The Similarities and Differences of Christianity and Islam.
The customs and beliefs of Christianity and Islam may seem similar in many ways. They both maintain holy books that teach God's determination of mankind, speak of one God who is creator and ruler of life, and share a history that leads back to Abraham. However, there are many diverse practices and values that have significantly separated these two monotheistic religions. .
The New Testament is part of the Christian scripture and the Qur"an is the Islamic bible, each book possessing a law for believers to follow. The main differences lie within the interpretation of these scriptures and beliefs. The New Testament is considered to be "divinely inspired" by men, but under God's guidance. There is no "standard" Bible; it has been translated into hundreds of different languages. There have been several different versions of the Bible over the years; some include books that others do not possess. This is completely the opposite of the Qur"an. The Qur"an is considered to be God's word directly; therefore it is only true in the original Arabic and is rarely translated or unchanged. The Qur"an is considered by Muslims to be the only uncorrupted scripture the remains true to the word of God. .
As stated earlier, the Qur"an is the exact word of God. There is no variation. The Prophet Muhammad was merely the receiver and transcriber of the message. "An angel in human-like form, Gabriel, reportedly came to him and insisted that he recite. Three times Muhammad demurred that he could not, for he was unlettered, and three times the angel forcefully commanded him. In desperation, Muhammad at last cried out, "What shall I recite?" and the angel began dictating the first words of what became the Qur"an" (Fisher, 362). However, this is not true with the New Testament because Jesus left no writings. "One the whole, they (gospels) seem to have been originally written about forty to sixty years after Jesus" death.
