5stringJeff
Senior Member
Originally posted by Hobbit
Yes, but Muslims still hail Christ as a prophet and the Old Testament sections of the Quran are almost exactly like the Old Testament of the Bible.
Calling someone a prophet is one thing. Calling him the Son of God and the Savior of Mankind is totally different. The difference is far from minor. Same with the scriptures... the Quran and Bible teach very different theologies. Another major difference.
The only difference I've found so far is that the Quran claims that Ishmael was the one Abraham was told by God to sacrifice. Although the basic ideas of salvation are radically different, both religions believe in many of the same moral codes, such as the Ten Commandments, and that the way to live is in complete submission to the will of God.
Beliefs about salvation constitute the third major difference between the two.
The word Islam, properly translated, means submission, surrender, and obedience, with a Muslim being one who submits to that will. In a way, all who obey the will of God are Muslims. In fact, everything we know is Muslim, since it submits to the physical laws God laid.
Everything is Muslim? All who submit to God are Muslims?!? Let's not get carried away here, Frodo. It's true that all Muslims (theoretically) submit to God; the corrolary, that all that submit to God are Muslims, is not true.
The difference lies in the fact that followers of the Islam religion believe that salvation comes through total submission to God, while Christianity believes that salvation come by the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, with submission to God's will being asked in return. The conflict comes in a difference in theology where Muslims believe people should be forced to submit to God's will, while Christians (at least those who truly follow the finer points of the ministry of Jesus) believe people should come to God of their own free will.
This part I agree with, though I question why you qualify the Christian's willingness to follow in Jesus' footsteps.