The Rise and Expansion of Islam and Christianity - Research Paper

Introduction

Christianity and Islamic religion are the largest religions in the world. The Christianity religion is believed to have about 2 billion followers while the Islamic religion has about 1.3 billion followers. This, therefore, may be the course why most people believe that Christianity and Islamic have nothing in common and their main goal is to win more converts. However, this two religion can be described as two sides of the same coin. Though they may have distinct differences, they also have similarities. This essay shall be compared and contrast the rise and the expansion of Christianity and Islam.

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Christianity and Islamic religions have their roots back to the Middle East. Christianity is believed to have started in the 36 C.E. after the death of Jesus Christ in the hands of the governor of Judea Pontius Pilate. After three days Jesus is believed to have resurrected from the dead. His disciples were then given an order to spread the good news that the Messiah who had been promised to their forefather had resurrected. During this period the Roman Emperor was ruling the Middle East. The followers of Christ begun to meet in their houses for prayers and they formed what is known as the home church. Soon enough more people started joining them and following the teaching of Jesus so the when other people saw them they concluded that they behaved like Christ hence the name Christmas.

Islamic also has its roots in the Middle East. The traces of Islamic religion can be traced back to the 7the century in Saudi Arabia. In the 610A.D. prophet, Muhammad introduced Islamic after he believed to have received an angelic visitation. When the prophet shared this with his followers, they were able to make converts. His main goal was to bring people to the knowledge of Allah. After his death, his disciples recited his teaching and used them to win more converts for Allah.

Another similarity between the two religions is on the basic foundational teaching. Once a person converts to either of the two religion they are taught the foundations of that religion, and this basic foundation is similar to Christianity and Islamic. Both religions are monotheism; the Christians worship God while the Islam worship Allah. Worship of many gods is viewed as paganism and is condoned. In both religion there is a symbolic leader in Christianity Jesus is the symbolic leader and in Islam, Prophet Muhammed is their leader. Both religions have a special book that they believe to be the words of God. In Christianity, it is known as the bible while in Islam it the Quran. The people are to follow specific laws that have been underlined in that book in Christianity it is the Ten Commandments while in Islam it is the 5pillar.

Though these religions share some basic feature in there establishment and rise, they also have major differences. The Christianity religion started after the death of Christ and his resurrection in the 36 C.E the Islamic religion was started by Muhammad, and it continued even after his death. This, therefore, shows that when Jesus left there was no Christianity and thus the religion was started by his followers while in Islam the religion was started by Mohammed and continued by his followers.

The second contrast arises in their belief system. The Christians believe that Jesus Christ was God and that he shares the Triune nature with God. They also believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The Islam, however, believe that there is only one God, Allah and that Jesus (Isiah) was just a message from Allah. The Islamic religion, therefore, does not claim that Mouhamed is Allah, but he is a massager from him.

The spread of both religions also have some standard features. Both religions spread their faith through the work of missionaries. In the 30s to 40s A.D, the Apostolic Church will move from town to town telling to people and preaching to them about the good news of the risen Messiah. In the 311C.E emperor, Constantine becomes the first Christian emperor, and this gave way to the Christian missionaries to reach more people in the rural and urban areas. In the 313 C.E, the first Council of Nicaea met and decided on some major universal doctrines like the Nicene Creed which is still being used today in the modern churches. Therefore Christianity doctrines and teachings were being spread by word of mouth.

In the same manner, the Islamic religion was also spread through word of mouth. The Muslim Imams would always intermingle with the locals during there working and free ours and teach the words of the Quran. After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the Islamic religion formed the Caliphates which covered a large geographical area. The work this group was to support the missionary work. Soon enough the Caliphates paired up with the Muslim economic and trade group. This move saw the expansion of the Islamic religion into the Ottoman Empire a move that saw the expansion of Islam from Mecca toward the town of Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.

Though the religions spread their doctrines in an almost similar manner, they were some major differences. Christianity spread their message in big cities and urban areas. The Christian missioners sought to influence people in trade and leadership. They would most influence the political leaders and renowned merchants. When these two groups of people would be converted, then the town will likely convert into a Christian community. Islamic, on the other hand, would focus mostly on the countryside and rural areas. This because this area had more people especially the children. They believed that if they could influence the children, then they could have to influence an entire generation.

Secondly, while Christians sort to convert more people trough missioners, nuns and priests the Islam saw the military conquest as a way of spreading and expanding their territories, hence the rise of Jihad which meant the struggle of converts. Though Muslims did not force conversion, they reduced the amount of tax that the Muslim people were to pay and the non-Muslims were heavily taxed to avoid paying their tax the people were forced to convert to Islamic. The Islam also had strict rules that all there converts had to follow regarding their culture. Such cultures included covering of all body parts for women and observing prayer times for all Islam people. As a result, the people saw this as a big movement that they desired to be part of and hence people converted while they searched for a sense of belonging.

Conclusion

It is therefore important that people understand that both religions have undergone a different path of development through the paths may look similar. It is in this developments that each religion has been molded to what it is today. It is therefore important that people understand that there is no religion that is superior to another that all people should respect the religions that others come from.