Two different ways to God? Or two ways to different gods?

Islam and Christianity

The Doctrines of Islam and Christianity
Doctrine Islamic Viewpoint New Testament Christianity
The Religion "Islam" = Submission (to God). "A total way of life" Christian = Disciple of Jesus Christ. "A living sacrifice"
Names of God "Allah" = "The God", Forgiving, Merciful, Wise, All-knowing, Mighty, Helper, Protector, etc. Father, YHWH = "Eternal", Almighty, Healer, Lord of Hosts (=Armies), King, etc.,
Nature of God Allah is one. He begets not and He is not begotten and there is none like unto Him. (The term "Father" is never used in the Qur'an of God.) God is our Father. Jesus is His physically and spiritually begotten divine God-level Son. God is working out a plan in which all humans come into the image of Jesus and become His divine children. (The Trinity is not an NT doctrine.)
God in 3 words "Allah akbar": God is great God is love
God's purpose and plan Allah does as He pleases.
"Allah has created mankind primarily so that they may know their creator through his creations."
God is currently working out a plan in which all humans come into the image of Jesus as His divine children. What He plans to do next is beyond our understanding.
What is "Spirit"? An angel or created attribute. God is not spirit. God is "Holy" Spirit. He can create angels made of Spirit. He can beget humans as His children by giving them His Spirit.
Can God suffer? God is merciful and compassionate [but does that mean He shares our passions?] God suffers with His creation.
God's Spokesmen OT Prophets, Jesus, culminating in Muhammad. Muhammad was the "paracletos" (advocate) = "periklutos" (illustrious) (John 14:15-17) OT Prophets climaxing in Jesus followed by the apostles
Who is Jesus Christ? A prophet of God, born of Virgin Mary, by the word of the God as told to Mary by Angel Gabriel. He was taken up by Allah, but a phantom was crucified in his place.� The "one-of-a-kind" son of the Supreme God, born of Mary, begotten by the Holy Spirit (the power and presence of God.) The "Incarnation" is a NT doctrine. He descended from Heaven, became human and died for us, so demonstrating God's love for us. We now come to the Father through Jesus the Son. He is our link to God, experienced through the Holy Spirit.
God's Written Communication Al Qur'an (the recitation) of 114 suras (units) supported by many volumes of hadith (traditions). The Qur'an was dictated to Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel in pure Classical Arabic. It is our link to God. The Bible (Books) of 66 Old Testament books in Hebrew and Aramaic and 29 New Testament books in Greek, composed by numerous authors across many centuries under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Written in the dialect of the common people.
Nature of Man Sinless at birth with capacity for unlimited moral and spiritual progress through belief in God and faithful adherence to the teachings Sinless, but sin-prone, at birth, leading to natural enmity towards God. The grace of God and the gift of His Holy Spirit imbues humans with the ability to turn from their evil ways and become holy. "Original sin" as popularly understood is not a NT doctrine. "Redemption" is.
Personal accountability The activities of the wicked and of the saint, of the generous and of the grasping, are all Allah's creation. Allah may give up to seven spirits to a man. But those who choose good will be rewarded, and evil punished. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. God calls on humans to choose life and depart from evil. Upon repentance and conversion, the gift of God is eternal life by begettal with the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.
Believers are: "My slaves" "The children of God"
Concept of Success "We hear and we obey" "Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself"
Life after death At the Resurrection, righteous go to the Garden of God, but do not see God. Wicked dwell forever in fire. Especially righteous do not need to await the Resurrection. All will be resurrected. All will have a genuine opportunity to be saved. The righteous will rule with Jesus in God's eternal kingdom when the dwelling of God will be with men. Those who reject God's way, the incorrigibly wicked, will be obliterated.
Martyrdom "Call not those who are slain in the way of Allah `dead.' No, they are living, only ye percieve it not." (2:154)
"those who are slain in the way of Allah .. bring them into the Garden [Paradise]." (47:4-6)
(Each martyr has 72 virgins waiting for him in Paradise: Sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque 9-20-2001 cf. 56:37)
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." (John 16:2)
"Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." (James 5:6-7)
Enemies "Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors. And slay them wherever ye find them." (2:190)
"O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight." (8:65)
"O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near you, and let them find harshness in you." (9:123)
"Lo! Allah loveth those who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure." (61:4)
(Abdullah-b-Omar reported that Muhammad forbade to kill women and children)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" (Matt. 5:4)
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." (John 18:36)
Prayers (Ob'adah-b-Swa'met reported that Muhammad had said: Five prayers [i.e., times of prayer] - the Almighty Allah made them obligatory.)
"When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah" (62:9)
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matt. 6:6)
Modesty "Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, ... and to draw their veils over their bosoms ... let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment." (24:31)
"Tell thy wives and thy daughters to draw their cloaks close round them ..." (33:59)
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;" (1 Tim. 2:9)
"But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven." (1 Cor. 11:5)
Criminal Justice "Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered." (2:178)
"As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands." (5:38)
"The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them with a hundred stripes." (24:2)
"He who is without sin cast the first stone." (John 8:7)
"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil ... But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Rom. 13:3-4)
Women "Men are the managers of the affairs of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property. Righteous women are therefore obedient, guarding the secret for God's guarding. And those you fear may be rebellious admonish; banish them to their couches, and beat them. If they then obey you, look not for any way against them." (Sura 4:38) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28)
 
"Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you."
U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft, ca. 2002

Corrections and additions are welcomed.
Sources for Islam include: "The Koran Interpreted" by Arthur J. Arberry; "A Code of the Teachings of Al-Qur'an" by Muhammad Sharif Chaudry; "Islam" by Alford T. Welch, in "A New Handbook of Living Religions"; "A Comparative Study of Christianity and Islam" by Ulfat Aziz-Us-Samad; "Islam and the Gospel of God" by H. Spencer. www.al-islam.org/allah/names/NatureAllah.htm Sources for NT Christianity will be found elsewhere on abcog.org

For more comparative information: www.answering-islam.org: Answering Islam, A Christian-Muslim Dialog and Apologetic


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