Judaism and Islam are two sides of the same counterfeit coin. Both exist to deceive and obscure the truth of Christ and Christianity and lead me astray. While they differ in history and practice, both ultimately reject God’s provision for man’s salvation through His Son, and replace it with the teachings and works of men.

By “Judaism,” I am not referring to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or the prophets of the Old Testament who looked forward in faith to the coming Redeemer; for this version no longer exists. I am referring to modern Rabbinic Judaism, often called Talmudic Judaism, whose foundations emerged after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. It bears little resemblance to the Old Testament faith of those who trusted that God Himself would provide the Lamb and restore man’s broken relationship with Him.

The Talmud contains sixty-three tractates of rabbinical writings interpreting and expanding upon the Law. It represents the continuation of the Pharisaical tradition described throughout the New Testament. According to rabbinic teaching, once God gave the Torah to Moses, its interpretation passed into human hands. The rabbis cited Deuteronomy 30:12—“It is not in heaven”—to argue that the authority to determine the Law no longer rested with God, but with those who interpreted it on earth, even if God Himself disagreed with their conclusions.

Rabbinic tradition even maintains the absurd claim that after losing a debate over the Law, God declared, “My children have defeated me! My children have defeated me!” From this reversal of authority grew the legalism of Talmudic Judaism, where man’s interpretation became supreme and righteousness was measured by obedience to an ever-expanding body of religious rules rather than by faith in God’s promised Redeemer.

This is more than a disagreement over doctrine. Once men believe they earn God’s favor through their own righteousness, they inevitably begin to see themselves as spiritually superior to those outside their religion. Pride becomes the natural fruit of a works-based faith.

That pride inevitably shapes how they view those outside their religion. Christians and other Gentiles were simply “goyim”—outsiders who stood beneath those who believed themselves to be God’s chosen people. The treatment of one’s enemies is often the clearest window into the true spirit of a religion.

Islam follows precisely the same pattern.

Muhammad claimed that an “angel of light” revealed a new message that superseded the teachings of Jesus, reducing Him to the status of a prophet and replacing the finished work of Christ with submission to the Quran and obedience to Allah. Like Rabbinic Judaism, Islam became a religion in which acceptance before God is pursued through works. In both systems, religious authority becomes inseparable from power over others, so that faith is expressed not through grace toward one’s enemies but through dominion over them.

The result is the same view of the outsider. Those who reject Islam are “kafirs”—infidels or rejectors of the truth. Throughout much of Islamic history they were expected to submit to Muslim rule or pay tribute in order to live under it. Even the name “Islam” means “submission.” As with Rabbinic Judaism, the religion’s view of salvation shaped its view of its enemies.

Long before Muhammad’s birth, however, the Apostle Paul warned that such claims would arise. In Galatians 1:8 he wrote, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

Christians therefore do not evaluate Muhammad’s claims by his sincerity, his success, or the number of his followers. They evaluate them by the standard already established by Scripture. A gospel delivered by an angel that contradicts the gospel of Christ is another gospel. It is to be rejected as false and because the tree only produces rotten fruit.

Despite their historical differences, Rabbinic Judaism and Islam ultimately reveal the same spiritual pattern. Both replace God’s authority with the authority of men. Both replace grace with works. Both divide humanity into the spiritually superior and the despised outsider. Their treatment of the “other” is not incidental—it is the natural consequence of believing that righteousness is earned rather than imputed.

The gospel of Jesus Christ produces the opposite result. Since no man can boast before God, Christians stand before Him solely by grace, clothed in the righteousness of an Other. The believer therefore has no grounds for despising his enemies, but is commanded to love them, pray for them, and call them to the same mercy he himself has received.

The most convincing counterfeits are not those that bear no resemblance to the truth, but those that imitate it closely enough to deceive those who do not know the genuine. Judaism and Islam are such counterfeits, for both obscure the only gospel by which men may be saved.