Muhammad as a False Prophet in Light of Galatians 1:8

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute

In Galatians 1:8, the Apostle Paul delivers one of the strongest warnings in the New Testament:

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.” (NASB)

Paul affirms the finality and sufficiency of the gospel: salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works of the Law (Galatians 2:16). Any attempt to modify or distort this gospel, even through supposed angelic revelation, falls under divine condemnation. Paul’s immediate concern was with the Judaizers who were undermining the sufficiency of Christ by requiring Gentile converts to adopt Mosaic law. Yet the principle applies universally: no subsequent prophet, teacher, or angelic messenger may introduce a rival gospel.

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Muhammad and the False Gospel

When considered against Paul’s benchmark, the message of Muhammad fits precisely into the category of “another gospel.” The Qur’an:

• Denies Jesus as the Son of God (Qur’an 4:171),

• Rejects His deity (Qur’an 5:72–73),

• Denies His crucifixion and atonement (Qur’an 4:157).

In doing so, Islam dismantles the essence of the Christian gospel: that God, in the person of His Son, reconciled humanity to Himself through the cross and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:18–21; Romans 10:9). By presenting a Jesus who is merely a prophet and not the incarnate Son of God, Muhammad proclaimed a message fundamentally opposed to apostolic teaching.

Moreover, Muhammad claimed angelic mediation through Jibril (Gabriel), precisely the kind of revelation Paul warns against in Galatians 1:8. Hence, by apostolic authority, Muhammad’s message stands condemned as a false gospel.

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Biblical Parallels: John’s Warning Against Antichrists

The Apostle John further reinforces this point in his letters. In 1 John 2:22, he writes:

“Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.”

Similarly, in 1 John 4:2–3, John provides a theological test:

“Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist.”

And again in 2 John 7, he warns:

“Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Muhammad’s denial of Christ’s Sonship, deity, and incarnation places him squarely within John’s category of antichrist. Thus, not only Paul’s standard in Galatians 1:8 but also John’s test in 1 John identify Muhammad’s gospel as false, deceptive, and antithetical to the truth revealed in Christ.

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Historical Christian Responses to Muhammad

From the earliest centuries of Islam, Christian thinkers recognized the incompatibility of Muhammad’s message with the gospel.

• John of Damascus (c. 675–749), in De Haeresibus, described Islam as the “heresy of the Ishmaelites” and Muhammad as a false prophet who borrowed from Christianity and Judaism while distorting their truths.^1

• Peter the Venerable (1092–1156), in Summa totius haeresis Saracenorum, described Islam as a Christian heresy aimed at seducing believers away from Christ.^2

• Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), in Summa Contra Gentiles, argued that Muhammad offered no divine confirmation of his message through miracles or prophecy, but rather spread his doctrine by violence, making it a counterfeit revelation.^3

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Christian Apologists on Muhammad’s Message

Modern Christian apologists continue this line of analysis:

• Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, in Answering Islam, demonstrate how Islam presents a radically different Jesus—a prophet subordinate to Muhammad rather than the eternal Son of God.^4

• Josh McDowell emphasizes that Christianity and Islam are mutually exclusive: if Christ is the divine Son who died and rose again, then Islam’s denial of these truths makes it a false gospel.^5

• William Lane Craig has also noted that Islam’s Christology not only contradicts biblical revelation but logically undermines its own claim to continuity with the biblical prophets.^6

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Conclusion

When evaluated in light of Scripture, history, and apologetics, Muhammad fulfills the role of the false prophets predicted by Jesus (Matthew 24:11, 24) and condemned by Paul (Galatians 1:8). His denial of Christ’s Sonship and deity places him under John’s category of “antichrist,” while his claim to angelic revelation brings him under Paul’s anathema.

The consistent judgment of the church—from the early fathers to modern apologists—affirms that Muhammad proclaimed “another gospel,” one that leads away from the saving truth of Christ. Therefore, in the words of Paul, Muhammad and the message he proclaimed must be regarded as accursed.

The task of the church remains the same as in Paul’s time: to hold fast to the one true gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, crucified and risen for the redemption of the world.

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References

1. John of Damascus, De Haeresibus, in The Fathers of the Church, trans. Frederic H. Chase (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1958).

2. Peter the Venerable, Summa totius haeresis Saracenorum, in Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, ed. David Thomas (Leiden: Brill, 2009).

3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 1, Ch. 6–7.

4. Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002).

5. Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993).

6. William Lane Craig, “The Concept of God in Islam and Christianity,” in Philosophia Christi 5, no. 1 (2003): 53–72.

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