Are Christianity and Islam really that different?

When I was young I grew up in a Catholic school, but I was brought up Christian and only had friends that were Christian. But, now that I have grown up I have friends of many different religions, some of which are Muslim. I hope to learn more about the religion that I have grown up in and to be able to understand it and also to understand another religion with similar beliefs. I hope to explore the similarities and differences between Christians and Muslims. Are Christianity and Islam really that much different from each other?

In Israel, 2,000 years ago, a child was born to a Jewish couple. Jesus grew to be a captivating preacher, gathering disciples as he went. The Son of God performed miracles, they said: raising the dead, calming the waters of Galilee. Jerusalem's authorities, perceiving a threat, had Jesus executed. His followers, taking up the cross, built the world's largest religion in his name (Life 38-41).

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...

English: A green version of http://commons.wikimed...

Miniature of Muhammad re-dedicating the Black Ston...

Christianity is the first religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies. It has nearly two billion followers (Levinson 38, Life 17), and is based on the life and the teachings of Jesus Christ. It encompasses hundreds of denominations, but has three major branches--Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox. Each denomination has slightly different beliefs on Jesus and His teachings, but all consider Jesus the focus of their entire religion (Christianity 523). All Christians celebrate the important events in Jesus' life--His birth, His death, the crucifixion, and the resurrection (Levinson 38). The belief of Christians is that God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior and that Christianity teaches humanity that they can achieve that salvation through Jesus Christ (Salvation - A: Deliverance from the...