Cultural and Theological Comparison of Christianity and Islam Essay

Christianity is a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God, who is fully human and fully define as it is recorded in the New Testament section Of the Bible and that he is the savior of mankind as prophesized in the Old Testament. The basic foundation of the Christianity is found on the ecumenical creed; the Apostles ’ Creed, the Nicene creed, the chalcedonian creed and the Athanasian creed. These creeds are accepted by majority of the mainstream Christian dominations and are recited during certain occasions.
The Christians belief that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, persecuted and died, buried and resurrected and ascended to heaven and reigns with the Father and shall come again for judgment of sinners as one of the creeds articulates. One is taken to be a Christian when one beliefs in Jesus Christ as his personal savior and is baptized using water a symbolic of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This ritual is common across all the denominations although it differs on the mode of application. The Catholics insist on using little water on the fore head or simply the head but some Protestants belief in full immersion in water.
The persecution of Jesus Christ is believed to bring remission of sins to whoever believed in him. The greatest strength of Christians is the belief in one God, who exists in trinity of the Father, the son and the spirit. The use of the Bible also provides a unifying aspect in all Christians. Christians have the Cross as the main symbol used in almost every church though in some, it is used with slight variations on the components. Other symbols are used with different meanings although idolatry is highly discouraged. Some of the denominations have symbols used during prayers like the catholic rosary. Christians also belief in life after death i.e. resurrection and the concept of hell and heaven are well articulated. Christian contact their prayers in churches which are mostly marked using the cross symbol all over the world. They also observe two main ceremonies; the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the birth in the month of March/April and 25th December respectively.
Islam on the other hand also belief in one God Allah, who is eternal, absolute; cannot be begotten or begetthed and that all creations in the universe were created by Him. They believe in prophets and Muhammad is the one sent by God to convey the divine message to all. Mohammad is believed to have received the verse of Quran from God through revelations. The main teachings of the Muslims are the five pillars which are the basic framework of worship.
These include the Shahadah(creed), the daily prayers-five times(salat), zakah(alms giving), observance of the holy month (Ramadan) and pilgrimage to the holy city Mecca(Hajj). These five pillars are compulsory to all Muslims and must be observed at all times throughout the life time of a believer except that pilgrimage is allowed at least once in a life time.
The Muslim creed is a testimony that there exist no other deities other than God alone and Muhammad is his messenger. The basic unit of Muslim is the family and has outlined obligations and rights of the family members. Economically, Islam encourages trade. The use of the Quran and the five pillars has served as the strongest unifying factor of the Muslims.
The Muslim society is governed by the Shari’ah, which are laws guided the duties and obligations incumbent upon Muslims by virtue of one’s religious belief. This law is accepted as an alternative law in most countries of the world. The Muslims have several symbols, the crescent and a star is the main one which simply indicates a Muslim community. The Muslims also have atypical rosary which is used during prayers. The Muslims worship facing Mecca in Mosques which are marked by the crescent and star signs. The main strengths of Muslims comprise the use of Quran and believe in one God. The observance of the holy month unites the Muslims with the climax of Eid al-Fitr.
Epistemic status is the knowledge held using justified belief. It refers to the agreeable status of knowledge as it is believed. Judaism, Islam and Christianity believe in one God and existences of other deities whose existence can only be explained by faith and belief. All the three religions have an equal status of knowledge. This is because none can claim monopoly of the knowledge on existence of God and deities or have a better proof of the same than the others.
Judaism holds that there is only one God who is interested with the acts of the human Kind and that; He is the only God to be worshiped. This is a clear indication of the epistemic position of the existence of God. The Jews belief that Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), is a system used to bring God into the world.
Muslims believe in one God, whose existence is explained by faith and belief. They further acknowledge that, He (God) is inconceivable by man. They also believe in angels who are made of light and have no free will but act in accordance with the instructions of God. Their main duties been to communicate revelations, glorify Allah, recoding every person’s actions and taking the souls of a person upon death. Al these are examples of the knowledge held as true using belief.
The Christians also believe in one God who is the almighty and exist as a trinity. The existence of God is held by faith and belief. They also believe in angels who are messenger of the God to convey messages and revelations. The belief of heaven and hell with God living in heaven is also held by faith.