Sin & Salvation In Islam & Christianity: Accord and Discord (Part 2)

ISLAM & CHRISTIANITY: ACCORD & DISCORD

            In the first part, the pertinent teachings from both the worldviews (Islam and Christianity) were presented. The next logical step is to observe the areas of accord (agreement) and discord (disagreement) between these major world religions.

ACCORD IN ISLAM & CHRISTIANITY

            Islam and Christianity are theistic religions, believing in the existence of God. The scriptures – the Quran and the Bible, are considered to be God’s revelations to mankind. These revelations affirm that Satan is the author of evil and sin entered the earth through him.

            The sovereignty of God, especially with reference to the final judgment of sins is affirmed by both the scriptures. The reward for belief and punishment for sin, whereby believers gain paradise or heaven (eternal life) and unbelievers the hell (eternal death), is clearly emphasized in these worldviews.

DISCORD BETWEEN ISLAM & CHRISTIANITY

            Even though Islam and Christianity have the same belief with respect to a few points related to sin and salvation, it is to be affirmed that there are disagreements also. Islam and Christianity differ and contradict each other on many counts.

            Let’s consider five points of disagreement between Islam and Christianity:

            First: The First Sin. A conflict occurs as early as in the account of the first sin. Even though the Quran records that Adam and Eve sinned, it also records that they realized their sin and pleaded to Allah for forgiveness (Surah 7:23). As a result, Allah forgave them (Surah 2:37) and Adam was accorded the status of a prophet.

            On the other hand, the Bible does not record this instance of repentance and forgiveness. The Bible states that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and were forbidden to eat of the tree of life.

            Islam believes in salvation by works that is initiated by man, so it records in Adam’s account that Allah will only forgive those who truly repent. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that Adam was banished and forbidden to eat from the tree of life. This sets the scene for God to initiate salvation by grace, so that only those who truly repent and believe in Christ are saved.

            Second: The Transmission of Sin. The Quran teaches that sin is not transmitted into posterity because “all people are born as true Muslims, innocent, pure, and free (Qur’an 30:30).”³⁹

            The Biblical teaching thoroughly disagrees with this line of thought. The Bible teaches that man is inherently sinful, sinful at the time of his birth.

            This disagreement implies that a Muslim will be forgiven by Allah if only he realizes his sinfulness and asks for forgiveness. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that man can only be saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose one-time perfect sacrifice gained salvation to all those who truly believe in Christ.

            This leads us to one of the core disagreements between Islam and Christianity, which pertains to one’s salvation.

            Third: The Means of Salvation. Islam is a proponent of salvation by works theology, whereas Christianity unquestionably asserts salvation by grace through faith. These teachings radically oppose each other.

            Either a believer believes in his works (salvation by works) or he believes in God’s work (salvation by God’s grace). The finitude of a believer whose logical implication is imperfection can never offer perfect works during his lifetime. A man cannot believe in both God’s work and his work, for the one denies and nullifies the other.

            If a believer cannot offer perfect works to the perfect God, then God, if HE chooses to accept the imperfect works of man, devoid of another equivalent act of making the imperfect perfect, then God would reveal an innate form of injustice - not a hallmark of a perfect being.

            The metaphysics of God would not allow God to accept the offer of imperfect sacrifices from man. God, who is ontologically perfect, cannot accept/tolerate imperfection of any manner or kind, whatsoever. Salvation by works would therefore be metaphysically impossible doctrine.

            Even the grace of God cannot compensate for man’s imperfect works. For grace is an attribute of an ontologically perfect God. Perfection is God’s ontic essence, whereas grace is an attribute of God. Metaphysically, any attribute of a perfect being should complement its ontic essence and shall not be in conflict.

            Fourth: The Means of Salvation – the Persons of Mohammed and Jesus Christ. This discord revolves around the central figures of Islam and Christianity – Prophet Muhammad and the Lord Jesus Christ, respectively. As the prefixes indicate one is a prophet and the other, God.

            Islam claims that Prophet Muhammad is the final prophet and an intercessor. Christianity asserts that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, and the Savior of mankind.

            Salvation within the Christian framework is personal, for a man is saved by the grace of God through faith in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Salvation in Islam is entirely dependant on a transcendent God, but not dependant on the person of the prophet Muhammad. A Muslim’s focus is more on the law than the person of God.

            A Muslim grows in the law, whereas a Christian grows into the likeness of the person of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A Muslim knows his law, which supersedes the person of the Prophet Muhammad, whereas a Christian knows his Lord Jesus Christ.

            Fifth: The Assurance of Salvation.  Islam does not seem to provide its believers with complete and convincing assurance of their salvation. A Muslim is always dependent on his transcendent God, who decides the eternal fate of a Muslim.

            But Christianity provides complete and a convincing hope for the believer’s presence with God (Rom. 8:38), through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION

            Given the points of agreements and disagreements, a logical conclusion is that the points of discord far outweigh those in accord.

            Islam and Christianity differ in the basic foundational aspects of the topics of sin, salvation, and assurance. In fact, we are well aware that Islam and Christianity do not worship the same God. So Islam and Christianity do not teach the same truths.

            However, it is interesting to note that both religions claim their Scriptures to be divinely revealed or inspired. Because of the prevalent fundamental and foundational contradictions, it is only plausible that a person will go to God through either the Islamic way or the Christian way, but certainly not through both the ways.

            Given this situation, it is the reader who should make a choice. But how would we make a wise choice if we do not read our Scripture completely, or even think our faith through?

            Let’s pray that every seeker of the truth would be humble and honest in his endeavor. The living God would illumine every seeking soul with the knowledge of his presence and the understanding of HIS truth.

            Even as I researched and authored this document, I should confess that my faith and conviction in Christ has only been strengthened. My love for Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away my sins, has only increased.

            The brutally profound words of Millard Erickson present an apt conclusion, “…throughout life, a person says to God, in effect, “Leave me alone.” Hell, the absence of God is simply giving that person at last what he or she has always asked for. It is not God, but one’s own choice that sends a person to hell.”⁴⁰

            So it is only through belief in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that one would gain eternal life. The loving and the living God will act according to his good and perfect will to continually draw his people closer towards him. Amen.

Endnotes:

³⁹Badru D. Kateregga, and David W. Shenk, A Muslim and a Christian Dialogue, (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1997), 45.

⁴⁰Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, (Michigan: Baker Academic, 1998), 456.

God of Christianity & Islam: Same or Different?

            Pope Francis’ disquieting statement that the God of Christians and Muslims is one and the same surprised many.¹ This was further echoed in the academia. Dr. Larcyia Hawkins of Wheaton College claimed that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.² When theologically controversial statements are proclaimed by the Christian leaders, chaos governs the flock, for the fundamental belief of Christians (about the Godhead) is rattled.

            Any dialogue between Christians and Muslims would hit a bottleneck while discussing the Godhead. While Christians believe that God is a Trinity, Muslims claim that God is one (a singular being - one in essence and person) and deny the Trinity.

            On the other hand, the Bible and the Quran narrate the creation of Adam and Eve, the flood in Noah’s time, the great escape from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, and the birth of Christ Jesus to Virgin Mary. Hence, it is quite plausible to think that the God of the Bible and the Quran is one and the same.

            Therefore, when the Pope or other Christian leaders claim that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, a conundrum needs to be solved.

            When the Pope mentions Christians and Muslims as the people of the book and worshiping the same God, he merely emphasizes the Quranic assertion, “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."” (Quran 29: 46, Emphasis Mine).

            This verse from the Quran and the innate naiveté of some may motivate a thought process that Islam and Christianity are one and the same. But this subject is more complex than what it seems to be.

Christian Argument for Similarity

            “Muhammad Ali” is also known as “Cassius Clay.” The properties defining Muhammad Ali and Cassius Clay are one and the same. So the terms “Muhammad Ali” and “Cassius Clay” refer to the same person. Hence Christian scholars like Francis Beckwith of Baylor University argue that God is one whether HE is referred to as “Allah” or “Yahweh.”³

            Beckwith’s argument is predicated on the understanding of God in “classical theism.” A classical theist believes that in principle there can be one God. Since great thinkers from both sides, Thomas Aquinas (Christian) and Avicenna (Muslim), subscribed to Classical Theism, it is plausible to think of the God of Muslims and Christians to be one and the same.

            But when the Trinity is discussed by the Christians and Muslims, disagreement ensues. How does Beckwith solve this conundrum?

            Beckwith argues for the Muslims from within the distinction of belief between the Old Testament and the New Testament believers. We could possibly assume that those who lived in the Old Testament period were unaware of the Trinity, for Christ had not arrived then. But those who have understood the New Testament believe in the Trinity of the Godhead. Nevertheless, those who lived in the Old Testament and the New Testament period worshipped the same God.

            So Beckwith, using the same reasoning, contends that Muslims may be genuinely unaware, either intentionally or ignorantly, of the pure ontology of God. But that does not disqualify them from worshipping the same God, for he says, “But doesn’t Christianity affirm that God is a Trinity while Muslims deny it? Wouldn’t this mean that they indeed worship different “Gods”? Not necessarily. Consider this example. Imagine that Fred believes that the evidence is convincing that Thomas Jefferson (TJ) sired several children with his slave Sally Hemings (SH), and thus Fred believes that TJ has the property of “being a father to several of SHs children.” On the other hand, suppose Bob does not find the evidence convincing and thus believes that TJ does not have the property of “being a father to several of SHs children.”

            Would it follow from this that Fred and Bob do not believe that the Third President of the United States was the same man? Of course not. In the same way, Abraham and Moses did not believe that God is a Trinity, but St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Billy Graham do. Does that mean that Augustine, Aquinas, and Graham do not worship the same God as Abraham and Moses? Again, of course not. The fact that one may have incomplete knowledge or hold a false belief about another person – whether human or divine – does not mean that someone who has better or truer knowledge about that person is not thinking about the same person.”⁴

Christian Argument for Divergence

            The argument that Abraham and Moses did not believe in the Trinity does not mean that they rejected the Trinity. Instead they were merely and possibly unaware of the Trinitarian nature of God, because God, at that specific point in time, had not revealed HIS Trinitarian nature to HIS believers. On the contrary, the Muslims reject that God is a Trinity.

            Keep in mind that Islam originated in the 7^th century (hundreds of years after Christ’s lifetime). Muhammad was aware of Christ and HIS teachings. For instance, Muhammad would have been aware of Christ’s claim to divinity. Nevertheless, Muhammad rejected Christ’s claim to divinity.

            Furthermore, Islam rejects quite a few fundamental teachings of Christianity.⁵

            First, Islam rejects the Christian belief that Christ is God. If Christians believe that Christ is God and if Islam rejects this belief (Quran 5.72), how is it possible that Muslims and Christians worship the same God?

            Second, Islam rejects that God is a Trinity (Quran 5.73). Christians believe in a Trinitarian-Monotheistic God (God is one in essence but in three persons), whereas Muslims believe in a strictly monotheistic God (cf. the Islamic doctrine of Tawhid holds that God is one).

            Third, Islam rejects the Fatherhood of God. God is personal to all Christians. God is our Father. Islam not only rejects the Fatherhood of God (Quran 112.1-4) but exhorts Muslims to ridicule the Jews and Christians for deeming God as their Father (Quran 5.18). 

            Fourth, the nature of the God of Muslims and the God of Christians reveals a fundamental incompatibility between the Godhead conceptions of these two religious worldviews.⁶ The God of the Bible is a loving God. HE loves the sinner (John 3:16).

            On the contrary, within the Islamic conception of the Godhead, Allah does not love sinners (Quran 2.99, 277; 3.33 et al). So when the Quran terms Allah as all-merciful, it refers to Allah being merciful only to the believers, who do righteous deeds (Quran 2. 278, 282; 9.105; 19.97). Allah does not love the unbelievers and the sinners.

Conclusion

            Christ cannot be God and not God. God cannot be loving and not loving. Therefore, it is either that the Muslims and the Christians worship the same God or that they do not worship the same God. Since fundamental contradictions about the respective Godhead are revealed by the Quran and the Bible, it is very reasonable to conclude that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God.

            Christian apologist and the author of the best-selling book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus,” Nabeel Qureshi said, “Christians worship a Triune God: a Father who loves unconditionally, an incarnate Son who is willing to die for us so that we may be forgiven, and an immanent Holy Spirit who lives in us. This is not what the Muslim God is; it is not who the Muslim God is; and it is not what the Muslim God does. Truly, the Trinity is antithetical to Tawhid, fundamentally incompatible and only similar superficially and semantically. Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God.”⁷

Endnotes:

¹http://nationalreport.net/pope-francis-followers-koran-holy-bible/

²https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2015/12/17/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/

³Ibid.

⁴Ibid.

⁵http://rzim.org/global-blog/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/

⁶http://www.reasonablefaith.org/concept-of-god-in-islam-and-christianity

⁷http://rzim.org/global-blog/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/