Can Christianity be harmonized with other worldviews? (Part 6)

This blog is the final in my series titled “Is Christianity true?” The series addresses four common objections to the truthfulness of the Christian worldview, namely concerns about: (1) the trustworthiness of the Bible; (2) the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection; (3) the compatibility of faith in God with modern science; and (4) the incompatibility of Christian truth claims with those of other worldviews.

CAN CHRISTIANITY BE HARMONIZED WITH OTHER WORLDVIEWS? (Part 6)

Unlike both Judaism and Christianity, Islam, the other monotheistic religion, is actually an ideology that contains religious, military and political components. By contrast with Judaism and Christianity, Allah of the Qur’an is not God of the Bible. Among other things, he is unknowable and impersonal. Unlike Jesus, Mohammed was not only a religious leader, but he was also a military commander and political leader. Also, unlike Jesus, Mohammed was an imperfect, sinful man. Like Judaism, its religious component depends on good works. However, based upon those good works, Muslims can never be certain that they will go to be with Allah after they die (unless they die in an act of jihad). 

The Jesus depicted in the Qur’an is not the Jesus depicted in the Bible.

While Islam honors Jesus as a great prophet, its depiction of Him cannot possibly be harmonized with the biblical accounts. According to Islam, Jesus did not die on a cross, He was not raised from the dead, and He never claimed divine status. All three claims, however, are central to the Christian worldview. In conclusion, the Jesus depicted in the Qur’an is not the Jesus depicted in the Bible. Recognizing this objection, Muslims maintain that the Bible in use today is not an accurate copy of the original. Given the huge amount of critical scholarly research into the Bible over the centuries, this position is untenable. 

The Islamic view of humankind is completely at odds with the Christian principle of human equality. Essentially, Islam views all who are not Muslims as being in a different and morally inferior category, and they have in mind a future world in which everyone submits to Allah of the Qur’an. Then and only then will there be world peace. Put differently, though many Muslims are advocates for peace, Islam is not a religion of peace!

While the religions discussed in this series are only a few of the non-Christian worldviews, it is clear that the Christian worldview is in a different category from them. At its core, it cannot be harmonized with any other religion, since its uniqueness rests entirely on the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims, supported by the historical facts of His life, death, and resurrection. 

Christianity has stood up to intensive scholarly criticism over many centuries. It is not a philosophy about how to live, as Buddhism is, or how to earn favor with God, as Islam teaches. Rather, Christianity makes distinctive claims about origins, identity, morality, and destiny. The Bible claims that we are created in God’s image, that our purpose is to glorify Him, and that our destiny is eternity in His presence based upon faith in Jesus Christ. 

Christianity’s claims concerning the fallen moral condition of humanity are empirically verifiable every day. This observation stands in stark contrast with any worldview that maintains that humanity is essentially good and getting better. Based upon the Law of Non-Contradiction, all religions can logically be false, but not all can be true. By extension, if Christianity is true, then other religions are false in respect to their core doctrines.

Photo taken from cover of “Dissonant Voices” by Harold A. Netland