A documentary which aired on ITV on Sunday explaining how Muslims portray Jesus has provoked fresh debate among religious groups.
The one-hour special, 'The Muslim Jesus', commissioned and narrated by Melvyn Bragg, used the Koran as its main source and featured various interviews with scholars and historians.
Producers said the documentary hoped to show that Islam honours Jesus as a prophet but not as the Son of God.
Elements of the programme that have enflamed debate referred to teachings that there was no manger and that the crucifixion never took place.
According to the Koran, the crucifixion was simply a divine illusion, and Jesus did not die on the cross, but was rescued by angels and taken to heaven.
In the Bible, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and crucified by the Romans. However, the Koran says this only appeared to happen.
Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf Hanson said: "In the Christian narrative the most central and fundamental point of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but Islam basically denies that. The Koran states that it was made to appear that Jesus was crucified as when the Romans captured Jesus God organised a rescue operation."
Andy Bannister from the London School of Theology says that Christians disagree: "One or two secular scholars have said that the crucifixion of Jesus is one of the most historically verifiable events of the first century. We have such good evidence for it.
"So there is absolutely no way the first Christians would have wanted to invent that story. The crucifixion was about the most embarrassingly and the most socially disreputable way you could die in the first century. So to claim that for your Lord and your Master is never going to happen."
Another major difference between Islam and Christianity is on the second coming of Jesus. Both Muslims and Christians agree that Jesus will return to defeat the "Antichrist", referred to by Muslims as "Dajal". The Bible uses more metaphorical language to describe the event, whereas Islamic tradition offers an exact physical description of exactly what will happen when Jesus comes back.
Islam believes the world will become filled with oppression and injustice and Christ will return in an eastern part of Damascus, his hands resting on the shoulders of two angels.
