Posted on 12/19/2015 7:36:16 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Yesterday the Internet exploded with the news that Wheaton College in Illinois -- known as the "Harvard of Evangelical colleges" -- had suspended professor Larycia Hawkins for wearing a headscarf as a gesture of "embodied solidarity" with Muslims. These stories weren't true. The professor wasn't suspended for wearing a headscarf but for publicly declaring that Christians and Muslims "worship the same God." In its statement, Wheaton explained:
The freedom to wear a head scarf as a gesture of care and compassion for individuals in Muslim or other religious communities that may face discrimination or persecution is afforded to Dr. Hawkins as a faculty member of Wheaton College. Yet her recently expressed views, including that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, appear to be in conflict with the College's Statement of Faith.
Thus, Wheaton continues its long tradition of theological conviction and joins a number of Evangelical schools in making recent statements that would be scandalously impermissible in secular institutions.
But is Wheaton correct to draw the line here? After all, isn't it conventional wisdom that Christians, Jews, and Muslims worship the same God? Aren't we all "People of the Book" -- different branches of the Abrahamic tree? That's the Catholic position. Rome explicitly declares that Muslims "adore the one and merciful God." Prominent Protestant theologian Miroslov Volf generally agrees, telling Wheaton students in a 2011 address, "My statement is that there is sufficient similarity between Muslim and Christian conceptions of God, so that we can say that they worship the same and similarly understood God."
Yet this position minimizes the profound differences between the nature, character, and attributes of the god of the Koran and the God of the Bible. As Baptist theologian Al Mohler explains, "Christians worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and no other god. We know the Father through the Son, and it is solely through Christ's atonement for sin that salvation has come." Mohler's words are stark but true: "The New Testament leaves no margin for misunderstanding. To deny the Son is to deny the Father."
Theologian R. C. Sproul puts the contrast in similar terms: To Muslims, god "is a single person, transcendent. The God Christians worship, on the other hand, is the maker of heaven and earth. He is one being and transcendent, who exists in three persons, which are also immanent." Critically, "Neither the one-ness nor the three-ness of God are tangential attributes. They are instead essential attributes; they define who He is." (Emphasis added.)
Writer Trevin Wax states the blunt and plain truth: "God is not God apart from Jesus. It is pointless to try to define the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob apart from Jesus Christ." In the Muslim view, however, Jesus is not God. Full stop. Reformation giant John Calvin said, "By their rejection of Christ, [Muslims] substitute an idol in his place."
A piece in Theology and the City contains an interesting short summary explaining Calvin's teaching as follows: "While many religions, including Islam, would agree on a rather general concept of God as the origin of everything and thus âfather' to all of humanity, the Christocentrism of Calvin's thought erases all general meaning."
Christianity is nothing without "Christocentrism." Indeed, the very notion of God the Son, made flesh, and dying a sacrificial, atoning death defines God not just by historic fact and spiritual nature, but through His defining character. He is the God who died for the ungodly. There is none other.
There is immense cultural pressure to paper over the differences between religious faiths. We live in a fractious, violent world, and people are understandably weary of conflict. But we also live in an ignorant world, where millions know little about religious faith, believe the lie that all faiths are essentially the same, and grow irritated if not furious at the "true believers" whom they see as the source of all conflict. Empty-headed love for "diversity" often depends on false presumptions of core commonalities. What we really want is an easy diversity -- where people of all colors and sexual proclivities have essentially the same beliefs. Different religions would simply provide different flavoring, in much the way that salad dressing changes the taste of lettuce. But you're still just eating lettuce.
However, we can affirm our common humanity -- that we are all created in the image of God -- without papering over our profound differences. Moreover, a truly robust culture of liberty doesn't depend on common beliefs to protect radically different faith expressions. Americans are fully capable of believing that a faith is false while simultaneously protecting its adherents from persecution and repression.
Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God, but that does not make Muslims any less worthy of enjoying the blessings of liberty or receiving the love of their Christian neighbors. After all, nothing we can do for those who (for now) reject our faith can ever match what God did for us. He died even for those who cried out for his death. That makes Him distinct. It makes our faith distinct. Wheaton's leaders are right to stand firm.
-- David French is an attorney and a staff writer at National Review.
But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?~ James 2-:18-20
The Almighty God of the Bible and the ‘god’ of the Koran are complete opposites
God makes and keeps his promises, the moon good allah is capricious and unknowable and the only way to be sure a follower will actually make it to heaven is to die in a jihad, its a wonder there isn’t far more ‘good’ adherents to that demonic death cult,
allah = baal
Baal is Satan,
As I see it the problem is not with the Muslim’s God, but rather the falseness of his self proclaimed prophet.
As a man who is married to a wonderful Jewish lady, I have to ask, where does this leave Jews?
I would say that since Jesus was a Jew his whole life, that she’s gonna be ok. just a hunch.
All I can say is this — Even if we worship the same God, we have to worship Him ON HIS TERMS, not ours.
Cain and Abel both worshipped the same God, but only one of their offerings was accepted by God.
Allah is not the true God of Abe, Isaac, and Jacob
but the big, big, major problem is not whether He’s triune or singular
the problem with Allah is that he’s Satanic in character...
commanding his followers to invade, attack, murder, rape, and pillage innocent peoples all over the world
(with special extra commands against Christians and Jews). Just read their koran and hadiths.....or just listen to their preachings....or just watch all the innocent blood being spilt by Moslems all around the world on your evening news.
Allah is a blood-thisty hate-promoting Luciferian Evil god. He has nothing to do with the Judeo-Christian God, who teaches respect for life and love of other people.
If you take this line at its face value "God is not God apart from Jesus. It is pointless to try to define the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob apart from Jesus Christ."
It leaves Jews in the same boat as the Muslims. I'm not willing to do that.
Also would Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have known Jesus?
Who did this commanding God or Muhammad?
No.
The problem begins with their god.
I worship a God who incarnated himself in a physical body to die for me. Out of love, because a price for my wrongdoing had to be paid.
The merciful God who did that has a character which doesn’t match up to the character of the capricious Muslim god.
“No, Christians and Muslims Do Not Worship the Same God”
Anyone who believes this has no place teaching at an Evangelical college . It matters NOT what the Vatican and the Pope think , nor what any other man thinks but what the bible itself says .
(1 John 2:22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Numbers 23:19) God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Allah is known to the muslims as the great deceiver , the God of the bible can not lie. Written across the Dome of the Rock is the islamic statement that allah has no son .
Islam is the opposite of biblical Christianity and it has a murderous spirit behind it that encourages lies and the destruction of others.
(John 10:10) The thief cometh 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 10:11) I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Jesus came to die for our sins , the koran wants you to die and kill others for your sins.
If anybody wants to see a muzzies head blow off his shoulders just mention the same god idea. Even though we do not believe it, fun to watch them go berserk.
Since the God we worship is the only one, theirs must be different: fake.
We just had this debate here in Missisippi this week.
It is here folks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJVykCzD1sA&feature=youtu.be
Bingo!!!!!!
Allah=Satan
alli is a demon moon god, god of hate and death
God Amighty is the only God, a God of love and life
Yahweh never did a stint as a moon god.
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