Christianity existed several centuries prior to the birth of Islam, and by the time Muhammad founded Islam in the Middle East, Christianity had moved its center to Europe, where it had firmly established itself as the official religion. But Christianity originally sprouted in the Middle East after Christ’s resurrection in A.D. 30. The church began in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and it initially preached the Gospel only to the Jews. It grew quite rapidly for a time—in fact, the book of Acts records the conversion of 3000 Jews in a single, extraordinary day.¹ During this early period, however, Christianity² did not expand far beyond Jerusalem and its vicinity. That would soon change. After the first few years of relative peace for the church, a terrible persecution broke out following the stoning of Stephen.³ Jewish leaders hunted down the followers of Jesus and threw them into prison. At this time many in the church scattered to the surrounding countryside of Judea and Samaria. Christianity’s worldwide expansion was beginning.

When Islam was founded about 550 years later, around the beginning of the seventh century, its initial experience was strikingly similar to the early experience of the Christian church. In 610 A.D. Muhammad—a native of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, Saudi Arabia—claimed that he received revelations from God that called him to preach a new religion called Islam. At first he began to do so secretly, but after three years he found the courage to proclaim his new faith publicly and gained a growing number of followers.⁴ However, his monotheistic message was not well received by many in his polytheistic city, where people were used to profiting from pagan pilgrims.⁵ As a result, the early Muslim converts faced persecution, just as the early Christians had. Islam’s growth was limited during this time, and it did not spread far beyond Mecca. Eventually the harassment forced Muhammad to leave Mecca, so he fled to Medina. Here he gathered many converts who became his militant followers. As with the early Christian church, therefore, persecution caused the first significant spread of Islam.

The histories of Christian and Muslim expansion, however, lost much of their similarity after the points of their initial dispersions caused by persecution. Christians, for example, generally established new churches in cities, intending that the gospel would diffuse into the countryside from there.⁶ But this made the spread of Christianity during the first two centuries an essentially urban phenomenon, and it became an urban religion. In contrast, Arabia had very few cities, so Islam spread mostly through villages and rural areas. Another contrast was that the Christian church continued to face persecution throughout its first two centuries, and yet it continued to grow. This served as a testimony to the power and truth of the Christian faith as God preserved his church in spite of persecution. On the other hand, persecution against Muslims had essentially ended by the time Muhammad died. Many such distinctions made the spread of Christianity and the spread of Islam extremely different.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the first two centuries of the expansion of Christianity and Islam was between the methods used to spread their messages. These methods stemmed from the beliefs of each religion. While Christians recognized the truth that God loves all people and wants them to have a personal relationship with Him, Muhammad taught that “Allah loveth not those who reject Faith.”⁷ These contrasting attitudes caused Christians and Muslims to go about conversion in different manners. During their first two centuries, Christians did not force their religion on others but relied on missionaries, preaching, and leading godly lives to draw people to the one true God.⁸ Muslims, on the other hand, did not rely solely on preaching to spread their faith—they turned also to the sword. While it is true that many did convert willingly to Islam, the Muslims also conquered vast areas of land in the Middle East and Northern Africa during the seventh and eighth centuries. When they attacked or occupied new territory, they gave its inhabitants three options: convert to Islam, pay a special tax, or die. Under these circumstances many chose to pay the tax, and many others chose to convert to Islam. Clearly, the Islamic method of expansion did not match the loving approach of Christianity.

The differing methods of expansion actually helped determine the area each religion would cover as it spread. Christians during the first two centuries traveled from city to city in the Roman Empire, taking advantage of the excellent Roman roads. As a result, the first two centuries saw the Gospel spread primarily in Roman territory,⁹ although it was also carried to some other areas, including Ethiopia and perhaps even India.¹⁰ By the year 200 A.D., Christian communities existed throughout the Middle East and Turkey, and there were several in Greece and Italy as well. Islam, however, spread from Saudi Arabia and conquered most of the Middle East and North Africa. Muslims even extended themselves into the Iberian Peninsula and pressed north, nearly reaching Paris before Charles Martel checked their advance by defeating them at the Battle of Tours in 732.¹¹ Because Islam advanced by force, it met with hostility and resistance in Europe, where Christianity was already strong. But in other areas, such as Egypt and Syria, it was accepted readily by people who had been living under suppressive rule.¹² As a result of its method of expansion, therefore, Islam could not spread far north into Europe—as Christianity had done during the Roman Empire—but remained in the territory south of Europe instead.

Clearly, the first two centuries of Christian expansion differed greatly from Islam’s first two centuries of expansion, in spite of some early similarities. Although the spread of both religions was initially sparked by persecution, they went about spreading their messages in very different ways. As a result of Christianity’s reliance on missionaries—who used the Roman roads—it spread primarily in the Roman Empire. Since Islam, on the other hand, used force to expand its territory, it could not expand far into Europe because it met military opposition. Instead it engulfed most of the Middle East and North Africa. Even today the marks of Christianity and Islam can be seen in the areas where they first spread. After its first two centuries of expansion, Christianity eventually became the official religion of the Roman Empire,¹³ and it profoundly influenced the development of Europe and, consequently, of the Americas. Islam still remains dominant in much of the Middle East and North Africa where it once created an empire, and this area has now become a hot spot for conflict. As prophesied in Genesis 16:11-12, "...Ishmael ... will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he will live at odds with all his kin." Prime examples of this are Iraqi agression and Arab nations attacks on Israel. Ishmael's descendants have pursued a course of violence that only increased with the spread of Islam. A twisted Christianity reacted to Ishmael's agression during the Crusades but true Christianity follows Christ, the Prince of Peace. Unlike Ishmael's children who follow Mohammad's example of coercive and violent expansion. Over time, therefore, the spread of these two religions continues to drastically impact the stability of the entire world.

Return¹See Acts chapter 2.

Return²At this time Christianity was called the “Way.” Followers of Christ were not called Christians until the Gospel reached the city of Antioch.

Return³See Acts 7:54 through Acts 8:3.

Return⁴Charles Kimball, “The Islamic Explosion,” A General History of the Middle East, http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/neareast/ne09.html (7 January 2004).

Return⁵Kimball, “The Islamic Explosion.” Also see Acts 19:23-34 for a similar reaction when the Christian faith spread to Ephesus.

Return⁶Charles Kimball, “The Development of the Early Church,” A History of Christianity, http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/church/xr01.html (6 January 2004).

Return⁷Quoted from Chapter 3, verse 32 of the Yusufali translation of the Qur’an. (Compare this verse to the Bible verse John 3:16.) “Al-E-Imran (The Family of ‘Imran, the House of Imran),” The Noble Qur’an, http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/003.qmt.html (8 January 2004).

Return⁸In 1 Peter 2:12 the Apostle Peter instructed his readers to “live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (NIV)

Return⁹Click here to see a map of the spread of Christianity up to 185 A.D.

Return¹⁰Ken Anderson, “Expansion of Christianity,” Christianity Expands, http://www.kenanderson.net/bible/expansion.html (6 January 2004).

Return¹¹At the Battle of Tours Charles Martel accomplished a rare feat by overcoming Muslim cavalry with infantry. This turned back the tide of Islam at a crucial point and prevented it from sweeping across Europe. In retrospect, it seems that God used this apparently miraculous victory to protect Christian Europe from an invasion that would have drastically changed history and severely damaged the church.

Return¹²Kimball, “The Islamic Explosion.”

Return¹³The emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in A.D. 380.

Sources:

Anderson, Ken. “Expansion of Christianity.” Christianity Expands. http://www.kenanderson.net/bible/expansion.html (6 January 2004).

“Al-E-Imran (The Family of ‘Imran, the House of Imran).” The Noble Qur’an, http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/003.qmt.html (8 January 2004).

Kimball, Charles. “The Development of the Early Church.” A History of Christianity. http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/church/xr01.html (6 January 2004).

Kimball, Charles. “The Islamic Explosion.” A General History of the Middle East. http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/neareast/ne09.html (7 January 2004).

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