Compare and contrast Islam and Christianity.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Each religion considers its followers as chosen followers of a monotheistic God. Islam considers all adherents to Judaism and Christianity, as well as Islam, to be People of the Book, or followers of the monotheistic religious covenant made initially by Abraham. In Islam, however, the roles of political and religious leaders are fused, and religion is not separate from politics, as was necessary in Christianity because it was an underground movement during the Roman Empire. Within Christianity, political power was mediated through kings or emperors, and church authority was entirely separate. Additionally, Jesus was never seen as a political leader, but as a spiritual teacher and leader of his own religious adherents. As such, people in the West would look for protection from a secular leader first, whereas people in the Islamic world would look to their religious leader, who was also their primary political leader.