Jesus’ crucifixion and death is clear.   Islam teaches us that Jesus did not die to atone for humankind’s sins.   There was a plot to crucify him, but it did not succeed. God in his infinite mercy saved Jesus from this humiliation by putting his resemblance on somebody else and elevating him alive, body and soul, to heaven.   The Quran is silent about the exact details of just who this person was, but we know and believe with certainty that it was not Prophet Jesus.

Christianity and Islam also agree that Jesus will return to earth.  Islam explains that in the days before the Day of Judgement, Jesus will return to this world and teach others to believe in the Oneness of God.  He will be a just ruler, break the crosses, slay the antichrist, then all the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) will enter into Islam.

In Christianity Jesus’ return is most often referred to as the Second Coming.  There are many differences amongst the Christian denominations, however, most teach that Jesus will return to judge between the living and the dead, (hold the final judgment) and set up the Kingdom of God.  Many believe that he will reign on earth for a thousand years, some saying that Jesus’ reign will begin after he defeats the antichrist. 

[1] Saheeh Muslim

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Islam and Christianity: Theological Themes in Comparative Perspective

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In light of the widespread public perception of incompatibility between Islam and Christianity, this book provides a much-needed straightforward comparison of these two great faith traditions from a broad theological perspective. The book illuminates the similarities as well as the differences between Islam and Christianity through a clear exploration of four major dimensions—historical, creedal, institutional, and ethical and spiritual. Throughout, the book features comparisons between concrete elements such as creedal statements, prayer texts, and writings from major theologians and mystics. It also includes a glossary of technical theological terms. For western readers, in particular, this balanced, authoritative work overturns some common stereotypes about Islam, especially those that have emerged in the decade since September 11, 2001.

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• How Does Islam Differ from Christianity?

According to Pew Research, if current trends continue then by 2050 there will be nine billion people living on the planet. Approximately three billion will be Christians, three billion will be Muslims, and three billion others will represent various beliefs (both religious and secular). 1

Since Christianity and Islam are the two largest (comprising about 55% of the world’s population 2 ) religions in the world people often wonder where they disagree and how significant the differences are. A brief look at six doctrinal contrasts will help address this question.

First, it is important to note that Islam shares common ground with historic Christianity. For example, both religions are:

• theistic in philosophical orientation
• monotheistic in doctrinal belief
• Middle Eastern in origin
• biblically oriented Abrahamic faiths (they connect to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament)

However, the differences between the two religions are profound. Since Islam emerged about six centuries after Christianity, we’ll outline how Islam reacts to essential Christian truth claims. As you’ll see, traditional Islam denies the essence of historic Christianity.

Six Systematic Doctrinal Denials

• Islam denies the Trinity (i.e., tri-unity: One God in three persons). Muslims instead affirm a form of unitarianism where Allah is a single, solitary being ( tawhid ) with no partners, equals, rivals, or companions. Allah is not begotten nor does he beget; therefore, he has no son.
• Islam denies the incarnation ( i.e., Jesus Christ was God in human flesh: a single person with both a divine and human nature). In contrast, Muslims assert that Jesus was a mere human being. Yet Islam does concur that Jesus was virgin-born, performed miracles, and lived a sinless life.
• Islam denies the crucifixion ( i.e., Jesus’s atoning death on the cross). Muslims i nstead declare that Jesus either didn’t actually die on the cross (though he may have been impaled) or that someone else took Jesus’s place on the cross. But either way, Islam is not a redemptive religion.
• Islam denies the imago Dei ( i.e., human beings bear God’s image). In contrast, Muslims affirm that such an image would put creatures too close to Allah (the heresy known as “ shirk ”). Thus in Islamic theology, human beings are not made in Allah’s image.
• Islam denies original sin ( i.e., that human beings are born with a sinful nature and a natural propensity to sin). Instead, Muslims assert that people are born morally good. So Islam rejects the Christian doctrine of the fall.
• Islam denies salvation by grace ( i.e., that human beings are reconciled to God by God’s unmerited favor apart from works). In contrast, Muslims proclaim that personal submission is required to earn paradise. So both paradise (reward) and divine wrath (punishment) are earned.

Both Can’t Be True

While we live in a time that prizes religious pluralism, nevertheless the laws of logic are stubborn things. Given these six systematic doctrinal denials it follows logically that if Islam is true, then Christianity is patently false and vice versa, for Islam denies the very essence of Christian doctrinal truth claims.

Reflections: Your Turn

Why do you think Islam and Christianity are such popular religions? Visit Reflections on WordPress to comment with your response.

• For a further comparison of Islam and Christianity, see my two books God among Sages: Why Jesus Is Not Just Another Religious Leader (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2017), 159–88; and A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2007), chapter 15, 247–63.
• For an introduction to Islam by a Muslim scholar, see Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003).
• Pew Research Center, “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, April 2, 2015,” https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/ .
• Wikipedia, s.v., “List of Religious Populations,” updated May 28, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations .

Skeptical Challenge: How Do We Know the Content of Jesus and Pilate’s Tête-à-Tête?

How Apologetics Impacts Conversion: A Historical Case Study Part 1

How Much Are We Willing to Pay for Prayer?

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Comparison between Islam and Christanity

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The term 'Abrahamic faiths' and its cognates, prominent in inter-faith and political conversations, has now entered, largely uncritically, into academic discourse. It is not clearly defined and is used by scholars in different and potentially misleading ways. Thus far the term has evaded theological critique; this paper is a contribution to towards just such a critique. The 'Abrahamic faiths' are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but, this paper shall focus on Christianity and Islam. I propose to critique the term 'Abrahamic faiths' by evaluating three different 'levels of usage' employed by scholars of religion. This evaluation shall first involve examining Christian and Islamic theological continuity. Then, I shall investigate Christian and Islamic theological dissimilarity concerning four core Christian doctrines. My objective is to show that the continuity and discontinuity of Christian and Islamic doctrine requires careful consideration. I conclude with a study of the term 'Abrahamic faith' itself, noting its problematic nature. I conclude with some constructive reflections for inter-faith dialogue. A revised article based on an earlier article of the same title published with the Evangelical Quarterly. Made freely available with the permission from Paternoster Publishing, the publisher of Evangelical Quarterly. http://www.paternosterperiodicals.co.uk/evangelical-quarterly 2

samuel zinner

This pdf file contains a proposed 2nd revised and corrected edition of my book Christianity and Islam: Essays on Ontology and Archetype, published in London by The Matheson Trust in 2010. (The Matheson Trust retains the copyright to the original 2010 edition). For this proposed revised edition I have chosen the new title The Abrahamic Religions: Philosophy—Theology — Mysticism.

Bryan Turner

Shahin Azad

In this paper I have tried to show how "Time" and "Space" in the Bible and in the Qur’ān, in a symbolic approach, could reveal important secrets in terms of unicity of the Abrahamic Religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In fact I have tried to ellaborate that the establishment of Judaim, Christianity and Islam as the manifestation and transformation of the same religion has been predicted from the beginning of the Scripture. From this perspective, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are not three religions, but a predestined transformation and evolution of the same Abrahamic Religion.

Jonathan Menn

Religious Inquiries

Any student of comparative religion will notice - and seek to identify as well - the points of similarity and difference between various religions. One might even claim that the discipline of “influence studies” has its roots in these discussions of comparison and contrast. However, these discussions persistently fail to address the nuances of particular faiths. Here, I intend to shed some light on the similarities and dissimilarities among religions. The point of departure and the framework for the study will be Islam, with a relatively strong focus on Judaism and Christianity.

Ibrahim Korkmaz

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Home — Essay Samples — Religion — History of Islam — Key Differences between Islam and Christianity

Key Differences Between Islam and Christianity

• Categories: Christology History of Islam

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Words: 704 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 704 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, historical development, controversies and divisions.

• John L. Esposito and Natana J. DeLong-Bas, Islam: The Straight Path (Oxford University Press, 2017).
• Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, eds., The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford University Press, 1993).
• John W. Bowker, World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored and Explained (DK Publishing, 2016).
• David Waines, An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge University Press, 2011).
• Karen Armstrong, A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Ballantine Books, 1994).

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Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions

Core beliefs, the success of both faiths, similarities, differences, interactions.

The monotheistic meaning of religion is to worship one God while rejecting other gods’ existence, and Christianity and Islam easily fulfill this description. Both religions were founded in the Middle East and have a common origin. Christians believe that more than 2000 years ago, in Bethlehem, in the Middle East, Jesus, the son of God, was born (Kidd, 2018). Muslims believe that Mekkah, now known as Saudi Arabia, is where Islam is thought to have been formed more than 1400 years ago.

Muslims consider God the creator of all things, all-powerful and all-knowing (Kidd, 2018). God has no body, race, gender, or children and is undisturbed by human life’s characteristics.

Christians consider Jesus to be the founder of their faith, the Son of God, and God in human form (Kidd, 2018). Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead after being crucified. It is argued that acceptance of the Bible’s inerrancy is a core pillar of Christianity. If the Bible’s veracity is questioned, everything we know about God is also in question.

Christians had great success when they collaborated with the Roman Empire. Empires follow Christianity as their religion. The Edict of Milan, issued by Emperor Constantine in 313 AD, recognized Christianity as the Roman Empire’s official religion ten years later (Kidd, 2018). The political unification of the empire and its extensive road network, as well as the belief among many Christians that anybody may accept the faith, regardless of area or religious background, all substantially encouraged its expansion.

The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Following the death of Muhammad, Muslim conquests resulted in the establishment of the caliphates, which covered a sizable portion of the world. As a result of Arab Muslim forces’ long-term conquest of enormous lands and construction of imperial structures, Islam’s spread was aided (Kidd, 2018). Islam was expanded via missionaries, trade, pilgrimage, and military conquest. Over time, Arab Muslim warriors expanded their empire and occupied large lands.

Islam and Christianity believe in a great God who created the universe and everything in it. The almighty God is referred to be God by Christians, whereas Allah by Muslims (Kidd, 2018). The same God appears under several names. Additionally, they participate in the same prayer ritual. Jesus Christ was the prophesied Messiah, according to both Islam and Christianity, and he performed miracles. Both Muslims and Christians hold the view that Satan is a real, bad being who seeks to influence people to follow him rather than God.

One major difference is that Christians are individuals who adhere to Christianity, which is based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Kidd, 2018). Muslims, on the other hand, hold that the prophet Muhammad shared both the word of God and the teachings of Islam. Muslims and Christians each worship a separate supreme god.

The last 1400 years have seen several interactions between the Christian and Islamic religions. In the Middle Ages, there was a lot of destruction in the Muslim-Christian relationship. Due to their diverse theological beliefs, both sides sought to defeat one another (Kidd, 2018). Millions of people were massacred by Christians and Muslims as a result of their numerous conflicts, mutual betrayals, and violations of their agreements. A new stage of military, political, and social exchanges emerged in the interactions between Muslims and Christians.

A century later, when this type of interaction persisted along the already vast frontiers of the emerging Islamic empire spanning from Spain to the Indus, new patterns arose among both majority Christian and majority Muslim polities (Kidd, 2018). They reflected the weight of various theological and political circumstances on daily social life, resulting in a diversity of largely polemical and apologetic attitudes formed by Christians and Muslims toward one another.

Kidd, T. S. (2018). American Christians and Islam. In American Christians and Islam . Princeton University Press.

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StudyCorgi. (2024, May 7). Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions. https://studycorgi.com/christianity-and-islam-their-history-and-interactions/

"Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions." StudyCorgi , 7 May 2024, studycorgi.com/christianity-and-islam-their-history-and-interactions/.

StudyCorgi . (2024) 'Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions'. 7 May.

1. StudyCorgi . "Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions." May 7, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/christianity-and-islam-their-history-and-interactions/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions." May 7, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/christianity-and-islam-their-history-and-interactions/.

StudyCorgi . 2024. "Christianity and Islam: Their History and Interactions." May 7, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/christianity-and-islam-their-history-and-interactions/.

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Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam Essay

Introduction, analysis: comparing the three abrahamic religions, works cited.

The three “Abrahamic religions” are some of the largest and oldest religious groups in the history of mankind. In fact, Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity, while Judaism is predominantly restricted to groups of Jewish ancestry.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the differences and similarities between these three Abrahamic religions. This analysis argues that despite the differences in beliefs, the three Abrahamic religions share a common history, which therefore suggests that disparities might have arose due to differences in social aspects such as leadership, ethnicity, migrations and cultural collisions.

When comparing the three Abrahamic religions, the initial point for consideration is the origin. First, historical evidence prove that Judaism is the oldest religion among the three, with the exact date of its foundation being unknown. Despite this, scholars agree that Abraham was the founder of Judaism, and consequently, the three groups are known as “Abrahamic” religions.

Islam and Christianity are historically derived from Judaism, with their dates of origin recorded as around 622 CE for Islam and c. 33 CE for Christianity (Frankforter and Spellman 58). Secondly, the three religions trace their origin in the Middle East, where historians assert that Abraham made a covenant with God in Canaan, a biblical region that was located in the area occupied by the modern states of Palestine and Israel. Islam traces its origin to Saudi Arabia, while Christianity began as an offshoot of Judaism after the death of Jesus in Palestine.

Moving away from statistical comparisons, some differences and similarities are evident between the three religions. These evidences perhaps provide some proof that the differences between them could be rooted within some cultural and social aspects. For instance, in contrast with other world religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, the three Abrahamic religions strictly emphasise on monotheism, with the ultimate reality placed on one God. God, in the three groups, has almost similar characteristics.

In Judaism, “Yahweh” is considered the only and supreme deity as described in the Old Testament ( The New Jerusalem Bible Deuteronomy 6:4). Similarly, the Muslim God, Allah, exists as the only God (Quran 112:1). However, although Christianity is a monotheist religion, God is considered to exist in form of “the Holy Trinity” as the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit ( The New Jerusalem Bible Mathew 28:19).

A major difference between Islam and the other two religions is found within the context of the scriptures. While both Christianity and Judaism consider the Bible as the “Holy Book”, Islam considers the Quran as the final revelation of Allah to mankind. Moreover, there is a slight difference between the Conservative Judaism and Christianity based on the fact that the non-messianic Judaists do not consider the New Testament as a holy book.

Scholars, however, indicate that both the bible and the Quran show significantly large similarities, especially in history and beliefs. For instance, these books consider Abraham as the founder of God’s people. They also provide a chronological line from Adam to Abraham and from Abraham through David and Solomon. They also argue that Adam was the founder of mankind, and that sins, perpetrated by the evil or Satan, destroyed, to a greater extent, the close relationship between man and God.

Although the three religions are monotheist, there is a common belief in other beings that are superior to man, but act as agents or servants of the deity. In both Christianity and Judaism, “angels” are the servants of God, while demons are the evil servants of Satan. This is similar in Islam, but the difference is only observed where Islam includes an additional group of spiritual beings, “the Jinn”, as servants of Allah alongside the angels.

The belief in Jesus Christ marks one of the major differences between the three religions. For instance, Christianity is strongly believed to have been founded after the death of Jesus in Palestine, despite the fact that Jesus himself is historically considered to have practised Judaism but only called for reforms. In Christianity, Jesus is considered as the second person of the Trinity, born of Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. In Islam, Jesus is considered as a prophet sent by Allah and born of Virgin Mary (Maria), but not a divine nor a god (Quran 5:17).

In Judaism, Jesus or Yeshua is considered an ordinary Jew and neither the Messiah nor a divine. While Judaism reject any ideology of Jesus as the Messiah or a divine with any relevant mission, both Christianity and Islam consider him as a prophet sent by God with a mission to reconcile God and Man. They argue that through crucifixion, Jesus served to sacrifice his life for mankind.

However, in Islam, Jesus’ mission on earth was “just”, but his gospel or ‘Injil’ has been corrupted by man, and therefore the Christian perceptions of Jesus are wrong. In addition, there is a significant difference between beliefs in the death of Jesus. While Jesus’ death, in Christianity, was through crucifixion as a sacrifice, Islam considers death as untrue because he ‘ascended’ to heaven during crucifixion.

The belief in prophets is a common factor among the three Abrahamic religions, although there is a strong belief in prophets in both Judaism and Islam than in Christianity.

For instance, in Judaism, the tradition of prophets is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, with each period and regime having a number of prophets as the servants or messengers of Yahweh. Christians also belief in the existence as well as the writings of all the prophets in the Old Testament, but Jesus was the last prophet. This is strongly rejected in both Judaism and Islam- Judaism does not consider Jesus as a prophet, while Islam considers Muhammad as the last of the true prophets.

Aspects of belief in the “true god” in the three religions provide some evidence that they have a common origin, but cultural and ethnic differences may have caused the disparities with time. For example, the perception of human nature is relatively similar in the three groups. Human nature is considered to have equal ability to do both ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in Islam. Judaism considers human nature to be under the influence of two forces- the impulse do good and the impulse to do evil. Similarly, in Christianity, the ‘original sin’ committed by Adam is considered as the tendency to do evil.

Secondly, in all the three religions, there is belief in salvation- an option available for man to save himself from the wrath of God simply by doing what is good, believing in him and acting as his servant. Moreover, God plays an important role in salvation in all the three groups- the role of predestination, divine revelation and forgiveness. Finally, it is worth noting that the three Abraham religions belief in life after death as the final destination of man, where the ‘good’ people enjoy a ‘good afterlife’ while the ‘evil’ ones have to pay for their sins in hell.

From this analysis, it is worth noting that the three religions have a common origin as shown by both scriptures and history. Secondly, the aspects of belief are generally similar and show a common pattern. However, it is worth noting that the differences between the three groups could have resulted from differences in cultural, ethnic and geographical differences.

Frankforter, Daniel and William Spellman. The West: A Narrative History . Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2009. Print.

Tahir-ul-Qadri, Muhammad. Minhaj-ul-Quran . London: Minhaj-ul-Quran, 2005. Print

The New Jerusalem Bible . Ed. Susan Jones. New York: Doubleday, 1985. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, May 5). Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. https://ivypanda.com/essays/religious-comparisons-judaism-christianity-and-islam/

"Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam." IvyPanda , 5 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/religious-comparisons-judaism-christianity-and-islam/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam'. 5 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam." May 5, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/religious-comparisons-judaism-christianity-and-islam/.

1. IvyPanda . "Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam." May 5, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/religious-comparisons-judaism-christianity-and-islam/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Religious Comparisons: Judaism, Christianity and Islam." May 5, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/religious-comparisons-judaism-christianity-and-islam/.

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Similarities Between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Essay Example

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Similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity and Islam can be revealed both on the levels of form and content. Formally viewed, Christianity and Islam are two of the three greatest world religions, while Judaism is considered to be a national religion. It means that Christianity and Islam are practiced worldwide by people of different origins but the adherents of Judaism tend to belong to a particular nation – Jewish. Judaism is the oldest religion of the three and Islam is the youngest. The religions are interconnected. For example, Christianity stemmed from Judaism and its key figure Jesus Christ as well as His mother Virgin Mary and the Apostles belonged to Judaism.

The three religions believe in Abraham and all the people being his children. They agree that Moses was one of the first God’s prophets, but disagree about Jesus Christ. Muslims and Jews believe that he was just another prophet, while Christians think He is God.

Although all three religions are monotheistic, the notions of God differ.  All three religions believe that God is the origin of life and the Creator of all that exists who continues to care about His creation. God is well-intended and merciful. God’s grace gives people the strength to be closer to what we ought to be. God communicates with people through revelations; His words are recorded in sacred books by His prophets. But while Judaism emphasizes our inability to understand God in all His power and the ensuing prohibition to call God’s name and describe His qualities, Christianity and Islam do call God’s name (God the Father, the Holy Spirit and God the Son; Allah). Christianity understands God to be triune, i.e. He has three representations but is one.

Unlike Judaism, Islam and Christianity have the notions of heaven and hell and believe in the existence of the devil. All the three religions believe in the final judgment and resurrection.

The main principle of Islam is obedience to God. The life of a devout Muslim is focused on following religious regulations. In this respects, Christianity is closer to Islam than Judaism. Christianity maintains the principle of “Creed over Deed”. It means that a true Christian can misbehave to confess and be forgiven because he / she has faith in God. The main virtue of a Christian is belief. Judaism, however, puts Deed ahead of Creed and believes that helping other people and doing good things is first and foremost. It makes Judaism more democratic. A non-Muslim cannot obtain salvation in Islam, a non-Christian cannot obtain salvation in Christianity, but a non-Jew can obtain salvation in Judaism provided he / she follows the Seven Precepts of Noah, which are in the essence quite common morale standards.

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