Posted on 12/20/2015 1:08:16 PM PST by Kaslin
It is true that the three primary monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all believe in an eternal, uncreated Creator God to whom all human beings must one day give account. But it is self-evident that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God.
First, God is the heavenly Father of Christians, but Allah is not the Father of Muslims.
This is one of the most fundamental revelations of the Bible, which is why Jesus taught His followers to pray the "Our Father" prayer on a daily basis (Matthew 6:9-13). The New Testament even goes as far as saying that God has put the spirit of sonship into our hearts so that we can call God "Abba," just as Jesus called His Father "Abba" (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).
But Allah is not seen as the heavenly Father in Islam, let alone as Abba, an even more endearing term. That's why, "Father" is not one of the 99 Names of Allah in Islamic theology.
Second, through Jesus, we can have intimate fellowship even friendship with God.
Already in the Old Testament, God referred to Abraham as His friend (Isaiah 41:8), but in the New Testament, Jesus takes this even further, saying to His disciples, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:13-14).
A Muslim could not possibly think of Allah in such terms.
To the Muslim, God (Allah) is too transcendent and "other" to be our friend. He is to worshiped and adored and obeyed, just as our heavenly Father is to be worshiped and adored and obeyed, but Muslims do not have "fellowship" with God as Christians do (see 2 Corinthians 13:14).
In Islam, a human being cannot enjoy that kind of personal intimacy with the Creator.
This difference between the Christian conception of God and the Muslim conception of God is seen clearly when we consider the aspect of prayer. And so, the depth of communion we enjoy with the Lord is expressed in the words of a famous hymn by Fanny Crosby, who wrote,
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
In Islam, Muslims must follow prescribed prayers in Arabic, even if they don't understand Arabic. So much for friendship with the deity.
This alone underscores the deep contrast between these two faiths in terms of how God is viewed.
Third, Christians believe that Jesus is the full manifestation of God whereas Muslims see Jesus as only a human prophet, not as the unique representation of the image of God.
Jesus told His disciples that if they He had seen Him, they had seen the Father, that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and that He and the Father are one (John 14:9-11; 10:30).
The New Testament also states that Jesus is the very image of invisible God and "the exact imprint of [God's] nature" (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).
All of these concepts are totally foreign to Islam.
For Muslims, Jesus is simply another creation of Allah. For Christians, Jesus is the one through whom the Father made the universe.
Fourth, what for Christians is the "blessed Trinity" is for Muslims a cursed blasphemy.
For 200 years, Christians have sung the classic hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy" which speaks of "God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity," articulating truths taught by the Church for centuries.
The words of that hymn are terribly offensive to Muslims, as emphasized in a chapter in the Quran which Muslims recite in prayer 5 times a day, Sura 112, which states that Allah "begets not, nor was He begotten; And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."
This Sura was originally spoken with reference to Muhammad's polytheistic hearers but was then applied to Christian beliefs as well. This means that 5 times a day, Muslims denounce some of the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith.
Fifth, true Christians would rather die than deny Jesus as Lord; true Muslims would rather die than confess Him as Lord.
This is as basic as it gets, and I can't imagine that a devoted Christian or Muslim would argue with this premise.
The New Testament tells us that an essential element of salvation is confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). In stark contrast, the Quran says of those who believe that Jesus is God's Son, "Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth" (Sura 9:30).
Can there really be any serious debate as to whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God?
Someone could argue that both faiths represent human attempts to please and obey the Creator, but what those faiths say explicitly about that Creator is mutually exclusive.
We do not worship the same God, which is why Muslims seek to convert Christians to Islam and Christians seek to convert Muslims to faith in Jesus.
The good news is that Jesus really is Lord and that one day, willingly or unwillingly, every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will make that very confession "Jesus the Messiah is Lord" to glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
There is only one God. One of us is getting it wrong.
To be technically, logically, and rationally correct, by definition there can be only one God.
Now your manifestation or belief can characterize that god differently, but there can only be one god.
“No man comes to the Father but by Jesus” (John 14:16).
Unless a Muslim has received the Lord Jesus Christ, he worships a false god called allah.
How do you recognize the difference?
Well one way is realizing what Jesus said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) and “If you had known me, you should have known my Father also. [H]e that has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:7,9). In other words, Jesus showed us what God the Father was like.
Did Jesus go around threatening, condemning, killing, and beheading people? No he showed love and compassion, healing and restoring everyone who came to him. So that is what God the Father is like. God is love and he heals, restores, has compassion, gives his only Son to die for people.
Who steals, kills and destroys? Jesus told us it is the devil, the murderer and thief, who does that. He said, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).
So Muslims worship Satan. Jesus showed the contrast between himself and the Muslim god when he said, “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Always look to Jesus to see what God is like.
doen not equal
the god of Islam's relationship with humanity.
Period.
If Baal is god, follow him; if the Lord is God, follow Him.
I’ve heard that somewhere and thought I’d share it (wonder where??? /s). All paths do not lead to the same place and all gods are not the one true God. See the commandments God gave Moses, 1 through 4.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
who wert and art and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Not only do they not worship the same God, the Islamic don’t even have the same respect for humans.
Look at the things they do to their men, women, and children.
This simply isn’t a religion. It’s a gutter mame and destroy death cult.
God told us quite a lot about himself. His words are recorded in the Bible.
Jesus told us a good deal more about Him during His time here among us.
Muslims worship a distant, bloodthirsty god who doesn’t care about individual human beings, or their souls. Who doesn’t see us as anything like His children. Who entices us with promises of an afterlife filled with sex and lust.
This sounds much more like Satan than the God of Abraham.
"I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived."
Dr Michael Brown is spot on his analysis here. I thank him for his insightful analysis...it would not surprise me if he were a Freeper. Wife and I are currently reading his book on Hypergrace...look forward to reading more.
Freegards
LEX
I think he picked that blather up from Oprah.
Who but Satan would have chosen a murdering, lying, bloodthirsty pedophile as his prophet?
Yes he is.
None but Lucifer.
Wrong.
There is only one god. Anyone who acknowledges the one God is talking about the same God.
The concept of God is different in these two religions. The concept in one of them is flawed, and so they describe God differently.
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