Preview

Sacred Scripture and Cosmogony of Islam and Christianity

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3139 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sacred Scripture and Cosmogony of Islam and Christianity
The Sacred Scripture and Cosmogony of Islam and Christianity In every religion around the world, there are very important scriptures and beliefs on how the universe came into being. Christianity and Islam are no different than any other religion in those aspects. They have similar thoughts on things in the sacred scriptures they have, and they also have opposing views. Also, these two religions have different views on the creation of the universe, both of these topics will be discussed here. It is important to understand the views on the following topics by these two religions for a number of reasons. Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with approximately 1.9 billion people being Christian and 1.1 billion people being Muslim. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. People in the future will have to learn to not have the typical stereotype of a Muslim, by knowing where they come from, people may learn to appreciate this religion and the people more. First to be discussed are the sacred scripture that both Christianity and Islam employ, how they have some of the same thoughts and characteristics, as well as the differences between the two. Where did these scriptures come from? That is a very important question to know, and this will be answered as well. Also, it is important to understand the contemporary expressions that are used to teach the scripture. The Islamic religions main sacred scripture is called the Qur'an , this is sometimes written as the Koran. The origins are thought to begin with a man named Muhammad, who was born around 570 C.E. He was a prophet who was to warn the people to turn to God (also known as Allah to Muslims), he also is the one whom is thought to have written the Qur'an. It is told that the angel Gabriel sent him the first words from God, "We sent it down during a blessed night" (Sura 44:3). Many Muslims believe that this meant that the Qur'an was sent down to the prophet Muhammad, but


Cited: Van Voorst, Robert E. Anthology of World Scriptures. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2005. Clark, Warren Malcolm. Islam for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN. Wiley, 2003. Sultan, Sohaib. The Koran for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN. Wiley, 2004. Yusuf Ali, Abdullah. The Holy Qur 'an Text, Translation, and Commentary. 4th ed. Elmhurst, NY. Tahrike Tarsile Qur 'an, 2002. Wagner, Richard. Christianity for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN. Wiley, 2004. Geoghegan, Jeffrey, and Michael Homan. The Bible for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN. Wiley, 2004. "Islam."Encyclopedia Britannica World Religious Population by Religion. 9 Dec, 1999. Ohio Valley College. 12 Feb 2006. http://web.ovc.edu/peppercenter/survey/world_demo.htm. "Cosmogony." Webster 's Dictionary of the English Language. 2nd Ed. 2004.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A similarity of Islam and Christianity is that they both believe in one God (Christianity Jesus) (Islam Allah). A difference is that both religions have different countries of origin. Islam originated from Makkah and Madina which is situated in Saudi Arabia and Christianity originated from Jerusalem in Israel. Islam began in the 7th century, God sent his message through the prophet Mohammed showing how to worship…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christianity and Islam are two of the most practiced religions in the world, and have been for centuries. These two faiths are both monotheistic, which means they worship one God, or Allah. Started over 2000 years ago, Christianity is based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ and was spread throughout the Roman Empire. The religion of Islam began early in 600 C.E. by the prophet Muhammad, and he spread the word of Allah. These religions spread quickly in Europe and the Middle East. As they progressed, new trading routes came about in these areas. Overtime, Christianity and Islam developed opinions about the trading and businesses activity and the people who pursued it. According to the religion’s holy books, the Bible and Qur’an,…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Islam and Christianity share a lot of similarities and differences. One of the most important similarities that they share is that they are both universal religions. Both Islam and Christianity are monotheistic religions, believing in only one god, which is also believed by some religions researchers to be the same god, but referred with different nominatives. In the Christian religion it is referred to as "Christ" and in the Islam religion it is referred to as "Allah". They do not only share these little similarities, but much more: like the beginning of the religions. In both holy books: the Bible for Christians and the Qur'an for Muslims, it is described the creation of the earth in the very first's chapters. The Bible, as the Qur'an states that Christ created the world in six days; in the other hand the Qur'an states the same thing, but using the nominative of Allah instead than Christ. As time advanced many differences born between Christianity and Islam.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Jesus and Mohammed Paper

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Christianity and Islam are two religions that are monotheistic, meaning they believe in only one God. Christianity believes in Jesus, while Judaism believes in Mohammed. While the two religions are monotheistic, it does not mean they believe in the same beliefs nor have the same beliefs about their Gods. While Christianity believes Jesus to be the son of God, Islam believes in Mohammed; a young orphan, whose parents died when he was six (father) and nine (mother) (Smith, 2004). Both religions have deep roots based upon their God, which helps to found their beliefs, but where are the two religions the same and where go they vary? By tracing the lives of Mohammed and Jesus it will become apparent who each God is, how their lives impacted the religions of Christianity and Islam, and how their messages are being carried out today.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered what sets Christiantiy from Islam apart or even what brings them together? The similarities between the spread of Islam and Christianity they both had a significant number of people in higher classed who help spread the religions. The differences between the spread of Islam to Christianity wasInside the time period c. 600 CE to 1250ce and first century to 1000ce Islam and Christianity were spread. The two religions spread socially and monetarily comparative however politically diverse. While both Islam and Christianity were spread Christianity had a larger number of governments in control than Islam.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Islam shares more similarities with Christianity than one might think. Both religions believe in only one god with similar traits, the men Moses and Jesus as important figures, and have roots in Judaism. However, Islam also has many differences. The primary figure of Islam is the Prophet Muhammad who received God’s final message through the Archangel Gabriel. Muhammad’s teachings and way of life are included in the Qur’an, which is the Islamic holy book. With the support of his wife and his uncle, Chief Abu Talib, Muhammad avoided persecution from the people of Mecca. After they died, he was forced to leave to the city of Medina due to pressures of polytheistic Meccan merchants that were threatened by his teachings. This move is called the…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Historically, the roots of Islam and Christianity grow from similar philosophical, theological, cultural, and geographical underpinnings. Both Christianity and Islamic sacred scriptures (Holy Bible and Quran or Alcoran) note that creation of mankind and the origin of the universe was the action of one God. Whatever Christianity and Islamic faith differences are, these two major world religions have sacred documents that in essence recapitulate on a number of different subjects. However, Islam and Christianity are always used to describe very diverse groups of people and certainly very diverse theologies.…

    • 2622 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lent vs. Ramadan

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Christianity and Islam are two very significant Religions in the world today. Although they celebrate very different things, some of the things they celebrate are very similar. There are many differences between both religions predominantly with the way they celebrate festivals. On the other hand the rules that both religions follow are quite similar.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There are many similarities between the two religions, which stems from the fact that the prophet Mohammad based the basic framework on Christianity. Mohammad believed that the Christians had been right with some aspects of Christianity, but they had stopped hearing God's message. This is where he came in to correctly tell what God wanted the world to do. Therefore, there are some significant similarities to be seen. For example, the angel Gabriel, found in both religions, is a messenger angel on both sides of the house. Also, the message was brought forth in both religions that there was only one true God, and both religions…

    • 2715 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ap World History Essay

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    These similarities and differences between the religious basics of the Islamic and Christian faith affected the impact and spread of the religions. The start of both religions started in a time when other religions were popular. This affected how it spread. People (missionaries) had to go out and spread the religion so that people would convert and the religion would stay alive. This caused cultural diffusion, so there are many different types (versions) of each religion.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Due to the vast expansion of Islam and Christianity in the time period from 700-1000 CE both religions flourished. While quite similar with their expansions, they developed with various unique characteristics, such as their tolerance for other religions.…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    From a broad perspective Christianity and Islam look almost identical but when you bring in the facts of these two religions you can see that there are many differences. Some major differences are that Christianity believe that Jesus was God compared to how Muhammad was not seen as a God but a very holy prophet, Christianity also believes in the bible where Islam believes in the Quran or the Koran, and they also had different rules to follow for example Christians have to follow The 10 Commandments and Islam have to follow the Five Pillars of Faith.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    We will first start with the scriptures; both Christianity and Islam have holy scriptures that are guidelines to properly practice each religion. I will discuss how the scriptures were developed and the function they serve in each tradition. In Christianity, the only scripture is the Holy Bible, made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the same as the Jewish Tanakh recognized as scripture by early Christians. The New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, comprised of narratives, letters and apocalyptic writings. The Holy Bible is the written Word of God and relays how God the Creator reveals his undying love for his creation mankind. The Bible speaks of how God revealed himself and his plan for the redemption of fallen mankind because of sin and disobedience. The bible tells of God’s Divine plan to reconnect with mankind through the sacrifice and resurrection of his son Jesus the Christ. The Bible is the laws and parables of how to live a holy life. It also tells of the Second…

    • 1694 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Compare Contrast Religion

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Between the religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, there are many similarities and differences that are dealt within each of them. Throughout these religions, we can compare and contrast different aspects of each religion such as some of the basic facts of their histories and some of the religious beliefs each of them have in common and or make them different from each other. In the country known as Palestine, the religions known as Christianity and Judaism were founded each by different men. Jesus was the man who began the creation of Christianity and a man named Moses was the founder who established the religion of Judaism. In the country of Saudi Arabia the religion of Islam was born and founded by a man named Muhammad. Considering each of the religions origins, Christians were known as the people who believed in Christianity and spoke in the original language of Aramaic or Greek. The people who believed in Judaism Spoke in the original language of Hebrew and as for the people who trust in Islam spoke Arabic and are known as Muslims.…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Many hundreds of years later (around 600 AD) Muhammad was born of direct lineage of Ishmael. Muhammad, the last prophet according to Islam, received revelation from Allah through the Angel Gabriel which was written down to form the Qur’an.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays