Written by: Zachary Batten
The entire Bible is man's interpretation, thus making it harder to believe in and follow. Christianity is completely based on the interpretation of the disciples of Jesus. For the Gospels are titled "The Gospel According to Mathew" or "The Gospel According to Mark". Which raises a huge discrepancy, we have no proof these men were writing while these things were happening. So if they did in fact write at all it was after everything transpired. This raises an authenticity issue, because we have no real way of knowing if they made any mistakes at all. Since the Gospels are very well written in the sense they give much detail it is hard to believe they could recall such events after in great detail. For instance we see in my previous article that Mark 16:9-20 is considered a fabrication, for it is not among the early transcripts. Nor does it fit the way Mark wrote in the rest of the Gospel. This makes it even harder to believe they had the ability to recall events in great detail.
Stepping aside the Bible itself I would like to address the sects of Christianity. This topic is very big so I will only cover basic views. In Christianity there are over 33,000 Christian denominations around the world. Many are categorized in several ways. Such as there are different sects of Protestants, or many group all Orthodox and Catholic similarly. The main problem though is that several things key to Christianity are not in the Bible at all. Such as Christian, Trinity, or church. This is because the followers of Christ identified themselves as Jews. They followed Jewish tradition and every law. The technically closest to this are the Puritans that lived in the northern colonies of America. They practiced Jewish law and even honored the Sabbath day. Yet many Protestants claim Jesus peace be upon him died so we do not have to live by such code. While Catholic and Orthodox Christians follow their own traditions entirety. Then the Puritans and Protestants claim Catholicism and Orthodoxy separate religions and not Christianity! So who do you believe? Well let's name some of these sects we have the Baptists, the Quakers, the Lutherans, the Anglicans, the Evangelicals, the Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Orthodoxy, and many many more. Each and every single one believes their views are right and the proper way to follow. Truly in some sects there aren't really any differences, not even the followers know some times! So who do you follow? How can you know which one is true? Well let's look at the Bible. Does the Bible say Jesus peace be upon him claimed divinity? No, does the Bible say Jesus peace be upon him went to church on Sunday? No, rather he honored Jewish tradition and prayed in the Temple. Does the Bible say Jesus peace be upon taught confessions, hail Mary, or saints? No, there is none of this in the Bible. In Islam there are sects as well, but they are extremely small in most ways. The two biggest are Sunnis and Shiites. Which a Sunni is someone by definition follows the Quran and Sunnah (traditions and path of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ). While Shiites follow the Ali and the family of the Prophet ﷺ. Really the main difference though is who should be the leader of the Muslims in an Islamic State (not referring to ISIS). Shiites believe it should be only the family of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. While Sunnis believe it should be who the people choose. Yes there are some differences in teachings, traditions, and practices, but this is the main difference. There are "73" sects in Islam. We can find this authentic Hadith:
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr
That Allah's Messenger (saws) said: There will befall my Ummah exactly all those evils which befell the people of Israel (Jews and Christians),so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother, there will be amongst my Ummah one,who will do the same. And if the people of Israelwere fragmented into seventy-two sects, my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect. The noble Companions asked: O Allah's Messenger (saws), which one is that? Whereupon he (saws) said: It is one to which I and my companions belong.
There is even a site documenting the list of sects:
In Islam dividing into sects is clearly forbidden. This is why you find the people who are identified as Sunni do usually not call themselves such. Rather if asked state they are Muslim. While those whom usually divide into sects not only declare their, but calls true Muslims Sunnis. We find in Quran 6:159:
Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything. Their affair is only [left] to Allah ; then He will inform them about what they used to do.
The word sect is actually Shia. Islam is very clear that sects are forbidden, but in Christianity it's hard not to go to a church that is not a denomination. My former church was a non denominational church and I myself was a nondenominational Christian, but I was still following Protestant beliefs. Christian beliefs mostly man made, thus making it hard to pick a church to go. In Islam you will find that the majority of Muslims are not in or indentify with any sect. This makes Islam the clear winner when it comes to understanding and implementing the true teachings of the religion.
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