Religion Paper

Introduction

Christians, who come from the Jewish community in the early days, believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that He was sent to earth to die for the sins of people in order they may receive salvation and live eternally in heaven. It is believed that Jesus Christ came to earth, not camouflaged as a human, but he was perfectly human as he was born like a human and lived his life as a human being. As a human, he was preaching the gospel to the people of the world, and this gave him many followers, from whom he choose twelve disciples, with whom He went from town to town teaching. Jesus paid for sins of Christians when he on the cross.

Common aspects of Christianity and Islam

There exist common aspects between the Christian and Islam faith as it is seen in the Bible and the Quran respectively. Though both faiths have separate beliefs, there are some that are drawn together. In the Hadiths, the love of God in Islam has been said as “The best that I have said – myself, and the prophets that came before me – is: ‘There is no god but God, He Alone, He hath no associate, His is the praise and He hath power over all things” (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Da'awat, & Bab al-Du'a fi Yawm 'Arafab, 2011, p. p.g 312) while in the bible it is quoted as “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy, 2008, p. p.g 250)

Both the Christian faith and the Islamic faith insist for the believers to have a love for God and that they should love no other than Him. People have been asked to have fear of the Lord, to heed, to his words in order to comprehend what the fact is, to have the will of virtuous by observing the teachings and commandments, and to share the love of God with others.

The other mutual aspect is loving the neighbor. In both faiths, love is an important part of the faith that one has in God. In Islam, there is no true conviction or uprightness of God, if you have no love for your neighbor. “None of you has faith until you love for your brother what you love for yourself. None of you has faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself” (Sahib Muslim & Kitab al-Iman, 2013, p. p.g 79) and the Bible states “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark, 2014). These two instructions are the shared aspects found individually in the Bible and Quran. The love we should have for our neighbors and loving God only, therefore, have no other false gods.

Christian view of Jesus

The Christians understanding of Jesus as God’s son and He existed on earth as a human. He is faultless intellects. The dissimilarity that exists between Jesus Christ and humans is that all his mortal life that he lived was unswerving from start to end. In order for Christians to understand this task for living the full human life, they should aspire to lead a life like the one that Jesus Christ led, and by following his teachings to the letter.

There is a dissimilarity of the life of Jesus Christ that he livedto die and after his death. It is believed that after dying on the cross, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and he lived among the humans. To the Christians who share this conviction, this is an assurance of life after death. Those who saw him, it is said that they did not meet a ghost or a spirit, but met him in his present body.

The Pharisees and majority of Jewish social groups hated Jesus Christ as they did not believe in God’s mercy, love, and grace. All what they worshiped and obeyed were some set of regulations from the days of Moses. Christians are expected to live their life full of love towards others and have a love for God, have mercy towards others and be full of grace.

How the Christian view of Jesus affected Augustine’s understanding of human life.

Through the journey of life, Saint Augustine’s understanding of human life was influenced by the Christian view of Jesus Christ. He saw the teachings of Jesus as if they were contradicting themselves and they existed in conflicts with what was being witnessed by the diviners and the laws. The promise and God’s grace that was shown by Jesus Christ did not present in other books that he had read before, but were present in the letters written by Saint Paul. He observed that in the full church assembly, the people there led varied lifestyles. He observed that for Christians to live in harmony, they had love for their neighbors, grace, and mercy, all of which are what Jesus Christ’s teachings were focused on throughout his humanity life.

Conclusion

Being a Christian, one needs to lead a life that is full of grace, mercy, and love for both God and man. This is like the general rule that governs all Christians who seek to lead a holy life and according to the teachings that have been given by Jesus Christ. Both the Christian faith and the Islamic faith insist for the believers to have a love for God and that they should love no other than Him. People have been asked to have fear of the Lord, to heed to his words in order to comprehend what the fact is, to have the will of virtuous by observing the teachings and commandments, and to share the love of God with others.

Christianity and Islam are both basically giving out the same message. Both sensitize on loving thy neighbor and serving one God only. In the Quran, it states “We shall ascribe no partner unto him” (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Da'awat, & Bab al-Du'a fi Yawm 'Arafab, 2011, p. p.g 154). This means that Christians, Muslims, and Jews are free to each following the commands of God and that no one should be forced or compelled in religion as it is a choice that one makes for themselves.

The Quran states “God forbiddeth you, not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye show them kindness and deal justly with them.” (Al-Mumtahinah, 2013, p. p.g 294) While in the Bible it is stated as “He who is not with me is against me, and who does not gather with me scatters abroad” (Matthew, p. p.g 862)

From these two verses it is evident that with no misinterpretations, both the Christian faith and Muslim faith all insist on serving the on the true God and encouraging those who are not of the faith to do so while living in harmony.

Works Cited Al-Mumtahinah, 6. (2013). The Holy Quran. Darussalam Publisher. Deuteronomy, 6.-5. (2008). New King James Version. Nelson Bibles. Mark, 1. (2014). New King James Version. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Matthew, 1. New King James Version. Sahib Muslim, & Kitab al-Iman. (2013). Hadith no. 45. Houston: Institute of Islamic Knowledge. Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Da'awat, & Bab al-Du'a fi Yawm 'Arafab. (2011). Hadith no.3934. Dar-us-Salam Publications