Ideological Elements from the Perspective of the Quran and the New Testament

By the function of religion we mean its services for and effects on the society. This paper aims at a comparative study of the views of the Quran and the New Testament on the ideological function of religion. The New Testament and the Quran agree on the fact that only the United God is the creator and the object of worship. Although the Christians, contrary to the explicit text of their Holy Book, the Bible, believe in Trinity, both the Bible and the Quran acknowledge Divine Unity and resurrection, and are similar in their descriptions of the Hell and the Heaven. However, they diverge on their definition and interpretation of the worlds after death and on how resurrection takes place. The New Testament describes the religious tasks of the prophets to be of an invitation type and aimed at the life to come, whereas the Quran introduces two goals for the messengers: one related to this material life and the other one related to the Hereafter; that is, the prophets are appointed to invite people to monotheism, and to guide them to achieve prosperity and establish justice, or in other words to felicitous and honorable material life.