(November 23, 2010 at 2:17 am)Rayaan Wrote: there are also many differences between them, such as the exact manners of praying, fasting, the holidays they celebrate, giving charity, and many other religious activities.
As far as charity goes, there's even similarity there since both religions sponsor charity. Jesus spoke frequently about being charitable and loving thy neighbor. Once in a great while, Christians will actually follow that admonishment. As for the rest, these are cultural trappings that vary just as widely within Christianity as between Christianity and Islam. Even the hajib was originally a Christian tradition.
Quote:Muslims believe that the Quran is the final revelation from God whereas the Christians believe that the Bible is the final revelation from God. So, this means that they follow two different holy books. Even though there are similarities between the two, this doesn't mean that the Quranic verses were copied or stolen from the Bible (as many people claim to be the case) because they don't know about the history of the Quran's preservation and how it was compiled starting from the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which even the most intelligent scholars couldn't refute according to my knowledge. Even the literary style of the Quran is nothing like that of the Bible.
If by "similarities", you mean similar stories coming from the same Abrahamic god featuring the same characters to promote the same morals, yes, I agree. The literary style is another cultural trapping that has more to do with being written in a different language and in a different cultural setting than it does with being a different religion.
Quote:Another key difference is that Muslims are not supposed to overpraise their Prophet as the Christians do. We are not supposed to ask Jesus, or Muhammad, or anyone else to forgive our sins except for God alone. It is only God who is to be praised and not the prophets of God. This is one of the main differences between Islam and Christianity.
But the salvation scheme is virtually identical, whether it be Jesus or Allah who sends people to Hell for non-belief, the end result is the same.
Additionally, I've already pointed out how there is greater variety in how the ancient Christians viewed Jesus than there is between modern Christianity and Islam.
Here's my rule, just so you understand:
If variation between Christians (past or present) is greater than variation between any one of them and Islam, I don't consider it a significant difference.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist