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Comparison of
Christianity and Islam
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History & Stats
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Christianity
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Islam
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Date
founded
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c.
30 AD
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622
CE
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Place
founded
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Palestine
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Saudi
Arabia
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Founders
& early leaders
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Jesus,
Peter, Paul
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Muhammad
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Original
languages
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Aramaic
and Greek
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Arabic
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Major
location today
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Europe,
North and South America
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Middle
East,
Southeast Asia
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Adherents
worldwide today
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2
billion
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1.3
billion
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Adherents
in USA
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159
million
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1.1
million
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Adherents
in Canada
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21
million
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500,000
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Adherents
in UK
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51
million
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1.6
million
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Current
size rank
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Largest
in the world
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Second
largest in the world
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Major
branches
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Catholic,
Orthodox, Protestant
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Sunni,
Shiite
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Religious
Authority
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Christianity
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Islam
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Sacred
text
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Bible
= Old Testament (Jewish Bible) + New Testament
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Qur'an
(Koran)
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Inspiration
of sacred text
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Views
vary: literal Word of God, inspired human accounts, or
of human origin only
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Literal
Word of God
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Status
of biblical prophets
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True
prophets
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True
prophets
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Status
of Jewish Bible
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Canonical
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Non-canonical
but useful as a (corrupted) inspired text
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Status
of Jewish Apocrypha
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Canonical
(Catholic);
useful but non-canonical (Protestant)
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Non-canonical
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Status
of New Testament
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Canonical
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Non-canonical,
but used as a (corrupted) inspired text
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Summaries
of doctrine
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Apostle's
Creed, Nicene Creed
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Six
Articles of Faith
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Religious
law
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Canon
law (Catholics only)
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Sharia
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Other
written authority
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Church
fathers, church councils, ecumenical creeds (all
branches);
papal decrees, canon law (Catholics only)
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Hadith
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Beliefs
& Doctrine
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Christianity
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Islam
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Ultimate
reality
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One
creator God
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One
creator God
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Nature
of God
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Trinity
- one substance, three persons
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Unity
- one substance, one person
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Other
spiritual beings
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Angels
and demons
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Angels,
demons, jinn
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Revered
humans
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Disciples,
Apostles, church fathers
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Prophets,
imams (especially in Shia Islam)
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Identity
of Jesus
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Son
of God, God incarnate, Savior of the world
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One
of many accepted prophets of God, but not the son of
God and not the savior of mankind.
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Birth
of Jesus
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Virgin
birth
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Virgin
birth
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Death
of Jesus
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Death
by crucifixion
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Did
not die, but ascended bodily into heaven (a disciple
died in his place)
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Resurrection
of Jesus
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Affirmed
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Denied,
since he did not die
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Second
coming of Jesus
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Affirmed
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Affirmed
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Mode
of divine revelation
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Through
Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself), recorded in Bible
under the anointing and guidance of God
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Through
Muhammad, but rewritten by numerous authors as recorded in Qur'an
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Human
nature
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"Original
sin" inherited from Adam - tendency towards evil
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Equal
ability to do good or evil. God plays no part in man's
choices.
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Means
of salvation
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Faith
in and acceptance of Jesus as the only sacrifice given
by God for forgiveness of our sins.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
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Correct
belief, good deeds, death defending Islamic beliefs,
killing non-Islamic believers, Five Pillars
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God's
role in salvation
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Forgiveness
is available solely by His love and Grace toward us
through His Son Jesus
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Predestination
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Good
afterlife
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Heaven;
which is existence in the eternal presence and loving
care of God. Our purpose; to Glorify God
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Eternal
paradise:
In Islam Paradise is the place where a Muslim will be reclining, eating meats and delicious fruits, drinking exquisite wines, and engaging in sex with beautiful women
and young boys.
"As to the righteous, they will be in gardens and in happiness (to them will be said:) "Eat and drink ye, with profit and health, because of your (good) deeds "They will recline (with ease) on thrones (of dignity) arranged in ranks; and we shall join (marry) them to companions with beautiful big and lustrous eyes... And we shall bestow on them, of fruit and meat, anything they desire. They shall there exchange, one another, a cup free of frivolity, free of all taint of ill. Round about them youth (handsome) as pearls well-guarded." Surah 52:17, 19, 20 & 22-24
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Evil
afterlife
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Eternal
hell, which is separation from God with full awareness
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Eternal
hell
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View
of the other religion
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Author's
view of Islam from a Christian standpoint;
Islam
is a corrupted religion based upon vain and self-serving imaginations of the man Muhammad
of which in part the Judaic Old Testament and
Christian New Testament were re-written to fit the personal,
social, and political ambitions of Muhammad and since
by his followers.
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Christians
are respected as "People of the Book," but
they have mistaken beliefs and only partial revelation.
Jesus was a prophet, but not the son of Allah.
The
Old Testament prophecies of, and fulfilled by, Jesus,
were mere coincidence.
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Rituals
& Practices
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Christianity
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Islam
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House
of worship
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Church,
chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall,
private home, all the earth where fellow Christians
gather together in the name of Jesus
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Mosque
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Day
of worship
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Sunday
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Friday
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Religious
leaders
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Priest,
bishop, archbishop, patriarch, pope, pastor, minister,
preacher, deacon, Spirit filled laymen
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Imams
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Major
sacred rituals
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Baptism,
communion (Eucharist)
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Five
Pillars: prayer, pilgrimage, charity, fasting,
confession of faith
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Head
covered during prayer?
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Generally
no
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Yes
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Central
religious
holy days
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Lent,
Holy Week, Easter
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Eid-al-Fitr,
Eid-al-Adha, month of Ramadan
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Other
holidays
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Christmas,
saints days
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Mawlid,
Ashura
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Major
symbols
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Note;
symbols or icons representing God, Jesus,
the Holy Spirit, Heaven, or Christianity, are NOT Biblically
proscribed, but instead were condemned by God. See:
Exd 20:4, Lev 26:1, Deu 4:16, Deu 4:23, Deu 5:8,
However, many still use the following symbols: Cross,
crucifix, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho,
halo
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Crescent,
name of Allah in Arabic
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Christianity
vs. Islam Continued
Similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam
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Doctrine
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Christianity
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Islam
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The
Religion
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Christian
= Disciple of Jesus Christ. "A living sacrifice".
Children of the living God. Eternal existence after death
with God through the sacrifice of God's Son Jesus
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"Islam"
= Submission (to God).
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Names
of God
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Father,
YHWH = "Eternal", Almighty, Healer, Lord of Hosts,
King of Kings.
Additionally See:
Sacred
Name of God
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"Allah"
= "The God", Forgiving, Merciful, Wise,
All-knowing, Mighty, Helper, Protector, etc.
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Nature
of God
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God
is our Father, our Creator. Jesus is His physically and spiritually
begotten divine Son. God existed before all creation. He has
no beginning and no end. God is a Spirit.
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Allah
is one. He begets not and He is not begotten and there is
none like unto Him. (The term "Father" is never
used in the Qur'an of God.)
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God
in 3 words
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God
the Father
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"Allah
akbar": God is great
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God's
purpose and plan
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God
so loved the world (His creation) that he gave his only begotten
Son (Jesus), that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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Allah
does as He pleases.
"Allah has created mankind primarily so that they may
know their creator through his creations." No
particular plan for mankind, no revealed purpose.
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Is
God a Spirit?
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God
is the "Holy Spirit".
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.
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No,
an angel can be a spirit. God is not spirit.
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Can
God suffer?
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God
suffers with His creation. Jesus expressed this suffering
when He wept concerning the impending destruction of Jerusalem
and in compassion for the grief suffered by people with deceased
loved ones.
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God
is merciful and compassionate [but does that mean He shares
our passions?
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God's
Spokesmen
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Old
Testament Prophets, Jesus followed by the apostles.
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OT
Prophets, Jesus, culminating in Muhammad. Muhammad was the final
prophet of God
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Who
is Jesus Christ?
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The
only begotten son of the Supreme God, born of the woman
Mary, begotten by the Holy Spirit. Jesus descended from
Heaven, became human and died for us as God's required
sacrifice for the sins of this world, so demonstrating God's
love for us. We now can only come to the Father through
Jesus the Son, for God can not allow sin to approach Him, as
He is without sin.
Also
see: Who Is Jesus?
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A
prophet of God, born of Virgin Mary, by the word of the God
as told to Mary by Angel Gabriel. He was taken up by Allah,
but a phantom was crucified in his place.
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God's
Written Communication
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The
Bible (Books) of 66 Old Testament books in Hebrew and
Aramaic and 27 New Testament books in Greek, composed by
numerous authors across many centuries under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit. Written in the dialect of the common people
as to bring the light of God's Word into the Spiritual
darkness of this world.
For
more about the
Holy Bible please see:
Old
Testament
New
Testament
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Al
Qur'an (the recitation) of 114 suras (units)
supported by many volumes of hadith (traditions).
The Qur'an was dictated to Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel in
pure Classical Arabic. It is our link to God.
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Nature
of Man
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Born
under the curse of the original sin from Adam and Eve.
Natural enmity towards God. Only through the drawing of
mankind to God by Himself and through the empowerment of His
Holy Spirit can humans turn from their evil ways and become
holy as He is Holy
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Sinless
at birth with capacity for unlimited moral and spiritual
progress through belief in God and faithful adherence to the
teachings of Muhammad.
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Personal
accountability
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All
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and God being unapproachable
by sin filled humans, our wages of sin is death. God calls on
humans though their God given free will to choose life and
depart from evil. Only after repentance, accepting the
sacrifice offered to us through Jesus, and being re-born in
the Holy Spirit can we become children of The Resurrection.
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The
activities of the wicked and of the saint, of the generous
and of the grasping, are all Allah's creation. Allah may
give up to seven spirits to a man. But those who choose good
will be rewarded, and evil punished.
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Believers
are:
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"The
children of God"
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"My
slaves"
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Concept
of Success
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"Love
God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
Love your neighbor as yourself".
Accept Jesus as your savior and Lord in its truest
meaning.
Obey God.
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"We
hear and we obey"
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Life
after death
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All
will be resurrected unto final judgment. The
righteous will rule with Jesus in God's eternal kingdom when
the dwelling of God will be with men. Those who, during
life, reject God's offer of forgiveness through the sacrifice
paid by His Son Jesus will spend eternity in separation from
Him which is known as hell.
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At
the Resurrection, righteous go to the
Garden
of
God, but do not see God. Wicked dwell forever in fire.
Especially righteous do not need to await the Resurrection.
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Martyrdom
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"They
shall put you out of the synagogues (churches) yea, the time
comes,
that whosoever kills you will think that he does God
service." (John 16:2) (consider the beheadings
of Christians being done by
Muslims today)
"I say unto you, He that hears my (Jesus) word, and
believes on Him (God) that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation (at death); but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24
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"Call
not those who are slain in the way of Allah `dead.' No, they
are living, only ye perceive it not." (2:154)
"those who are slain in the way of Allah .. bring them
into the Garden [
Paradise
]." (47:4-6)
(Each martyr has 72 virgins waiting for him in
Paradise
: Sermon at Al-Aqsa Mosque 9-20-2001 cf. 56:37)
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Enemies
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"But
I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
(Mat.
5:4 Words of Jesus)
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants
fight." (John 18:36)
Upon
His soon return this world will be His kingdom, and then, we
His servants will fight for that which is rightfully His. Judges 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints.
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"Fight
in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but
begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors. And
slay them wherever ye find them." (2:190)
"O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight." (8:65)
"O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who
are near you, and let them find harshness in you."
(9:123)
"Lo! Allah loveth those who battle for His cause in
ranks, as if they were a solid structure." (61:4)
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Prayers
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"But
thou, when you pray, enter into your prayer closet, and when
you have shut the door, pray to your Father which is in
secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward
you openly." (Matt. 6:6)
Pray without ceasing.
(1Th 5:17)
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first | | |
