Islam and Christianity: A Comparison in Soteriology

            Soteriology can be defined as the doctrine of salvation or the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences. Christianity teaches that the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ formed the climax of a divine plan for humanity's salvation. This plan was conceived by God willingly before the creation of the world, achieved at the cross, and it would be completed at the Last Judgment, when the Second Coming of Christ would mark the catastrophic end of the world and the creation of a new world. For Christianity, salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus' death on the cross was the once-for-all perfect sacrifice that atoned for the sin of humanity – vicarious atonement. This can be seen in Hebrews 9:22-26, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness…But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” According to Christian belief, sin as the human predicament is considered to be universal such that it is on every human due to the sins of Adam and Eve, this doctrine is known as original sin. For God to die for our sins, Christ, the second person of the trinity, had to become human in all respects such as having a human body, mind, and soul. Part of this belief is that he took on all human traits as mentioned before but he was completely apart from sin.

            The Islamic conception of God says, “Put your trust in the Ever-Living, Who never dies, and glorify His praises. Sufficient is He as All-Aware of the sins of His servants.” (25:58). Perhaps the Quran in this verse is responding to the Christian doctrine by giving this alternative. For the justice of God, “Indeed, Allāh does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom's weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.” (4:40) and “For Allah created the heavens and the earth for a purpose, so that every soul may be paid back for what it has committed. And none will be wronged.” (45:22). It is not that someone else will be punished for your sins, rather the one who sins will be punished if they do not repent. This idea can be seen more explicitly in Chapter 35 verse 18, 

“No soul burdened with sin will bear the burden of another. And if a sin-burdened soul cries for help with its burden, none of it will be carried—even by a close relative. You [O Prophet] can only warn those who stand in awe of their Lord without seeing Him and establish prayer. Whoever purifies themselves, they only do so for their own good. And to Allah is the final return.”

As for sacrifice, in Islam there is sacrifice on the holiday, Eid, but the understanding of it is made clear, 

“We have made sacrificial camels ˹and cattle˺ among the symbols of Allah, in which there is ˹much˺ good for you. So pronounce the Name of Allah over them when they are lined up ˹for sacrifice˺. Once they have fallen ˹lifeless˺ on their sides, you may eat from their meat, and feed the needy—those who do not beg, and those who do. In this way We have subjected these ˹animals˺ to you so that you may be grateful. Neither their meat nor blood reaches Allah. Rather, it is your piety that reaches Him. This is how He has subjected them to you so that you may proclaim the greatness of Allah for what He has guided you to, and give good news to the good-doers.” (22:36-37)

As for the mercy of God, 

“Say, ˹O Prophet, that Allah says,˺ “O My servants who have exceeded the limits against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn to your Lord ˹in repentance˺, and ˹fully˺ submit to Him before the punishment reaches you, ˹for˺ then you will not be helped.” (39:53-54)

The point is up until before death, if you are sincere and you repent, God is giving the believer a way out through His mercy and no one should ever doubt God’s mercy no matter how big the sin is and one must be sincere for their repentance to be accepted. This can be seen in verses such as, 

“Allah only accepts the repentance of those who commit evil ignorantly ˹or recklessly˺ then repent soon after1—Allah will pardon them. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. However, repentance is not accepted from those who knowingly persist in sin until they start dying, and then cry, “Now I repent!” nor those who die as disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment.” (4:17-18)

Another verse about God’s mercy,

“Ask ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “To whom belongs everything in the heavens and the earth?” Say, “To Allah!” He has taken upon Himself to be Merciful. He will certainly gather ˹all of˺ you together for the Day of Judgment—about which there is no doubt. But those who have ruined themselves will never believe.” (6:12)

And in the same chapter,

“When the believers in Our revelations come to you, say, “Peace be upon you! Your Lord has taken upon Himself to be Merciful. Whoever among you commits evil ignorantly ˹or recklessly˺ then repents afterwards and mends their ways, then Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (6:54)

In Islam, there is both a merciful God and a merciful prophet, “We have sent you ˹O Prophet˺ only as a mercy for the whole world.” (21:107) He is the perfect exemplar of how all humans should live their lives – as someone who forgives. Furthermore, it is in the prophetic tradition that he said, “Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.” Even with your enemies there can be forgiveness and love by the will of God, “˹In time,˺ Allah may bring about goodwill between you and those of them you ˹now˺ hold as enemies. For Allah is Most Capable. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (60:7) God is the most loving as shown in verses such as 85:14, “And He is the All-Forgiving, All-Loving” and in 11:90, “So seek your Lord’s forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. Surely my Lord is Most Merciful, All-Loving.”. There is no idea of original sin in Islam as mentioned in the Quran, when Adam sinned he asked the forgiveness from God and God forgave him, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers. (7:23)

One question that arises from the Christian doctrine of atonement is how can God die? From a Muslim perspective, it is blasphemous to say that the uncreated eternal God can die. Some Christians claim that it was only the human nature that died not his divine nature. According to 1 Corinthians 2:8, “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”. Due to the communication of idioms or properties, whereby that which belongs to one nature in Christ, is predicated of his person, as denominated from the other: thus here the crucifixion of him, which properly belongs to his human nature, and that to his body only, is spoken of his person, and that as denominated from his divine nature, therefore God died on the cross for humanity. Furthermore, in Saint Augustine’s commentary on this verse he states,

“…in like manner the name of God, or Son of God, or Lord of Glory, or any other such name, is given to Christ as the Word, and it is, nevertheless, correct to say that God was crucified…” (Letter 169, to Bishop Evodius, Chapter 2:8). 

However, there are verses such as 1 Timothy 6:15-16 that state,

“…which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”

To further highlight Augustine’s quote, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus states in his Theological Oration 45, “… We needed an incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live. We were put to death together with him that we might be cleansed, we rose again with him because we were put to death with him…”

            Even if it is granted that God can die, is this just? Is the idea that an innocent person dying for the sins of all the guilty truly just? Hypothetically, if there is a murder and the person who committed the murder gets caught and confesses. At the trial, a friend of the perpetrator gets up and tells the judge that instead of sentencing the murder to death, the friend himself should take his place. No court on earth would allow such occurrence to take place as it is simply not just. Furthermore, it would seem that the doctrine of vicarious atonement contradicts the teachings of the Hebrew Bible which is closer to the Islamic conception of forgiveness and sin. For example, Ezekiel 18:18-32 states,

“But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them. But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”

It is explicitly clear from the verses above that repentance to God is enough, it is not needed for one to be put to death for their sins nor for the sins of others. God is entirely merciful and this is just. A similar idea can be found in Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6, and 2 Chronicles 25:4, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” To understand the relationship between sacrifice and repentance one can look at Hosea 14:1-2, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.” This verse shows repentance can take the place of sacrifice. This can be seen more explicitly in Psalm 51:16-17, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” And in Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” It cannot get clearer than this and it would seem all these verses above contradict the verse from Hebrews quoted in the introduction and is in line with the Islamic understanding shown earlier, especially in Psalm 40:6, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but my ears you have opened, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.” Christian missionaries often say it was necessary for Christ to die for us and it could not be any other way. Firstly, all the verses above go against this notion, secondly, is it not in God’s power to forgive without becoming a man and dying? This would suggest that God is not all-powerful or not all-merciful as He is forced to forgive only with sacrifice rather than through repentance. Even the Catholic doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas recognizes this dilemma and comments in his Summa Theologica Part 3 Q.46, 

“On the contrary, Augustine says (De Trin. xiii): "We assert that the way whereby God deigned to deliver us by the man Jesus Christ, who is mediator between God and man, is both good and befitting the Divine dignity; but let us also show that other possible means were not lacking on God's part, to whose power all things are equally subordinate." I answer that, A thing may be said to be possible or impossible in two ways: first of all, simply and absolutely; or secondly, from supposition. Therefore, speaking simply and absolutely, it was possible for God to deliver mankind otherwise than by the Passion of Christ, because ‘no word shall be impossible with God.’”

While Aquinas believes that Christ’s sacrifice was the best way, it is not the only way. If humans have enough mercy to forgive our fellow man without requiring a payment and if God is more merciful than us, how could He not simply forgive? Furthermore, in the story of the prodigal son found in the Gospel of Luke, it is evident that the moral of the story is that one can always come to God for forgiveness, it is not that the good son sacrificed himself for his sinning brother, it is that the sinner can always be forgiven.

            In conclusion, the soteriological perspectives of Islam and Christianity differ significantly. Christianity teaches that salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ, who, as the Son of God, willingly sacrificed himself on the cross to atone for the sins of humanity. This concept of vicarious atonement is central to Christian theology. On the other hand, Islam emphasizes the mercy and forgiveness of Allah, who does not require a sacrifice for forgiveness but accepts sincere repentance. Islamic teachings reject the idea of original sin and emphasize personal responsibility for one's actions. While Christianity grapples with the question of how God can die and the justice of an innocent person dying for the guilty, Islam maintains that it is blasphemous to suggest that the eternal God can die and that forgiveness can be attained through sincere repentance. These divergent perspectives on soteriology reflect the theological and doctrinal differences between the two faiths.