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Christianity versus Islam

First of all, this essay is written to make the differences between Christianity and Islam clear. It is not written to cause conflict with, or to criticize Islam. We seek only what is true.

Secondly, if you are a Christian and are not sure about this subject, or what you ought to believe about Christianity and Islam, this will help you. If you are a believer in Islam this will help you see how different Islam is from Christianity, and how different Christianity is from Islam.

But before we go any further, we must sort out what exactly we are discussing.

By 'Christianity' we DO NOT mean church buildings, ministers in black clothes and white collars, pews, organ music, hymns, and all the religious paraphernalia that has grown around the original teachings of Jesus. Nor do we mean Popes, Archbishops or clergy. Nor do we mean the Crusades, Jesuits, or the Inquisition. Nor do we mean cults. Many incredibly horrible and distorted things have been done in the name of Christianity, but none of them deserve the name Christian.

By 'Christianity' we mean the simple message as taught by Jesus, that he alone is the way, the truth and the life - the only Saviour for the world, and the one who came to die for all the world's sin. He claimed these things for himself - it was not something his followers decided to make up

By 'Islam' we mean several things, because there are several blocks or schools of Islam. Most of the 1.9 million Islamics in the world are Sunnite, which means they are moderate. 90% of Muslims in the Middle East are Sunnite. The next largest block is Shi'ite, which is conservative, which means they take the Koran more literally, and it is mainly from these that the militants come. A third block is made up of followers of Ahmdiyan, who claimed to be the Messiah and image of Muhammad. Finally there is the Sufi block, which is mystical and obscure unless you are initiated into their teachings.

A faithful Muslim must declare, either out loud or in his thoughts, the words: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet (or messenger)." This declaration of faith sets Islam apart from Christianity, because Jesus taught that he alone was God's prophet, and that the name of God is Father. Obviously you cannot believe both points of view at the same time, because one excludes the other. Immediately we see that there is conflict: either Jesus is the true prophet from God, or Muhammad is. How can these two opposite claims be examined fairly? One way might be to examine the historical leaders of both Islam and Christianity.

Muhammad and Jesus - compared.

Muhammad was born in Mecca, near the Middle Western coastal region of Arabia, between 570 and 580 AD. His father's name was Abdullah (or Abd Allah), but he died two months after Muhammad was born. His mother was Aminah, and she died when Muhammad was six. At the time Mecca was a large commercial city, known for its Ka'aba (which means "cube"), a building famous for its 360 idols containing images of the moon god Hubal, and the Black Stone. Muhammad's family was of the relatively poor Hashemite clan of the Quraysh tribe, and it is the patriarch of that tribe called Fihr of the Kinanah tribe, who Muslims claim to be a descendant of Ishmael. Ishmael was a son of Abraham, through Keturah. It is through this family tree that Muslims claim to be inheritors of the promises given to Abraham (Genesis 21:18)

After Muhammad's mother died he was sent to live with his grandfather, Abd-al-Muttalib, who provided a Bedouin foster mother for him, called Halimah, and he was raised in the desert. After the death of his grandfather, when Muhammad was eight, he returned to Mecca to live with his uncle Abu Talib. All of his early family history is from traditional sources and may not be accurate.

When Muhammad was twenty five he married a wealthy forty year old widow Khadijah, after she proposed to him. Muhammad remained with Khadijah for twenty five years and had two sons, who died in infancy, and four daughters. After Khadijah died in 619 or 620, Muhammad married a widow of a disciple, and a seven year old girl - who moved in with him when she was ten. Her name was Ayisha.

His seventh wife was his daughter-in-law. By the time of his death he had 12 wives and two concubines, including Maryam, an Egyptian Coptic slave. Interestingly, in the Koran (Sura 4:31) a man is allowed to have only four wives, and in Sura 4:31 marriage to one's daughter-in-law is prohibited. How did Muhammad avoid breaking these two laws? He conveniently received a new revelation that allowed him to do so, for example, he claimed that God ordered Zaid, his adopted son, to divorce his wife so Muhammad could marry her.

From the time Muhammad began to have mystical experiences his story becomes quite complicated. According to various reliable sources, his first mystical experience happened when he claimed to have been attacked by two men who cut his belly open in search of something. His foster mother found him standing by himself, without any apparent injuries, yet he claimed to have had his stomach cut open. She thought he was demon-possessed. Later he claimed that his non-existent attackers had been angels who had removed all trace of their wounds and cleansed his heart.

In AD 610 he claimed to have received the first of a series of revelations of the Quran (Koran) from God, through the angel he said was called Gabriel. He told a wife about this so convincingly she believed him, and so did his cousin Ali, then his slave, and then his best friend Abu Bakr. From then on his followers grew in number without much problem. More slaves were gathered in, and many of the poor and oppressed, and then some wealthy clans. They were convinced because he used the so-called ‘Satanic verses’, which have since been deleted from the Koran. They were then known as Sura 53:19 in which his followers were encouraged to worship the three daughters of Allah. Later the angel Gabriel chided Muhammad for claiming divine inspiration for this verse, and told him he did this on his own while under Satan's power, and that he had made the dreadful mistake because he had been preaching to unbelievers.

Many Muslims today claim that the incident over Sura 53:19 never happened, and they say Muhammad always said there were no other pagan gods or goddesses.

At any rate his following grew, and in 621 he was offered protection by some powerful wealthy families in Yathrib. The next significant event after that was the 'hijra'.

The 'hijra' was Muhammad's migration. Islam marks its beginnings from this moment. After Muhammed's uncle died (in 619 or 620) the leaders of the various Meccan tribes and clans vowed to assassinate him. Muhammad claimed that the angel Gabriel warned him of this, so he and his friend Abu Bakr fled to Yathrib 280 miles north of Mecca. At that time Yathrib was a town dominated by Jewish groups, and had no stable government. It was troubled by feuding Arab factions and Jewish tribes. Muhammad arrived on September 20, 622, and stayed there for a while while other Muslim followers arrived. Soon he had built up quite a numberof followers, and using his power he established a theocracy (or dictatorship) under his own authority, and took over Yathrib. He renamed it Medina.

Eventually the forces against Muhammad were gathered, and in 627 a Meccan army of 10,000 arrived to attack Medina, but Muhammad and his 3000 men had prepared by digging a trench around the city. This made attacking the city very difficult, so eventually the Meccan army gave up and went home.

At this point the blood-trail of Islam begins. When the people in Medina saw the Meccans retreating they decided to attack a Jewish tribe (the Banu Qurayza). They claimed that this tribe had been secretly in league with the Meccans. The Muslims killed all 800 male Jews and sold the women and children into slavery. They went on to drive two Jewish tribes from their homes and stole all their property.

In 628 they conquered another group of Jews at Khaybar.

In 630 they marched on Mecca itself and took it.

Two years later Muhammad died (June 8, 632. From then on his followers went on with the conquering, taking Palestine and Syria away from the Byzantines (629-641), conquered Iraq and Persia (633-643), Tripoli (644), Toledo in Spain and western India (712), Crete (825), and Sicily (899). In West Africa the Muslims under the leadership of Almoravid pillaged the capital of Ghana (1076). A survivor was Nubia, and one or two small Christian nations, right up to the 1500's.

History books record the details of the gradual progress of Islam's hold over many other nations, but many also shook off its hold and declared their independence. You may like to follow this up for yourself.

Apparently, when Muhammad started his movement, he encouraged nonbelievers to consider Sura 2:256, which says:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion." Later, however, he changed his mind, because Sura 9:5 says: "Fight and slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and seize them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them."

Again, in Sura 5:33 we are told: "The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land." The Koran calls Jews and Christians "People of the Book" (Sura 5:5,5:19) but that does not mean Muhammad had a high regard for them. In Sura 5:41 Jews are called people "who will listen to any lie" and Christians are called enemies (Sura 5:14). The Koran commands that Muslims must not have Christians or Jews as friends (Sura 5:51).

A glimpse into what it was like to live in a Muslim-dominated city is found in a short piece written in 1796 by the early American statesman Joel Barlow. He was writing about Turkish-controlled Algeria: "The number of mosques ... is infinite in Algiers. One can look in(to a mosque) while passing before the door, but it is forbidden for an infidel to enter. The penalty for this crime is to become a Muhammadan, to be hanged, or burned alive, depending on whether one is a Christian or a Jew."

On the positive side, Christians and Jews under Islamic rule usually fared well, in many cases much better than in Roman Catholic Western Europe. Eastern Christians, such as Theophanes (writing in the early 800s) regarded Islam as a heresy and challenged it as they had also challenged Arianism (which said Jesus was just a man), and several other heresies.

The earliest Western Christian contacts with Islam were when the Muslims conquered Spain. Christians paid the 'jizya' in exchange for their freedom. By the ninth century, Christians and Jews worked as tax collectors, political ministers, bodyguards and soldiers. Except for a brief revolt in Toledo in 837 by some Christians and Jews, most Spanish Christians regarded Muslims as fellow monotheists (believers in one God). They also thought Muslims held the Bible in high regard too.

But things changed in the 850's when a man called Eulogius denounced Islam as a heresy and called Muhammad "the Antichrist" and a false prophet. In Cordova during this time about fifty Spaniards denounced Islam and were put to death. Except for Francis of Assisi (1181 or 1182-1226) and Raymond Lull (1235-1315) there were no significant attempts at missionary efforts to preach the gospel to Muslims until Henry Martyn started to spread the gospel in Muslim India in the early 1800's.

General estimates at the numbers slaughtered in the name of Islam are as follows: from Medina in 1822: 50,000 Greeks and Armenians (1822), 10,000 Armenians and Nestorians (1850), 11,000 Maronites and Syrians (1860), 15,000 Bulgarians (1876), 10,000 Armenians (1894), 325,000 Armenians from 1895-1908), 30,000 Armenians in 1909) (Total of about 1.5 million). Idi Amin Dada murdered at least 300,000 fellow Ugandans. In the 80's and 90's Muslim Arabs in North Sudan were either starving or selling into slavery black Christians and others. Oppression against unbelievers in general and Christians in particular has gone on in Libya, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Tanzania. In Mauritania, in the 1990's one estimate put the number of slaves to Muslims at 400,000. In 1994 Iran began a campaign of persecution against Christians. Even in more "moderate" Muslim nations, such as Saudi Arabia, importation of a Bible, Christian evangelism, and conversion from Islam may be considered a capital offense. The nations where such extreme measures are taken against opposition are also those that practice Islamic law, called the "sharia". According to 'The State of Religion Atlas' in 1993 there were 16 countries using the Koran or sharia law as their basic law system. Just this year (2005) in Indonesia some Christian women were sentenced to three years in prison for giving Christian teaching to children of Muslims - even though all the children came with full parental permission to the holiday event.

Before anyone thinks this is all one-sided, let it be said that there are many examples of people who have called themselves Christians who have committing equal atrocities on Muslims and others. Does this mean that a religion is to be judged by the way its followers behave? No. That would be illogical. The original teaching of the religion is the core from which all followers come, so it is the core which we must look at, not the followers, if we want to find the truth. It is no good saying "Christianity is false because it teaches people to join the Crusades!" It does not. However sincere those Crusaders might have been, it is better to see what the Bible teaches, than what they thought about it. Our opinions are just that - opinions.

Jesus and prophecies about him.

The life of Jesus is both strange and incredible, even from before he was born right through to after he died. All anyone needs to do to find out about him is read the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but a summary follows which I hope does Him some justice. As the person of Jesus is revealed, his words, works and lifestyle also stand out as quite unique. This alone ought to alert us to the fact that we are dealing with a man like no other.

Unlike Muhammad, the coming of Jesus was predicted many times. In Genesis 3:15 a prediction was made which predates his birth by about 3000 years! He was described hundreds of years before his birth as "the Son of God" (Psalm 2:7, the seed of Abraham (Gen.22:18), the son of Isaac (Genesis 21:12) and the son of Jacob (Numb.24:17). He was predicted to be a descendant of the man Judah (Genesis 49:10) and of the family lineofJesse (Is.11:1), of the family of David (Jer.23:5).

It was foretold that he would be born in the little town of Bethlehem (Mic.5:2) and presented with gifts (Ps.72:10). The event of his birth would also be marked by the killing of children (Jer.31:15). He would be called "Lord" (Ps.110:1) and "Immanuel" born of a virgin (Is.7:14). He would be a prophet (Deut.18:18) and a priest (Ps.110:4), a judge (ls.33:22) and a king (Ps.2:6). He would receive a special anointing by the Holy Spirit (ls.11:2) and have a great zeal for God (Ps.69:9).

Before he began his public ministry, he would be announced by a fore-runner (ls.40:3) and his public ministry would begin in Galilee (ls.9:1). His work would be marked by amazing miracles (Is.35,5,6, and 32:3,4). He would teach using parables (Ps.78:2) and at one stage he would enter the Temple suddenly (Mal.3:1), and enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zech.9:9). He would be a 'stone of stumbling' to the Jews (Ps.118:22), but to the non-Jews, or Gentiles he would be a 'light' (ls:60:3).

He would be betrayed by a friend (Ps.41:9), and sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech.11:12). This betrayal money would be thrown into God's House, the Temple (Zech.11:13) and the money would be spent on afield (Zech.11:13). His disciples would forsake him (Zech.13:7) and he would be accused by false witnesses (Ps.35:11) but he would not try to argue his case ((ls.53:7).

He would be wounded and bruised (ls.53:5), smitten and spat upon (ls.50:6), mocked (Ps.22:7,8), and fall under the weight of a heavy weight - i.e. The cross (Ps.109:24,25). His hands and feet would be pierced (Ps.22:16) and he would be crucified with thieves (Is.53:12), yet in all this suffering he would make intercession for those who hated him (ls.53:12). He would be rejected by his own people (ls.43:3) and hated without a good reason (Ps.69:4). His friend would stand afar off (Ps.38:11) and some people would shake their heads at him, as in derision or despair (Ps.109:25). Many would stare at him (Ps.22:17) and his clothes would be gambled over and divided (Ps.22:18).

He would suffer thirst during his time of crucifixion (Ps.69:21) and instead of water, he would be offered gall and vinegar (Ps.69:21). He would give a cry as he saw how how forsaken he was (Ps.22:1), yet through all this ordeal, not one bone in his body would be broken (Ps.34:20). His heart would break (Ps.22:14) and his side cut or pierced (Zech.12:10), and as part of his death there would be a great darkness over the land (Amos 8:9). After his death he would be buried in a rich man's tomb (Is.53:9)

He would not remain dead, but conquer the grave by rising from it alive (Ps.16:10), and then ascend into heaven (Ps.110:1)

The predictions do not stop here either. They go on to describe his glorious return, his command of the angels, his gathering of all true Christians into his everlasting kingdom, and the punishment of all who have rejected him and followed wickedness. He is predicted to be the eternal King of the universe, ruling over a perfected Earth and reigning in glory for ever.

Compare all the above with Muhammad. Of the two spiritual leaders, Jesus stands out as absolutely superior in every way.

The beliefs of Christianity and Islam.

At first glance one might think that what Christians believe and what Islamics believe are very similar, in fact many people claim that Muslims believe in the same God as Christians. The only difference they say, is that Muslims don't believe in Jesus, but of course this is a fallacy. Muslims also don't believe in the God of the Bible, or the Trinity, or the Godhead of Jesus. By this we mean, they do not believe God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or that Jesus and God are one, and equal in every way. This places Islam in the same category as all the cults. For as long as anyone refuses to accept that Jesus is God the Son, they cannot be a Christian - because Christianity rests on this belief. So it doesn't matter how many things a religion might have in common with Christianity, as long as the deity of Christ is denied, there is no way the two can walk together.

For the Muslim, Allah is the only true God, in fact the only God. They consider the Trinity a blasphemy. They cannot accept God as a loving and merciful Father. To put it bluntly, the Muslim sees God as unapproachable by sinful man. The Muslim's desire is to submit in obedience to Allah's rules to the point where he can hold back the judgement of God. When submission to Allah is sufficient to avoid judgement, Allah will then allow the sinner into an eternity of earthly gratification - satisfying gluttony and sexual desire in a sort of paradise for ever.

But here a Muslim may protest, and point to Sura 11:90, which says "Ask forgiveness of your Lord, then repent to Him; surely my Lord is All-compassionate, All-loving" or to Sura 85:14 which says: "He is the All-forgiving, the All-loving." The Koran is clear in these two verses that Allah does have compassion and mercy, but there are no other verses anywhere which repeat this teaching. In all other places there is no indication that Allah loves any portion of Mankind, nor is there a single verse which indicates that people can know Allah on a personal, relational level, as a friend. It would seem that the expression "All-loving" is rather empty, and probably means that those who repent and obey him will be given mercy.

On the other hand, the Bible tells us in many places that God is a loving, kind, gentle, heavenly Father, who wants to adopt sinners into His family as His own dear sons and daughters. He calls His children adopted (Rom.8:14,15, Gal.3:26). Christians are called heirs of God (Gal.47) and the Father deals with Christians as His children (Mat. 12:47, Mark 3:35, Heb.12:5,7) Christians can even be called God's friends (John 15:13-15, James 2:23). It is unthinkable that Allah would actually DIE for humans, yet in the Bible this is exactly what we are told. God's love for Mankind was so great that He descended from heaven and sacrificed His own life for sinners.

The Koran teaches that God has no likeness (Sura 42:11) and that He is transcendent (Sura 4:171), He is unknowable - apart from special revelation, and is totally different from humans - He is neither physical or spiritual.

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that God created man in His own image, or likeness (Gen.1:26,27), and that all people have a knowledge of God in their hearts (Rom.1:19,20). Jesus Himself told us God is spirit (John 4:24) yet Man was made in a way which matches in some respect the God who made him.

Abrogation.

This word is a term applied to something which happens from time to time in the Koran. It is very important to understand how it works because of its effect on the reliability of the Koran itself.

The word 'abrogation' is a legal term. It refers to "the destruction or annulling of a former law by an act of the legislative power, by constitutional authority, or by usage." This is something taught in three separate places in the Koran:

Sura 2:100/106 says: "And for whatever verse we abrogate or cast into oblivion, we bring one better or like it."

Sura13:39 says: "Every term has a book. God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will, and with Him is the Mother of all Books."

Sura 16:101 says: "And when we exchange a verse in the place of another verse - and God knows very well what He is sending down ...."

One way to understand "abrogation" is to see it in terms of substitution, as a part of progressive revelation. This means replacing one thing for another, but now the question arises: if the Koran is the eternal speech of Allah, why does he have to alter it or correct it? This shows that Allah must change his mind from time to time. If Allah is the All-knowing, unchangeable in character and essence, why does he need to make substitutions for things he has said?

The God of the Bible says He never changes, and He has never made any abrogations, or substitutions. Jesus said he did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it (Mat.5:17) and that it was easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even the smallest punctuation point to be removed from Scripture (Mat.5:18). The Bible says God does not change (Mal.3:6)

Let's be logical here. IF the Koran is open to random abrogations:

It cannot be "divinely inspired". The eternal God is unpredictable. He may continue to abrogate his words, so who knows what he will say in the future?

Muslims claim that Muhammad was "the last prophet", but if God abrogates, then we cannot be certain that some new prophet may not suddenly appear?

We cannot trust God with our eternal future, or depend on his mercy. He may abrogate these things too. Perhaps in the future he will abrogate and send sinners to destruction instead. How do we know he is merciful, because the sections in the Koran which speak of mercy may be abrogated?

The worst conclusion which abrogation leads to is this: If Allah alters his words he must be changing his mind, which implies that he cannot see all the future. This means he must not be All-knowing. Perhaps he is a liar? Abrogation is an admission that God is not omniscient (All-knowing), and if something happened which he was unable to prevent -hence the abrogation to cover it - this shows that he is probably not omnipotent either, otherwise he would have used his power to prevent the unforeseen circumstances.

An offshoot of this line of thought is the possibility that Allah is inconsistent, which means we have no absolute standard on which to base our morals. If Allah is not perfect, then humans have a shifting sand foundation on which to build. Islam therefore follows an imperfect deity, who changes his mind, cannot see the future and frequently contradicts himself.

How different Allah is to the God of the Bible who has never altered a word since He first began to have His words recorded some 5000 years ago.

Jesus Christ compared to Muhammed.

We have already compared Jesus to Muhammad in some areas, but there is a lot more to look at. The Muslim at least acknowledges that fact that there was a man called Jesus, which is a start, but they then delegate him to a lower position, calling him a mere prophet of God - one of many prophets sent by Allah (Sura 4:171, 5:74) According to Islam, Muhammad supersedes Jesus, and they would never call Jesus the Son of God! (Sura 5:17, 5:116, 19:35) We are told that Jesus was nothing but a slave on whom God showed favour (Sura 43:59). Strangely though, we are also told in another place that Jesus is NOT a slave! (Sura 4:172)

The Koran at least gives Jesus the attribute of being sinless (Sura 3:46) but will not accept that Jesus atoned for anyone's sins. It tells us Jesus was near to God (Sura 3:45) and that Jesus did perform miracles (Sura 3:49, 5:110) and that he was the Messiah (Sura 3:45, 4:157, 171). However, when it comes to the crucifixion, the Muslims believe various things ... one view is that he was miraculously substituted for by Judas Iscariot, or that God miraculously delivered him from the Jews and Romans before he could be nailed to the cross. Most Muslims believe Jesus was taken bodily into heaven without having to die (Sura 4:157) However, another place in the Koran contradicts this by saying Jesus died, and would be resurrected (Sura 199:33)

It is interesting to compare Jesus with Muhammad here - using the Koran. Jesus did miracles, but Muhammad did not (Sura 3:49, 5:110 and Sura 13:8 which says of Muhammad "thou art a warner (of coming judgement only). See also Sura 637, 6:109, 17:59 and 17:90-93)

The Koran say says Jesus was sinless (Sura 3:46) but Muhammad sinned and needed forgiveness (Sura 40:55: "ask forgiveness of thy sin", and Sura 48:2: "that Allah may forgive of thy sin". Jesus is said to be "the Messiah" and even born of a virgin (Sura 3:45-57) yet Muhammad is supposed to be the greatest of the prophets! How peculiar. One would think, just from using the Koran alone, that Jesus was superior to Muhammad?

Sin and Salvation.

It is heartening to know that the Koran and the Bible both teach that all have sinned. As the Koran says: "If God were to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, he would not leave here one living creature." (Sura 16:61 and 42:5). All humans, it says, were created weak (Sura 4:28), and we are even told that Muhammad sinned (Sura 40:55, 47:19, 48:2) Every Muslim who hopes to escape the judgement of Allah must fulfill the works of the Five Pillars of Faith (Sura 10:109)

Briefly, these five areas of works are: 1. Recitation ("There is no God but Alia, etc), 2. Five daily prayers, 3. Almsgiving, 4. Fasting and 5. Pilgrmage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. Holy War used to be a condition of faith, and early Muslims thought it was their sacred duty to murder anyone who would not embrace the Islam, but moderates outnumber extremists today - thankfully.

Moses and Muhammad.

The Koran claims to fulfill a prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and John 14:16. In Deuteronomy there is a portion of a speech given by Moses to the Israelites. It begins at Deuteronomy 5:1. Moses predicts that God will one day raise up a prophet like him from their midst. The book goes on to say: "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." (Deut.34:10) These last few words are VERY IMPORTANT. God knew Moses, and spoke to him face to face - not through an intermediary, such as an angel. The Koran tells us that God spoke to Muhammad too, but NOT face to face. Muhammad claimed to receive his messages from the angel Gabriel, so they didn't come directly, as they did to Moses.

Another important thing to notice is that Muhammad never claimed to be a descendant of Israel, but of Ishmael. How could Muhammad be the fulfillment of this prophecy if he was not an Israelite? Interestingly, when we check the Bible, we find Peter telling us that Jesus was the prophet predicted in Deuteronomy (Acts 3:22,23) so why do Muslims think it is Muhammad?

Popularity is not proof of integrity.

Some Muslims argue that the rapid spread of Islam is proof that it is true, and that God has helped it forward. (Sura 41:53) Does rapid acceptance of something really prove it is true? Most unlikely. The empire of Alexander the Great spread rapidly, defeating many great armies on the way. The same can be said of the empire of Genghis Khan. Even the rapid spread of Communism could be cited as proof, but of course we know that this is not so. Just because many people believe something has absolutely nothing to do with its truth. Many New Age cures and ideas are popular throughout the world today, but many of them have no foundation in truth or fact - so Islam's popularity does not in any way prove it is true.

Salvation is a free gift not something to be earned.

When it comes to salvation, the Muslim is placed under quite a load. First they are told by the Koran that they are sinners, and that Allah is a god who will judge them. They are offered a way to escape this judgement - submission and obedience, yet most Muslims know in their hearts that they are never quite submissive enough. They struggle to subdue themselves, and to keep their sinful nature under control, but never know for sure if Allah will let them into paradise. Salvation for the Muslim depends on their own insufficient efforts and they labour hard to deserve it.

The Bible, on the other hand, tells us that God first created Mankind sinless, but then Mankind turned from God and became sinful. As soon as sin appeared, God offered a lamb to the first sinners, so that when they put their trust in the lamb, which was killed in their place, God would forgive them. The lamb took the full judgement of God for sin, and atoned for the sinners. All they then had to do was exercise their faith. Salvation was therefore a gift, and could never be earned by works.

Eventually Jesus was born. He was the Son of God, descending from heaven to live amongst humans. Jesus never sinned, and when his ministry was done he surrendered his life - he was the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the whole world. The lambs killed for sinners up to that time were substitutes, but when Jesus died, He was the one final sacrifice for sin, for all time.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."

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Additional notes.

Christian witness to Muslims.

One reason why Muslims are not won to Christianity is because many so-called Christians are not true Christians.

Another reason is because there are a multitude of denominations such as Anglican, Assembly of God, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and so on. As well as that there are cults, which are not Christian, but who claim to be Christian, such as Scientology, Theosophy, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon and so on. This is very confusing for Muslims - and other people, because Jesus never gave his followers a denominational title. It takes some explaining to make true Christianity distinct from the false and spurious copies.

Another reason is because many Christian churches contain hypocrisy and inconsistency. The representatives of Jesus do not represent Him properly. The world receives this bad witness and thinks it is what Christ teaches, so it lives under the wrong impression and does not get to see the real Jesus.

Finally, true Christians are not generally good at explaining logically and clearly why they are Christians. The Christian faith is logical and it is good news, if presented correctly, not many Christians have a fuzzy idea about what they believe, and have very little skill in presenting their beliefs to others.

The Koran and the Bible regarding Creation.

The Bible and the Koran both teach about creation and the beginning of the world. In the Bible, the teaching is concentrated mainly in Genesis, but in the Koran the teaching is scattered throughout many of its 114 chapters (Sura) By comparing the two accounts the fact emerges that the Bible is the accurate source of the teaching, while the Koran is a distorted version, like many other distorted versions found in other religions. For example, in the Koran Adam is prohibited from going anywhere near the Forbidden Tree, while in the Bible God commanded Adam not to eat from it. Man, according to the Bible, was told to care for the Garden of Eden, which meant he would have to prune the trees, so to avoid going near it would be to disobey God. On the other hand, Eve made a huge mistake when she said she was not allowed to touch the Forbidden Fruit - and this is the teaching in the Koran! (1Tim.2:14 and Gen.3:3) So the Koran portrays as truth, what the Bible portrays as an error.

The following is a comparison of the Bible and the Koran, to highlight the differences between the two:

The Bible says Man was created on Earth, in the Garden of Eden. The Koran says Man was created in Paradise ("janna") not on Earth.(2:36)

The Bible says what God created on each day of Creation Week. The Koran gives no clear details, with some vague clustering of the days (41:9-12)

The Bible makes it clear that each Creation day was 24 hours, but the Koran could be interpreted to mean any length of time.

The Bible says Man and animals were created vegetarian (Gen. 1:29-30) and that there was no death or suffering in the original creation. The Koran says death and suffering were part of the original creation and that cattle were created for Man to eat (6:142, 16:5, 40:79)

The Bible says Man was created naked, but not ashamed (Gen.2:25) but the Koran implies that Adam and his wife were already wearing something before they sinned (20:121, 7:22 and 7:27)

The Bible says all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus, who was alive before Creation (Gen.1:26, 3:22, 11:7, Micah 5:2, John 1:1-3 and 10, 3:13, 6:62, 8:35 and 58,17:5 and 24, Romans 11:36,1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:16-17 and Hebrews 1:2) The Koran says Jesus was just one of the many things created (3:59) as it says:

"The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; he created him from the dust.. ."

The Koran and the Bible regarding the Fall.

The Bible says before they sinned Adam and Eve were given free access to the fruit of the Tree of Life (Gen.2:9, 16-17) but the Koran says the 'Tree of Eternity' was the Forbidden Tree ( 7:20 with 20:120)

The Bible says there was a snake or serpent, Satan himself, who came to tempt the first humans but the Koran completely omits all mention of a snake or serpent in the garden.

The Bible says the serpent enticed Eve, just Eve, and said "You will not surely die ... for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen.3:1-5) On the other hand, the Koran says Satan tempted both Adam and Eve together (20:120): "Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them ... he said: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest you should become angels, or such beings as live forever."

The Bible says God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve. This is really important, because the skin represented the grace of God, as seen through the death of the lamb (or sheep) By putting the skins on themselves, Adam and Eve showed they had accepted God's way of salvation - they were saved by grace through faith. However, the Koran mentions "raiment" but there is not a word about "skin" (7:26)

The Bible says, after they sinned Adam and Eve were on Earth, but barred from Eden. There is no mention of them having come from some other place first. (Gen.3:23,24) The Koran tells us Adam and Eve were not on Earth, but were shifted there (7:24 and 2:36)

After the Fall, Man was told that he would eat through hard toil, which shows that now there was a curse on the land. Man would live "by the sweat of your brow" (Gen.3:17,19) But the Koran says toil and sweat were already an integral part of the original created Earth (90:4) "Verily We have created ,man to toil and struggle."

The Koran and the Bible regarding Noah's Ark and the Flood.

The Bible says Noah was the tenth generation from Adam (Gen.5:3-32, Luke 3:36-38) and other Bible genealogies help us date the Flood to around 4,300 years ago. In this way the Bible gives us very accurate figures regarding the age of the Earth. The Koran on the other hand has no clear genealogies.

The Bible says the Ark was sealed with "pitch", which may have been sticky tree resin (Gen.6:14) The Koran says the Ark was caulked with palm fibre (54:13-14)

The Bible says the Ark was so many cubits long, high and wide but the Koran has no details about its dimensions.

The Bible says the rain lasted 40 days and nights, and the time the Ark was afloat was 150 days, the total duration of the Flood was 370 days and many other details (Gen.7:12, 24, 8:4 and 14) The Koran gives no details about times concerning the Flood.

The Bible tells us eight people survived the Flood and that they were all Noah's family (1 Peter 3:20 andGen.7:1 and 7) while the Koran does not tell us how many were on board the Ark. It does claim that one of Noah's sons drowned (11:42-43) and puts a question mark over Noah's wife(66:10, 11:40)

The Bible says after the Flood Man was given permission to eat meat (Gen.9:3) but the Koran says Man ate meat right from the beginning (6:142, 16:5, 40:79)

The Bible tells us where the rainbow came from: "I have set my bow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the Earth ... never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." (Gen.9:11-17) But the Koran makes no mention at all of the rainbow or its significance.

These and many other differences point to the superior quality of the Bible record as regarding the origin of life, the entrance of sin, and the global flood. The Bible is strong proof against evolution, but if one follows the Koran one could easily include it somewhere because the teaching is so vague and ambiguous.

Some Muslim claim that the Bible is corrupted. They say that the Koran is the purest record, but there are copies of Old testament books in the British Museum which date from long before Muhammad, and they are identical to today's versions. We can also point Muslims to their own book the Koran, which says that the Scriptures of Jews and Christians were given by God (Sura 2:87): "We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Apostles. We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear (signs) and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit." Again, in the Koran (Sura 6:91) the Book given to Moses is described as "a light and guidance to man .. ."

The Bible supplies the logical reason for death and suffering in the world. God did not create this world originally with pain and suffering. It was because Man sinned that these evils entered. A good God would never create a world full of pain, suffering, misery, hunger, disease and death! If He did that, He would not be a good God, but the horror of all time.

Thankfully this situation is only temporary. Jesus has already conquered sickness and death, on Mankind's behalf, and will one day return to finish the job. When He returns the universe will transformed into the perfect and wonderful place it was supposed to be (John 1:18, 3:16, Acts 3:21, Revelation 21:4, 22"3)

Final thoughts.

Muslims claim to respect Jesus and other Biblical figures, and this has caused many people to think that perhaps Islam is just another revelation from the same God who gave us Christianity - but this is not so. The differences between the Koran and the Bible are MASSIVE, beginning with the foundational history of of the world in Genesis. The Gospel is based on Genesis. If Genesis is a truthful, accurate account, then the Koran is a radical departure from the truth, even though it may have a few superficial resemblances.

If you are a Muslim and you would like to become a Christian, read the four Gospels and learn about Jesus. Compare him to Muhammad and think about what Jesus says.

The Bible says salvation comes ONLY through Jesus Christ (John 14:6, Acts 4:12) It is a free gift to all sinners. All you need is faith. It is so easy and simple to receive God's gift of forgiveness, many people have refused it! Christians do not need to have any fear of hell, or the "Blazing Fire" which the Koran teaches (Sura 3:85 and 48:13) The whole thing has been done for you, by Jesus, on the cross. Just open your hands and take what God offers. It is FREE! No works required. No hard life of struggling to please God. No fear of punishment regardless of how hard you try. God has done it all for you. As Jesus said on the cross "IT IS FINISHED!"

Imagine a train. At the front is the engine, then comes the first and second carriage. In Christian terms, the engine is the Grace of God. He pulls the carriages. It is totally His work to convey the train. Behind the engine comes a carriage called Faith. Our faith in Jesus. Last comes a carriage called Works.

The Christian life begins with God's Grace. Then come our Faith and finally the effect of what God has done - our Christian life. All the good works done by Christians should be based on the finished work of Jesus, so we have nothing to boast about. The motivation is gratitude, not fear. Freely we have received, so freely we give.

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