Comparing different religions is always a tricky business. Even an English word such as “God” cannot be understood as common to both Christianity and Islam. For example, although both affirm that God is transcendent, all powerful, and even merciful, the history and doctrines of their respective texts reveal rather different meanings for each of these attributes. Both affirm the proposition that “God is one” but differ radically in what they mean by the one God. In Islam, it is a numerical oneness of person, while in Christianity it is one essence shared equally by three persons. Nor are Muslims likely to be satisfied by representations of their views vis-à-vis Christianity, especially when offered by Christians. Nevertheless, the following chart can help at least summarize some of the distinct views of each religion.
Some of the sharpest differences arise over Muslim misunderstandings of what Christians teach. They often mistake the doctrine of the Trinity for tritheism: that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three Gods, not three persons who are one in essence. They also describe Christianity as teaching that the Father engaged in sexual intercourse with the Virgin Mary. Yet even if such misunderstandings were corrected, Islam and Christianity teach irreconcilable beliefs on every tenet central to their respective systems.
Click Here to see a chart of the differences in the core beliefs of Christianity compared to Islam.
