Is Jesus the Same in Islam and Christianity?

What started with Genesis in the Bible continues to impact our world today. Abraham was deemed to be "a father of many nations". It was an "everlasting covenant" that would continue through his seed, which was his son Isaac. Another son, Ishmael, would also generate a great nation.

Through Isaac comes Jacob with his twelve sons who are the forebearers of what we know as the Jewish race. From Ishmael we now have the Muslims, or the Islamic nations. In the meridian of time Jesus Christ served his ministry among the Jews, the result of his mortality has created differing perspectives of His role for humanity.

Christianity sets Jesus as the cornerstone of their belief. Through His death and resurrection, His atonement overcomes the Fall of Adam and Eve and promises eternal life. The followers of Muhammad believe in the same God of the Old Testament, but view Jesus the same as other prophets, such as Adam, Noah, and Moses.

Both religions believe that He was a messenger from God, that He was born of a virgin mother through a miraculous birth, and that He performed various miracles. The main differences center around Jesus' relationship with God. While Christians view Jesus as the son of God, Islam views him as a mortal prophet. His death is also viewed differently. Christians believe he died and rose from the grave three days later. Muslims believe that he never died, but bodily ascended into Heaven.

Though they see Him in different ways, Islam and Christianity have a reverence in their religions for Jesus Christ. There is no denying His significance to worldly religions.