born sinless is the most telling indication of all that the
Koran’s teachings about Adam and Eve, and about sin in
general, are garbled representations of Christian teaching.
- Does Islam have a theology of salvation? If so,
how does it differ from the Catholic view?
In Islam, only Muslims can be saved since the only
religion accepted by Allah on Judgment Day will be Islam.
‘‘If anyone desires a religion other than Islam [submission
to Allah], never will it be accepted of him; and in the
Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost [all
spiritual good]’’ (Sura 3:85).
In the Koran, judgment for Muslims proceeds
according to the scales. If one’s good deeds outweigh his
bad deeds, he will enter Paradise; if they do not, he will
enter Hell: ‘‘And as for those whose scale is light [with good
deeds]: those are they who lose their souls because they
used to wrong Our revelations’’ (Sura 7:9).
The Catholic faith has always rejected the notion that
we can ‘‘earn’’ our salvation through good deeds. No finite,
sinful creature can merit Heaven. It is only through faith in
the saving life, death, and resurrection of the infinite God-
Man, Jesus, can we have eternal life. Salvation is a gift that
is merely accepted or rejected, but never earned. Of course,
we must accept this gift of salvation by remaining in God’s
grace by avoiding serious sin. This grace impels us to good
works. Accordingly, St. Paul’s trenchant analysis of the
impossibility of being saved through good works applies as
much to Islam as it did to Pharisaic Judaism.