The Week in Review

Minister Jewel D. Williams

World Religions and Cults

Written on June 4, 2007

The Bible and The Koran: Are They the Same Truth?

Today many believe that the God of the Bible is the same God of the Koran. This belief comes from the fact that Muslims worship one God and mistakenly individuals think the Muslim belief is in agreement with the Christian faith. It is important, however to compare what the Koran states alongside the Bible to see what each faith really believes and teaches. While they both believe in one God, that is where the similarities stop. When such beliefs as the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ, salvation, and eternal judgment are compared within each faith, one will see these religions are very different. This comparison will make it clear that the God of the Bible is not the same God of the Koran.



In the book, Living Religions, the author Mary Pat Fisher states, “the first sentence chanted in the ear of a traditional Muslim infant is the Shahadah – ‘La ilaha illa Allah’, Literally, it means ‘There is no god but God.’ Exoterically, the phrase supports absolute monotheism. As the Qur’an reveals in Sura 2:163, Your God is one God: There is no god but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” (342). While this may seem to be in agreement with the Christian belief of one God, there is a vast different in the two understandings of the one God.


One difference is Islam’s rejections of the concept of the Trinity. In the book, Qur’an: An Introduction to Its Message, the author, Mohammad Abu-Hamdiyyah states, “In the words of Surah 112: Say: God is One, the Eternal God. He neither begat nor was begotten. And there is none equivalent to Him” (50). The Koran (Qur’an) misrepresents the teaching of Christianity regarding the Godhead, claiming that Christians believe in three Gods, Father, Mother and Son (20). In the book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam, the author, Yahiya J. Emerick states, “The Holy Spirit - Islam says that there is no Holy Spirit other than the angel Gabriel who has that nickname.” (233).


However, Christianity does not teach there are three gods, but one God with three distinct personalities, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God speaks of himself in Genesis in the plural, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27). The Scripture also speaks to Jesus being God, “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).


Muslims do not believe this is accurate regarding Jesus, they do not believe he is God nor do they believe he is the Son of God, but a good prophet. “The Jewish prophets and Jesus all brought the same messages from God, Muslims believe. However, Qur’an teaches that God’s original messages have been added to and distorted by humans. For instance, Muslims do not accept the idea developed historically in Christianity that Jesus has the authority to pardon or atone for our sins…Muslims believe that Jesus prophesied to the coming of Muhammad when he promised that the paraclete (‘one who would be called to help the people’) would come to assist humanity after him” (Fisher, 330-340). When Jesus spoke of the paraclete, the “helper” he was speaking of the Holy Spirit that would guide individuals into all truth and equip them for the Christian life. Christianity believes Jesus is more than a prophet but he is the Son of God as well as one of the persons of the Triune God. Scripture states, “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” and also “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God:” (Matthew 17:5, Mark 1:1). These verses of Scripture clearly show the difference in beliefs.


Emerick writes, “The Qur’an puts it this way: ‘O Muhammad, We have sent revelations to you just as We sent them to Noah and the Prophets who came after him; We also sent revelations to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, his descendants, and to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron and Solomon. We revealed the Psalms to David. Revelations were also sent to those Messengers whom We have already mentioned to you and to those whose name We have not mentioned to you, and God spoke to Moses directly. All these Messengers conveyed good news to mankind and admonished them so that, after conveying the message through the Messengers, people would have no excuse to plead against God. Indeed, God is the Mighty, the Wise.’ (Qur’an 4: 163– 165)” (182). Here Muslims accept Jesus as one of many prophets, but not as the Son of God. The Christian faith accepts scripture where God declares Jesus as His Son, “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.” (Hebrews 5:5). We also have God declaring this similar message when John baptizes Jesus, where he states this is my son in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).


Another difference between these two religions is the belief regarding salvation. In The New Book of Knowledge encyclopedia, the contributing author, Shahzad Bashir states, “Islam teaches that each individual has a direct and personal relationship with God and that no intermediaries are required” (347). Emerick gives clarity to the belief about Jesus when he states, “So from the point of view of Islam, the Christian doctrine that Jesus is God is moot, because Jesus didn’t die anyway, and certainly not for the sins of humanity. Who was crucified on that fateful day? If anyone was executed, it may have been the man who betrayed Jesus. If he looked sort of like Jesus, in the confusion the Caucasian Romans may have grabbed him and killed him, thinking all Semites looked alike” (207). The Muslim then believes that salvation comes only through Allah and there is no need of someone to intercede on the behalf of sinful mankind. The Christian faith teaches that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other [than Jesus]: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, where by we must (my emphasis) be saved” (Acts 4:12). (Come back next week for the next installment.)