A Comparison of Aspects of Christianity with Aspects of Islam

[Note June 7, 2019— I have added more information about extreme passages in the Old Testament of the Bible.]

An article entitled “Jesus and Muhammad, Islam and Christianity:  A Side-by-Side Comparison” contains a large table comparing aspects of Jesus and Christianity to the prophet Muhammad and Islam, showing that the two religions are very different from each other despite the fact that many claim them to be similar.

The article contains introductory text explaining that Christians are persecuted around the world by Muslims yet there is little if any retaliations from Christian groups, and it explains that the nations with the best civil rights records are predominantly Christian influenced while Islamic states make up many of the ones that are the worst.

[Note:  Of course Islamic countries are attacked by Western countries, but it is not really “Christianity” attacking them.  Also many people believe “the Jews” are the people who most control the world, but the reality of the situation is that the global elite establishment is made up of people from all religions, many of them being Jewish but it is not a “Jewish” conspiracy.  Jews and Israel are victimized by the establishment in the same manner as the rest of the world is, in particular by the establishment making them scapegoats to throw suspicion off of itself.]

[Note:  See the article page for the ACTUAL  TABLE which compares many aspects of Mohammad and Islam to aspects of Jesus and Christianity.]

The text AFTER the table continues with the following background information:

— Frequent criticisms of Christianity such as woman’s issues and slavery are almost always a tangible part of Islam also and in fact are usually much more extreme.

— Islam is a Theocracy, whereas Christianity leaves room for separation of religion and government.

— Nearly every other chapter of the Quran speaks of eternal damnation of nonbelievers, including giving vivid descriptions of the suffering which they would experience.

— The morality of the Quran is generally more obscure than in the Bible.  The article claims: “Most of Islam’s holiest book is devoted toward distinguishing and heaping abuse on unbelievers.  There are no verses that promote universal love and brotherhood.  The few verses that are sometimes held up as examples of tolerance and peace generally require separation from textual and historical context.” [ Note I’m not an expert on the Quran so I can’t verify this claim. ]

— Muslims are told that their prophet Muhammad, who was “a slave-owner, sexual glutton, thief and killer” is the most “beautiful pattern of conduct” and “example” for mankind to follow (Quran 33:21), as well as the “exalted standard of character” (Quran 68:4).

— Christians are told to emulate Jesus, who is a pacifist and servant, and “walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6).  Jesus told his followers not to resort to violence and pray for one’s enemies.  Muhammad, on the other had ordered military assaults against Christians.

— Wafa Sultan, who describes herself as a Muslim who does not adhere to Islam, said:  “The problem with Christians is they aren’t as good as Jesus.  But thank God most Muslims are better than Muhammad.”

See the full article:  http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/articles/jesus-muhammad.aspx

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Following is my REBUTTAL of the “rebuttal” article entitled “No, Jesus WASN’T a Pacifist: The Problem with the Muhammad vs. Jesus Comparisons,” which purports to rebut the article I have just summarized in this post:

The essence of the “rebuttal” article is that it highlights examples of violence associated with prophets from the Old Testament such as Moses, Joshua, Samson, David, Saul, and others, and then the article gives an argument that God will cause many people to die when Jesus returns.

[Note June 7, 2019— There are some extreme passages in the Old Testament such as ones that advocate for stoning of blasphemers and for adultery.]

It is true that most Christians worship the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, but only a tiny minority of Christians take every word of the Old Testament literally, yet the vast majority of Muslims take every word of the Quran literally.  For example, some Christians believe that the Earth is only 7,000 years old, but it is not common for Christians to believe that.

But most importantly, the teachings of Christ came after the Old Testament, so to a Christian, Christ’s teachings of peace and humility would certainly take precedence over anything in the Old Testament that may conflict with those ideals.