What Are the Major Differences Between Christianity and Islam?

July 2, 2018 Dan Kreft

There is really only one difference that matters between Christianity and Islam (or any other religion for that matter), and that difference is exposed by the answer to Jesus’ own question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

Here’s a quick rundown of what Islam teaches about Isa (Jesus):

Has was a great prophet (Sura 2:136), so great in fact that He is second only to Muhammad himself.
He was not crucified, but rather someone was crucified in his place (Sura 4:157)
He was not God (Sura 5:17, 72)
He was born of a virgin (Sura 19:20, 21)

Christians, on the other hand, accept that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, namely the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—Yahweh—come in the flesh (John 8:58; 10:30), the messiah promised way back in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). In light of Jesus’ claims about Himself, only two things can be true:

He was telling the truth, or
He was not telling the truth.

If He was not telling the truth, then there are two possibilities to explain His claims and behavior:

He knew He was not telling the truth (i.e. He was a liar)
He did not know He was telling falsehoods (i.e. He was delusional).

This is what C.S. Lewis famously dubbed the “trilemma”: Jesus was either lord, liar, or lunatic. There really is no room for any other opinion about Him—He cannot be simply a prophet of God because no prophet of God would dare claim equality with God (John 10:33), let alone accept worship (John 20:28, 19, cf. Acts 10:25, 26; Revelation 19:10; 22:8, 9).

All other differences are rendered moot by comparison, for when we stand before God after we die, He is not going to ask “Did you eat only ‘clean’ foods?” or “Did you worship me on the right day of the week?” He will not ask “Did you walk little old ladies across the street?” nor even “Did you follow the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule?” No. The question above all questions will be “Who do you say Jesus is?” The answer to this question is the pivot upon which our respective eternal destinations are determined.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
— John 14:6 NASB