Chapter Two
Christianity and Islam
Comparison with the Bible is Vital
Any study of the Qur'an must include a comparison with the Bible because
Muslims believe that Islam is built on the foundation of the Jewish and
Christian Scriptures. The Qur'an Mohammed recited claimed to agree with and
complete the Bible. Muslims believe Allah revealed the Law to Moses, Psalms to
David, messages to many other prophets, the Gospel to Jesus and finally the
Qur'an to Mohammed. The Bible had been so well established in the Arabian
Peninsula that the Jews and Christians are referred to in the Qur'an as the
“People of the Book” (which is the literal interpretation of the Greek word
“Bible”).
For this reason, familiar Bible themes are prevalent in the Qur'an. Beliefs
such as a single Deity, creation events, prophets, sin, righteousness, Satan,
Judgment Day, heaven and hell are found throughout the text. Many familiar
Biblical characters are referred to such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon and
Jesus.
The reason the Qur'an needs the Biblical support is obvious. The Bible has a
much richer credibility by means of its composition. The Qur'an was presented by
one “prophet” during his lifetime. The Qur'an claims that the beauty of its
poetry verifies its holiness yet it offers no specific predictions of future
events. On the other hand, the Bible is a library of sixty-six books of inspired
revelation written over a period of about 1,400 years by approximately forty
different prophets and apostles, yet it reads as one story. The subject matter
covers the creation in the first book to the Second Coming of Christ in the last
book. The Bible also presents a consistent theology. Over the centuries its
inspiration has been validated through the fulfillment of hundreds of specific
prophecies, which have been and are still being fulfilled today with complete
accuracy.
Reliability of the Bible
The Qur'an needs validation from the Bible, yet the two texts contradict one
another on major issues such as the divinity of Christ. Muslims claim that the
original Bible did not proclaim that “Jesus is Lord.” They claim that Christians
and Jews have altered the Bible over the years to include such teachings.
Christians believe that this accusation is not founded on credible evidence.
They believe that a serious study of the reliability of the Bible must conclude
that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are reliable.
The amount of ancient Biblical manuscript evidence is overwhelming. There are
over 20,000 hand written ancient manuscripts of the New Testament in various
languages with the oldest fragment being only about 25 years from the original
copy of the Biblical text. In addition, there are ancient letters from the first
Christian leaders who were trained by the apostles of Christ (Church Fathers)
whose writings include well over 30,000 Scripture quotations. All of the Bible
versions and every reference in the Church Father’s documents agree! The miracle
is that only insignificant and minor differences are found between the
manuscripts. The existence of these differences, in spelling or certain phrases
or stories, is understandable when a text is copied and passed on for others to
copy.
Differences or variants in the Bible are not hidden but footnoted in the
English translations. No substantial difference has ever been found and no
ancient copies of the Bible were burned because they read differently, yet, that
is not true in the case of the Qur'an’s development. The amazing agreement
between all these Bible texts is a testimony to the Christian scribes who took
their task very seriously. They must have known the warning in the last chapter
of the last book in the Bible that promises severe punishment for anyone who
would intentionally add or subtract a word from the Holy Scriptures.
God and Allah
Do the Christians and Muslims worship the same God? That question is often
asked. Certainly, both focus their adoration toward the one Creator as worthy of
service, faith and obedience. Yet, the Qur'an and the Bible differ in their
descriptions of the Almighty. For example, say two people think they have a
friend in common named John Doe. They agree that they both admire John. The name
is the same. Yet, one says that John is a tall, red-headed man and the other
disagrees insisting that John is a short, blonde man. The differences are
significant.
Though there are similarities between Yahweh and Allah, there are several
major points of contrast. The first has to do with the Trinity and divinity of
Jesus. The distant transcendence of Allah is not at all like the involved
incarnation of Yahweh in Christ Jesus.
The Qur'an presents Allah as removed from his creation, yet knowledgeable of
every detail of an individual’s life and relationships. Allah is enthroned on
high and communicates through angels and prophets. He takes account of every
individual’s deeds and weighs the good against the bad. He often shows mercy on
those who deserve it, especially if they are believers in Islam. From his
throne, he is totally in control of everything. This includes an individual’s
life and eternal destiny as well as the outcome of every battle in every war.
The Bible reveals that while Yahweh is also sovereign, holy and demands
righteousness, his very essence is love (1 John 4:8-11). This love is expressed
most clearly in the gospel, which proclaims that Yahweh came into the world in
the person of Jesus Christ to rescue those who believe in him. Through their
baptism, Christians proclaim that they have entered into a personal relationship
with the Almighty. That relationship enables them to know Yahweh as their
Heavenly Father. This close relationship is made possible in Christ. The Hebrew
name, Jesus, is a combination of words meaning “Yahweh’s Salvation.”
Another difference between Allah and Yahweh has to do with their mercy.
Salvation in Islam is dependent on the faith and efforts of the Muslim. The love
of Yahweh, on the other hand, is so great and so unconditional that Jesus
described it with the parable of the father who ran to meet and forgive his
wayward or prodigal son (Luke 15). The Muslim reaction to this parable is,
“Allah would never do that!” That kind of love is not a characteristic of Allah.
For God’s chosen people (Christians), it is a perfect illustration of
Yahweh’s grace. They realize that their salvation is a free gift of God
(Ephesians 2:8-9). It can never be earned or deserved. Jesus will not lose any
of those that are given to him by the Heavenly Father (John 6:35-40). The Bible
makes it clear that good works naturally result from the Christian’s life
because they are a new creation and live in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).
The Holy Trinity is another difference between Allah and Yahweh. Christians
know Yahweh is mysteriously complex because the Trinity is revealed in the
Scriptures (Matthew 28:18-20). The Bible reveals that there is one God: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, which Christians have defined as the Holy Trinity (three in
one). One illustration of the Trinity involves the sun. The sun constantly sends
out light and heat and The Trinity has always been an aspect of the one God. To
continue the analogy, as the sun emits light rays, so the one God sent his Word
forth to create the world, appear to the prophets and then that Light of God
became a person in Christ Jesus (John 1, Hebrews 1:3). Finally, just as the sun
sends forth heat, God pours out the invisible presence of His Holy Spirit into
the lives of the believers. Another analogy of a more personal nature would be
that every person is complex. One individual can be a husband to his wife, a
father to his children and a nephew to his Uncle and Aunt. No analogy can
accurately illustrate this mystery, but the Holy Trinity is clearly taught in
the Bible and is clearly denied in the Qur'an.
Is Allah of the Qur'an the same as Yahweh of the Bible? The Qur'an claims
that they are the same, but there is much debate over this issue. Even though
the Arabic translations of the Bible use the name Allah to represent Yahweh or
God, the Christian understanding is so different it seems obvious that the two
are not synonymous.
Success of the Church
There is a difference in how Islam and Christianity view the mission of
Christ. Islam is built on the premise that the church Jesus started actually
failed from the outset. They believe that Mohammed had to come more than six
hundred years later to correct the problems created by the corruption of the
Gospel of Christ.
Christianity, on the other hand, trusts that Jesus Christ succeeded in
establishing his church on the strong foundation of his chosen apostles. The
church has since grown to be a global network of love and good deeds. Jesus
promised that the gates of Hell would not be able to stop the advance of his
Gospel (Good News) resulting in every language group on earth hearing it
(Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 24:14). Jesus foresaw divisions and prayed for unity
for his disciples, but he never predicted that his church would fail and require
another shepherd. On the contrary, he warned his disciples that false prophets
would come after him who would produce amazing signs and gather great followings
(Matthew 24:11).
What is the church? History teaches us that it is a two thousand-year-old
community of men and women who have been baptized and belong to God and one
another. The Bible uses many metaphors to describe them. Each believer is a
stone in the temple of God with Christ as the cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16,
Ephesians 2:19-22). They are the body of Christ each being members of him (1
Corinthians 12:27). They are the chosen people and a holy nation (1 Peter
2:9-12). They are baptized members of the same church that the Lord Jesus began
with the apostles (Galatians 3:26-29).
What about denominations? Though the churches around the world are divided by
denominational differences, the Bible says they are one fellowship of believers.
They are united in that they all believe in the Trinity, the same Bible and the
saving work of the cross and resurrection of Christ Jesus. The churches continue
to fulfill the purpose God intended from the days of the apostles. Through the
power of God’s Holy Spirit, they demonstrate the love of God through church
programs, humanitarian services, hospitals, schools, missions and loving
personal relationships.
One analogy for the church’s basic unity that transcends denominational
differences can be taken from the American experience in September of 2001. In
the days after the attacks of 9-11 the world saw that, even though there are
many political parties in the United States of America, the citizens joined
together when their freedom was threatened. They all demonstrated their common
love for their country. Their love of liberty and the freedoms they enjoy in
America brought them together in spite of their diversity. The analogy for the
Bible that all Christians study would be the American’s love for one document,
the Constitution of the United States of America, for a common guide for their
life. The Americans united around one flag (just as the cross is a common symbol
for all churches) whether they are liberal or conservative.
Jesus in the Bible and the Qur'an
The Bible and the Qur'an give two very different pictures of Jesus Christ.
The Bible is a collection of many eyewitness accounts of the earthly ministry of
Christ. This adds a great deal of credibility to what the New Testament says
about Jesus. It was read by hundreds of people who knew of the events of
Christ’s ministry because, in their day, it was recent history.
Christians believe that the Holy Spirit of God inspired all of the Bible
prophets and apostles as they wrote. They all agree that in Jesus mankind beheld
the very glory of God, the image of the invisible God and the person who was
prophesied by the ancient Jewish prophet Isaiah to be Emmanuel which means “God
with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). They wrote that in Jesus the fullness of
God lived in the body of a real man (Colossians 2:9).
The apostles also tell of Jesus’ compassion for the children who were ignored
as unimportant in that society, the sinful women who were despised, and the
hated tax collectors who were ostracized. They tell of his power over sickness,
demons, storms and even death itself. His exalted teachings on ethics remain the
ideal for the world today. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and the victory
he achieved in his resurrection are central to all the apostles inspired
writings.
Christ’s apostles, eyewitnesses of Christ’s life, unanimously agree that
belief in Jesus as the Son of God and only Savior of the world brings a new and
eternal life to anyone who will receive him. The Bible records that the early
church was made up of baptized Christians who peacefully spread this message
with the love and power of Jesus working with and through them.
The Qur'an became an authorized text almost 700 years after Christ. It
contradicts the eyewitness accounts of the apostles of Christ. The Qur'an does
admit that Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah, who was born of a virgin,
did miracles and brought the Gospel, which means good news. The Qur'an, though,
demotes Jesus from his divinity as the Son of God to equal status with Mohammed
and the prophets of the Bible. The Qur'an says that the Jews did not kill
Christ; it only appeared that they did. It says that Allah gathered him up. Most
Muslims interpret that to mean that someone like Judas, the betrayer, was made
to look like Jesus and died in his place while Jesus was secretly lifted out of
the world.
If the Qur'an is correct, then Jesus Christ left behind a great and confusing
mess, since the disciples of Jesus founded the church on the importance of the
cross which would have actually been a deception caused by Allah. They all
proclaimed that they saw him alive after his resurrection. Mohammed claimed to
be the inspired one to correct this centuries old mistake. If true, then the
many Christian martyrs, who were killed during more than three centuries of
Roman persecution, died for nothing.
Jesus and Mohammed
The lifestyles of Jesus and Mohammed contrast. The Bible records that Jesus
concluded his earthly life single, poor, and nonviolent, while still being the
source of many mighty miracles. The last of Christ’s miracles was his own
resurrection from the dead. As an explanation of his earthly ministry, Jesus
himself said that he came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a
ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
The opposite can be said of Mohammed. He had struggled through years of
disappointment, but ended his earthly life having numerous wives and concubines.
He had become extremely rich through military conquest and oppressive taxation
of non-Muslims. Though Muslim legends ascribe miracles to Mohammed, it seems
clear that the Qur'an itself admitted that he had not performed any miracles
resembling those of Jesus.
Muslims today point to the Qur'an itself as Mohammed’s validating miracle. Is
this possible? The following chapters will assist the many non-Muslims who need
help in examining this claim for themselves.