Posted on 10/07/2007 4:50:54 AM PDT by Man50D
President George Bush has repeated his belief all religions, "whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God" – an assertion that caused outrage among evangelical leaders when he said it in November 2003.
Bush made the statement Friday in an interview with Al Arabiya reporter Elie Nakouzi.
Al Arabiya is Al Jazeerah's top competitor in the Mideast.
As the president and Nakouzi walked from the Oval Office to the Map Room in the White House residence, Nazouki asked, "But I want to tell you – and I hope this doesn't bother you at all – that in the Islamic world they think that President Bush is an enemy of Islam – that he wants to destroy their religion, what they believe in. Is that in any way true, Mr. President?"
"No, it's not," said Bush. "I've heard that, and it just shows [sic] to show a couple of things: One, that the radicals have done a good job of propagandizing. In other words, they've spread the word that this really isn't peaceful people versus radical people or terrorists, this is really about the America not liking Islam.
"Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren't religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that – we had a person blow up our – blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that's not a Christian act to kill innocent people.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Only thorough faith in Christ.
We have access to the Father through the High Priest, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
I am not trying to argue with you. The point I am trying to make is that what the people in the other religions actually believe is important to understanding them.
Truth and reality, in this context are simply not relevant.
It would have to be another God b/c: 1) it deviates wildly from Holy Scripture. They say the Koran is the inerrant word of Allah (their god), which is different frm scripture. 2) Their concept of Allah is different from our concept of God (for example, Allah is capricious, God is bound by the free will he granted us).
Having said that, I’m not a theologian and can’t know what is in other people’s hearts.
I am not attacking Christianity. I am simply stating that their are others out there who do not believe what you believe and it is important to understand what they actually believe.
Seeing the world from your own narrow perspective is exactly how the Muslims see the world and their view is wrong.
Whenever we focus, we narrow our perspective. By focusing on God through faith in Christ, we are in a position where He is able to clarify our perception by Divine standards. Seeing God through faith in Christ allows God to further our understanding. Narrow perspective isn't wrong, but if one narrows their perspective by focusing on anything other than through what God has provided for that perspective, then we blur Him altogether.
This is not about Bush's chosen path to God anyway. It's about people in general praying to and seeking God...whether God hears them or not is not mentioned.
It's like you are a Muslim on the phone trying to contact God and you get a recording, "Sorry you have entered the wrong area code. Please call back later."
The Greek word "PISTIS" is translated as faith and as belief in several important passages in Scripture. There are true beliefs and false beliefs. That which is trustworthy is also described by the adjective of PISTIS.
Our sanctification begins with faith and continues with faith through Him.
It is more important to remain in faith through Him and understand His faith, that belief, than it is to understand the faith or belief of all others.
The same faith or belief is available to Muslims if they choose with their individual volition to accept Him. One proviso might be noted, though, that while I may say the same faith is available to them, until they think along those lines, they might not get to the point of hearing His Word because it has been outlawed in many of their lands. So in a sense, it might be more accurate to say faith isn't as available to them as it is in lands where we are free to read and study Scripture.
This makes it all the more imperative to spread the good news of Christ to each and every Muslim at every opportunity, not to water it down, worrying about it not being received. This doesn't mean we are to be offensive to those who seek Him, but there is a a discernible difference between being perceived as offensive to a believer and being offensive to an antichristian spirit. Those who are enemies of Christ will claim offense by any communication or thinking about Him.
Our task is merely the Great Commission. The tasks of salvation are purely the work of God. Whether or not they accept Him through faith in Christ is their business, not mine, but we are commissioned to communicate that Gospel to them.
For a president to weigh on theological issues such as these is just plain dumb. I would have answered along the lines of “Can’t say enough good things about what Terry Francona has done up there in Boston this year” or words to that effect.
They can't..repeat...can't be praying to another God. There isn't any.
Ok, I will have a little fun with you :) I will assume that you are a Christian who believes in the Nicaean Creed. That God is an Omniscient, Omnipotent, etc. being.
Well that Omniscient being is demonstrably false based on the superposition theory in QM, more commonly called Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle. The general idea is that you can know the Position or the Momentum of a particle but not both. Hence an Omniscient being doesn't exist.
Clearly your mental map and perception of the world is wrong. Everyones mental map is wrong, so I am not just picking on you :) The question then becomes when you discover that your mental map of the world is in conflict with reality do you change your mental map or do you deny reality and persist in maintaining your mental map?
When Muslims are faced with this problem they deny reality in the face of all the evidence. There is a reason why the Muslims do not lead the world in anything.
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