What are the key theological differences between Christianity and Islam?

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The theological divide between Christianity and Islam centers on several foundational doctrines that shape how each faith understands God, humanity, and salvation.

God’s Nature and Identity

Christians express God’s oneness as a divine threeness, while Muslims insist upon a consistent monotheism1. Islam presents a God who is “ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us”2—a conception fundamentally at odds with Christian theology. Additionally, while both traditions affirm God’s mercy, the Bible emphasizes his grace and love in ways that make salvation as a divine gift incomprehensible within an Islamic framework3.

Christ’s Identity and Redemptive Work

The person and work of Jesus represent the sharpest theological divergence. For Christians, Jesus embodies the incarnation of God, the second member of the Trinity, and the sacrificial atonement for humanity’s sins, whereas Muslims regard trinitarianism as blasphemy and interpret “sonship” as implying God had sexual relations with Mary1. Orthodox Muslims typically hold that the Qur’an denies Christ’s death, teaching he was raised bodily to heaven, and therefore understand a right relationship with God as deriving from obedience to divine will revealed in the Qur’an2.

Human Nature and Salvation

Christians believe everyone inherits a sin nature from Adam and Eve, while Muslims believe each person is born morally neutral and can choose between good and evil3. This difference proves decisive for soteriology: Christians hold that salvation is acquired by grace through faith, whereas Muslims believe they must earn salvation through obedience to Allah1. Islam fundamentally operates as a religion of self-reliance where Muslims bear responsibility for their own salvation and can only hope for Allah’s mercy4, contrasting sharply with Christianity’s emphasis on divine initiative and unmerited grace.

  1. 1
    Larry Poston, “Islam: Theological Exchanges,” in Handbook of Religion: A Christian Engagement with Traditions, Teachings, and Practices, ed. Terry C. Muck, Harold A. Netland, and Gerald R. McDermott (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 166.
  2. 2
    P. G. Riddell and M. J. Nazir-Ali, “Islam and Christianity,” in New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic, ed. Martin Davie et al. (London; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press; InterVarsity Press, 2016), 460–461.
  3. 3
    Garry R. Morgan, Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2012), 78–79.
  4. 4
    Fritz Ridenour, So What’s the Difference (Bethany House, 2001), 86.

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