An honest assessment of Islam from a Christian perspective.

I want to be clear, this is from an entirely Christian perspective. This is not a defense of any other religion. This is to help people of a very similar faith understand just how similar their beliefs are to Christianity, and just what the small difference are in the hopes that these differences can be reconciled. There is only one God. Sorry to any polytheists or pantheists listening, but it’s true.

The good news is that whatever you believe there is a god for, our God is God over that. Of course other spirits have tried to act as gods on earth, and I believe that this explains the pagan gods and ancient pantheons. But let’s look at the Abrahamic faiths for a while. God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, did some other things we all agree on, and spoke to a man named Abraham. From there, a few differences do occur.

There is only one God who is worthy of worship, our creator. There may be other powerful beings, and of course God has his divine council for example, but they are not equal with God. God in Christianity and Judaism, also known as Yahweh is called Allah in Islam.

Jesus or the Christ in Christianity or in some messianic Jewish circles Yahusha Hamashiach is known by the name al-Masih or isa ibn maryam. Jesus, son of Mary. We all agree that he was born of a virgin and did miracles and was executed on a cross. The main differences are that Christians accept Jesus as being the literal human incarnation of God where as Muslims see him to be one of the most important prophets, and of course Christians believe that he rose from the dead on the third day and many Muslims don’t accept this, but still believe he will return at the end of the world just as Christians believe.

Mark 8:31 (ESV) And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Surat Maryam (Mary) 19:33-34: Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary, (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.

It goes on to say that God has no son. My video-game theory can help explain why Christians believe Jesus is God and clear up the whole “son” analogy which throws Muslims off. Jesus is not God’s Son in the sense of a human father and a son. God did not get married and have a son. God did not mate with Mary and, together with her, produce a son. To suggest this is to commit an act of blasphemy or kalimat al-kufr, meaning words of infidelity; or zandaqah meaning heresy.

Essentially God is like one who is playing a video game and what we call Jesus is like his player model, same entity interacting in two separate levels of reality at the same time. No, neither of us believe God is going around having human children as you see in Greek mythology. This is why Muslims make a point to say that God has no son. However the Christian message was heavily preached to the Greeks originally and this analogy would have helped them understand.

In Judaism and Christianity we know the Ruach ha-Kodesh or Holy Spirit well. This is a part of God which interacts with us in our heart or mind. Consider how you interact with sims on the game The Sims. In Islam this being is called Ruh al-Qudus, or the Spirit of Holiness.

The beast or antichrist in Christianity is Dajjal or more completely Al-Masih ad-Dajjal in Islam. A false messiah. We all agree that this evil being will form a one world government and essentially deliver millions or billions of people to the Satan or al-Shaitan. Who will help with this?

The fallen angels in Judaism and Christianity are the djinn in Islam. The djinn claim to have created humanity and the fallen angels essentially created human culture and the seed ideas of technology.

Now for a slight difference, demons which Christians and Jews believe are the disembodied children of the Nephilim, which where offspring of fallen angels and humans, all called shaitan in Islam. Basically the difference between the Satan with the word “the” or “al” and a capital “S” and satans with a lower case “s”. The words mean accuser or deceiver. Islam, as well as some Christians, entirely reject the idea of the Nephilim, but Christian and Jewish writings do teach about them. One of the main sources of our knowledge of them was even referenced positively by Jesus at one point, but in a different context.

So with all of this being the same, lets look back to Jesus. God can do anything, we Christians simply believe most of what you do, and that God chose to take human form and live on earth for 33 years. All Christians are united in belief that Jesus rose from the dead that same weekend he was executed on. Friday to Sunday. This is part of a reminder that sin equals death, as was the old Jewish animal sacrifice, and further back to the presumably a lamb but maybe something else that God had to kill to cover the shame of the sin the first humans lived in the Garden of Eden. Sin causes death, physical through eating unclean foods and being lazy and spiritually through our separation from God all the way to eternal hell. God choosing to allow a human body to die on a cross and then rise it up again is a symbol that God is stronger than sin and death, and that through a relationship with God, we can overcome sin. This is our struggle in our walk with God. This struggle to continue to walk with God is where the Hebrew word Israel comes from, and there the Arabic word Jihad comes from. Walk with God, Israel, Jihad, all different words that scare people of other faiths but all meaning the same thing.

You have to keep in mind, Christianity is essentially the Jewish faith fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah on Earth. We believe that God chose to do this through a more hands-on approach. This account was first spread in a predominantly Greek-speaking area, and as a result, Christianity has a lot of Greek-style vocabulary. When this message was preached to the Arab world, it used Arabic vocabulary and ideas the Arabs would identify with. You have to understand that different languages work differently and do not always translate well. Our scriptures came from Hebrew through to Greek and yours through to Arabic. It’s no surprise that the Bible and Quran sound different.

The truth is still the same. Accept that God made himself the sacrifice for us, and then overcame it, and all will be well. Now, can we end all of the worlds religious wars and disagreements among believers?

The truth is still the same. Accept that God made himself the sacrifice for us, and then overcame it, and all will be well. Now, can we end all of the worlds religious wars and disagreements among believers?

As long as the othering and dehumanizing continues, the simple answer is no. The cult mentality of "we the chosen vs the world of everyone else" will always divide communities and breed resentment and hostility.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

An honest assessment of Islam from a Christian perspective.

I honestly didn't read any kind of assessment of Islam. What I read was a Christian perspective of how Christianity is just like and compatible with Islam, except for a few misconceptions and what has been lost in translation.

Did you know eating pork and drinking spirits is forbidden in Islam.

Muslims believe Christ to be a prophet but His works were more than just that of a prophet and Christ Himself wished that to be known, He wasn't shy with His miracles, but Christ Himself and what He represented while He was alive had no connection to the God of The Old Testament, only His death was use used to make that connection and is why his death and crucifixion is so prominent in mainstream Christianity.

Old Testament God
Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. - Numbers 15: 32-36 (NASB)

Christ
And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"
Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:23-27

Same God ?

a reply to: Smigg
Yes, Jesus was presenting the same God that the Jews had always followed. The difference was that he understood their shared God better than they did. The proof is in the parable of the Lost Sheep, which makes no sense at all except on that assumption; "Your historic God, whom you haven't been following properly, has sent me to call you back to him."

I have (of course) done a thread on this theme;
The God of Jesus, the God of the Old Testament

a reply to: Jeremiah33three
The essential differences are these;
Islam, like Judaism, offers a law to be followed. Christianity rests on the discovery that law is not an effective solution to the problem of sin.
Islam, like Judaism, respects Jesus, if at all, only on the basis of what he said. Christianity is founded on what Jesus accomplished, specfically by his death.

a reply to: DISRAELI

That's a great point. Christians do enjoy more freedom, with in reason.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

Except the whole strike the non believers on the neck (behead them), Marrying a six year old child who went bald on her wedding night, being rejected by the elders (not priests) of a Jewish tribe after he tried to pass himself off as the messiah and then had the tribe wiped out and the virgin girls only (mostly or even all children) taken as slaves.

Murdering in the name of his conquest such as murder of Um Kirfa and the giving of her child daughter maybe even younger than six to his uncle as a plaything.

Denying Christ is the Son of God, that he was Crucified, that he rose from death on the third day.

Oh I could go on and on and on but despite many like yourself claiming otherwise ever since Islam swept out of Arabia violently butchering, raping and enslaving Christians (Syria for one, Egypt another then Spain (Iberia) and later Byzantium they have waged a war against Christianity, most of the history of Christians living under there rule was one of them being persecuted and taxed with religious tax's.

Sorry but I have to point out to you just how different the two religions REALLY ARE.


And then there is THIS.
youtu.be...
It was actually Walid Shoebat whom is the son of an Iranian Imam and converted to Christianity after he felt Christ's call that revealed this.

Caste NOT your pearl before Swine (there is a whole lot of hidden meaning in that and the casting out of demon's into a man into swine that then ran into the water and drowned, one of them is that the standard of the legion in charge of Palestine at that time was a Boar BUT it's meaning is also precise).

Allah is also NOT Jehovah.
shoebat.com...

Offer not strange fire unto me, time and time again people mixed God up with the deity worshipped in Iran (Ahura Mazda) and this was so displeasing to the Lord that this edict was past.

So don't offer strange fire to the Lord and do not cast your pearl before Swine or to put it another way there is only ONE way, only ONE salvation and only ONE TRUE RESURRECTION TO ETERNAL LIFE.

And Islam is most definitely NOT the way.

(there are probably a very large number of Muslims that are actually Christians and hide there faith for fear of what would become of them and there family's, turning away from Islam is a death sentence literally while it is only such spiritually for a Christian and they can ALWAYS come back to the way).

Also the Islamic mark is likely just one form of the mark of the beast, there are likely others yet to come or worryingly already here but what happens when you mix technology, religious tax and right to buy and sell and Islamic oppression of Christians?.

You know what you forgot?

ONLY through Jesus can you come to the father. This is not possible with the Muslim faith.

Read John 1:1
Jesus is God

Read 1JOHN 5:7
Three witnesses in heaven, the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit and all three are one.




a reply to: Jeremiah33three

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Well said Jesus IS God the word of God made flesh, there version of God is so small he can NOT become a human being, in there argument they always miss that out and argue that A human being can not be God but always stumble when faced with it correctly posited, Can GOD become a human being if he so chooses to do which he of course DID.
Then they argue how did he die then and no matter how much you explain they just go on in circles, there is no middle ground it is one or the other and no in between.

Jesus also warned against walking the middle of the road so there is no way to bridge this difference and leaders and fellow believers that do so ARE walking the middle of the road which is AGAINST Christs teaching.

www.biblegateway.com...

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

You have no concept of Islam whatsoever, beggars belief. Seems you just melded many words together to make a thread and it makes no sense
Christianity relies on Jesus and loving others as Jesus taught, spreading the gospel through loving and caring for others
Islam, not so much

Christianity, grace and faith followed by deeds leads to salvation
Islam is a works doctrine of salvation

www.guidelines.org...

Just because a cloud is 100% water and a watermelon is 98% water, they are not the same, not even close

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: Smigg
Yes, Jesus was presenting the same God that the Jews had always followed. The difference was that he understood their shared God better than they did. The proof is in the parable of the Lost Sheep, which makes no sense at all except on that assumption; "Your historic God, whom you haven't been following properly, has sent me to call you back to him."

I have (of course) done a thread on this theme;
The God of Jesus, the God of the Old Testament

This isn't a cop out but I honestly believe that every effort has been made to associate Christ with the God of the Old Testament, there is truth in the Bible regarding Christ, other sources too but I believe He's here to save us and not from ourselves.

originally posted by: Smigg

Old Testament God
Then the Lord said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. - Numbers 15: 32-36 (NASB)

Christ
"The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. - Mark 2:23-27

Same God ?

Yes, the same God
Can you see why Jesus had to come, to end religion, to end the rules and rulers.
If you break the rules there are consequences, seems most people have no concept of what is at play in this world and the ramifications of sin

Gathering grain in your hand to eat as opposed to sticks for a fire for cooking, not much really I guess, so what is it then
The heart thing, one was defiance, against God, one was for God

Now all can be for God if they choose or not, free to turn your back, choose as you wish

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

Islam has no Cross and no resurrection, articles of the faith that are of the essence of Christianity and of ultimate importance to the plan of the God of the Bible. Mohammed made no atonement for our sins when he died. And when he died, he stayed dead.

The Koran denies the crucifixion of Christ. In Sura 4:157 we read about Christ: “They did not kill him and they did not crucify him, but it was made to appear similar to them (as though he had been crucified.” Muslims therefore contest the historical facticity of the crucifixion of Christ. They say, not Christ, but only someone who looked like Christ was crucified by mistake. A judicial error occurred at the time of Christ and an innocent person was mistaken to be Christ and thus crucified. But the true Christ was rescued by Allah from the hands of his enemies and raptured alive into heaven, where he now lives until his second coming. Muslims do not care about the meaning of the crucifixion of Christ, that He died in atonement for our sins, because they must believe on the basis of the Koran, that He was never crucified in the first place.

God sent Gabriel with 2 important messages: there is only 1 God and Jesus is his Prophet.

If you listen to his message, you will go to where the words of the Prophet Jesus are written, the Holy Bible, then you will go to the ones who gave you his Words, the Priests of the Holy Catholic Faith, you will listen to what they have to say and their instructions, then you will be asked to be baptized, and become Catholic. Then you would committed Islam, the complete submission to God.

Sadly, instead, Satan and sin, twisted these 2 simple messages until they did not listen, but persecuted the very people God sent Gabriel to turn them into Catholics. Many in Islam are stuck by tradition, instead of taking that leap of faith, that in many countries will but you on a death list for true martyrdom. Thus insuring Salvation.

Think of what God did to the descendants of Abraham, thru Ismael, a great life and a great death to those who truly submit to the will of Alla, God.

There should be no Muslims, but Catholics and there should be no Jews but Catholics, it is mostly the Gentiles that heard his word, and in his very land he was rejected, thus fulfilling a greater prophesy, that no Prophet is ever welcomed in his own land.

Jesus is the Son of God, and the one true faith is the one he set up 2,000 years ago on St. Peter to deliver his Salvation, the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Humanities one faith. Rejected by many, embraced to the death by many more.

a reply to: Randomname2

Great response. I'll be honest with you, this post is an attempt to convert Muslims to Christianity by showing them strong comparability with what they already believe.

Muslims believe that their faith is the culmination of the revelations given to the faithful Hebrews and Christians of old. However, their teachings diverge from the Bible on some points, even though they cite both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures in the Qurʼān. (Muslims believe that the Bible contains revelations of God but that some of them were falsified later.)

originally posted by: Jeremiah33three

There is only one God who is worthy of worship, our creator.

The three major monotheistic religions of the world are Judaism, Christianity, and Islām. But by the time Muḥammad appeared toward the beginning of the seventh century C.E., the first two religions, as far as he was concerned, had wandered from the path of truth. In fact, according to some Islāmic commentators, the Qurʼān implies rejection of Jews and of Christians in stating: “Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.” (Surah 1:7, MMP) Why is that?

A Qurʼānic commentary states: “The People of the Book went wrong: The Jews in breaking their Covenant, and slandering Mary and Jesus . . . and the Christians in raising Jesus the Apostle to equality with God” by means of the Trinity doctrine.​—Surah 4:153-176, AYA.

The principal teaching of Islām, for utter simplicity, is what is known as the shahādah, or confession of faith, which every Muslim knows by heart: “La ilāh illa Allāh; Muḥammad rasūl Allāh” (No god but Allah; Muḥammad is the messenger of Allah). This agrees with the Qurʼānic expression, “Your God is One God; there is no God save Him, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” (Surah 2:163, MMP) This thought was stated 2,000 years earlier with the ancient call to Israel: “Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) Jesus repeated this foremost command, which is recorded at Mark 12:29, about 600 years before Muḥammad, and nowhere did Jesus claim to be God or to be equal to Him.​—Mark 13:32; John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:28. See also Is Jesus God? (video in playlist) or the corresponding article.

Regarding God’s uniqueness, the Qurʼān states: “So believe in God and His apostles. Say not ‘Trinity’: desist: it will be better for you: for God is One God.” (Surah 4:171, AYA) However, I should note that true Christianity does not teach a Trinity. That is a doctrine of pagan origin introduced by apostates of Christendom after the death of Christ and the apostles.​​—See Chapter 11: Apostasy​—The Way to God Blocked (Mankind’s Search for God) or the brochure Should You Believe in the Trinity?.

a reply to: Jeremiah33three

The problem here is that Islam considers any sort of association of "not God" with God to be a form of polytheism. So even your analogy involving God "playing" the character of Jesus on earth would be considered polytheism, and thus unacceptable.

a reply to: babloyi

No offense, but would Islam deny that God has the power to take physical form? Christians believe that God is all powerful.