Posted on 12/22/2015 6:52:42 AM PST by Gamecock
The question of religious or spiritual unity between Christians and Muslims has come up in recent days, largely in response to political debate over the danger of admitting Muslims into our country. On one extreme was the purported statement by Liberty University President Jerry Fallwell, Jr. that Christians should carry guns so as to kill Muslims. In response, Wheaton College students wrote of Christians' obligation to pursue unity and solidarity with Muslims based on our shared human dignity. Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor at Wheaton, , has gone further by donning a Muslim headscarf and declaring not only her human solidarity but her theological solidarity with Muslims. She validated the proposition that "Muslims and Christians worship the same God." Reacting to this statement, Wheaton College has suspended Hawkins pending an inquiry into her violation of the college's doctrinal statement. Wheaton should be commended for acting clearly but also deliberately and fairly in this matter.
There are various issues in this debate that Christians should carefully consider and on which we may legitimately differ. But whether or not Christians and Muslims worship the same God is not one of them. Let me offer three reasons why Christians must steadfastly declare that we do not worship the same God that Muslims do:
1. The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible proclaims that there is one God in three distinct persons. Jesus therefore instituted baptism "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt. 28:19). Muslims vehemently deny and condemn this teaching, seeing it as a fatal compromise of its central tenet of monotheism. This means that Islam denies the deity of Jesus Christ, saying, "the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God" (Qur'an, sura 4). This means that Muslims profess belief in a God who is fundamentally different from the God of the Bible in his very nature.
2. God Revealed in Christ vs. Mohammed. In her statement of solidarity with Muslims, Dr. Hawkins stated that Christians and Muslims are both "People of the Book." The question is, of course, which book? While Islam shows a certain measure of respect to the Old Testament, it holds that God's chief revelation came through Mohammed, a man of considerable violence. Christians believe in a God whose chief revelation is through Jesus Christ, God's Son and the world's only Savior, as he is presented by the prophets and apostles in the Bible. To put it mildly, there is a fundamental difference between those who look to Mohammed versus to Jesus for their belief in God.
3. The God of Grace. The God of Islam shows grace only to those who merit his approval by faith and good works. The Christian God distinguishes his grace by bestowing it upon the unworthy and defiled. Paul's teaching that "God justifies the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5) and through Christ's death showed "his love for us while we were still sinners" (Rom. 5:8), is fundamentally at odds with the Muslim belief concerning God. So while Muslims and Christians both use the terminology of grace, Islam denies the grace of God on which Christians rely for their salvation.
However laudible it may be for Christians to express kindness and human solidarity with members of other religions, the one thing we must never do is deny our faith in the Triune God who is revealed through Jesus Christ, God's Son, who alone died to free us from our sins. In denying the exclusivity of our faith, apart from all other religions, Christians are not exhibiting the love of Jesus. At the very heart of our message to the world we must always affirm - all the more so during the Christmas season - that Jesus alone is Savior and Lord. As John declared, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men" (Jn. 1:4).
Islam preaches only the peace of complete victory and subjugation (or elimination of infidels). It is NOT a religion. It is madness.
Deuteronomy 4:19 and Malachi 1:11 vs the quran. They’re not similar at all.
This is right on target.
Last night Dr. James White put out a new video dealing with this question. Since he has studied the Koran and debates Muslims, his insight should be helpful for Christians and Muslims alike.
http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php/2015/12/22/do-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god/
Yahweh exists. Allah does not. Simple. The attempts to commingle Yahweh and Allah to become an all inclusive one g-d for both religions is ludicrous.
To a Muslim, Allah is not their Heavenly Father, but man's slave-master. Allah is not about truth but is the deceiver of the infidel. Allah's kingdom IS of this world whereas Yahweh's is not.
I could go on but I think you get the picture. Allah exists... we just know him by his older name.
The Son of one true God did spend 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Allah, so they are connected. I have modified the NIV slightly below, but I believe my changes are appropriate:
____________________________________________________________
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Allah.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Allah, the tempter, came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then Allah took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, Allah took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
“All this I will give you,’ he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then Allah left him, and angels came and attended him.
Real simple:
The Christian God died for you.
The Muslim god wants you to die for him!
Allah exists... we just know him by his older name.
Quite insightful.
How do Jews fit into this?
4) The Arabic word for G-D is ‘illah’. The god they worship is named ‘allah’. Two separate entities. Likely that allah and kaaba are the same.
Bookmark
Why is it even a conversation?
The misconceptions persist. There is only one God. Anyone who worships one God is worshiping the same God.
Their concepts of God are different. They describe God differently, and imperfectly. Their differing concepts do not create little gods.
Allah means God in Arabic.
The concept of allah is very different from the concept of God, and is incompatible with the attributes of God.
All monotheists worship the same God but that does not make all monotheists the same, as the current pope seems to think.
Because, believe it or not, there are some faith traditions that seem to be confused by this topic. Have seen that confusion on parade here on FR.
So, people who are "Christians" don't know enough about the God of the bible to discern about a million things wrong with islam?
bump for reference
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus had to fast for 40 days and nights before he was tempted? And it still wasnt a fair fight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.