A Comparative Biography of Jesus in The Qur’an & The Bible

Jesus has been divinized a significant person in both Islam and Christianity.

The Qur’an and the Bible, as the main sources of the information about Jesus respectively in Islam and Christianity, has contained the biographical narrations of Jesus, covering his life and death. Both similarities and differences can be found in the Qur’an and the Bible about the narrations of Jesus’ life. This essay will provide a comparative biography of this noble Messenger of God in the Qur’an and the Bible.

• In both the Qur’an and the Bible, Jesus is narrated as having had an extraordinary birth. The extraordinariness of the birth of Jesus can be mainly reflected from his biological mother being a virgin. Muslims and Christians both believe that a chaste, virgin woman called Mary miraculously gave birth to the male baby, Jesus before marrying her fiancé, Joseph.

Evidence can be found in the Qur’an and the Bible about the startling birth of Jesus. As the Qur’an says, “she (Mary) said: ‘O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me.’ (Qur’an 3: 47) Similarly, Christians also believe that when Mary was married to a man called Joseph, while she was a virgin. According to the narration in the Bible, Joseph “kept her virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Bible: Matthew 1:25)

• Both Muslims and Christians believe Jesus is a Messenger of God. According to Qur’an, belief in the Messengership of Jesus is one fundamental criterion to judge the true identity of a Muslim.

As it is narrated with respect to the Messengership in the Quran, “the Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger before whom many Messengers have passed away; and his mother adhered wholly to truthfulness, and they both ate food (as other mortals do).” (Qur’an 5:75). Most Christians believe in the Divinity of Jesus and consider him as the second member of the Triune God, the Son of the first part of the Triune God, who assigned by God to perform certain holy mission.

As it is narrated in the Bible, “and now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretches out thy hand to heal, and sign and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.” (Bible: Acts 4: 30).

However, coexisting with the aforementioned similarities are some divergences of Muslims and Christians’ beliefs in term of the biography of Jesus in the Qur’an and the Bible. Two most representative ones are whether or not Jesus was the son of God as well as the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.