Differences of Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic beliefs

Last night at my parish we had a speaker come and talk a little bit about the history and communication between the Church and Muslims. I found the talk interesting, but I felt as though I did not get enough information about all the different differences between what us Christians believe and what the Muslims believe. I know that all three religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Muslims all believe in God, but other than that there are quite a few differences in all three religious beliefs. I found the chart below somewhat helpful in learning more about where all three religions stand on certain important points in the faith.

Comparison of Religious Beliefs

	Islam	Judaism	Christianity
type of theism	strict monotheism	strict monotheism	Trinitarian monotheism
ultimate reality	one God	one God	one God
names of God	Allah (Arabic for God)	Yahweh, Elohim	Yahweh, the Holy Trinity
other spiritual beings	angels, demons, jinn	angels and demons	angels and demons
revered humans	prophets, imams (especially in Shia)	prophets	saints, church fathers
identity of Jesus	true prophet of God, whose message has been corrupted	false prophet	Son of God, God incarnate, savior of the world
birth of Jesus	virgin birth	normal birth	virgin birth
death of Jesus	did not die, but ascended into heaven during crucifixion	death by crucifixion	death by crucifixion
resurrection of Jesus	denied	denied	affirmed
second coming of Jesus	affirmed	denied	affirmed
divine revelation	through Muhammad, recorded in Qur'an	through Prophets, recorded in Bible	through Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself), recorded in Bible
view of sacred text	inspired, literal word of God, inerrant in original languages	views vary	inspired, some believe inerrant in original languages
human nature	equal ability to do good or evil	two equal impulses, one good and one bad	"original sin" inherited from Adam - tendency towards evil
means of salvation	correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars	belief in God, good deeds	correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments (some Protestants emphasize faith alone)
God's role in salvation	predestination	divine revelation and forgiveness	predestination, various forms of grace
good afterlife	eternal paradise	views vary: either heaven or no afterlife	eternal heaven
bad afterlife	eternal hell	views vary: either eternal Gehenna, reincarnation, or no afterlife	eternal hell, temporary purgatory (Catholicism)
view of fellow Abrahamic religions	Jews and Christians are respected as "People of the Book," but they have wrong beliefs and only partial revelation.	Islam and Christianity are false interpretations and extensions of Judaism.	Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete revelation. Islam is a false religion.