The Muslim Jesus

My wife and I had a great conversation last night with some very neat people heading short term to work with refugees. We talked about Islam at length, and especially about Muslim's perspective on Jesus. Here's a list of some of the things Muslims believe already about the prophet Isa (Arabic for Jesus):

• Jesus was born of a virgin
• Jesus performed many miracles, something Mohammad never did
• Jesus is called the 'Word from God' and the 'Spirit from God' in the Qur'an
• Muslims don't believe Jesus died, but fainted on the cross, or that Judas took his place
• Jesus ascended into heaven and lives today
• Muslims believe Jesus will come back some day, they are waiting for his return

Pretty fascinating? Muslims are essentially Old Testament Pharisees. There is really little difference in the theology of Orthodox Judaism and Islam, except for Jesus and the prophet Mohammad. Muslims believe in the Torah, Psalms and the Gospels, and the Qur'an as their holy books and have much in common with Christians and Jews. In fact Christians probably have more theologically in common with Muslims than with Jews!