You have probably heard the well-worn parable of four blind men touching different parts of the same elephant. Each blind man defines the elephant by describing what he feels. The one clutching the tail says an elephant is like a snake, while the one touching the tusk says it is like a spear, and so on and so forth. The parable intends to reinforce the idea that all religious claims about what is ultimately true are limited to one’s perspective. Therefore, many contemporary Americans understand all religious claims to be but partial attempts to define the same reality.

In this relativistic milieu, then, suggesting that two faiths are irreconcilable is offensive. The offense is especially heightened when the two faiths share a great deal of readily observable similarities. Such is the case with the world’s two largest monotheistic faiths: Islam and Christianity. The unbelieving world would happily encourage Muslims and Christians to downplay their differences and join hands around their commonalities. Likewise, many well-intentioned missiologists argue that it is more relationally productive to seek common ground than to expose differences of doctrine.

Yet, as Christians who long for our Muslim friends to understand the gospel, we cannot ignore the irreconcilable differences between Islam and Christianity. The reason we cannot ignore them is not that we prefer dogma to harmony. Rather, it is because the differences lead away from God’s purposes in creation. We point out our differences because we have been called to love our neighbors. Embracing superficial similarity while ignoring damnable differences is not an expression of neighbor love.

For that reason, this brief article focuses in on three foundational places that Islam and Christianity exhibit divergent teachings. I am aware that discussing differences can be done from a dismissive and polemic posture, so I want to caution against the temptation to weaponizing this material in conversation with your Muslim neighbor. The purpose of this article is to help Christians lovingly engage with their Muslim neighbors in order to demonstrate the beauty of the gospel. When wielded by compassionate Christians, these differences can lead to deeper conversation with Muslim friends and neighbors than can be achieved through focusing on superficial points of agreement.

GUIDANCE INSTEAD OF GOD
If you were to ask a Muslim what is wrong with the world, chances are they would reply, “sin.” On the surface, this appears similar to the Christian answer. In fact, many of the same actions that the Bible would deem to be sinful are also prohibited within Islam. Lest this superficial similarity obscure the underlying differences, however, one must consider what a Muslim means when using the word “sin.”
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