Teens and Christ
← Christianity and the World's Faiths

Lesson 2 of 5 · 10 min

Judaism, Islam and Christianity

Three faiths that claim one God — and the point where they divide.

Real common ground

All three worship one Creator, take moral law seriously, honour prophets, practise prayer and charity, and expect a final judgement. Christians should be able to state Jewish and Muslim beliefs in a way a Jew or Muslim would recognise as fair.

Judaism

Judaism holds to covenant with Abraham, Torah given through Moses, and a Messiah still awaited. Christianity began inside Judaism, claiming that its promises had arrived in Jesus. The disagreement is not about whether the Old Testament is true but about whether Jesus fulfils it.

Islam

Islam honours Jesus as a prophet born of a virgin, and denies that he is God's Son or that he was crucified. The Qur'an is held to supersede earlier scriptures. Since Christianity stands on the crucifixion and the deity of Christ, the two cannot both be right.

The dividing line

It always comes back to the identity of Jesus. Every other difference — scripture, salvation, assurance, the nature of God — follows from what you do with him.

Key passages

  • Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

    John 8:58

  • To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law.

    Romans 9:4-5

  • But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

    1 Corinthians 1:23

Reflect

Could you explain a Muslim's or a Jew's beliefs in a way they would call accurate?

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Next: Hinduism, Buddhism and the Search for Release

Where this came from

We're not experts — these are the sources we used while researching this page. Read them yourself, keep digging, and hold us to them.

  1. [1]The Holy Bible — Blue Letter Bible interlinear and lexicons

    Primary source for every lesson; Strong's and BDB/Thayer entries for word studies.

  2. [2]The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381) — full text and history, Britannica

    The doctrinal frame for the lessons on God, Christ and the Spirit.

  3. [3]N. T. Wright, lectures and articles archive (NTWrightPage)

    New Testament scholarship drawn on for the gospel, kingdom and resurrection lessons.

  4. [4]Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican) and the Westminster Confession of Faith

    Consulted side by side wherever a lesson describes how different traditions teach a doctrine.