The Islam-Christian Divide
By Hal Lindsey
The PC police say not to criticize another person’s religious faith. They usually make an exception for Bible-centered Christianity, but I really don’t mind. During the roughly three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He invited questions and even investigations. Skeptics willing to examine the claims of Jesus, often become Christians. God can use such examination to bring people to Himself. He’s not afraid of the light. He invented it.
Through the years, I have been criticized for things I said about Islam. But surely it is right to examine, weigh, consider, and, if appropriate, criticize potentially dangerous ideas — even religious ones. Religious ideas can kill, start wars, sustain wars, oppress the innocent, and empower evil. Religious ideas should be scrutinized.
It’s popular to say that all faiths are really the same, but it’s false. Christianity and Islam cannot both be true. Islam claims Jesus as a prophet but denies His deity. It even denies His well-documented story. Muslims teach that Jesus did not die on a cross. They say He didn’t die at all — just ascended to heaven. How’s that for a clever way to deny His resurrection?
I’m glad that, when I was an unbeliever, I looked closely at Christ and Christianity. When I did, I found two fascinating things — flawed Christians and perfection in Jesus.
To compare Islam and Christianity, start with their founders. One was a fierce warrior who not only condoned violence, but he also demanded it. (See Surah 8:13-17, 8:60, 9:14, and 9:29 to name a few.) Jesus, on the other hand, is known for saying such things as, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Totally different!
Christians deal with their flaws by getting back to the Source. Pray and get close to God’s Word. There you will find the Prince of Peace. But when Muslims get closer to their source materials, they find violence and the infliction of pain. Most Muslims are not radicals and don’t condone terrorism. But if they raise their children to believe the Quran, their children are in danger of becoming terrorists. It’s no coincidence that so many of the world’s most vicious terror groups resolutely believe the Quran.
Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and her team, studied what happened on October 7, 2023. Their UN report said, “People were shot, often at close range; burnt alive in their homes as they tried to hide in their safe rooms; gunned down or killed by grenades in bomb shelters where they sought refuge; and hunted down at the Nova music festival site as well as in the fields and roads adjacent to the Nova music festival ground. Other violations included sexual violence, abduction of hostages and corpses, the public display of captives, both dead and alive, the mutilation of corpses, including decapitation, and the looting and destruction of civilian property.”
She and her team also reported “sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”
Hamas led the charge, but Islam motivated Hamas. The Hamas attack does not reflect the actions of most Muslims, but it does reflect the Quran. All ideas are not equal. Adolf Hitler’s ideas were not as noble as those of Florence Nightingale. And Islam is not just another version of Christianity. They are as different as black and white, good and evil.
