Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Islam and Christianity; Same God?

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Devotion VIDEO here

“You must not have any other god but me.”  Exodus 20:3(NLT)
Islam, the faith of the Muslim community, and Christianity have some core beliefs in common; the question which is disturbing and often missed entirely by both groups is:  do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?

Two weeks ago Professor Larycia Hawkins at Wheaton College (a Christian university) was put on administrative leave to reconsider her statements that the college considers inconsistent with Christian doctrine:

[She] “…had stated on Facebook, I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book.  And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.” [2]

Responding in an article, former Muslim, Nabeel Qureshi wrote:

…the Christian God, both in terms of what he is (Triune) and who he is (Father, Son, and Spirit) is not just different from the Muslim God; He is fundamentally incompatible.  According to Islam, worshiping the Christian God is not just wrong; it sends you to Hell.  They are not the same God.[3]

Qureshi states three reasons he makes this assertion:

1.     Christians believe Jesus is God, but the Quran is so opposed to this belief that it condemns Jesus worshipers to Hell (5.72)

2.     According to Jesus, God is our Father, yet the Quran very specifically denies that Allah is a father (112.1-4). In fact, in 5.18, the Quran tells Muslims to rebuke Jews and Christians for calling God their loving Father because humans are just things that God has created.

3.     Islam roundly condemns worship of the Trinity (5.73), establishing in contrast its own core principle: Tawhid, the absolute oneness of God. Tawhid specifically denies the Trinity, so much so that it is safe to say the doctrine of God in Christianity is antithetical to the doctrine of God in Islam. Not just different but completely opposed to one another.

Qureshi makes the important point that because people hold different ideas about God, we ought not demonize them.  This only creates more hostility – and that’s one thing our culture does not need.

On the other hand, serious Christians should have these differences held in clear distinction in order to help others who blindly state that we all serve the same God.   Nothing could be further from the truth.

How you “view” God and the doctrines you hold about how God treats people, thinks about people and wants us to treat people, will create your worldview, and color all your decisions. 

I personally think we can stand in solidarity with Muslims on the issues of peace, justice and treating others with kindness…in short, anything that does not deny our faith.  But to hold that we serve the same God is to try to do something that neither religion embraces. 

Jesus set the bar that separates Christianity from every other religion:

Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.   Matthew 12:30(NLT)

For You Today

Shoot the messenger here if you must, but Muslim Islamic faith does not worship the same God as those who are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You chew on that out on that Rocky Road today…and have a joy-filled and blessed day!


[1] Title image:  By Carlos Latuff (http://twitpic.com/3wwrxv) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
[3] Ibid.

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