Christo-Islamic Christo-Islamic ADL Category="Christian interfaith and secular relations"Christo-Islamic is a term of Comparative religion to connect fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam, which also has commonalities with Judaism, accepts many peripheral aspects of Christianity as part of its faith - with some differences in interpretation.

The phrase "Judeo-Christian values" is commonly used in the West, and many Muslim scholars view this term as emblematic of Western cultures' disconnection with Islam even though Muslims refer to both Jews and Christians as fellow "People of the Book."

Beliefs

Although Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, it breaks with the belief of Christ as the son of God. Muslims do not believe that Christ was the "begotten son of God" in literal terms, as if God were a male human, but rather that he was a prophet brother who brought to mankind a closer relationship with God and each other. In the "religion-literal" sense, Christians reject the Muslim religion's understanding of Christ as heretical. Archbishop Dmitri of the Orthodox Church in America has described Islam as the most prevalent form of Arianism (a fourth century Heresy) still extant, observing its similarity to Arianism in that both assert Jesus's status as a creature made by God, rather than God Himself. Muslims, however, reject Arianism's view that Jesus was an angelic creature, instead seeing him as a holy man. They point out that the early Christian sect of the Ebionites have had more beliefs in common with Islam than orthodox Christianity.

It is sometimes asked, "What do contemporary Christianity and Islam share with each other that they do not share with Judaism?" The first and most important answer is their shared certainty in the objective existence of heaven and hell in the afterlife.

In addition, while rejecting the notion that Islam was "influenced" by Christianity, or any other faith other than that of total submission to God, Muslims nevertheless cite the following important points of contact between the ministry of Jesus and the core teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah:

The duty to follow God's Will in all things, as cited in the Lord's Prayer.

The duty to remember that God is omniscient and all-powerful, even to the extent of requiring certainty on the part of the believer that God knows his or her thoughts and intentions. (See Luke 12:4-5, which is essentially a summary of the Islamic notion of Taqwa, or fear of God.)

Jesus' emphasis on constant prayer.

Jesus' emphasis on charitable giving.

Jesus' emphasis on the importance of reaching out across religious and social divides to help one's fellow human beings, as in the Good Samaritan story.

Jesus' emphasis on hiding certain virtues (good works such as private prayer or charity), rather than claiming public attention for them or inflating one's ego over them.

The delusive nature of apparent physical wealth, and its inferiority as compared to spiritual wealth. (See Luke 6:24, which is a concise summary of a seemingly perpetual Qur'anic theme.)

Kabbalists like Sabbatai Zvi and Jacob Frank have tried to unite Christianity and Islam. Mainstream Muslims, however, reject the Kabbalah.

Beliefs

See also