Christianity vs Shia

Christianity versus Shia comparison chart
	Christianity	Shia
Place of worship	Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, home bible study, personal dwellings.	Mosque, Imambarah or Ashurkhana, Eidgah
Clergy	Priests, bishops, ministers, monks, and nuns.	Imaam (divinely guided), Ayatollah, Mujtahid, Allamah, Maulana, Hojatoleslam, Sayed, Mollah (colloquial)
Belief of God	One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity.	One God
Founder	The Lord Jesus Christ.	The Prophet Muhammad and Ali, his son in law.
Literal Meaning	Follower Of Christ.	party of Ali
Marriage	A Holy Sacrament.	Man may marry up to 4 women.
Scriptures	The Holy Bible	The Quran
Second coming of Jesus	Affirmed.	Affirmed
Population	Over two billion adherents worldwide.	200 million
Holy Days	Christmas (celebration of the birth of Jesus), Good Friday (death of Jesus), Sunday (day of rest), Easter (resurrection of Jesus), Lent (Catholicism), saints' feast days.	Ashura, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, Eid al ghadeer, Ashura, Mawlid
Use of statues and pictures	In Catholic & Orthodox Churches.	Not permitted, although pictures permitted as long as the imams are painted respectfully.
Practices	Prayer, sacraments (some branches), worship in church, reading of the Bible, acts of charity, communion.	Latm, arbaeen walk.
Life after death	Eternity in Heaven or Hell, in some cases temporal Purgatory.	Eternity in Heaven or Hell.
Belief	The Ante-Nicene Creed sums up Christian belief in the Holy Trinity.	One God, and Muhammad is his prophet.
View of the Buddha	Christians believe that the Buddha was a false teacher, and do not adhere to anything he taught.	N/A.
Day of worship	Sunday (most denominations), Saturday (Seventh-Day Adventist, Seventh-Day Baptist)	Friday.
Goal of religion	To love God and obey his commandments while creating a relationship with Jesus Christ and spreading the Gospel so that others may also be saved.	To love God and obey his commandments through the Progeny of the Prophet Muhammad.
Birth of Jesus	Virgin Birth, through God.	Virgin Birth
Geographical distribution and predominance	As the largest religion in the world, Christianity has adherents are all over the world. As a % of local population, Christians are in a majority in Europe, North and South America, and Australia and New Zealand.	Majority in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Syria and Lebanon. Minority across the globe.
Position of Mary	Mother Of Jesus. Revered in all denominations. Degree of reverence varies from denomination.	Mother of Jesus. Although Mary receives far more exultation from Muslims than she does from the average Protestant, Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, is venerated more than Mary, in Shia.
Use of Statues	Varies by denomination. Not used in Protestant denominations; icons are used in Catholic & Orthodox denominations.	Forbidden.
View of other Dharmic religions	N/A.	N/A
Death of Jesus	Death by crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Will return.	Denied. Jesus did not die on the cross, but his body went up to heaven.
Religion which atheists may still be adherents of	No.	No.
Identity of Jesus	The Son Of God.	Prophet.
Branches	Roman Catholics, independent Catholics, Protestants (Anglicans, Lutherans etc.), Orthodox (Greek orthodox, Russian orthodox).	Ismaili, Druze, Seveners, Twelvers
Authority of Pope	Leader and overseer of the Catholic Church. his authority is completely rejected by Protestants, and is viewed by Orthodox as first among equals. Orthodox and Protestants reject Papal infallibility and Papal supremacy.	N/A.
Promised Holy one.	Second Coming of Christ	Mahdi
Ressurection of Jesus	Affirmed.	Denied, as is His Crucifixion and Death.
View of other Abrahamic religions	Judaism is regarded as a True religion but incomplete (without Gospel, and Messiah) Islam is regarded as a false religion, Christianity does not accept the Qur'an as true.	Christianity and Judaism are "People of the Book."
Resurrection of Jesus	Affirmed	Denied. Jesus did not die on the cross. Jesus will come back down from heaven in the future.
Followers	Christian (followers of Christ)	Shiites
Original Language(s)	Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.	Arabic, Farsi
Offshoot religions	Rastafarianism, Universalism, Deism, Masonry and Mormonism.	Baha'i - a separate religion
Status of Muhammad	N/A.	The seal of the prophets.
View of God	One Trinity God, Who Is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.	One God.
Prophets	Prophets in the Bible are venerated.	Highly venerated, especially Muhammad, & his daughter Fatimah.
Jesus	Son Of God. Second person of the Trinity. God the Son.	Prophet and messiah, but, not the son of God, and did not die on the Cross.
Position of Abraham	Father of the faithful.	Father of the faithful.
Status of Vedas	N/A.	N/A.
View of other Oriental religions	N/A.	N/A.
Praying to Saints, Mary, and Angel	Encouraged in the Catholic & Orthodox Churches; most Protestants only pray directly to God.	They visit the graves of Fatimah, Ali, Husayn, and other holy men and women so that they may intercede for you.
Symbols	Cross, ichthys ("Jesus fish"), Mary and baby Jesus.	Hand of Fatima (Hamsa), Zulfiqar.
Original Language	Aramaic, Greek, and Latin	Arabic.
Abrahamic Lineage	Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.	Ismael.
On Clothing	Conservative Christians dress modestly; women may wear long skirts or dresses; men may wear dress clothes that do not show the chest, legs, and arms. More moderate or liberal Christians generally reject such clothing restrictions.	Modest clothing is obligatory.
View of Animistic religions	Paganism is Heathenism. Witchcraft is communication and interaction with demons, fallen evil angelic beings. These have no real interest ultimately, in helping their worshipers. Demonic possession is common.	Pagan, Idolatrous.
Related Religions	Islam, Judaism, Baha'i faith	Christianity, Judaism.
Names of God	God, Gud, Gott, Deo, Dios. Jehovah, YHWH, Eli Elohim, (depending on language Christians are of every language and culture around the world)	Allah.
No. of Gods and Godesses	1 God	1 God
imams identified as	N/A.	Divinely guided. Considered as the only legitimate interpreters of the Quran.
Revered People	Varies by sect/denomination. Saints, the Pope, cardinals, bishops, nuns, church pastors, or deacons.	Imams, Prophets, Ayatollahs, Saints.
Spiritual Beings	Angels, demons, spirits.	Angels, Jinns.
Sacred Texts	Christian Bible (includes Old and New Testaments). What is considered canon may vary slightly by sect/denomination.	Quran.
View on Abrahamic religions	All worship the One God.	Belivers in this world, disbelivers in the hereafter.
On LGBT	Varies. Christians who believe in more literal interpretations of the Bible rarely accept homosexuality; some see it as a crime. "Do not be deceived...men who have sex with men...will not inherit the kingdom of God." —1 Corinthians 6:9-10	Haram.
On Marriage/Divorce	Definition of marriage and divorce acceptance varies by sect/denomination. Bible includes examples of polygamy and monogamy and only condones divorce in cases of adultery.	Marriage is a sign of faith and completion of belief, divorce is one of the most hated actions.
Year Formed	28-33 CE.	632 CE. 10AH (Ghadeer khum)

Place of worship

Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, home bible study, personal dwellings.

Mosque, Imambarah or Ashurkhana, Eidgah

Clergy

Priests, bishops, ministers, monks, and nuns.

Imaam (divinely guided), Ayatollah, Mujtahid, Allamah, Maulana, Hojatoleslam, Sayed, Mollah (colloquial)

Belief of God

One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity.

One God

Founder

The Lord Jesus Christ.

The Prophet Muhammad and Ali, his son in law.

Literal Meaning

Follower Of Christ.

party of Ali

Marriage

A Holy Sacrament.

Man may marry up to 4 women.

Scriptures

The Holy Bible

The Quran

Second coming of Jesus

Affirmed.

Affirmed

Population

Over two billion adherents worldwide.

200 million

Holy Days

Christmas (celebration of the birth of Jesus), Good Friday (death of Jesus), Sunday (day of rest), Easter (resurrection of Jesus), Lent (Catholicism), saints' feast days.

Ashura, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, Eid al ghadeer, Ashura, Mawlid

Use of statues and pictures

In Catholic & Orthodox Churches.

Not permitted, although pictures permitted as long as the imams are painted respectfully.

Practices

Prayer, sacraments (some branches), worship in church, reading of the Bible, acts of charity, communion.

Latm, arbaeen walk.

Life after death

Eternity in Heaven or Hell, in some cases temporal Purgatory.

Eternity in Heaven or Hell.

Belief

The Ante-Nicene Creed sums up Christian belief in the Holy Trinity.

One God, and Muhammad is his prophet.

View of the Buddha

Christians believe that the Buddha was a false teacher, and do not adhere to anything he taught.

N/A.

Day of worship

Sunday (most denominations), Saturday (Seventh-Day Adventist, Seventh-Day Baptist)

Friday.

Goal of religion

To love God and obey his commandments while creating a relationship with Jesus Christ and spreading the Gospel so that others may also be saved.

To love God and obey his commandments through the Progeny of the Prophet Muhammad.

Birth of Jesus

Virgin Birth, through God.

Virgin Birth

Geographical distribution and predominance

As the largest religion in the world, Christianity has adherents are all over the world. As a % of local population, Christians are in a majority in Europe, North and South America, and Australia and New Zealand.

Majority in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Syria and Lebanon. Minority across the globe.

Position of Mary

Mother Of Jesus. Revered in all denominations. Degree of reverence varies from denomination.

Mother of Jesus. Although Mary receives far more exultation from Muslims than she does from the average Protestant, Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, is venerated more than Mary, in Shia.

Use of Statues

Varies by denomination. Not used in Protestant denominations; icons are used in Catholic & Orthodox denominations.

Forbidden.

View of other Dharmic religions

N/A.

N/A

Death of Jesus

Death by crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Will return.

Denied. Jesus did not die on the cross, but his body went up to heaven.

Religion which atheists may still be adherents of

No.

Identity of Jesus

The Son Of God.

Prophet.

Branches

Roman Catholics, independent Catholics, Protestants (Anglicans, Lutherans etc.), Orthodox (Greek orthodox, Russian orthodox).

Ismaili, Druze, Seveners, Twelvers

Authority of Pope

Leader and overseer of the Catholic Church. his authority is completely rejected by Protestants, and is viewed by Orthodox as first among equals. Orthodox and Protestants reject Papal infallibility and Papal supremacy.

N/A.

Promised Holy one.

Second Coming of Christ

Mahdi

Ressurection of Jesus

Affirmed.

Denied, as is His Crucifixion and Death.

View of other Abrahamic religions

Judaism is regarded as a True religion but incomplete (without Gospel, and Messiah) Islam is regarded as a false religion, Christianity does not accept the Qur'an as true.

Christianity and Judaism are "People of the Book."

Resurrection of Jesus

Affirmed

Denied. Jesus did not die on the cross. Jesus will come back down from heaven in the future.

Followers

Christian (followers of Christ)

Shiites

Original Language(s)

Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.

Arabic, Farsi

Offshoot religions

Rastafarianism, Universalism, Deism, Masonry and Mormonism.

Baha'i - a separate religion

Status of Muhammad

N/A.

The seal of the prophets.

View of God

One Trinity God, Who Is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

One God.

Prophets

Prophets in the Bible are venerated.

Highly venerated, especially Muhammad, & his daughter Fatimah.

Jesus

Son Of God. Second person of the Trinity. God the Son.

Prophet and messiah, but, not the son of God, and did not die on the Cross.

Position of Abraham

Father of the faithful.

Status of Vedas

N/A.

View of other Oriental religions

N/A.

Praying to Saints, Mary, and Angel

Encouraged in the Catholic & Orthodox Churches; most Protestants only pray directly to God.

They visit the graves of Fatimah, Ali, Husayn, and other holy men and women so that they may intercede for you.

Symbols

Cross, ichthys ("Jesus fish"), Mary and baby Jesus.

Hand of Fatima (Hamsa), Zulfiqar.

Original Language

Aramaic, Greek, and Latin

Arabic.

Abrahamic Lineage

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Ismael.

On Clothing

Conservative Christians dress modestly; women may wear long skirts or dresses; men may wear dress clothes that do not show the chest, legs, and arms. More moderate or liberal Christians generally reject such clothing restrictions.

Modest clothing is obligatory.

View of Animistic religions

Paganism is Heathenism. Witchcraft is communication and interaction with demons, fallen evil angelic beings. These have no real interest ultimately, in helping their worshipers. Demonic possession is common.

Pagan, Idolatrous.

Related Religions

Islam, Judaism, Baha'i faith

Christianity, Judaism.

Names of God

God, Gud, Gott, Deo, Dios. Jehovah, YHWH, Eli Elohim, (depending on language Christians are of every language and culture around the world)

Allah.

No. of Gods and Godesses

1 God

imams identified as

N/A.

Divinely guided. Considered as the only legitimate interpreters of the Quran.

Revered People

Varies by sect/denomination. Saints, the Pope, cardinals, bishops, nuns, church pastors, or deacons.

Imams, Prophets, Ayatollahs, Saints.

Spiritual Beings

Angels, demons, spirits.

Angels, Jinns.

Sacred Texts

Christian Bible (includes Old and New Testaments). What is considered canon may vary slightly by sect/denomination.

Quran.

View on Abrahamic religions

All worship the One God.

Belivers in this world, disbelivers in the hereafter.

On LGBT

Varies. Christians who believe in more literal interpretations of the Bible rarely accept homosexuality; some see it as a crime. "Do not be deceived...men who have sex with men...will not inherit the kingdom of God." —1 Corinthians 6:9-10

Haram.

On Marriage/Divorce

Definition of marriage and divorce acceptance varies by sect/denomination. Bible includes examples of polygamy and monogamy and only condones divorce in cases of adultery.

Marriage is a sign of faith and completion of belief, divorce is one of the most hated actions.

Year Formed

28-33 CE.

632 CE. 10AH (Ghadeer khum)