Christianity & Islam: Differences & Similarities - Essay Sample

Introduction

Christianity and Muslims are two different religions that exhibit various noteworthy differences as well as similarities based on the heart of reception, formation, and history concerning sacred texts interpretation. The two religions are known as major theological themes, and they both revolve around a particular holy text; for instance, the Muslim community is known to have grown even before the scripture was revealed. On the other hand, the Christians, especially the New Testament, which is multiauthored, was delayed, which appears to be contrary to a unified canon. The earliest communities of both Muslims and Christianity consist of different relationships based on their sacred history. The two major theological themes include of certain intriguing analogies based on the core circles concerning the original adherents that are in a relationship to their founding figures.

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The Muslims and Christian communities observe their sacred religious texts, which they believe that they are rooted in their authoritative background. The two towns are similar in a way that they have both generated complex interpretations of their histories in a global aspect. In both communities, the traditions are rooted in their primary reviewed sacred texts. Christianity and Muslims have historical implications based on their respective scriptures concerning their founding figures, for instance, Jesus and Muhammad (Takriti et al. 29-42). There are long stories on both Christianity and Islamic communities' traditions, which gives the chance to critique their interpretations of their divine origin, whether it is as a result of exact words from God or it is through inspiration. The awareness created by the two religious communities is mainly used to display their sacred texts.

The Different Approaches, Muslim Religion Took to Convert People

The Islamic culture flourished back in the 9th and 12th centuries, creating strong roots that make the religion to be what it is today. Different approaches were used in converting people into the Muslim community; for instance, the military expansions were spreading Islamic culture in name, but the culture was indeed spread whereby people turned in large numbers. The different approaches that were used to win more people in Islamic culture included missionaries, trade, and political structure changes in Islamic society. There are various interpretations of Islamic religion based on various Islamic societies (Renard 1-21). The political fragmentation and decentralization are one of the approaches through which people were converted to the Islamic belief. Tax revenues were highly collected from non-Muslims during the period of conversion to the Muslim.

The Abbasid religion contained religious scholars who were very powerful, which challenged the caliphate legitimacy system. Later on, the Abbasid power was fragmented by the political structures. The spread of Islam was highly contributed by the political destabilization and decentralization beyond Abbasid borders (Renard 1-21). The Islamic religion is divided into several sectors making the religion t diverse. Just like other religions, Islamic was gaining popularity, which contributed to more people being converted to be Muslims. The political background became unstable while the religious institutions had become stable. There was political instability as a result of a confrontation between Christianity and Muslims.

The social and political structures took place after the fall of Abbasids. Sufi religions are highly associated with mass conversion, especially in the region of Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The missionaries converted most people from other religions such as Christianity to Muslim. This is as a result of shared religious ideas, making it easier for people to understand other religion and convert easily (Renard 1-21). The missionaries found it quite difficult to turn some people from polytheistic religion and pagan. These missionaries made the Islamic religion to appear appealing through assimilating it into religious traditions that existed earlier. This assimilation has resulted in a mix of Islamic traditions, for instance, Kebatinan, which is a religion in Indonesia that emerged back in the 16th century. This particular religious culture is combined with Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic.

The Islamic regions emerged as a result of political expansion and missionaries, who mainly traveled for trade and ended up expanding the Islamic culture. The goods were transported through caravans across the land, which critically affected the spread of the Islamic religion (Ehrman 1-5). The Islamic cultures were profoundly enriched and expanded through trade, which linked provinces, increasing the range of Islamic culture and making more people to be converted. Improved road networks made it easier for the pilgrims, merchants, soldiers, scholars, and envoys to travel across territories. As a result, cultural forms, technology, and science were highly developed, making more people convert to the Islamic community.

The Different Approaches, Christianity Religion, Took to Convert People

Christianity became powerful over pagans religions, which resulted in significant historical transformations in the west. The change was mainly hooked to religious background. The political, social, and cultural practices contributed to the shift in Christianity. The history of Christianity shows that the earliest Christians believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and they were 11 males. There were a few numbers of women, and the total amount was about 20 people. These people belonged to the lower class, and also they were uneducated. Christianity became the official religion in Rome by the end of the 4th century. The followers increased in number to about 30 million. Christianity triumphed over the pagans leaving them to be very few (Alamdari 125-144). Several historical contingencies contributed to Christian conquest, particularly the Christian evangelistic campaigns that were brilliant. This strategy was highly used to winning several people to Christianity. The policies that were used by the Christians to convert people included creating a need for the Christian church. In the ancient world, most people were pagans who mainly practiced traditional polytheistic religions except the Jews.

During the older people worshipped other gods such as forests, family gods, and mountains gods, among others, instead of glorifying one True God. They believed that these gods protected them in various ways and brought what they wanted, for instance, the rain, warded off any type of diseases, and also protected them against any storms. People were forced to offer sacrifices to the gods and worshipping them and failure of which would lead to disastrous retribution on their lands such as economic crisis, drought, military defeat, and epidemic (Alamdari 125-144). Most of the people in the Roman world were hooked up in practicing this kind of worship to appease gods, which they believed that it helped them escape calamities and punishments until the Christians came along with another version of the life. The Christians claimed that there was only one God who should be worshipped through belief and not offering sacrifices. Any person who failed to believe the right things would be seen as a transgressor towards God. People who fail to obey and worship God would be rewarded and punished in this life and also the life after death. Christianity preached the need for salvation, which had never been promoted earlier by any religion. Most people admitted the need for salvation and converted massively. This made Christians succeed much in saving many people into the Christianity religion.

Another strategy that Christians used to save people was through proving their superiority. Most people in the ancient world believed that divine power was only from gods, but Christianity showed to them that God was more powerful that than any other divinity. God alone is powerful to provide any need that people may need. In the ancient texts, there were several displays of the struggle between pagan gods and Christianity (Ehrman 1-5). Various performances made people understand God was more powerful than the pagan gods through breaking some divinity altars. The performances took place where mass people would see what was happening, and this made many souls be converted to the Christianity religion. Jesus himself performed several miracles that proved to people that God was the only one to be worshiped. He fulfilled various prophecies that had been prophesied in centuries, and this made more people convinced to join Christianity.

The Christians used a strategy of working from the ground up. For instance, most people had believed Christianity through the miracle where the dead were raised, and they went on convincing others. There was a steady growth of people who continued converting to Christianity. The massive evangelistic rallies won more people to Christianity (Ehrman 1-5). Converting people was a continuous process where Christians worked towards winning more people to their religion. Another strategy that people used to win more people into Christianity was through Cannibalizing the competition. The Christians succeeded massively by allowing people to make their own decision. If their choice was to join the church, they were asked to abandon anything that they previously took part in both associations and commitments.

Key Differences and Similarities Between Both Religions

Christians have their celebrations that differ from those of the Muslims. For instance, the Christians celebrate Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus Christ, Easter, which is the resurrection of Jesus. On the other hand, Muslims celebrate Ramadan, which the month of fasting; Eid ul-Adha is regarded as a festival of sacrifices and Al-Hijra, which the festival marks the end of the journey of Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. All these celebrations are observed by both religions based on their sacred practices and beliefs.

Both Christians and Muslims believed in the same God, who is the source of their success. Both religious communities believe that God is the source of their guidance. The two religions are similar in that they recognize God is the source of their life, and he is their creator. Several generations had to pass for the Christians to realize the unity described in the New Testament since initially; they only had knowledge concerning the Old Testament. For the Islamic community, the sacred scripture was concrete and immediate, which revolved around the Quran. Several theological differences exist between the two communities based on their traditional interpretation of their original core communities and how they unfolded. For instance, the Christians speak about Christ, while the Muslims speak about God's words. The emergence of modern civilization influenced the two religions during their earlier stages. The social, economic factors also affected both Islamic and Christianity. The Islamic community was not rooted in the urban culture; hence it was quite difficult for it to accept the modern civilization.

Works Cited

Alamdari, Kazem. "Religion and development revisited: Comparing Islam and Christianity concerning the case of Iran." Journal of Developing Societies 20.1-2 (2004): 125-144. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249820574_Religion_and_Development_Revisited_Comparing_Islam_and_Christianity_With_Reference_to_the_Case_of_Iran

Ehrman, Bart. "The Conversion Tactics Of The Early Christian Church." HISTORY, 2019: 1-5. https://www.history.com/news/inside-the-conversion-tactics-of-the-early-christian-church

Renard, John. Islam and Christianity: Theological themes from a comparative perspective. Univ of California Press, 2011...