Religion and Theology

Comparing and contrasting Jesus and Muhammad requires sketching their biographies, identifying what can be said historically about their lives. Comparison also involves discussing their roles within Christianity and Islam, the religions most closely associated with the two.

Jesus Birth, Mission and Death
Information on Jesus is from the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Other gospels existed but Christians recognized these as authentic. Scholars think that Mark was the earliest. Matthew and Luke probably used Mark when writing theirs as well as an older source of Jesus sayings. Mark may have been written between 66 and 70 CE (Bennett, 2001, p. 62). John may date from the early second century. If Jesus died in 30 CE, the earliest source was written forty years after his death. No body knows who wrote the gospels. Scholars believe they were written and edited by many people.

Christians believe that God inspired their writing. Scholars debate when and where Jesus was born. 4, 5, 6 or even 7 BCE have been suggested. Jesus may have died anytime between 26 and 36 CE. The gospels say that Jesus was born in Bethlehem many scholars think this unlikely. December 25th for his birthday was chosen in the third century. Other dates were proposed, Clement of Alexandria (d. 215) had suggested 20 May (Bennett, 2001, p. 6). He was, however, born in the then Roman province of Palestine, the Jews promised land.

Christians believe that Jesus was Gods son, born to Mary, married to Joseph of the line of David. However, Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived, one of many miracles surrounding his story. The gospels give hardly any information on Jesus early life. Detail starts when Jesus was 30 years old. Even then, little more than a year of his life is fleshed out. John has a different chronology. Jesus preached for three years, warning people to repent and prepare for Gods kingdom. He healed the sick, raised at least one person from the dead and performed other miracles, such as turning water into wine (John 2 9). He condemned external acts of religion that lacked inner holiness. He annoyed the Jewish religious authorities because he dared to speak and teach yet was not a qualified or recognized Rabbi or a priest. Talk of a kingdom alarmed the Roman authorities. Jesus may have seen himself as the expected Messiah, who would liberate Jews from oppression.

He certainly saw himself as a prophet, in the long line of Hebrew prophets. Accused of blasphemy for speaking about himself as Gods son, Jesus was tried by the Roman authorities acting at the bequest of the Jewish High Priest. He was crucified around about 30 CE. It is impossible to construct a complete picture of what actually happened from the gospels. According to the gospels, he left his tomb three days later, appearing several times to his disciples and friends. This is called the resurrection. Later, God took Jesus into heaven (called the Asension). Jesus disciples began to teach that Jesus death was the price for human sin. Jesus, they said, was sinless, so did not deserve to die. Rather, he died so that those who believe in him will conquer death. Belief in Jesus leads to salvation. The Christian Church, initially persecuted by the Jewish authorities and later by Rome, began after Jesus death, resurrection and ascension. Christians developed the doctrine of the Trinity, that God has three persons, Father, Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Jesus gift to the Church, after his Ascension, guides Christians and keeps them in touch with God and with Jesus, called Christ (anointed, or Messiah.) In 313, Emperor Constantine stopped persecuting Christians, which later became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Christian leader or bishop of Rome became the senior authority of what became the Roman Catholic Church. The Church ratified official creeds setting out Jesus nature as Gods son and second person of the Trinity. God, said the Church, can only be approached through Jesus. Much of what Christians believe about Jesus is not explicitly found in the gospels but developed as they reflected on his life, death and resurrection.

Muhammads birth, mission and death
The standard account says that Muhammad, a descendant of Abraham (from whom Jesus was also descended), was born in Arabia in Mecca in 570CE. This date, though, may not be reliable (Bennett, 1988, p. 18). Information is from a biographical account written by Ibn Ishaq, who died in 767. The traditional date for Muhammads death is 632, so the earliest biography was written a hundred years later. Ibn Ishaq begins with a genealogy of Muhammad (pp 3-4) Matthew began with Jesus genealogy. Orphaned, Muhammad grew up as a respected but poor member of an elite tribe. As with Jesus, more is known of Muhammads later than earlier life. There were some miracles at his birth. God spoke to him through an angel in the year 610CE, giving him verses of what became the Quran, which has no details of Muhammads life (Bennett, 1998, p 18). Surrounded by idolatry and polytheism, he preached worship of One God, social justice, generosity, fasting and prayer. He saw himself as a prophet in a long line of prophets, including Jesus. Jesus, he said, was a man, who pointed toward God, just as he did. Muhammad said quite a lot about Jesus. The Quran was revealed or communicated to him between 610 and his death. After attracting mainly poor and vulnerable followers in Mecca, Muhammad migrated, at the invitation of supporters there, to the city of Yathrib (which became Medina) in 622. There, Muhammad became leader of the whole community, Muslim (his followers) and non-Muslim. The Meccans sent armies against him. Told by God to defend himself (Q22 39), Muhammad retaliated. By 630, he had wide support, having defeated the Meccans several times. They surrendered. Two years later, Muhammad died. His followers appointed a successor, Abu Bakr, to lead the community, now more or less an empire. A few wanted Muhammads male heirs to lead, later becoming the Shia (15 of Muslims). There is no equivalent of Christology in Islam.

Jesus and Muhammad their significance today.
Muslims revere Jesus and Muhammad. They add peace be on them aftersaying their names. Muhammad has no official place in Christianity. Christians worship Jesus Muslims do not worship Muhammad. They do believe that God spoke definitively through Muhammad, so prophecy ended. Muhammad was a man, however, as the Final Prophet his deeds are be imitated. Muslims follow Muhammads sunnah (example) all aspects of life. Jesus birthday is celebrated - on Christmas.

Muhammads birthday, although not an official Muslim festival, is widely remembered (Bennett, 1998, p. 182). When Jesus died, Christians debated who he was in relationship with God, developing Christology. The Church was a religious movement. After Muhammads death, Muslim debate was about how the community was to be led, which was a political and religious movement. Later, it also developed a legal system. Muslims and Christians today still teach what Jesus and Muhammad did Christians also teach doctrines about Jesus, which developed after his death. Muslims are often more concerned with social organization in this world Christians with what happens when people die.