The Similarities Between Islam And Martin Luther's Teachings

Religion has brought together as many people as its divided due to various belief systems and practices. Two of the main western religions, Islam and Christianity, are generally described as very different despite the abundance of similarities between the two. To demonstrate the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity, passages about Moses’ journey and Martin Luther’s teachings, will be analyzed. Moses’ journey is described in the primary text, Readings of the Quran by Kenneth Cragg on page 144, and Martin Luther’s views on faith and righteousness is described in the primary text, Martin Luther by John Dillenberger. These texts are key in comparing what was said in the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book, to what Martin Luther unravels in the lines of the bible, the Christian holy book. In the text by Cragg, God commands Moses to make the people of Egypt, including the pharaohs, believers, and to repent. Moses urges the people of Egypt to believe in only one God, and to believe in the teachings and signs that God has sent …show more content…
However, it is important to note that in this essay, the particular Christian sect of Protestantism is compared to Islam, whereas Martin Luther’s previous sect, Orthodoxy, contrasts from most of the ideas presented. As mentioned before, Martin Luther was very unhappy with the Orthodox church’s belief that one has to become a perfect vision of a human on earth, in order to assimilate to God and attain salvation and righteousness. Luther felt that it was impractical and that no matter how perfect his actions were as a monk, theologian or priest, he would never attain salvation or righteousness. After coming to this realization, he came to the conclusion that faith and righteousness is not a choice but something God gives you. In order to reach salvation, one must have faith and read scripture, and not try to become perfect like