Similarities between Islam and Christianity

[theophilus]

As for the faith vs. works issue, not all Christians believe that salvation is by faith alone. The Bible itself contradicts itself on this issue. Revelation foretells a judgment of people "according to their works". Catholicism certainly stresses works while some Protestant apologists I've debated with believe salvation is by a blend of the two factors.

The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith alone and that believers should work for God because we are already saved, not in order to obtain salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who profess to be Christians but base their beliefs on something other than the Bible.

After salvation Christians will be judged for their works and will be rewarded for them but this will not affect whether they are saved or not. First Corinthians 3:12-15 says,

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Another question, then. Was Jesus born during the reign of Herod the Great (5 BCE or prior) or during the administration of Quirinius of Syria (6 CE or after)?

Perhaps you can find the answer here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Quirinius-census.html

[Minimalist]

"The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith alone and that believers should work for God because we are already saved, not in order to obtain salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "


Poor, Theo.


I give you these.....

John 5:29
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Romans 2:6, 13
Who will render to each one according to his deeds. ... For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the jugment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 11:15
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

not just to rub your nose in shit......( well, okay...THAT too!) but to show you that your silly bible aims to be all things to all people. Like a very bad politician, it promises everything and delivers nothing.

[Entropist]

John 5:29
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation...

Not to mention the book of James, which is largely preoccupied with this topic. Martin Luther didn't even consider it canonical because it went against his "by faith only" doctrine! Sola fide is largely a protestant notion.

Not that I can expect anyone to live consistently by a collection of scrolls that are inconsistent anyway. The Good Book requires that one cherrypick-- and so it accommodates Fred Phelps and MLK alike.

A list of Biblical passages FOR and AGAINST the sola fide doctrine are listed HERE. I won't bother to quote all the passages as both pros and cons of the doctrine are numerous.

[DeistPaladin]

Others have answered your post that the Bible isn't so clear on the issue of salvation.

I can only add to reiterate my point that such wrangling over the issue of Christology between Muslims and various Christians sounds like babbling over hair-splitting nonsense to those of us who acknowledge we live in a natural universe. There's no evidence for Heaven or Hell, never mind how to get there. Consequently, your distinction with Islam is virtually meaningless to me.

Perhaps you can find the answer here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/Quirinius-census.html

Can you name for me one (1) edition of the Bible that translates Luke 2:2 with the word "before" instead of "during", "while" or "when"? Just curious.

[chatpilot]

Of course there would be similarities between Christianity and Islam since Islam stole all of its ideas and concepts from the bible. That is what religions do they build upon one another to perpetuate their myths.

[Godscreated]

Since the Qur'an was written long after the NT and of course even longer after the OT Muhammad could have his scribes write what ever pleased him from the NT and OT. Muhammad forgot or missed a passage by Christ when He was on the cross "It is finished". With this statment there was no need for Gabriel to come to Muhammad and tell him anything at all since Gods work for our salvation was completed. Muhammad lied and all those who valued their heads agreed with him and bought into the lie.

@anna Muhammad was a mass murderer, Christ willingly gave His life for all mankind. Big difference in the founders of two totally different religions. They are not the same have never been the same and will never be the same period. They do not share the same God, just because Muhammad's scribes used the Bible as a part of his religion doesn't mean that the God of the Bible is his god. The Arab tribes he was associated with were worshipping a moon god until Muhammad came along and worked this moon god into his religion as Allah. Christ prophesy begins in the third chapter of Genesis. That is a great time difference no matter how you try to twist it. By the way most scholars believe that Muhammad was illiterate so I can see why he did not know the statement "It is finished" was in the NT.

[Minimalist]

Since the Qur'an was written long after the NT and of course even longer after the OT Muhammad could have his scribes write what ever pleased him from the NT and OT.

Of course there is no more evidence that Muhammad actually existed any more than jesus. I suppose one fictional character can battle another.... like The Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote. That's actually convenient. You can have jesus win and they muslims can have muhammad win and all of you are happy.

The Japanese did that with King Kong versus Godzilla. Godzilla won in the Japanese release and King Kong won in the US release. And everyone was happy with their fictional heroes.

[leo-rcc]

The Japanese did that with King Kong versus Godzilla. Godzilla won in the Japanese release and King Kong won in the US release. And everyone was happy with their fictional heroes.

Ooh, as a Godzilla fan I have to step in here. There are no 2 different endings to King Kong vs. Godzilla, both the US and Japanese release end the same, Kong swimming away after both fall and fight in the ocean.

There are a few differences in sound, and the US version has stock footage of another movie to make the earthquake seem more violent.

[theophilus]

"The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith alone and that believers should work for God because we are already saved, not in order to obtain salvation. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Poor, Theo.

I give you these.....

John 5:29
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

But if you read the passage I quoted above you will see that doing good is simply what takes place after being justified by faith. Works are the result of salvation, not the means of acquiring it.

Romans 2:6, 13
Who will render to each one according to his deeds. ... For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

It is true that those who do the law will be justified but if you read the complete context you will find that Paul is showing that it is impossible to fully obey the law.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the jugment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

But for a description of what happens then you must read 1 Corinthians 3:11-15,

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

The purpose of this judgment isn't to find out if we will be saved but to determine what reward we have earned by what we did after salvation.

2 Corinthians 11:15
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Here he is describing the fate of false teachers. These people have never be saved and they will receive the punishment that their works deserve.

not just to rub your nose in shit......( well, okay...THAT too!) but to show you that your silly bible aims to be all things to all people. Like a very bad politician, it promises everything and delivers nothing.

You can prove anything by the Bible if you simply use isolated statements without considering their context. If you want to understand the Bible you need to study all of it.

[Captain Scarlet]

If you want to understand the Bible you need to study all of it.

If a job ain't worth doing, it ain't worth doing well.