Spear of Phinehas posts:
Chawkat Moucarry, who holds a doctorate in Islamic Studies and serves as Inter-Faith Relations director for World Vision, summarizes the fundamental different between Islam and Christianity:
"Above all, the means by which fallen human beings may be reconciled to God are fundamentally at odds in the two traditions. In biblically-faithful Christianity, the grace of God crowns everything, as guilty human beings are reconciled to their Maker by the sacrifice that God himself has provided in Jesus’ death on the cross. Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live repentant and obedient lives that they would not otherwise choose. In Islam, while appeal is made to the mercy of God, the hope of paradise rests fundamentally on personal obedience to God, repentance, scrupulous avoidance of major sins, and confidence that one’s good deeds will in some way atone for one’s bad deeds." A Christian Perspective on Islam, 40David Shenk in Journeys of the Muslim Nation and the Christian Church summarizes:
“The message of biblical faith is that God in the Messiah enters personally into our sinfulness to redeem us from sin and death. God, in the Messiah, actively and personally and lovingly pursues us so that we might be reconciled to him, to one another, and to creation. The message of qur’anic faith is that God, the merciful and compassionate one, sends his will down to us. In submission to his will we find well-being. Jesus offers redemption; the Qur’an offers guidance” (170).Biblical faith is trusting completely in the redemptive work of God in Christ, whereas Islam is trying to constantly remember God by following his guidance.
