The Meads and Persians along with the astrologer Babylonians were the forerunners of today's Islamic culture. They worshipped the heavenly bodies including the moon while Daniel who worshipped Jehovah was thrown into the Lions Den simply because he did not worship the same God.
After Daniel survived his ordeal in the lions den King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwelt in all the earth: "Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions."
So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian who along with their countrymen worshipped the moon god and not Jehovah the God of Daniel the Jews and Christians.
By the time of Mohammed the religion of Arabia had survived with little change save deterioration. It had many deities, of whom Allah was chief but was scarcely worshipped although the worship of natural objects, of stones, like the Kaabah, and of images flourished. Debased forms of Judaism and Christianity were also practised. Many Arabs, known as Hanitites, rejected these, as well as the native faith, holding to a simple monotheism and absolute submission to Allah. They also practised asceticism and meditation. Mohammed came in contact with all these faiths, and HIS doctrine developed out of them, particularly from Hanifis. Mohammed's originality lay in his putting monotheism on a firm foundation, proclaiming it as an absolute revelation, and making it the centre of his creed and worship. Muhammad reduced the many deities to the one god called Allah six hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ while at the same time writing his own Holy Book the Koran.
Another difference between Christians and Islam is that Christians believe Jesus was the Son of God while Muslims do not. Their god Allah had three daughters.
For Christians, "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If people deny Christ they deny the One True God and they worship a false god.
Again the Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” Muslims say that Jesus was a prophet.
So here in Athens is the Apostle Paul who proclaimed the teaching of Jesus Christ and it was in Athens where he saw statues to the Greek gods, where the people to be on the safe side had included an alter to the “Unknown God” in addition to their other pagan gods who were:
Apollo God of music, prophecies, poetry, and archery.
Ares God of war and bloodshed.
Artemis Goddess of the hunt and wild things. Protector of the dewy young. She became associated with the moon.
Athena Goddess of wisdom, warfare, handicrafts and reason.
Demeter Goddess of fertility, grain, and harvest.
Dionysus God of wine, parties/festivals, and merriment.
Hephaestus God of fire and the forge.
Hera Goddess of marriage and love.
Hermes God of flight, thieves, and commerce.
Hestia Goddess of the hearth and home,
Poseidon God of the sea, horses and earthquakes.
Zeus King of the gods.
The legend to the unknown God was that there was a terrible plague in the city of Athens, and attempts to appease the gods and stop the plague had no effect. One of the wise men of the day brought a flock of sheep to the top of Mars Hill and released them. Wherever these sheep stopped, an altar was set up to an 'anonymous god' and the animal was sacrificed. This course of action was allegedly effective and the city returned to health, hence the alter to “An Unknown God.”
Returning from Mohammedanism and the Greek gods to Christianity, Paul the Apostle of Christ stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and began to tell them about the "God of Abraham" who he said is the one true God and He does not need to be unknown to you any more and with that he began to speak:
"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Then using this as his theme the Apostle Paul continued to tell them about the one true God who was unknown to them and explains that their unknown God is the God of creation, He is the God who made the world and everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. Neither is he served by human hands because he is the one who gives all men life and breath and everything else…..
Paul goes on to tell us and the Greeks that: “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.'
Then, we would know him for the living God he is.
