Christian & Islam Not So Different

6 Pages 1556 Words

God; the creator and ruler, who sits on all high is worship in many different ways with many different beliefs. Perhaps if you take a look closely at some religions you will find that they are really not that different. Society often imagines that all religions are very different, and that no similarities exist, set aside perhaps for the fact that some believe in only one God. More often than not, the belief that religions are very different has led many nations into war, fighting for the meticulous religious beliefs that may well stem from the same inherent belief. Two such religions that have had a great deal of attention lately are Christianity and Islam. In the past with the terrorist attacks of September, 2001, we have seen a great deal of focus on Islam and also how, in some regions, Christians are persecuted and killed because of their faith. In the following paper we examine the two religions, comparing and contrasting as we go along, illustrating that they are not as different as we may think
First and foremost, we note that both of these religions are monotheist religions in that they both have faith in one God as the creator and ruler of all. "It is essential that any discussion of Islam as a monolithic religion must begin with its very fundamental concept of unity of God (Tawhid). In this context, it is also important to note that the creed of Islam is very simple. To become a Muslim, one has only to declare in sincerity, and preferably in the presence of a person already professing Islam, 'I testify that there is none worthy of worship but God and that Muhammad is the Prophet of God'. The first part of the Muslim creed is a dialectically scrupulous rejection of polytheism in favor of monotheism. It underlies the pivotal Muslim doctrine of divine unity, and has historical antecedents in both Judaism and Christianity. It lacks the atonement of basic Christianity whereby Muslims believers atone for one another by pray...