Introduction
Christianity is the largest religion in the entire globe with about the population of 2.2 billion believers, called Christians. Most of these Christians do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the God Most High, and he was born fully as a human with divine powers in order to save mankind from eternal punishment, and instead, give eternal life. On the other hand, Islam refers to a monotheistic as well as Abrahamic religion that is articulated by a book believed to be the word of God, called Qur’an. The followers of this religion are known as the Muslims. The Muslims believed that the Qur’an is a verbatim word from God and it consists of normative examples and the teachings of Muhammad, who is believed to be the last God’s prophet on earth. There are several similarities and differences between these two religions, that is, Christianity and Islam, and they are discussed below (Diffen n. pag).
There are some common beliefs between Christians and Muslims. Firstly, they both believe that there exists one God who is the creator of heaven and earth and he is sovereign in Men’s lives. There is a common agreement that God is the rightful judge of good and evil as well as the source of morality. They also believe that God will judge people in justice after death by sending evildoers to hell and the righteous to heaven. Secondly, both fundamental Christians and Muslims consider some acts such as licentious, pornography, stealing, adultery and sexual immorality as the pollutants to the society. Such evil practices as a result of western civilization have received negative reaction especially from the Muslim countries. Thirdly, the two religions value community so much, in that, in Christianity, someone can just leave the community of Christians at his/her own choice, whereas in Muslim, the religion requires that an individual who departs from the Muslim community should be punished physically. In addition, both religions believe that prophets like Jesus, John the Baptist, Joseph, David, Moses, Abraham and Noah, among others were sent by God, and it is therefore the duty of people to follow their moral teachings as well as obeying the Ten Commandments. They also believe in the holy scriptures of the Old Testament (Torah) as well as the New Testament (Gospel) and they are used by these religions for spiritual growth (Faith Facts n. pag).
Contrast between Christianity and Islam
In Christianity, marriage was instituted by God to be between one woman and one man, and Jesus affirms it in the gospel books that a man shall depart from his parents in order to be united to his wife and they shall be one flesh. In contrary, the Muslims permit polygamous marriage whereby a man can marry more than one wife, but less than four, provided he can provide them fairly as well as giving them their rights equally.
Secondly, the Muslims’ holy book, Quran, says that Jesus Christ was not crucified on the cross and die, but instead, they believe that God Almighty made it to look like that to people. In addition, the Quran teaches that Jesus went up to heaven by the power of God. On the other hand, majority of the Christians believe that Jesus Christ came to the world to be crucified on the cross and died, and on the third day he resurrected. They also believe that God sent Jesus to the world in order to restore the relationship between God and man.
Thirdly, the Christians believe that all human beings were born with ‘Original Sin’, that is, they are born as sinners, and therefore, they are faced with the same punishment that God gave to Adam and Eve n the Garden of Eden. Unlike the Christians, the Muslims do not believe that human beings are born as sinners, that is, there is no ‘Original Sin’ because they believe in Quran which says that God punished Adam alone for his sin and that no one should be punished for the sin committed by the other since it is unfair.
Finally, most of the Christians believe that God exists in Holy Trinity, that is, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This concept was not adopted until in 325 AD during the Council of Nicea. Some Christians during those earlier times were Unitarians, and even today, some are still the Unitarians who do not believe in the Holy Trinity. Some of the popular Rationalist Unitarians are Isaac Newton (a British Scientist), Ralph Waldo Emerson (an American thinker), Charles Dickens (a Briton in department of Literature), Frank Lloyd Wright (an American), and Florence Nightingale (a Briton in nursing and humanitarian). Contrarily, the Islam does not accept the existence of God in Holy Trinity because they believe that Jesus Christ is neither God nor the Son of Son of God as Christians believe. Furthermore, the Muslims only worship God whom they believe is the only creator of heaven and earth. They consider prophets like Mohammad, Jesus, and Moses to be the messengers of God and they were just human beings without any divine powers, and thus they do not deserve to be worshipped (Discovering Islam n. pag).
Works cited
Diffen. Christianity vs. Muslim. Diffen, n d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. < http://www.diffen.com/difference/Christianity_vs_Islam>.
Discovering Islam. Islam vs. Christianity. Discovering Islam, n. d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.discoveringislam.org/islam_vs_christianity.htm>.
Faith Facts. Christianity vs. Islam. Faith Facts, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. <http://www.faithfacts.org/world-religions-and-theology/christianity-vs.-islam>.
