Islam and Christianity

Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world and have influenced the art, politics, and culture of societies around the globe for the last 1,500 years. Over the centuries, these two Abrahamic religions, which share foundational beliefs, have evolved significantly as new adherents incorporated local customs into their religious practices and schisms occurred over conflicting theology and leadership disputes. 

In this task, you will examine the spread of Islam and Christianity throughout Africa and Eurasia from each religion’s place of origin. You will also examine how each religion spread as well as how each religion changed as it was adopted by people from different cultural backgrounds.

A.   Analyze, including specific examples, the similarities and differences in the diffusion of Christianity and Islam (suggested length of 1–2 pages) from their founding until 1500 C.E. by doing the following:

1.   Describe one similarity in how Christianity and Islam spread from their places of origin.

2.   Describe one difference in how Christianity and Islam spread from their places of origin. 

3.   Explain why the beliefs and practices of Christianity and Islam changed as they spread.