Similarities Between Christianity And Islam

From their origins to 1500, the attitudes of both Christian and Muslims toward trade shifted as conditions in the Christian and Islamic worlds changed. In the beginning, Christian attitudes were more negative, while Muslims tended to encourage and respect trade and merchants. Over time, Muslims became more like early Christians in that they were suspicious of traders whereas the Christians became more like the early Muslims, equating merchants (at least honest ones) with doing God’s work, reflecting the changed importance of trade in the high Middle Ages in Europe.

The world could end in a million different ways; by war, aliens or global warming; it seems every person has a theory as to what will happen. Christians and Muslims both have prediction and prophecy telling what insanity will ensue when the earth ceases to exist. Islam and Christianity have some very similar theories and also some very contrasting theories.

When thinking about the history of the world, one must always consider that merchants as well as trade have played an immerse role in shaping the world as it is today. They are responsible for many of the cross-cultural interactions that we have had in the past. Christianity and Islam, the two predominant religions of the world today, have both grown and spread through merchants and trade also. These two chief religions both have attitudes towards merchants and trade that have either developed or decreased overtime. According to these documents, from up to the year 1500, Christianity went from a negative view of merchants and trade to a positive view while Islam went from a positive view to a negative view, but both sides

Merchants purchase goods and then trade them for other goods or money and turn a profit. Christianity views merchants and their trade as unlawful at first. Overtime these views change; eventually Christians learn to tolerate trade assuming it is carried out in a righteous fashion. On the other hand, Muslims always went against the merchant’s way of life and always accepted fair trade since the beginnings of their religion.

Similarities and Differences in Islam and Christianity With Respect To Beliefs in Afterlife and Nature of God

Although the Christians and the Muslims were both trying to gain control of the Holy City of Jerusalem, they each had similarities and differences in their views and what they wanted. A similarity they each share is that they both wanted the Holy City for their religions. Each side had seen many horrific things when they fought in the city. A difference can be that the Christian army was seen and pretty much were far superior to the Muslim army. The Muslims had lost a lot of their people due to the Christians destroying the city and killing people.

Beliefs shape societies, cultures, and people’s way of life. Every single person who has ever lived has had a set of beliefs. Whether these beliefs entail monotheism, polytheism, or atheism, everyone has their own beliefs. Two of the largest groups of people to share beliefs are Christians and Muslims. Today, there are about “2.2 billion Christians and 1.6 billion Muslims,” accounting for over half of the world’s population (The Future of World Religions). Not only are Christians and Muslims the largest religious groups, they are also the oldest, stemming from a common emergence. Although Christians and Muslims share similar beginnings, Islam is a religion of violence and Christianity is a religion of peace and therefore is more beneficial to society.

i. Of the many ways in which Islam and Christianity differ, answering the question of origin remains primarily the same as it does amongst all three of the monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) wherein a single infinite God created the heavens and earth.

Two religions may share some common terminology and theology. Islam and Christianity are both different in their own way. Islam represents an oriented religion with Christianity faith is based on the shed of blood of Christ. Religious traditions also embrace the idea of human dignity in the biblical idea of the creation of all human beings in the image of God. Mohammed founded Islam in 610 A.D, were people worshipping multiple God’s. During, a time of polytheism Mohammed had a vision; being perceived to be an angel who said “There is only one God and his name is Allah, worship him.” Islamic culture spread out across the globe mostly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. For example, 60% of Muslims are Asian, 22% Sub-Sahara, 12% Eastern Europe, and 5% are scattered throughout the world. Muslims believe in the Quran, dictated to Mohammed by God through the Angel Gabriel. On Friday’s Muslims gather in the mosques to pray, all Muslims face toward Mecca. Mecca is the location where Mohammed had his vision perceiving to be an Angel. Muslim’s believe in God, Angels, Prophets of Adam, Abraham, Moses and David. Also, the acceptance there will be a last day, the divine measurement of human affairs, and belief of the after life; Allah represents the word of God. (Christian answers, 2016) Christian religion was born in Palestine, in a small land on the Eastern Mediterranean sea. A promised land considered by the Jews due to, its location it was ruled by a succession of foreign powers.

Everybody has his or her own level of importance when it comes to religion and its meaning. Some people see religion as a reason for being, while others might use their religion as a way to remain connected to home, or even blame it for every horrible act between humans. When first looking at the Islamic faith and the Christian faith they may seem very different from each other but when we take a closer look at them and compare them we can find a lot of very important similarities between the two religions. When doing research for this assignment I came across many articles which right from the start I was able to tell were going to be one sided, depending on the authors beliefs, and not very helpful to me.

Saint Augustine once said, “faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe (Faith).” There are many different religions throughout the world and there are many similarities and differences, but they all center around having faith. However, they all believe in something different. Christianity believes in one God, and Islam also believes in one God. Someone might say that Christianity and Islam have nothing in common, but they agree on more than one might think. They have similarities because they both trace back to the same start, but they are also different because even though they started the same, they stray apart over time.

In my opinion, Islam and Christianity have similarities in their senses of freedom. As religions as wholes, I find Islam and Christianity similar. Yet, despite the similarities, Islam and Christianity are treated very differently through out the world. In the Western World, specifically the United States of America, there are massive stereotypes about people who practice Islam. “One sees Islam partly because of the media, but partly because of the behavior of certain Muslim groups as a religion that is somewhat contemptuous of the role of the woman” (Muzaffar). The way Muslims are treated in comparison to Christians are on two separate ends of the spectrum. Due to previous events that have occurred through out the past decade alone, have caused there to be a rift between the Western World and Islam. A rift that should not exist because it is solely based on stereotyping a religion and elevating their own in order to justify their actions.

While some similarities exist between Islam and Christianity (they are both monotheistic religions, for example), their differences are clear-cut, significant, and irreconcilable. There are three key areas: the contrasting views of God, the sacred literature, and the means of salvation. We will see that Islam differs from Christianity in each of those areas.

With regards to the religions of Islam and Christianity, it is imperative to recognize that these two practices account for some of the largest followings in the history of modern civilization. With that being said, the links between Islam and Christianity can be astoundingly similar whilst also offering key characteristics of difference. Although both emphasize certain ideals in differing contexts, I’d argue that it would be reprehensible not to recognize the power the devout followers of both practices receive upon praying to their God from above.

“It seems to me that Islam and Christianity…all have the same god, and he is telling them all different things.” Billy Connolly. When you ask someone to pick a religion to compare Christianity to they most likely will pick the Jewish faith because the two religions share a great history together. While this is true, the Islamic religion also has a lot in common with Christianity as well has having some differences. The goal of this paper is to shed light on how these two religions really have a lot in common but also stay true to what makes them so different.