Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? Yes and No.
Yesterday I wrote that my answer to this question is “yes AND no” – today I’d like to try and explain. I can think of two ways to determine who or what someone worships – what they say and what they do. These lead us to three questions.
Do Christians and Muslims say they worship the same God?
In my opinion this is the least important question, yet even here, there is considerable disagreement. While the Qur’an states in several places that Christians (and Jews) worship the same God Muslims do, there are a few texts that seem to contradict that. Most Protestant Christians, and virtually all evangelicals, would say they worship a different God than Muslims. The official position of the Catholic church is that Catholics and Muslims do indeed worship the same God – the God of the Bible – but I think many Catholics, in the U.S. especially, would disagree with that.
This one is a bit of a toss up then. Same God? Maybe.
Do Christians and Muslims describe God in the same way?
Here too, there is agreement and disagreement. Christians and Muslims both believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God who created the universe and who governs about the affairs of humankind. They disagree, though, on a few very important points, most notably the divinity of Jesus and the triune nature of God.
All things considered, the differences trump the similarities. Same God? No. (note)
Do Christians and Muslims worship in the same manner?
Muslims and Christians disagree about the very nature of how to worship God. The most notable of the differences is in the act of prayer. Muslims pray several times a day following very specific rules and they pray to Allah. Most Christian denominations do not follow strict rules and schedules for prayer (though most believe daily prayer is essential, I think) and they pray in the name of Jesus.
Here we have mostly differences. Same God? No.
So, how did I arrive at my answer?
Since I answered two of the questions above with “no,” you might wonder how I arrived at “yes and no.” Well, I am not sure I can put it into words (another copout, right?) but I will try to explain.
There is only one God
I firmly believe there is one God – omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. I also believe that God created all of the universe (though I don’t call myself a “creationist”). I also firmly believe that God redeems whom he wills. Though I understand the method of redemption, I don’t claim to know exactly how redemption “looks” from the outside for everyone.
Providence
I remember my dad always had a problem with the following scripture.
The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29
He prayed for years before he came to faith and he firmly believed those prayers had been answered. As I grew in my own faith, we discussed this very point many times and eventually agreed that his prayers were “answered” according to God’s providence. I don’t want to get buried in theology over what might seem like “hair splitting” to some but I believe there is a distinction here.
It is God who redeems but we very often don’t know the path one takes to redemption. YES, we know the method of redemption, but we don’t know the specific circumstances that lead to that moment when an individual understands and appreciates that.
If there is only one God and if God governs the affairs of this world, then how can one worship any other God? There are no other. I know this might seem like a word game but it doesn’t feel like that to me. If a Muslim believes in an all powerful, personal God and he prays to that God, is he not praying to the only one true God. Note that I am not making a statement on the effectiveness of that prayer. That is another matter entirely, but certainly he is worshipping “our” God, no?
So, what is the right question?
I mentioned yesterday that we are really asking the wrong question. Perhaps we should be asking one or all of these questions (or similar ones):
- Do Muslims and Christians both share in the plan of redemption? Do Muslims go to heaven? Are Muslims saved or born again?
- Can learning about Islam make one a better Christian? Can learning about Christianity make one a better Muslim?
- Does the God of the Bible (Jehovah) answer the prayers of Muslims?
- How should Muslims and Christians relate to one another?
- Is it ever appropriate for Muslims and Christians to worship together? Is that even possible?
It seems to me that these questions are more important.
One Last Thing
There is one more question that has been nagging at me since I started thinking about all of this again.
“Do all Christians worship the same God?”
Ever think much about that?
I will post all of these links over the next few days but if you’d like to sample some of the reading I’ve done recently on the subject, here is a list of links.</p>