Christianity and Islam: Foundations, Jesus, and Key Differences

Introduction to Christianity in the United States

Currently in the United States, the largest consensus religion is Christianity, which includes all Christian denominations, Roman Catholicism, and several fringe groups such as Christian Scientists and Seventh-Day Adventists. In essence, all of these denominations share a core belief system centered primarily on the person, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, Christians "are those people who are defined religiously by their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior according to the tenets found in the New Testament" (Brown, 1969, p. 45), and through the action and influence of the Holy Spirit, Christians believe that the words of the Bible become the word of God for the believer via God's direct and personal communication to each individual.

For all Christians, the Holy Bible is the sole authority for their religious faith and practice. Certain Christian denominations also rely on creeds or confessions of faith; however, such creeds are always "subordinate to that of the Bible and any such creed is valid only if it is an accurate representation of what the Bible teaches," meaning that all creeds are secondary to the authority of the Holy Bible (Peters, 1990, p. 78).

Christians also believe that salvation is a gift from God, being an effect of grace. In general, there is nothing that a true believer can do to earn salvation; conversely, there is nothing that a true believer — or non-believer — need do to earn salvation, because "God has made it a gift of his grace in and through Jesus Christ" (Al-Moghamis, 2002, p. 178).

As found in many other religious denominations and faiths, particularly in Islam, all believers must adhere to certain rituals. For Christians, baptism and the Lord's Supper (or communion) are the only two acts that Jesus told his disciples to carry on after his death, at least according to the present understanding of the New Testament. Among most Christians, these are the only rites of the church recognized as sacraments, which Robert Livingston defines as "rites such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, both of which are outward and visible signs ordained by Jesus Christ that create inward and spiritual blessings" (2004, p. 198). A second important aspect of Christianity is the importance of preaching. In almost all churches, the pulpit occupies a very prominent place — especially in Catholic churches — and is considered the focal point for sermons.

As compared to Islam, Christianity in the United States over the last several decades has been restructured via changes that involve "new modes of religious identification, new distinctions in the web of religious interaction, and alterations related to moral obligation that define religious communities" (Ikhlas, 1993, p. 214). Nonetheless, there are many distinguishing features of Christianity shared by all believers, especially in regard to the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ.

Christian Denominations and Their Practices

For Baptists, one of the most important of these features is the act of baptism, which symbolizes spiritual regeneration, the burial of former life, and the resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is believed to be a remembrance of Jesus' last supper with his disciples and a memorial of his sacrificial death on the cross. Like baptism, this is not considered a sacrament by Baptists; the elements of bread and wine — bread symbolizing the body of Christ and wine his blood — remain simply as symbols. Baptists also do not believe that Jesus is present spiritually or symbolically in these two elements.

For Methodists, baptism is a rite of incorporation into the community of faith, and like Baptists, they believe that this ritual symbolizes the new life of Jesus Christ upon being resurrected from the dead following his crucifixion. However, most Methodists believe that Christ is symbolically present to the faithful in the elements of bread and wine.

Unlike Baptists and Methodists, Lutherans are a creedal denomination. They believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God and contains God's full revelation to mankind, making it the only source of true Christian teaching and the only rule of Christian faith and life. Lutherans teach that both the law and the gospel are necessary and that the gospel as set out in the New Testament "assures the repentant sinner of God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ" (Brown, 1969, p. 214). Preaching and the sacraments are both very important in Lutheran worship. The altar, a symbol of Christ's presence in the sacrament, and the pulpit, which symbolizes God's presence through preaching, are equally important. As to communion, Lutherans truly believe that the risen Christ is present in the elements of bread and wine — a teaching often referred to as the "Real Presence," referring to what Jesus Christ promised at the Last Supper.

Two additional Christian denominations that apply the teachings of Jesus Christ to their everyday spiritual and religious lives are the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church, or Disciples of Christ. The first generally follows the format of the Apostles' Creed, which contains sections on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The second grew out of "the restoration movement in American Christianity" and holds that "all people have the capacity and the responsibility to either accept or reject God's offer of salvation in Jesus Christ," meaning that there is no predetermination or predestination. While God is always understood as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Disciples of Christ do not refer to this as the Trinity. As to communion — which they prefer to call the Lord's Supper — it is seen only as a memorial to Jesus Christ.

In essence, as Eldon G. Ernst relates, Christianity concerns "a passion for spiritual freedom, not only in faith and order but also in piety and worship. Every believer must personally experience divine grace through Jesus Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are likewise mandatory with a minimum of liturgical formality." At the center of Christian worship and faith lies the Holy Bible, "which through the guidance of the spirit is expected to provide sufficient resource for understanding and practicing the Christian faith" (Livingston, 2004, p. 184).

Foundations of the Islamic Faith

Islam is the third of the major Semitic monotheistic religions, along with Christianity and Judaism. In this context, Semitic refers to "the people and religions of Middle Eastern origin" and focuses on the belief in and worship of only one God who is believed to be personal, righteous, and holy. Those who follow Islam are known as Muslims, or "one who submits to Allah," much like Christians who submit to the teachings of Jesus Christ (Al-Moghamis, 2002, p. 163).

The story of Islam begins with the prophet Muhammad, whom Muslims believe is the "Seal of the Prophets" — the last and final prophet in a long line sent by Allah (comparable to Jehovah in the Hebrew faith) to bring God's truth to mankind. As a prophet, Muhammad was nothing more than an enlightened human being whom Allah chose to spread his message to humanity. The Christian identification of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is therefore considered blasphemous by Muslims, who believe that "making a human being God's equal does not recognize the incomparable greatness and oneness of Allah" (Ikhlas, 1993, p. 278). In other words, Muslims do not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God but merely a prophet, like Muhammad.

Much like the Holy Bible in Christianity, the sacred scripture of Islam is known as the Quran (or Koran), and its reading and recitation are mandatory in devotional prayer. The core beliefs of Islam, from which all other sects have arisen, pertain to the "oneness and unity of Allah (i.e., God) and the prophethood of Muhammad." However, "there are no distinct denominations in Islam as in Christianity; instead, there are two subgroups, the Sunni and the Shia," both of which share a nucleus of beliefs (Brown, 1969, p. 261).

Conclusion: How Far Apart Are Christianity and Islam?

It seems unlikely that a group of Islamic believers could sit down or kneel together in either a mosque or a Christian church and pray to both Jesus Christ and Allah simultaneously. The most obvious reason is that Muslims do not consider Jesus Christ the Son of God, nor a divine being created and sent to earth in order to bring salvation to mankind. In the eyes of Islam, Jesus Christ is merely a human prophet or messenger of Allah, incapable of bringing about personal salvation or redemption. He therefore occupies the same religious level as Muhammad.

However, it appears that Christianity and Islam, owing to the many basic religious beliefs and practices they share, are truly not as far apart as their central theological dispute might suggest. As two of the most powerful and influential religions in the modern world, they continue to wrestle with questions of faith, community, and the nature of God in ways that reflect both deep commonality and irreconcilable difference.

References

Al-Moghamis, N. (2002). Christianity and Islam according to the Holy Bible and the Quran. Darussalam.

Brown, D. (1969). The cross of the Messiah: Christianity and Islam. Sheldon Press.

Durie, M. (2007). Isa, the Muslim Jesus. Retrieved from http://www.answering-islam.de/Main/Intro/islamic_jesus.html

Ikhlas, W. (1993). Islam and Christianity. Hakikat Kitabevi.

Peters, F. E. (1990). Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Princeton University Press.