Eight Arguments to Prefer Christianity to Islam

June 25, 2019 • John Vandivier

This article presents eight arguments over three categories to show that Christianity should be preferred over Islam. The main reason we should prefer Christianity over Islam, or Judaism, is because Christianity is true. The first category contains three arguments for the truth of the resurrection of Jesus.

Many things are true, however, and not all of them are valuable. It's true that doctors have developed chemotherapy which may stop the growth of cancer. Should I go get chemotherapy? Of course not, I don't have cancer. So I would only get pain with no reward. Section 2 contains two good reasons that we should follow Christianity. The interesting thing about these arguments is that they hold whether or not Christianity is actually true. These arguments also allow show that we should follow Christianity even if other religions are also true, and even if we believe Christianity is true without certainty.

Section 3 contains a six arguments directly against Islam. These arguments are in addition to the obvious argument that Christianity is true and Christianity and Islam cannot both be true, therefore Islam is false. The arguments in this section are only a small sample of the total number of good arguments against Islam. There are literally dozens, perhaps more than a hundred, arguments which can be made against Islam. Check out David Wood on Youtube for more of these.

Section 1: Resurrection

In the below clip, William Lane Craig argues that the entire Christian faith only has value because a real, historical person named Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead:

https://youtu.be/hL-zJzE5clA?t=1563

This is is the same message we hear in the Christian scripture itself. 1 Corinthians 15:14 states:

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

There are 3 good and distinct arguments for the resurrection:

The minimal facts argument shows that the death and resurrection of Jesus can be built off of as little as four facts to which virtually all historical or biblical new testament scholars agree, including non-Christian scholars.
The Bible says Jesus rose from the dead and the Bible is historically and textually valid.
The apostles were all martyred. This was a special martyrdom, because they did not die to prove they believed things they heard, but they died because they believed they actually saw Jesus rise from the dead.

Section 2: The Benefits of Christianity

The first argument is that because Christianity presents more value than Islam or Judaism because it has an eternal reward with low cost and risk. Christianity is unique in the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, while Judaism and Islam both have salvation by works.

The second argument is that at least some Christians believe in the so-called assurance of salvation. What this means is that once the Christian is saved they cannot stop being saved. I'm not sure but I believe in both Judaism and Islam it's possible to lose your salvation if you do something bad enough.

There are of course a number of other benefits outside of these arguments. Christianity enables a peaceful, prosperous, and free society. Christian practices like marriage are associated with secular measures of success. Christianity has fewer food restrictions than any other Abrahamic religion, and so on.

Section 3: 6 Arguments Against Islam

Paul Died as a Martyr; Muhammad Died as a False Prophet (PvM 21)
Muhammad's \"Revelations\" Were Self-Serving; Paul's Weren't (PvM 15)
Muhammad Was Influenced by Paganism; Paul Wasn't (PvM 11)
Muhammad's Message Insults God; Paul's Doesn't (PvM 25)
In Islam, the worst possible sin is shirk. Yet, according to Muslim sources, Muhammad himself committed shirk.
1. Compare this to Jesus, who is loving, sinless, and perfect.
Muhammad wasn't sure about his own salvation. Three articles: