Evangelicals outraged over Bush's 'same god' remark

WorldNetDaily ^ | November 24, 2003 | WorldNetDaily

[joesnuffy]

Evangelicals outraged over Bush's 'same god' remark Christian leaders express dismay: 'He is commander in chief, not theologian in chief'

Posted: November 24, 2003 11:26 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Many Evangelical Christians in the U.S. say they are outraged over President George Bush's statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

The statement was made Thursday, during the joint press conference in England with Prime Minister Tony Blair. A reporter noted that Bush has frequently expressed the view that freedom is a gift from "the Almighty," but questioned whether the Bush believes "Muslims worship the same Almighty" as the president and other Christians do.

"I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to the world," Bush replied. "It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same god," reported the London Telegraph.

Bush's equivalence of the Judeo-Christian and Muslim gods brought reactions of shock and dismay from Christians in the U.S. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, was quoted in the Baptist Press as saying the president "is simply mistaken."

According to a Washington Post account, Land said in an interview: "We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not theologian in chief. The Bible is clear on this: The one and true god is Jehovah, and his only begotten son is Jesus Christ."

Blair avoided answering the same question, replying with a general statement about freedom.

Bush, a practicing Christian who frequently talks publicly about the importance to him of his faith, nevertheless has repeatedly defended Islam as a religion of peace, ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack on the U.S. by 19 Islamist radicals.

The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, also contradicted the president in a press statement, reported the Post. "The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and health," said Haggard. "The Muslim god appears to value the opposite. The personalities of each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of the peoples that serve them. Muhammad's central message was submission; Jesus' central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities."

Despite their strenuous objections, neither Land nor Haggard thinks the president's statement will cost him votes: "This president has earned a lot of wiggle room among evangelicals," said Land, according to the Post. "If he had said that Islam is on a par with Christianity, it would be a more serious case of heartburn. This is just indigestion."

But according to Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values, Bush's comment is "not helpful to the president. Since everybody agrees he's not a theologian, he would be much better advised to punt when he gets that kind of question."

[Jorge]

Christians: The Trinity is God. (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
Jews: Yhwh is God. (Incomplete revelation)
Muslims: Allah is God. (Invented from the mind of mohammed.)

I can basically agree with this as correct from a Christian perspective.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christian who believe all religions are different ways to the same God, which is not true according to the Bible.

[U S Army EOD]

Well actually you might be right on this one because they couldn't have possibly been black, and I have scientific proof of that.

[U S Army EOD]

For God's sake don't get him started on that. I was on that thread.

[Mark17]

The Bible ascribes those characteristics to something else...

LOL, what, rabies?

[Gal.5:1]

I think the names of God in the Bible are pretty important in determining just Who God is. He talks quite a bit about Who He is in the OT. I'm not an expert in the Hebrew and other languages of the Bible (Greek,Aramaic), but we all can read and see how He has identified Himself for us so there is no doubt.


the LORD God made earth and heaven.
Gen. 2:4:
LORD God : lit. YHWH, perhaps prounounced 'Yahweh', means "I am the One who is". Jehovah is an English version of this name (is it not?). Every time this word, LORD, is seen in an English Bible(6,823 times in the OT), it is referring to this special name of God.

Isaiah has some wonderful verses making it very clear Who He is:

Thus says the LORD (Yahweh), the King of Israel
And His Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last,
And there is no God besides Me.
Is.44:6

Notice also He is saying that His Redeemer is the LORD of hosts, and the LORD is Himself, Yahweh, so His Redeemer is also Himself.

I am the LORD (Yahweh), and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
Is.45:5

A righteous God and a Savior;
There is none except Me.
Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
Is. 45:21-22

It is clear here that it is true we need to be saved-and He is the only One who can do it.

Come near to Me,
listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord GOD(Adonai Yahweh, Lord God)
has sent Me , and His Spirit.
Is. 48:16

Clearly here the LORD God (Yahweh) is saying He was always there(1), and now He is sending Someone(2) (Me), AND also, His Spirit(3)! That is 3 personalities mentioned in one verse in which the LORD talks about Himself.

I will make you (Jacob/Israel)a light of the nations(the Gentiles)
So that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Is.49:6-7
Here again He says salvation is needed and He is using Jacob/Israel as His mode of acheiving this mission which will reach the entire earth.

Thus says the LORD (Yahweh), the Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One,
To the despised One, to the One abhorred
by the nation (Israel),
To the Servant of rulers,
Kings shall see and arise, princes shall also bow down.
Is.49:6-7
God plans to use Israel to bring light to the Gentiles so His salvation may reach them also, He is despised at His first coming, and worshipped at His second coming.

Isaiah 53 speaks of this same Servant, who is not Israel the nation, but the Redeemer of Israel.


For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD(Yahweh) of hosts,
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.(LORD)
Is.54:5

The generic word(as well as a name for the true God) for "God" or "deity" in the Hebrew is Elohim. This name is also ascribed to pagan(false) gods. It means "strong one, mighty leader, deity". Another name is Adonai which is "Lord", or "Master".

When Moses asked God what His name is , God said I "AM WHO I AM". The word is YHWH, which is Yahweh, (or however it is really pronounced). He did not say Elohim or Adonai here, He said YHWH.

Does the Koran or any other book that belongs to the world's religons and philosophies proclaim Yahweh /Jehovah , by name, as God? No. Does Allah in the Koran mean Yahweh? No. Is it a translation of the Hebrew Yahweh into Arabic Yahweh? No. It is the Arabic word for God, which is like the equivelent of the Hebrew Elohim, which just means "God."

This is why the "Allah " of the Koran cannot be the true God.
The true God, Yahweh, revealed in the Hebrew scriptures, is not presented or proclaimed as Yahweh in the Koran or anywhere else but in the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Bible (and in the NT but that is another post.)

Of course, believers in Jesus believe that Jesus IS THIS SAME GOD of the Bible(the Hebrew scriptures), the LORD, who came in the flesh, but that is another post. That is why Christians believe that they and the Jews believe in the same God, the LORD, even though we all know the majority of Jews do not recognize the visitation ot the LORD Himself in the Redeemer, Jesus.

This is why most Bible believing Christians believe that Jews and Christians do believe the the same God, Yahweh, even if the Jews do not YET recognize Jesus(Y'shua-" the LORD is salvation") as promised Messiah and LORD.


The true God has special names, Yahweh in the OT, and Jesus the Messiah in the NT(another post, another time).
Are these names proclaimed as names of the true God in the Koran? No.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Because we have evidence. There is no point of reference that I'm aware of for fossil records, and I've heard that there are stories of scientists weren't able to place bones that were less than 1000 years old. Now what will the temperature be exactly 7 days from now in Osh Kosh?

[Blzbba]

"No we don't. I believe that has been explained many times over on FR. "


Sorry, but the fact remains that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all worship the God of Abraham. One of the Arab claims to Israeli lands is based on differing interpretations of God's land-promises to Abraham's descendants...and who is the correct legal descendant of Abraham.

USArmyEOD is correct here. Sure, the fanatics of any faith don't adhere to the core beliefs of that faith...but that doesn't change the core beliefs.

(sorry to both of you if this has already been addressed - I'm picking up at the beginning of this mega-thread!)

[TommyDale]

Here is what was reported:

"I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to the world," Bush replied. "It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same god," reported the London Telegraph.

Bush clearly stated that "we worship the same god". Sorry, but that comment is stupid. My God is not the same as Allah. Sorry about yours.

[U S Army EOD]

Would you like to know why you may be right about Adam and Eve being white?

[U S Army EOD]

I've been kind of dicking around with the whole thing.

[My2Cents]

I agree with Mr. Haggard, and I come from a conservative Baptist background which believes that the sign gifts ended with the first century. Oddly, those who, for example, cite that tongues ended with the apostolic age use half a scripture verse to support their conclusion. Interestingly, even though most conservative evangelical churches would claim that they have "The Bible" as their authority on such matters, what they are really basing their conclusions on is their own EXPERIENCE....None of their leaders have ever experienced one of the miracle gifts, they've never happened to them, and if they were to happen in their congregations, they'd oppose them and run the people through whom they operate out of the church. I'm not trying to be harsh here, only realistic. I used to chair the elder board of a conservative Baptist church, and so I know precisely how conservative evangelicals think on this matter.

For myself, I've never spoken in tongues, never healed anyone, never raised anyone from the dead, but I believe that God is the giver of the gifts, and as Sovereign and Lord, He can do what He wants to do, and who am I to say He can't do this or that "gifting" upon the church?

BTW, just as I now have a different opinion on the sign gifts than most of my conservative evangelical brethren, I also oppose the conclusion of most Pentecostals that everyone must speak in tongues as a sign of having been "baptized in the Spirit."

[Jorge]

God is God, and I'm fully prepared to accept that Muslims are talking about the same God we are.

I don't believe they portray the same character traits or moral attributes, so I am not prepared to accept that they are talking about the same God.

In any case the God of the Bible makes numerous references to people worshipping false "gods", which tells me that I can't accept all religion's claim to have the same God.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Yeah. Let's see your theory.

[My2Cents]

the story of the worldwide flood is not supported by any archeological data.

Actually, there is evidence of a worldwide flood in both geological data, and a flood story exists in the folklore of just about every ancient society of the world.

[Blzbba]

I'm kinda interested in this theory too, EOD...

[U S Army EOD]

True and there is many other scientific findings that back the bible up.

[Rightly Biased]

place holder

[The Grammarian]

There are many books and many paths to the same One.

"Many paths to the peak" of the mountain, so to speak. The argument doesn't ultimately fly, because the 'peak' that the various religions of the world envision can only be one. If Jesus is the 'peak,' then he himself said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me."

Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna and all the others can't share the peak with Jesus because he has set himself up as the exclusive 'peak.' Either he is, and no one else--or he isn't, and Christianity is a false path to the peak, because it declares something that is untrue (the claim of Jesus' supremacy); in which case, then, not all paths lead to the peak, because Christianity is such a path, and is false.

[U S Army EOD]

Okay, from what I've read, it is thought that Adam and Eve were probably white and couldn't possibly be black is based on the theory that there just ain't no way you gonna get a rib away from a black man.

[Blzbba]

Actually, there is evidence of a worldwide flood in both geological data, and a flood story exists in the folklore of just about every ancient society of the world."



Very true. What's more amazing is that the technology used to date that evidence is the same tech. that Will1776 denies relevancy. Any "Ark" remains would require RadioCarbon decay testing to veracity. Would the same group of people who deny these techniques when used to put the age of the Earth at greater than Genesis' accept the results of a hypothetical 'Ark' finding, if those results verified the existence of the Ark and Flood?