Do Christianity and Islam worship the same God? Can two entirely different kinds of religion be used to worship the same deity?I think that this issue arises because of a confusion of two aspects of religion. 1. a recognition of what is true 2. the approach to incorporating this truth into our lives.
Monotheistic religions such as Islam and Christianity hold that there is one God. 'The Lord your God, the Lord is One' Deuteronomy 6.4
This also makes sense philosophically, since the omnipotence of God excludes anything that might limit God (so be more powerful). More than one god would limit each other (what one is, the other is not; where one is, the other is not etc...).
If there is only one God, by default, all worship offered to one God must be offered to the same one, even if we argue about who that God is, his revelation and so forth.
It is part of the Christian religion that there is only one God, so there is no possibility that Muslims are worshiping another one, unless of course that god is not God.
From a Christian point of view then, for Muslims to be worshiping God at all, they must be worshiping the only God there is, even if we think they are wrong about who he is and what he has said.
This is the second point. Religions (these religions at least) are not *used* for worship, but are the content of and response to God calling humanity to himself. Yet, this calling has not been universally understood in the same way. So the same God is the object of completely different and competing understandings.
Nevertheless, it might also be worth pointing out that the One God is traditionally called the God of Abraham and Islam considers Abraham to be its father in faith too, although, typically, with quite a different explanation of this truth.
In sum then, Christians and Muslims do worship the same God, but simply because there is only one God to worship. It is just that one of us is worshipping what we don't know (cf. John 4.19-24).
Christianity knows God has revealed himself as Trinity. This revelation is for our good and enables worship to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. In this way, God calls us to share in his divine life.
6 comments:
Am pleased with your answer as I had recently had a discussion with a friend who said that of course Christians and Moslems did not worship the same God.
To me it seemed logical to believe that we do, as we believe that there is only one God therefore we cannot each worship a different God.
that is the best way I have ever heard it put. many thanks!
Christians and Muslims do worship the same God, but simply because there is only one God to worship. It is just that one of us is worshipping what we don't know.
Surely by this arguement, we would go down the erroneous path and say that all religions worship the same God?
One also has to consider whether the revelation of Mohammed is indeed authentic. One of the 99 names of God in Islam, is God "the deciever". Is this the same God, that Christians worship too, despite the fact Our Lord says he is "the truth" and by default cannot decieve?
In response to Antonio:
The answer to your first question is no. I think you misunderstand what it means to "worship the same God". There is only one God so if worship is really directed to God then it can only be to the one God. The question you raise should focus on whether or not other religions worship God at all.
"It is part of the Christian religion that there is only one God, so there is no possibility that Muslims are worshipping another one, unless of course that god is not God."
Of course we have to consider whether or not Mohammed's revelation is authentic, but I don't think this post is attempting to address this question.
"Of course we have to consider whether or not Mohammed's revelation is authentic, but I don't think this post is attempting to address this question."
It's really very simple. If Mohammed's revelation is authentic, then Christianity cannot be true. You can only choose one or the other.
Muslims worship a monotheist God that is emphatically unitarian, with a clear rejection of Trinity and Incarnation. Christians worship a monotheist God who is emphatically trinitarian, the Second Person become human in Christ.
You can be respectful without fudging. In fact, you can only be respectful of both religions by noting the unbridgeable theolgoical gap between them.
In response to Anonymous:
Regarding Muhammad's revelation; I do not believe that his revelation was authentic and you are perhaps correct to point out if it where then Christianity would not be true. However that is totally irrelevant to the question.
To proceed to your second statement. You still seem to be misunderstanding what the original post meant. There is only one God. It is impossible for Muslims or any other religion to be worshipping any other God- they just don't exist.
This can lead to two possibilities, either Muslims are worshipping God but just don't understand his true identity or they are not worshipping God but are in fact worshipping a false god. Consider Ba‘al in the Old Testament. Many are condemned by the prophets for for worshipping this god- however Ba‘al cannot possibly be a god as there is only one God, he is in fact an idol. This could possibly be the same for modern religions. I would stress that in the example of the OT gods the followers are engaged in many immoral practices and so it is not really a fair comparison to modern Muslims.
Religions (these religions at least) are not *used* for worship, but are the content of and response to God calling humanity to himself. Yet, this calling has not been universally understood in the same way. So the same God is the object of completely different and competing understandings.
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