Can someone give me a basic comparison of Islam to Christianity.
Christianity’s central concept (from my understanding, please add on): Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice on the cross in order to atone for our sins that we could not atone for by ourselves
Islam’s central concept: ?
This is the post that started it all. Islam as compared to Christianity.If Muslims trace their history back to Abraham, why weren’t they Jewish, and thus Christians now?
Islam in a Nutshell:Can someone give me a basic comparison of Islam to Christianity.
Christianity’s central concept (from my understanding, please add on): Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice on the cross in order to atone for our sins that we could not atone for by ourselves
Islam’s central concept: ?
If Muslims trace their history back to Abraham, why weren’t they Jewish, and thus Christians now?
This is the post that started it all. Islam as compared to Christianity.
It is valid for me to state what Christians truly believe…
My responses have not been (way) off-base/topic as accused.
**Your personal questions to me…those are way off-base/topic…/**QUOTE]
You stated and exposed your personal situation in the thread which was already "off-base/topic"
I am married to a Muslim. My in-laws are muslim. My sister was married to a Muslim. I have a nephew and nieces who are muslim.
QUOTE=fms;6263327This is the post that started it all. Islam as compared to Christianity.
It is valid for me to state what Christians truly believe…
You stated and exposed your personal situation in the thread which was already "off-base/topic"My responses have not been (way) off-base/topic as accused.
**
Your personal questions to me…**those are way off-base/topic…
Originally Posted by PeteZaHut
Can someone give me a basic comparison of Islam to Christianity.Christianity’s central concept (from my understanding, please add on): Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice on the cross in order to atone for our sins that we could not atone for by ourselvesIslam’s central concept: ?If Muslims trace their history back to Abraham, why weren’t they Jewish, and thus Christians now?What Christian’s believe: The Apostles’ Creed:
newadvent.org/cathen/01629a.htm
I would just let it go. There are some who want to engage in foolish disputes, contentions, strivings about the law, all of which are unprofitable and useless (Titus 3:9), and will choose to do so with brothers and sisters in Christ even before unbelievers (1 Cor 6:6).You stated and exposed your personal situation in the thread which was already "off-base/topic"
This question should be asked from the christians because the Muslims do not believe in incarnation. They do not believe that any one can take away the sins of others by dying on the cross. The Muslims do not believe that an innocent person, beloved of God (Jesus) may be punished for sins of others. The Muslims believe that God can easily forgive the sins of all people without any one’s blood provided that One repents and seeks forgiveness.Question #1 from the OP
Christianity’s central concept (from my understanding, please add on): Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice on the cross in order to atone for our sins that we could not atone for by ourselves
Islam’s central concept is to obey Allah only and believe in Him alone as the God. Also to believe that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. So nobody can go to Allah except through Muhammad.Question #2 from the OP
Islam’s central concept: ?
Question #3 from the OP
This question could be replied in many ways. We Muslims can easily question the creation of christianity. Jesus did not want to start a new religion. He only came for the Jews and wanted to reform the Jews, to cure their bad habits and mistakes, keeping to same law of Moses.If Muslims trace their history back to Abraham, why weren’t they Jewish, and thus Christians now?
I will revisit the shahada in my conclusion.Zwemer concludes by remarking that the judgment of these modern scholars, however harsh, rests on evidence which “comes all from the lips and the pens of his own devoted adherents. . .And the followers of the prophet can scarcely complain if, even on such evidence, the verdict of history goes against him”.
Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Qur’an, but He is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy(?) of redemption is completely absent. For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity.
Now why Muslims are not Christians, while they all claim to be Abraham’s children, is a question to ask the Muslims.This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus said to them: If you are Abraham’s children, do as Abraham did.
Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father: you have placed your hopes on Moses, and Moses will be the one who accuses you.
If you really believed him you would believe me too, since it was about me that he was writing.
You pore over the scriptures, believing that in them you can find eternal life; it is these scriptures that testify to me, and yet you refuse to come to me to receive life!
I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.
Regarding the Qur’an:Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to believe in the Son will never see life: God’s retribution hangs over him.
Concluding:Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Qur’an, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God has said of Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam all the richness of God’s self revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside.
This is like the Muslim shahada with the exception of who has been sent by God.And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Regarding the Qur’an:
fms, thanks for your post. Quran is relying on true revelation and Muslims believe that Allah revealed Himself to previous prophets in the same manner. The angel bringing messages to earlier prophets was never seen by any one. Yet the prophets were saying “So says your lord…”. How did they know what was being said by their Lord? It was through revelation in a similar way the message was conveyed to Muhammad.Quote:
Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Qur’an, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God has said of Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam all the richness of God’s self revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside.
That is the best I have ever heard. It is true and correct. Belief is necessary in God and the One who has been sent… The one who has been sent is Jesus. Belief in Jesus is a must.And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
That is right. In Shahadah, it is the name of Muhammad. In the above statement, it is Jesus. Please do not doubt about it. See the words above…And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. There too many pronouns used there. Even then it is very clear that advice is given to know the God and to know Jesus Christ whom God has sent. There is no doubt about it.This is like the Muslim shahada with the exception of who has been sent by God.
To me there is no doubt because I have explained it above. Both religions agree on One God. They do not differ on who has been sent to give eternal life to the world. In the time of Jesus, it was Jesus who was sent to give eternal life to people. In the time of Muhammad, it was Muhammad who was sent to give eternal life.If I were a pagan, I would say the two religions agree on the one true God but differ on who he has sent to give eternal life to men (Muslims believe reciting the shahada is an indispensable condition to attaining eternal joy).
.By the mercy of God, may we come to know the only true God, and He whom he has truly sent so that we may attain eternal life
A study of Quranic teaching, in true comparison of Biblical teaching, would, I strongly say, promote that Mohammad was a false prophet. There is a denial of Christ’s divinity, the preservation of Christian texts, an accusation of polytheism against the Christians, and denial of the crucifixion and all that comes with it (Christ’s resurrection, the resurrection of those who died in the past, our freedom from the slavery of sin etc). Therefore to conclude on whether or not Mohammad is a prophet with “I don’t know” is very dangerous given the facts of Mohammad’s teachings. Especially in consideration of Paul’s warning regarding the following of another gospel (Gal 1:8-9).Is Muhammad a prophet? I do not know. To move people from worshipping idols to the worship of the One true God is huge but Muhammad does not point to Christ the way God and the true prophets of God point to Christ.
Actually, they believe in one Being and one Person of God in a unitarian sense. The intent of the Fathers at Nicea in saying “God” followed by “the Father Almighty” was to identify the one Being of God and then reveal the Three Persons of the Trinity - hence why they start with the Father, followed by the Son and then the Holy Spirit. Muslims deny the Trinity, in fact most of them would protest to calling God “father,” even if by circular standards they turn around and accept the use of Father by Christ as purely symbolic.Muslims believe this as well.
- I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I would move that any one who claims to be a “prophet” of God in line with Christian belief (and the very fact Mohammad claims to be a prophet that communicates to God for the people contradicts Hebrews 1:1-2) and yet denies the divinity of Christ is not a true prophet of God. Therefore, one would have to conclude that Mohammad did not work for the true God, or the Trinitarian God.In Islam, Jesus is a “messiah” sent to the people of Israel. He is a creature who was given the ability to perform miracles. They do not believe he is the only Son and that he is the Lord. Jesus is a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad.
Again, yes, but under what context? The hypostatic union did not take place at the conception of our Lord, which is paramount to the belief of the Incarnation. I have often heard Muslims say things like, “We believe in the virgin birth too!” This similarity is only surface-level, however. Mormons believe in the virgin birth of Christ too - but only (*crosses himself three times Forgive me, Theotokos…*) because they believe that the Virgin Mary was a virgin at the time God came to earth and had literal sex with her. Likewise, the Muslim concept of our Lord’s conception is different than that of Christianity.In Islam, Jesus was born to Mary as the result of virginal conception, a miraculous event by the decree of God. Mary is highly esteemed.
- He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
Note the two distinctions you made here - again, we must look at context. Muslims do believe that Christ rose to Paradise…but under the context of Christianity? Not at all. Christ was not resurrected and therefore His ascension to Paradise, which excludes as well the belief that He is at the right hand of the Father in the same context as Christians, is only similar on a superficial level.According to Islamic texts, Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. It was all an illusion.
- He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
…]
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
According to Islamic texts, Jesus was raised alive up to heaven.
B W, Muhamamd did not deny anything good. The divinity of Jesus is questionable. Jesus himself says that he was sent. At many places, Jesus mentions this fact that he was sent. Please see the bibleNT for it. It is full of such statements by Jesus. There were many who were believing in Jesus as a prophet too in his life time. That also confirms that Jesus was sent.A study of Quranic teaching, in true comparison of Biblical teaching, would, I strongly say, promote that Mohammad was a false prophet. There is a denial of Christ’s divinity,
Of course, Muhammad has denied the divinity of Jesus. He has denied his own divinity and the divinity of Moses, Abraham and all. You may keep on complaining.the preservation of Christian texts, an accusation of polytheism against the Christians, and **denial of the crucifixion **and all that comes with it (Christ’s resurrection, the resurrection of those who died in the past, our freedom from the slavery of sin etc). Therefore to conclude on whether or not Mohammad is a prophet with “I don’t know” is very dangerous given the facts of Mohammad’s teachings. Especially in consideration of Paul’s warning regarding the following of another gospel (Gal 1:8-9).
Thank you Planten.fms, thanks for your post.
fms, Thanks for the good wishes. I see in Jesus all the best and love, gentleness, kindness, welfare, goodwill, justice, sacrifice, effort for the well being of his people, even as Jesus is described to me in the Quran as well as in the bibleNT. I have no problem with Jesus or his mother or his friends (disciples). Nothing against them. My Book (Quran) has nothing against them all, not even a word.Thank you Planten.
You are a muslim and I am a Roman Catholic. I read in you good will. May you eventually know the peace which the world cannot give.