Christian Salvation vs Islamic Salvation

[thephilosopher6]

Note: Sorry if there are a lot of typos here, I am currently typing this on my phone at 5:30AM from work.

I had a very interesting conversation with a Muslim co-worker of mine a few days ago over the nature of the Christian concept of salvation vs the Islamic conception of salvation. I argued that in Christian theology, God is actually a saviour who is actually trying to save us from something called sin and he is actually trying to rescue us from the place of hell. On the other hand, in Islamic theology, God acts more as a tyrant. He has you do things, follow a list of all of his commandments, and come under bondage of him (Islam liteally means “submission to God”) and if you don’t do these things he will torture you for all eternity.

In Christianity, God made us for love and to be united with him in love. So that we could love him, and he could love us, just as the Trinity loves each other. Hence, we are made in his image. But man turned his back on God, and even though that fruit tasted sweet, God warned us of the serious consequences that fruit would do to us. It may have been sweet, but it was actually poison!

In Christianity, sin is something that leads to destruction. It is a sickness, and we suffer pain and death by it. But Christ gives us the medicine to beat it, he helps heal us and make us healthy in him. This is Gods doing, not ours. We can’t heal ourselves.

In Christianity, sin is actually something that separates us from God. We are under its oppression, we are slaves to it, we are held bondage to it. But when we come to Christ, we are set free (John 8:32). He helps us unlock the prison doors and unite with him once again. And this is not our doing but it is Gods doing! We can’t unlock ourselves.

In Christianity, God is actually trying to save us from something. Sin is seen more as an ontological real thing that keeps us from God in Christianity rather than just breaking the “rules”. It is not God who puts us in hell, rather it is our bondage to sin. God saw our suffering and pain. He heard our cries. Because of that, he preformed the greatest act of love there could be, he took on our suffering. By becoming us, he united us to him. He came as a savior to us. His whole life was as act of redemption, and it ultimately climaxed at the cross where the entire weight of sin came upon him. And he defeated it. Him becoming united with us is what saves us. We receive his free gift of salvation, a salvation he freely offers because he is actually trying to save us from something real that is keeping us bondage and away from him. God hates the idea of hell, and he is genuinely trying to save us from it! God wants to protect us from it. Whenever you hear about the problem of pain, just think that God himself too experienced pain and suffering. He too experienced loss and sadness. That is why he came into this world, so he can feel our pain. He did this out of love. He wants to return us to love! He loves us so much and wants to save us all!

Why is there pain? So that God could suffer alongside us… So he could be one of us…

By this, he saves us.

Christianity at its root is a love story about a father (God) desperately trying to save his children (humans) from death.

Now, as for Islam. In Islam, God does not come into this world. He could never do such a thing, he is much too high and mighty for such an act. He could never humble himself that low. Human beings are nothing but little creatures he made to pay all their attention to him.

In Islam, God created us so that we could submit to his every will and want. So that we could be nothing more than his slaves.

Muslims must pray 5 times a day, they must give zakat every week, they must go on hajj at least once in their life, they must eat certain foods and listen to certain music. They must do this because Allah said! Because according to Allah, this is what makes you a better person. If you don’t do these thing’s, he’ll have you tortured in hell for all eternity! In Islam, God isn’t saving you from sin, he is saving you from himself and what he’ll do to you if you don’t obey him. Unless you become his slave, he will punish you severely! He is nothing more than a cosmic tyrant. His “mercy” is not based on any thing good. He is like a violent dictator of a oppressed nation.

In Islam, God enslaves you. In Christianity, God makes you free!

Islam is a story about tyranny and the struggle for freedom from God which only leads to him torturing you in the end if you refuse to obey him.

I hope CAF enjoys this. All in all, he lacked any response to it and seemed taken aback and was quite dumbfounded afterwards.

No hate against any Muslims friends on here, but this is just what Islam compared to Christianity is.

 

[meltzerboy]

Note: Sorry if there are a lot of typos here, I am currently typing this on my phone at 5:30AM from work.

I had a very interesting conversation with a Muslim co-worker of mine a few days ago over the nature of the Christian concept of salvation vs the Islamic conception of salvation. I argued that in Christian theology, God is actually a saviour who is actually trying to save us from something called sin and he is actually trying to rescue us from the place of hell. On the other hand, in Islamic theology, God acts more as a tyrant. He has you do things, follow a list of all of his commandments, and come under bondage of him (Islam liteally means “submission to God”) and if you don’t do these things he will torture you for all eternity.

In Christianity, God made us for love and to be united with him in love. So that we could love him, and he could love us, just as the Trinity loves each other. Hence, we are made in his image. But man turned his back on God, and even though that fruit tasted sweet, God warned us of the serious consequences that fruit would do to us. It may have been sweet, but it was actually poison!

In Christianity, sin is something that leads to destruction. It is a sickness, and we suffer pain and death by it. But Christ gives us the medicine to beat it, he helps heal us and make us healthy in him. This is Gods doing, not ours. We can’t heal ourselves.

In Christianity, sin is actually something that separates us from God. We are under its oppression, we are slaves to it, we are held bondage to it. But when we come to Christ, we are set free (John 8:32). He helps us unlock the prison doors and unite with him once again. And this is not our doing but it is Gods doing! We can’t unlock ourselves.

In Christianity, God is actually trying to save us from something. Sin is seen more as an ontological real thing that keeps us from God in Christianity rather than just breaking the “rules”. It is not God who puts us in hell, rather it is our bondage to sin. God saw our suffering and pain. He heard our cries. Because of that, he preformed the greatest act of love there could be, he took on our suffering. By becoming us, he united us to him. He came as a savior to us. His whole life was as act of redemption, and it ultimately climaxed at the cross where the entire weight of sin came upon him. And he defeated it. Him becoming united with us is what saves us. We receive his free gift of salvation, a salvation he freely offers because he is actually trying to save us from something real that is keeping us bondage and away from him. God hates the idea of hell, and he is genuinely trying to save us from it! God wants to protect us from it. Whenever you hear about the problem of pain, just think that God himself too experienced pain and suffering. He too experienced loss and sadness. That is why he came into this world, so he can feel our pain. He did this out of love. He wants to return us to love! He loves us so much and wants to save us all!

Why is there pain? So that God could suffer alongside us… So he could be one of us…

By this, he saves us.

Christianity at its root is a love story about a father (God) desperately trying to save his children (humans) from death.

Now, as for Islam. In Islam, God does not come into this world. He could never do such a thing, he is much too high and mighty for such an act. He could never humble himself that low. Human beings are nothing but little creatures he made to pay all their attention to him.

In Islam, God created us so that we could submit to his every will and want. So that we could be nothing more than his slaves.

Muslims must pray 5 times a day, they must give zakat every week, they must go on hajj at least once in their life, they must eat certain foods and listen to certain music. They must do this because Allah said! Because according to Allah, this is what makes you a better person. If you don’t do these thing’s, he’ll have you tortured in hell for all eternity! In Islam, God isn’t saving you from sin, he is saving you from himself and what he’ll do to you if you don’t obey him. Unless you become his slave, he will punish you severely! He is nothing more than a cosmic tyrant. His “mercy” is not based on any thing good. He is like a violent dictator of a oppressed nation.

In Islam, God enslaves you. In Christianity, God makes you free!

Islam is a story about tyranny and the struggle for freedom from God which only leads to him torturing you in the end if you refuse to obey him.

I hope CAF enjoys this. All in all, he lacked any response to it and seemed taken aback and was quite dumbfounded afterwards.

No hate against any Muslims friends on here, but this is just what Islam compared to Christianity is.

A little biased view of Islam, I would say, especially from a philosopher! The way you depict Islam as believing in an unloving G-d, a G-d Who enslaves mankind and delights in torturing them for all eternity for lack of submission must have indeed caused your coworker to be “taken aback” and “dumbfounded,” not because of his inability to debate your portrayal but by your utter misunderstanding of his religion.

From the perspective of Judaism, of course, you both have it wrong–Christianity and Islam. There is too much focus on sin, death, hell, and salvation in both religions. How Christianity and Islam veered so far from Jewish teaching on these matters is itself an interesting phenomenon.

 

[macstar]

From the perspective of Judaism

Can you share with us the perspective of Judaism? I’m not familiar with it, other than during life on earth the focus is on the here and now.

 

[USMC_Convert]

A little biased view of Islam, I would say, especially from a philosopher! The way you depict Islam as believing in an unloving G-d, a G-d Who enslaves mankind and delights in torturing them for all eternity for lack of submission must have indeed caused your coworker to be “taken aback” and “dumbfounded,” not because of his inability to debate your portrayal but by your utter misunderstanding of his religion.

From the perspective of Judaism, of course, you both have it wrong–Christianity and Islam. There is too much focus on sin, death, hell, and salvation in both religions. How Christianity and Islam veered so far from Jewish teaching on these matters is itself an interesting phenomenon.

Well a couple of things, so the OT is fulfilled in the NT so we really didn’t veer too far off of what is taught in the OT. Second yes you are absolutely correct! Jesus was a very interesting person. Since He is the one that taught us and corrected the teachings of His time, take it up with Him.

Thirdly from our perspective you both (Judaism and Islam) have it wrong. There is way too much emphasis on the law, the rules, the system.

Finally, to the OP, which what does OP stand for anyway? I see it being used all the time, but anyway, yeah, you may have been a little harsh. Not that you did anything wrong, just try to think about how whatever it is you say makes others feel. Is it pushing them away from the truth or bringing them to a clearer understanding and love of our faith?

Just my opinion, could be totally wrong on all counts…

 

[thephilosopher6]

A little biased view of Islam, I would say, especially from a philosopher! The way you depict Islam as believing in an unloving G-d, a G-d Who enslaves mankind and delights in torturing them for all eternity for lack of submission must have indeed caused your coworker to be “taken aback” and “dumbfounded,” not because of his inability to debate your portrayal but by your utter misunderstanding of his religion.

From the perspective of Judaism, of course, you both have it wrong–Christianity and Islam. There is too much focus on sin, death, hell, and salvation in both religions. How Christianity and Islam veered so far from Jewish teaching on these matters is itself an interesting phenomenon.

The Jewish view is irrelevant to the discussion on this thread. Christianity has been focused on soteriology since the start, if you knew anything about the New Testament and the history of the early Church, you’d know this. Read Acts and Paul’s epistles! They’re devoted specifically to Christian salvation. To Christians, both Islam and Judaism are stuck on the idea of the law, and fail to see how God calls us to be spiritually enlightened in him so that we may be drawn out of this world of sin and death and into his, which is salvation. Our view is much more mystical and develop than yours, and that becomes more evident when you look at the eastern traditions of Christianity.

But how I described Islam is indeed the most logical outcome of it. Every way you explain Islamic soteriology, it will always come back to that.

I don’t know why you defend Islam so much anyway, it is a violent ideology set on destroying the west. It is the enemy to the Judeo-Christian tradition. And why? To make us slaves to Allah! Oh well, typical liberal you are, blinded to all the truths. The fact of this shows how deeply misunderstanding you are of Islam.

Now, can you please sum up to me the view of Islamic salvation? As said,it’s probably going to ultimately lead back to the logical conclusion I set forth.

 

[thephilosopher6]

Finally, to the OP, which what does OP stand for anyway? I see it being used all the time, but anyway, yeah, you may have been a little harsh. Not that you did anything wrong, just try to think about how whatever it is you say makes others feel. Is it pushing them away from the truth or bringing them to a clearer understanding and love of our faith?

OP stands for “Original Poster.”

I don’t think it was harsh. We had an interesting conversation. When I said he was “taken aback” and “dumbfounded” I mean that he was amazed at the Christian view of salvation compared to the Islamic one. There’s really nothing wrong with be blunt about it though. Jesus didn’t shy away from that when he had his debates. The Church fathers certainly were not either. Just look at their writings.

 

[macstar]

Oh well, typical liberal you are, blinded to all the truths.

That is inappropriate and rude.

 

[thephilosopher6]

That is inappropriate and rude.

How is it rude? It’s simple truth.

 

[Jesus_Is_God_1]

Islam is the most backward and savage ideology there could be.

 

[USMC_Convert]

OP stands for “Original Poster.”

I don’t think it was harsh. We had an interesting conversation. When I said he was “taken aback” and “dumbfounded” I mean that he was amazed at the Christian view of salvation compared to the Islamic one. There’s really nothing wrong with be blunt about it though. Jesus didn’t shy away from that when he had his debates. The Church fathers certainly were not either. Just look at their writings.

Thanks for the info!

Good point, I didn’t think of it like that…