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COMPARATIVE
RELIGION
An Outline
God / Allah
3
Prayer
13
Jesus / Isa
5
Pilgrimage
14
Holy Spirit / Gabriel
7
Marriage
14
Day of Judgment
8
Baptism
15
The Origin of Sin
9
The Cross
16
The Fall
9
Inspiration
17
Nature of Man
10
Church / Mosque
18
Salvation
11
Holy War
18
Heaven
11
Miracles in the Qur’an
19
Ablution / Purification
12
Dr. Raouf W. Ghattas
Murfreesboro, TN
2014
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INTRODUCTION
The science of Comparative Religion is a researched study that compares two
or more religions. It is an objective comparison of political, social, and
spiritual backgrounds that addresses the similarities and differences in their
origin and context.
A comparative research may treat one or more subject, such as the place of
worship in certain religions. This kind of research can also compare two or
more religions at the point of their differences and similarities. That is the
foundation of this study. The comparison will be detailed and deal with two of
the world’s three major religions: Christianity and Islam.
Religious beliefs have an important influence on human life and affect a
person’s ethics, thoughts and actions. They also contribute to a worldview
that helps to build relationships between individuals both within and outside
of a given society.
Tradition is the medium in which beliefs grow and express themselves. Rituals
of feasts and holidays in society have religious meaning which reflects the
beliefs and thought patterns of people. This is why Muslims and Christians
celebrate their feasts in different ways according to their beliefs.
It is my hope that this study will enable the student to have a deeper
understanding of the peoples of these major religious groups and to be able
to share one’s own faith more effectively.
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1. God
A. In Islam
1. The oneness of God is the most important principle in Islam,
and being a polytheist is the unforgivable sin (shirk).
2. Unity in Muslim thought is simple and numerical.
God has said: ‘Take not (for worship) two gods: For He is just One
God: Then fear Me (and Me alone).'’ (al-Nahl 16:51)
They do blaspheme who say: god is one of three in a Trinity: for there
is no god except One God. (al-Maida 5:73)
In al-Maida 5:75, he refuses the deity of Christ. Christ the son of Mary
was no more than an Apostle…God has no partner and he’s rich and he
does not need any other. (Sura al-An’am 6:133).
3. The unity of God in Islam is a developed reaction against the
worship of many other gods. There were 365 idols in Mecca
before Islam.
a. First allowed three idols to be worshipped: Lat, ‘Uzza, and
Manat.
b. Then later the Ka’ba as a symbol of unity.
As a result, the idea of the unity of God has many commonalties with
Jewish thought. God has an absolute:
1. Existence—the omnipresence of God.
…whithersoever ye turn, there is the Presence of
God, for God is All-Pervading, All-Knowing
(al-Baqara 2:115).
…We were never absent… (al-A’raf 7:7).
2. Power—the omnipotence of God.
For God hath power over all things
(al-Baqara 2:284).
3. Knowledge—the omniscience of God.
Whether ye show what is in your minds or conceal it,
God calleth you to account for it (al-Baqara 2:284).
For He is the one Who heareth and knoweth all
(al-An’am 6:115).
4. For these reasons God is unimaginable (al-An’am 6:103).
Nothing is similar to God, thus no one can comprehend him.
5. The 99 names of God describe his qualities
a. He is the Creator of everything.
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b. He will judge mankind (the universe).
c. He is just (right) and merciful. (Though these two
qualities are contradictory, Islam mentions them without
balancing between them).
d. He is the master, we are the slaves.
e. He spoke only with prophets.
f. Most of these qualities make God very distant from man.
6. The Trinity in Islam: Though Islam denies the Trinity, we as
Christians can see the Trinity throughout the Qur’an.
Sura al-Nisaa 4:171, reads: Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than)
an apostle of God, and his Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit
proceeding from Him…
a. God—His Word—His Spirit
b. The triple vow (To swear to something)
c. The divorce declaration (three times): “I divorce you, I
divorce you, I divorce you”
d. The calling of the name of God three times before
slaughtering any animal for food
B. In Christianity
1. He is one God in three persons:
a. The Father, The Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
b. In Christian thought, God is like a person that shows complex
unity. For example, a person has a body, a
mind, and a
spirit which are different form and
function but all
unified in one complete personality.
2. The character of God, in Christian theology, is both of the
mother
and the father. In the image of God they were created. Male and
female they were created” (Gen. 1:27).
a. This is not in the physical sense, but this image reflects the
glory of God, for we share with him many of his
characteristics and feelings.
b. We realize that he is the source of our values, for we love,
hate sin, think, and plan for the future. Also, we have
insight into the ultimate justice within us.
c. Therefore, man represents God’s character and
feelings, both masculine and feminine.
3. God
a.
b.
c.
is:
Omnipotent
Omniscient
Omnipresent
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However, the absoluteness and majesty of God in Christianity has not
hindered man from comprehending and understanding God, because
God has made himself known to man.
4. The
a.
b.
c.
nature of God is:
Spirit
Holy
Love
Love in Christianity is completely different from Islam. In Christianity, we
have different ways of love: brotherly (philae), sexual (eros) and the
unconditional (agape). Even though the word love is mentioned in the Qur'an,
it is never expressed as agape.
The most important characteristic of love in Christianity is that it is willing to
suffer. This was a natural development because of the suffering of God
expressed in Scripture. In Islam, the agape feelings are never attributed to
God, so he stayed distant from man.
5. God’s will:
a. Man is predestined.
b. Man has free will (freedom of choice)
c. He is partially predestined and partially free to choose (In
general, Islam sees man as predestined). Christianity teaches
that man has the total freedom to choose according to his
knowledge and judgment. However, both religions agree that
man is driven when he is ignorant in a situation, but he is able
to make choices when he knowledgeable.
2. Christ (The Messiah)
A. In Islam
1. In the Muslim understanding, Christ is only a prophet, a human
being. He does not have any divine characteristics.
In blasphemy indeed are those that say that God is Christ
son of Mary (al-Maida 5:17).
And (appoint him) an apostle to the Children of Israel...
the
(al-i-‘Imran 3:49).
Christ the son of Mary was no more than an Apostle; many
were the apostles that passed away before him…
(al-Maida 5:75).
The anointed, the son of Mary, he is just a prophet like all the prophets who
went away. He will go away like them. He is not God as they proclaimed,
otherwise he would not pass away. Notice that he and his mother used to eat
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food like other animals, and whosoever does this will never be deity. Because
of his physical structure and weakness and what he produced of urine and
stool. (This is the commentary on verse 5:75 from Galileen, one of the most
imminent commentators on the Qur'an).
2. He is a prophet from God, and he was given the Injil (New Testament).
3. He was created from earth, like Adam (al-i-‘Imran 3:59).
4. He was not crucified: But they killed him not, nor crucified him… (alNisaa 4:157). Commentators say that God made Judas look like Jesus,
meaning they crucified Judas, not Jesus. "It seemed to them, he was
crucified."
5. He is not God (al-Maida 5:17).
6. He is not the Son of God (Maryam 19:30).
7. He lifted up (Al-i-‘Imran 3:55; al-Nisaa 4:158).
8. His birth was a miracle (al-Nisaa 4:171).
9. He is a spirit from God (al-Nisaa 4:171).
10. He was born, he died, then he resurrected (Maryam 19:15).
11. He did not make any sin.
12. He raised the dead.
13. He opened the blind eyes.
Jesus’ names in the Qur’an: Isa ben Mariam, Isa, and Al-Masih
References to Jesus in the Qur’an:
Eyewitness
Example
Righteous
Blessed
Not God
Not Son of God
Not Lord
Messenger and Apostle of God
Word “of God”
Slave “of God”
The True Sayings, “The Truth”
Spirit from God
Parable
Prophet
All the verses that mention Christ in the Qur’an:
2:81-87
2:130-136
2:253-254
3:40-45
3:48-55
3:52-59
3:78-84
4:156-157
4:161-163
4:169-171
4:170-172
5:9-17
5:46-50
5:72-76
5:78-82
5:109-110
5:112
5:114
5:116
6:85
9:30
9:31
19:34-35
21:91
23:50-52
33:7
43:57
43:63
57:27
61:6
61:14
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B. In Christianity
1. He is the only way to know God personally. “No one comes to the
Father but by me.”
2. He is a prophet, a teacher, a king, a judge, a carpenter.
3. He was born without a human father.
 The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant
with Jesus.
 He is born--not created.
 Compare Jesus and Adam.
4. He existed from eternity (“Before Abraham I was”).
5. He appeared in the Old Testament.
6. He has power over death; he raised many people.
7. He resurrected on the third day; “He crushed the serpent's head”.
8. He has power over nature; he calmed the tempest. He helped in
fishing.
9. He can forgive sins.
10. He has power over evil spirits and Satan.
11. He can heal.
12. He was crucified, he died, then he rose on the third day.
13. He has some common points with Adam. Sin came into the world
because of one man, and thanks to one man, the world’s sins
are forgiven.
3. The Holy Spirit
A. In Islam
1. The work of the Holy Spirit and the angel Gabriel are very much
confused.
2. The spirit is something mysterious; he is beyond man’s understanding.
3. Man’s knowledge of the spirit is limited.
4. Because of this, we find a great spiritual vacuum in Islam which has
been filled by spiritual activities found in folk Islam, like sorcery,
charms, spells, etc.
They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration), Say:
‘The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it
is only a little that is communicated to you, (O men!)’
(al-Israa 17:85).
Yusef Ali uses a capital letter at the beginning of the word
pointing it to the Spirit of God.
5. God’s spirit appeared to Mary in the form of a perfect human. (Maryam
19:17).
6. Christ is a blow from God’s spirit (al-Mujadila 58:22).
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7. God’s spirit was explained as “light” (Galileen). Most commentaries on
the Qur’an (Al-Nahas, Mujahid, etc.) say that the Holy Spirit is Gabriel.
8. How could Gabriel be God’s spirit? (al-Nisaa 4:169)
B. In Christianity
1. He is the second person of the Trinity.
2. He is God’s spirit that is never separated from him. He is totally united
with God.
3. He guides believers in their everyday life.
4. The Holy Spirit comes to one’s heart at the point of new birth and does
not leave him.
5. Some titles for the Holy Spirit: Guide, Teacher, Comforter, The One
who strengthens.
6. He convicts of sin.
7. He limits evil in the world and leads the sinner to be remorseful.
8. He inspired those who wrote the Bible (2 Peter 1:21).
4. The Day of Judgment
A. In Islam
1. Everyone will be given an account for his bad and good acts when the
book will be opened in which man’s acts are written (al-Kahf 18:49).
2. Man’s soul will stand before a straight path, which is like a long
narrow way that is as thin as a hair.
3. Man’s deeds are put on a scale. If the bad acts are more numerous
than the good ones, his soul falls to hell. If not, he can pass the way to
eternal paradise.
B. In Christianity
*This eschatological view focuses on the main themes regardless to a
particular eschatological view or denomination in order to be effective
with Muslims.
1. On the last day, Christ himself will appear and everyone will bow
before him, for he will come this time as Judge to judge the
world (John 14.3; 21:22).
2. Those who accepted him as Savior in their lives and accepted his
death for their sin will go to heaven. The others, who did not
accept his redemption offered on the cross, will go to hell. He
will separate the saved from the non-saved and send them to their
eternal destiny.
3. It is a determined day and only God knows when it will come.
4. He will come soon without being expected (Matthew 24:36-51).
5. He will come in a surprising time (Matthew 24:26-27).
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6. He will come in majesty, glory, and amazing presence with his angels
(Matthew 16:27 and 25:31).
7. He will be victorious (Luke 16:11-27). This will be the end.
5. The Origin of Sin
A. In Islam
1. When God told the angels to bow before Adam, all of them did but
Satan (al-Israa 17:61 and al-Kahf 50).
2. Satan told God that he was made out of fire and Adam made out of
dirt; it would be improper for him to bow before Adam.
3. Then God cursed Satan. Satan became the fallen angel.
Questions: Would God ask for bowing to anyone but himself?
Is not bowing a way to worship none but God?
Was Satan obedient before the creation of Adam?
B. In Christianity
1. God created a perfect angel called “morning star, son of the dawn”
(Isa. 14:12-17). At an unknown time, this angel became full of pride
and wanted to be equal to God. That was the origin of sin in creation.
2. After the fall of this angel, his name was changed to The Devil. He has
many other names such as, Satan, Dragon, Old Serpent, Beelzebub
(“lord”), Baleal (“the liar”), Morning Star (Venus), Carrier of Light, the
Evil One, the Tempter, the Lord of this Age, King of the Air, King of the
World.
3. When he fell, he took one third of the angels with him (Rev. 12:4, 9).
4. That was the start of the kingdom of darkness and the beginning of
evil and sin.
This is the beginning of sin in the world which God created perfect and
good and without any sin. Sin came into existence because The
Morning Star used his freedom of choice for evil.
6. The Fall
A. In Islam
1. Satan tricked Adam; then both he and the woman ate from the
forbidden tree or the tree of mortality/life (it was maybe a grapevine or
wheat 2:30-38).
2. They were put out of heaven, but Adam repented and God accepted
his repentance.
3. They were cast down to earth to multiply.
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B. In Christianity
1. Adam ate fruit from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil, allowing sin to enter the physical world.
2. God killed an animal and covered them both with the hide.
3. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
4. The promise of a Savior following God’s punishment was a part of the
biblical text.
5. Pain, suffering, and changing of seasons were inflicted on mankind.
6. Adam and Eve began to have children and multiply on earth.
The Garden of Eden could have been located between the two rivers in
Iraq.
7. The Nature of Man
A. In Islam
1. In Islam, man’s nature is not corrupted, so man is able to enter heaven
based on his works. That is why there is no need for a savior for
mankind.
2. Christ is not a savior, but he is a prophet.
3. The cross has no value because Christ cannot die in the place of
someone else. There is no redemption in Islam; Jesus is not a
Redeemer.
4. The general idea in Islam is that each person is responsible for his own
acts and the nature of man is not corrupted (al-Baqara 2:36; al-A’raf
7:172-173).
5. On the other hand, the representation of Adam for mankind is very
clear in the Qur’an.
See Ali Yusef’s commentary on al-Baqara 2:36 (It is number 53).
Qortabi’s commentary says that God wiped Adam’s back with his right
hand and brought forth the descendants for heaven. He wiped again
Adam's back with his left hand and brought forth those destined to
hell.
6. We can see here the conflict between the view that the nature
man is good by birth and the inherited sin nature through Adam.
B. In Christianity
1. Inheritance of the original sin (Rom. 5:12, Ps. 51:5).
2. Sin came because of one man--Adam when he fell. When person is
born, he takes this corrupted nature.
3. He does not inherit sin but inherits the tendency to sin.
of
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4. When a child dies, he goes to heaven for he has not yet sinned (Read
about David’s son from Bathsheba).
5. In Christ man takes on a new nature. He becomes:
 a new spiritual being in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17)
 holy
 justified (Rom. 4:25; 5:18).
8. Salvation
A. In Islam
1. By works.
2. There is no assurance of salvation in Islam. Doubt is the greatest
driving power for building the Islamic infrastructure (mosques,
schools, etc).
3. Good deeds cancel bad deeds.
4. Some understood that Muhammad can mediate between man and
God.
5. For a new Muslim believer, he can obtain status in the faith through
the five pillars.
B. In Christianity
1.
2.
3.
4.
God created man knowing that he would sin.
God had a predetermined plan for salvation.
Faith is the only way for salvation.
It is faith in the death of Christ as atonement for a person's
sin.
5. Salvation is available equally for every person once he asks.
6. The conscience is the means God put in all people to help
them to be able to ask God for salvation.
7. Once a person makes a decision, he will be adopted in God’s
family, filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus will be his Lord, and
God becomes his Father.
9. Heaven
A. In Islam
1.
2.
3.
4.
It starts after death.
Heaven in Islam is very physical.
There are a lot of gardens and rivers of water (al-Mujadila 58:22).
There are fountains of wine and honey and heavenly kinds of fruits
(Muhammad 47:15).
5. Believers in Paradise will be clothed in gold, pearls and silk.
6. Young boys for believers' pleasure (Al-Waq'ia 56:17).
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7. Every believer will have a minimum of 70 horiya (heavenly women for
sexual pleasure; their virginity renewed every morning).
8. There is no assurance for the believer to enter heaven until the Day of
Judgment.
9. The descriptions of heaven in Islam were a reaction of the harsh and
poor nature of the desert for the Bedouin.
10. The only assurance of heaven is when a Muslim dies in the holy war
“killing the infidel”.
B. In Christianity
1. The beauty of God's Kingdom (heaven) is beyond all imagination.
2. No one can imagine what God has prepared for those who love him,
because he has created a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 17:65;
22:66; 2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 2:21).
3. We will never fully understand how our new bodies will be, but we
know they will be changed into something new. We will have glorified
bodies.
4. Heaven will be a new spiritual existence.
5. There will be no sexual marriage (Mark 12:25), sexual desires, or
desires for food.
6. Heaven will be for eternity, everlasting.
7. The guarantee of heaven for the believer is the Holy Spirit that insures
the believer he will enter heaven.
8. Once a person becomes a believer, he already has a foretaste of
heaven. Jesus said: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
10. Ablution and Purity
A. In Islam
1. It is physical purification. Muslims use water in the practice of ablution
before praying, meeting with God, or touching the Qur’an.
2. Water is pure and it purifies the one who uses it.
3. You must be purified before bowing before God.
4. Some things defile man: touching a woman, a dog, or a pig; going to
the bathroom.
5. Also if a shadow of a woman, donkey or dog crosses a man in prayer
he will have to redo his ablution.
6. The following nullify ablution:
a. Discharging urine, faeces, or any other matter from these
passages.
b. Passing stomach gases from the back.
c. Flow of blood or puss from any part of the body.
d. Vomiting from the mouth.
e. To fall asleep while lying down or when leaning against
something.
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f. Fainting due to illness or any other reason.
g. Going mad, insane.
h. Laughing aloud in prayers
B. In Christianity
1. Physical purity is important. Hygiene; keeping the body clean from
substance abuse (smoking, drinking) (1 Cor. 6:19).
2. Intellectual purity. We have to renew our minds; not to dwell on wrong
thoughts (Romans 12:2; Col. 3:2).
3. Spiritual purity. Once a believer sins, he has to ask for forgiveness in
order to keep his heart pure. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.
4. The source of man’s spiritual impurity is his heart (Mark 7:21-23). The
heart produces evil which defiles man. Christ is the only one who can
purify man.
5. Spiritual purification versus physical purification.
11. Prayer
A. In Islam
1. Prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam.
2. It is a work or good deed, not a conversation between man and God.
It is obligatory.
3. Prayer in Islam is the repetition of some certain verses from the
Qur’an, word by word and without any changes.
4. Muslims do not expect God to answer them in prayer.
5. He lifts his prayers to God as his Master to earn merits.
6. His prayer position is bowing down with his forehead touching the
ground, in the posture of a slave before God. The Muslim should bow
down in the direction of Mecca.
7. There are many rituals in prayer like bowing which reflect worship and
humility before God. Standing up with hands behind the ears, kneeling
down again, cursing the angel on the left and blessing the angel on the
right.
8. Prayer usually takes place in the mosque or before a crowd in the
street. Pray in the mosque earns more merits than prayer in other
places.
9. Things that invalidate prayers if not done:
a. Cleanliness of the body
b. Cleanliness of the clothes
c. Cleanliness of the place (where prayer is offered)
d. Hiding (covering) parts of the body ordained to be covered
e. Time being proper for prayer
f. Facing the Qiblah (toward Mecca)
g. Saying the "intention" (Niyyah).
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h. Prayers are also invalidated and must begin again if the shadow
of a woman, dog or donkey crosses the shadow of the person
praying.
B. In Christianity
1. Prayer is a personal relationship in conversation with God, like that
between friends or a father and son.
2. Prayers are done discreetly, freely, and with open hearts and minds.
3. Prayer can be performed in public or alone.
4. We talk to God and listen to him in moments of silence and humility.
5. Prayer can be in the form of songs and joy.
6. We do not have predetermined words to repeat in our prayers. Some
churches, like Catholic and Orthodox, have liturgical prayers. Some
evangelical churches use the Lord's Prayer heavily.
7. We bow only toward God, not toward a physical location.
8. There is no specified posture for prayer. Prayers, as performed by
people throughout the Bible, occur in various forms and at various
times.
9. Jesus is our model for how to pray, and he gave us the Lord’s Prayer
as an example of how we should pray to the Father.
12. Pilgrimage
A. In Islam
1.
2.
3.
4.
To be performed at least once in a person’s lifetime, if he is able.
The pilgrimage is to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
It is full of strict, hard, and sometimes fatal rituals.
If a person is not able to make it to Mecca, there are other lesser
options available which will count as a half pilgrimage.
B. In Christianity
1. There is nothing in the Bible which encourages or hints to the need to
make a pilgrimage to a holy site.
2. The believer is not obliged to perform a pilgrimage.
3. Some Christian denominations still perform pilgrimage by going to
Jerusalem, and receive a special title for accomplishing it.
4. Pilgrimages are usually made to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
5. Some evangelicals retreat for some time in far places to be with God.
13. Marriage
A. In Islam
1. Marriage is a written contract that can be broken.
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2. Usually it is the man who has the right to divorce. The conditions for
divorce differ from country to country, according to the manner in
which they apply Islamic law.
3. In the majority of Muslim countries, the man has the right to marry up
to four women at the same time, plus slaves and concubines.
4. A dowry is expected in a majority of Muslim marriages.
5. There are different kinds of marriage:
a. typical marriage
b. secret marriage (ourfi)
c. missiar marriage, were the woman loses all her rights
d. child marriage
i. between two minors
ii. between an adult and minor
e. pleasure marriage (motaa) for Shi’ite Muslims.
6. Justifying marriage -- after three times of divorcing the same woman,
she has to be married to another man before the original husband can
marry her a fourth time.
B. In Christianity
1. Marriage is seen as a covenant in Christianity (to cut a covenant).
2. It is not broken, except in death or adultery.
3. The fundamental idea is that marriage is between one man and one
woman for a lifetime.
4. Nothing can separate them but death.
5. The man and woman must leave their parents and become one body.
6. The physical dimension of a Christian marriage.
7. The intellectual dimension of a Christian marriage.
8. The spiritual dimension of a Christian marriage.
9. Same sex marriage, even if done in a Christian culture, is not a biblical
marriage.
14. Baptism
A. In Islam
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
There is no ritual of baptism, as we know it, in Islam.
Water or sand is used to clean a man physically.
It is not a complete plunge under the water.
Water is pure and it purifies man.
Purity is important before worship in mosque or prayers.
Since wodou (ablution) has no lasting spiritual dimension, it has to be
performed every time before a person can pray to God.
B. In Christianity
1. Baptism is one of the commands of Jesus for his followers.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Baptism is done only one time.
Baptism is necessary after the new birth.
Baptism does not purify people from sins.
Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection and the sinner’s
death to sin and rising to new life in Christ.
6. Baptism is an accepted requirement for entrance into a group of
believers, the Church.
7. Different denominations (Orthodox/Catholic, etc) baptize infants.
15. The Cross
A. In Islam
1. Jesus was not crucified.
They killed him not, nor crucified him but so it was made to
appear to them… (al-Nisaa 4:157).
2. He might have died and been raised. God said to Jesus that he would
kill him and raise him (Al-i-‘Imran 3:55). The word kill means to put
an end to your life.
So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day
that I shall be raised up to life (again) (Maryam 19:33).
3. Would God allow the murder of his prophets? Some prophets were
killed according to the Qur’an.
See al-Baqara 2:87; al-i-‘Imran 3:181-182; al-Nisaa 4:155.
4. There is no cross in Islam because man does not need a savior to die
for him. Each person is responsible for his own acts.
5. Some commentators explain these words: “it seemed to be.” The
Christ was not crucified, for there was another man who was crucified
in his place. It may be Judas Iscariot.
6. Replacement Theory: Supposing that God replaced Jesus by another
man:
a. This fact means that God is not just, which contradicts with the
Qur’anic principle.
b. What is the use of having a substitute for Christ on the cross? Is
God not able to take him up directly without confusing people?
This goes against the wisdom of God.
c. The disciples and many others saw Jesus crucified on the cross.
After the resurrection he showed them the places where the
nails went through him and told them he had died. If we do not
believe this throughout the generations, why do we trust in
history at all? And why do we believe that there was a man in
history called Muhammad? “If I do not believe in history books”,
then all previous knowledge is not to be trusted.
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B. In Christianity
1. The cross is the only way given by God to save humans from their sin.
2. The cross is mentioned in all four of the Gospels as witness for the
historical death of Jesus.
3. The cross is the basis of Christian theology.
4. Denial of the cross cancels the Christian religion.
5. The truth of the cross is in Christian history.
6. The cross is the Christian religious symbol.
7. Christians suffered to carry the cross through history (ex: Copts).
8. If Jesus had never been crucified, the cross would remain as the
symbol of shame, not glory.
9. The cross as a symbol, not object of worship.
10. The cross is an ideological problem to intellectuals and an offense to
nonbelievers.
16. The Inspiration
A. In Islam
1. It is direct inspiration. In Heaven there are tables (the preserved
tablets) with the Qur’an written on them. Gabriel told these words to
Muhammad, and Muhammad recited it word by word. All the words of
the Qur’an are God’s words.
2. The condition of Muhammad when he recited the Qur’an.
3. No one ever heard Gabriel talking to Muhammad.
4. There is a big gap between the recitation of the Qur'an by Muhammad
and the collection and writing of the Qur'an as we know it today.
5. There were many Qur'ans before Othman collected the final one.
6. All the different scripts were burned to keep only one copy, which we
have today.
7. The Sunni Qur'an is 114 suras; the Shi'ite Qur'an is 115. Which one is
the true one?
B. In Christianity
1. The Holy Spirit inspired different people with certain thoughts.
2. They each wrote according to their personalities the words which the
Holy Spirit inspired in them. They wrote them in their own particular
way as carpenters, fishermen, philosophers, kings, prophets, tax
collectors, etc.
3. However, the Holy Spirit controlled all that they wrote: “All Scripture is
inspired by God.”
4. It is not that each word in the Bible is from the mouth of God. (God is
not the actual speaker, but inspires people). It is inspired in thoughts,
not in letters, so the personality of each writer can be identified as
well.
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5. The Bible gives accounts of the actual behaviors of man, whether right
or wrong; reveals man’s imperfection.
6. The time span of biblical inspiration is about 1,500 years, thus the
main theme of the Bible is the same regardless to the time period of
the various writers.
17. Mosque/Church
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Mosque
Must be directed toward Mecca
Called masgad = to bow down with head
touching ground
No pictures, no chairs or pews
Church
Any direction
Family of God coming to
worship Him together
Some have pictures,
statues or relics, and
most have pews
Prayer only bowing down posture and highly Worship can be done
ritualized
sitting, standing or
kneeling
The building of a mosque can never be
Many churches have
changed into another kind of facility
been converted into
mosques or for other
purposes
Controlled and provided for by the
Separation of church and
government
state
Green color is prominent in mosques
Can be any color or
décor
No music in worship
Music is an important
part of worship
Most mosques have a minaret which is used Some churches ring bells
to issue the call to prayer
for services, but not
necessary
Men pray in the front of the mosque;
Men and women worship
women are either in the back or in another
together
room
18. Holy War
A. In Islam
1. Literally means “killing all the infidels” (8:39)
2. Ideological jihad means “struggle”. This struggle could be against the
enemy of Islam or against the self
a. Struggle to achieve a higher goal.
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b. Struggle in the sense of an inner war between the man’s
conscious which says killing is wrong and his Qur’an which
orders him to kill in the Name of God.
Kill in the Name of God (2.190) The blasphemer is the “non-Muslim”.
Kill them wherever you find them (2.191), (9.5).
As it is written for “ordained by God” killing even though you hate killing, but
do not hate anything which is good for you (2:216,217). This verse means
that killing infidels is good for a Muslim.
19. Miracles in the Qur’an
1. The Qur’an is the greatest miracle given to Muhammad, and it should
be the only one assigned to Muhammad (29:50,51).
2. Splitting the moon. The people saw the mountain between the two
halves of the moon. Question: Which is closer, the moon or the
mountain?
3. Israa to Jerusalem. Muhammad rode the flying horse (borak) from
Mecca to Jerusalem and back.
4. Some other miracles are not found in the Qur’an but in Islamic
traditions.
a. Making the camel cry.
b. Providing food for the hungry.
c. Bringing the rain down.