Islam holds that the human predicament is ‘forgetfulness.' Meaning, many human beings have the tendency of ‘forgetting’ that Allah is their Creator and should, therefore, serve Him and obey his instructions. As a result, they do not demonstrate gratitude or surrender towards their creator (Smith 222). Nonetheless, Allah presents a solution – guidance. Guidance is given through the Quran, which is the holy book, and Muhammad as a living example. Through these two elements, an individual should be able to overcome the human predicament.
The Bible too discusses issues of forgetfulness, or in another term, ignorance, and guidance. However, ignorance is not the human predicament from a Christian point of view (222). The Bible holds that the human problem is the sin, which compromises an individual's degree of holiness and righteousness. Sin, through rebellion and disobedience, separates a human being from his or her God. Thus, Christians believe that God does not dwell in the hearts of sinful people and He, because of His holy nature, cannot have a peaceful relationship with them. Accordingly, while ignorance may have an influence on the existence of sin, it is not, by itself, the cause of it. The solution for sin, according to the Bible, is God’s forgiveness, commonly referred to as salvation. Before Christ, this forgiveness was part of ‘the covenant’ and achieved through animal sacrifice in the temple (223). From the onset of Christianity, salvation is believed to have been ‘purchased’ be the blood of Christ when He was crucified.
Finally, the Christian account of the human predicament and its solution seems to be more sensible. Ignorance does not seem to be the main problem with human beings because some of the guidelines in life are common sense, yet people still defy them.
Work Cited
Smith, Huston. The world's religions. New York: HarperOne, 2009.
