Christianity, Judaism and Islam: Comparison

“Although I understand that the Hindu view, equating God with nature, cannot be reconciled to the Biblical God, isn’t it true that Christianity, Judaism and Islam have much in common and are indeed serving the same Deity?”

There certainly are some similarities, but there are also very important differences and flat out contradictions between the three religions.

To start with, all three religions accept the Old Testament (known as the Holy Scriptures to the Jews) Christians, of course, also accept the New Testament. Muslims claim to accept both testaments and they see the Koran, not as an alternative to the Bible, but a sequel to the Bible. Many people do not know this about Islam but it is absolutely true: Islam claims that in addition to the Koran, both the Old and New Testament are the word of God! Jesus is described in the Koran as a holy prophet but not an incarnation of God Himself. The test for a prophet in the Old Testament is that he must be accurate in everything he teaches (Deut. 18:22). Jesus taught that He was God (John 14). If Jesus was lying, He was not a prophet, but Islam claims He was a prophet. If Jesus was telling the truth, then He is God. But Islam claims He wasn’t God. Either way, we have a rather serious contradiction.

Judaism teaches that the Old Covenant will be changed after the Messiah comes (Jer. 31:31-34). Daniel 9 actually computes that time by measuring the amount in Hebrew years of thirty days each. He starts with the return of the Jews from Persian exile when King Artaxerxes freed the Jewish slaves, and ends with Messiah’s arrival. This day occurred on Nisan 10 according to the Persian Calendar or March 30, 33AD according to the Julian calendar. Only one potential Messiah rode into Jerusalem that day, Jesus of Nazareth. If He was the Messiah, then Judaism’s New Covenant, (Christianity) is now in force. If He wasn’t the Messiah, then Daniel was a false prophet. But Judaism considers Daniel to be a true prophet. We have found a contradiction with Judaism as well.

Another important comparison asks each religion its opinion of human nature and sin. Christianity, Judaism and Islam would basically agree on what is or is not a sin. Their differences of course would be in how God deals with this sin and how forgiveness is offered, but generally the Golden Rule espoused by Jesus and Paul, treating others the way we want to be treated (Matt 7:12,Gal 5:14) is viewed as the summary of God’s law and therefore violating that rule and treating people selfishly is the summary of sin.

There are some differences: The Koran goes on to say that it is a sin to not accept Mohammad and does not view it as a sin to kill infidels, infidels being defined as people who will not convert to Islam. (Koran, Surah 9)

Judaism has different sects and Reformed Judaism might believe anything just as a liberal church might believe anything, so I am referring to Orthodox Judaism when I talk about sin.

Jews believe in sin but do not believe that we have a sinful nature. They also distinguish between sin and evil and I believe this is a distinction that Christians should make as well since the Old Testament is our Bible too.

A sinful man has a nature prone toward evil. (Christian view) Jews would partially agree by saying “All men sin.” An evil man is one who has reached a point where he is giving in to sin to the point of taking no responsibility for his actions. (An idea that Jews and Christians should both agree to but Jews will more easily say)

Example: Although David confessed himself to be sinful, he was never called a wicked man. But the Book of Proverbs talks constantly about the wicked as opposed to the righteous. Obviously these righteous people are not viewed as sinless by God and obviously a man like Job was not viewed as sinless by God for he made animal sacrifices (Job 1) and was rebuked by Elihu son of Barake for calling himself sinless. Elihu, incidentally, is the only one of the men by Job’s bedside whom God did not rebuke.

Job 33:8-12

But you have said in my hearing-

I heard the very words-

9’I am pure and without sin;

I am clean and free from guilt.

10 Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy. ‘

11 He fastens my feet in shackles;

he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

12 “But I tell you, in this you are not right,

for God is greater than man.

Nevertheless, Job was one who walked with God and was not viewed as a wicked or evil man.

Conclusion: Contrary to popular opinion, different religions do not really reconcile. We are left with the responsibility to respectfully, but honestly scrutinize these alleged claims of truth to see which if any, are really true.

NOTE: For a fuller discussion of religion and truth, see my book “I’d Like To Believe in Jesus, But…”

All Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE

New International Version NIV

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.