The Difference Between Historical Islam and Historical Christianity

Many Muslims like to point out the atrocities committed by the Christian Crusaders during the 4 Crusades, but what they do not realize is the difference between authentic Christianity and historical Christianity. Original Christianity taught that Christians should love their enemies, pray for their enemies, and the missionaries spread Christianity by preaching, not by the sword. These things are clearly stated in the New Testament. At no time are Christians commanded to fight to spread or even defend Christianity.

The Crusades took place over 1,000 years after the coming of Christ, during that time it became mixed with paganism and religious beliefs developed that had nothing to do with the teachings of the New Testament. The printing press had not yet been invented, and copies of the Bible were not available to the common man, so the average Christian had never read the Bible. The Catholic Church did not spend time teaching the moral lessons of the Bible, there were no Sunday School Classes, the only teaching was to believe in the Catholic Church and go to confessions, pray to saints, and that sort of thing. The people were not taught to love their neighbors as they would themselves, or other important foundational New Testament beliefs. As a result, those Christians that took part in the Crusades did not know the teachings of the Bible and were not representatives of genuine Christianity.

However, those Muslims that invaded Syria, Persia, and Egypt, killing and looting, were led by men who had known Mohammed personally before his death in 632 A.D. And unlike the New Testament, the Quran teaches that Muslims should hate and kill their enemies. Since the Quran is much shorter than the Bible and even shorter than the New Testament, many people actually memorized the entire Quran. So the Muslims knew what Mohammed taught and were led by men who knew Mohammed, therefore, they have no excuse.

The Christianity of the Crusades was not genuine Christianity, but the Islam that invaded and conquered many nations of the Middle East and North Africa was genuine Islam. So when Muslims point out the events of the Crusades, it is not relevant to true Christianity, but the atrocities committed by Muslims throughout history is relevant and does reflect genuine Islam.