Introduction
Few religions are as interconnected socially, historically, and culturally as Christianity and Islam. Both faiths have similar origins, historical roots, with Islam recognizing some Christian elements and figures. Both Islam and Christianity represent monotheistic religions with one supreme entity. Each religion incorporates the divine message and prophets who spread the message. At the same time, these religions are so diverse in the specifics of their doctrines that their contradictions caused much fighting, be it intellectual or physical. Ascertaining the points that distinguish Christianity from Islam is essential in establishing its uniqueness.
The Deity
Islam and Christianity represent Abraham religions, which raises a question whether Muslims and Christians worship the same entity. It might seem this way from the outside perspective, but the followers themselves believe their respective creator to be unique. Bogardus and Urban consider it a matter of reference (9). Islam’s Allah is an inseparable entity that cannot be comprehended by mortal beings or even divided in a spiritual or physical sense.
Christianity has a drastically different dogma of God’s essence. One of its central doctrines is the concept of the Trinity. According to this belief, Christians view God in three hypostases simultaneously. This concept serves the purpose of codifying the direct connection of God to people through the manifestation of God the Son. Unlike Islam, in which Allah never sets foot on the Earth, Chrtistianity’s God is present on the Earth in various contexts. Christian priests point to God’s presence as a sign of his omnibenevolence that is unique to Christianity.
Religious Leader
The second obvious distinction is the identity of the religious leader. It should be noted that Islam recognizes Jesus Christ as a prophet, but the greatest and most influential figure in Islam is Muhammad. Allah chose Muhammad to be the bearer of his message. At no point did he ever refer to himself as possessing qualities superior to ordinary people. Muhammad is not God and is not gifted with supernatural abilities that allow him to perform miracles. He was more a warrior who spent the final years of his life conquering sanctum lands.
In contrast, Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity and is worshipped by Christians as the incarnation of God in the world. He used his divine powers to convince people of his superiority and God status. This is where the aforementioned Trinity applies – through Christ, God connects himself with human beings. Unlike Muhammad, Christ never saw war as a viable way of living one’s life (Phipps 172). He preached forgiveness, compassion, and love to everybody, including enemies. This is a major distinction that Christians point out regarding Christ and Mohammad. Christians see Muhammad’s warring as violations of Allah’s teachings, which makes Christ stand out in his loyalty to his ideas.
Holy Texts
Both religions have Holy Texts – the Bible in Christianity and the Quran in Islam. Muslims view the Quran as “the Divine book that was written by Allah and transmitted to the Prophet Muhammad” (Sayoud 177). This postulation denies any human involvement in the writing or translation of the holy book, since it is considered to contain the precise words of Allah. All Muhammad did was a relay of the exact same message that he received from Allah.
At the same time, the Bible had acknowledged numerous human input over the course of history. Besides, it has several translations that can obscure the initial message. Christ did not write the Bible, it was written by his disciples. It is a combination of supposed visions reviled to Prophets, historical accounts, and even segments that were not spoken by God, but rather written by the Prophets themselves. The Bible is unique in that it was passed down from generation to generation and rewritten multiple times. In essence, it encompasses the experience and wisdom of different people and historic periods.
Salvation
All religions suggest a different take on death and the afterlife. Islam propagates Allah as the just being that will judge everyone according to their deeds during life (Johnson 311). This encourages Muslims to actively multiply their virtues since after death Allah will compare their sins and honorable actions. Afterward, it will be decided if the person is worthy of salvation. Such dogma presupposes a life filled with benevolent actions that would counterbalance the sinful side.
This is another stark contrast with Christianity, where salvation is available to anyone who is ready to accept the faith in Jesus Christ. Christ himself underwent salvation by dying for the sins of mankind. This is the basis for the whole Chrsitianity faith, where faith is the most precious virtue of a person. Christ’s sacrifice paves the way for everyone’s salvation, which distinguishes Christianity among other religions.
Conclusion
These religions are much more different than can seem at first. They both have a similar supreme being, yet Christianity’s God is closer to humankind. Both Prophets teach the divine message, yet Jesus Christ is God at the same time. Both religions have their own sacred texts, yet the Bible has more human input. Both religions preach salvation, yet in Christianity, only faith is required to achieve it. The most prevalent distinction is that Islam requires worshiping only Allah, while Christians believe in Christ, who is God and human. This is what sets Christianity apart not only from Islam, but from all religions.
Works Cited
Bogardus, Tomas, and Urban, Mellorie. “How to Tell Whether Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God”, Faith and Philosophy, vol. 34, no. 3, 2017, pp. 176-200.
Johnson, Wendell G. End of Days: An Encyclopedia of the Apocalypse in World Religions. ABC-CLIO, 2017.
Phipps, William E. Muhammad and Jesus: A Comparison of the Prophets and Their Teachings. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Sayoud, Halim. “A Visual Analytics based Investigation on the Authorship of the Holy Quran.” University of Science and Technology Houari Boumedlene. 2016, Web.