Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

I didn’t pay much attention to this question until recently. Because I knew the answer

Until very recently, my answer was “no.”

Now, my answer is “yes AND no.” I know some of you will think that’s the easy way out but I think I can explain. If you give me a couple of days.

I remember learning in college that one of the gravest mistakes made by Western Christian missionaries over the years was the imposition of Western culture as part of the message. I remember thinking how sad it was that someone didn’t think to ask an important question – “Do these people actually worship the same God I do, despite the unfamiliar culture?”

I also remember making a decision about certain religions based on my knowledge at the time. Some indigenous peoples might worship the same God even though I don’t recognize Him but I knew about some religions and about those my mind was made up. Allah, for example, was not the God of the Bible. I was sure of that.

On September 11, 2001 I was confronted with this question once again. I was reminded that America has enemies and it seemed as though many Americans believed those enemies included all Muslims. Many claimed that Islam is a dangerous religion with a mission that included violence. Others claimed just the opposite, that Islam was a religion of peace and that the terrorists were not acting like good Muslims should.

What little I did know of Islam was a bit of the story of Muhammad which I read in one of my favorite books. The book ranked persons from history based on their influence and Muhammad was first on the list – mostly because he was a political and religious leader. It was also painfully obvious to me that nearly everything I knew of Islam I learned from Christians.

I’d like to think that my worldview is very tolerant of other opinions and viewpoints, but I was confronted with the question of Islam again and all I knew was this:

1. Apparently devout, but certainly extreme Muslims had attacked civilians in my country in cities not far from my home.
2. Islam is a religion that holds influence over whole nations and that even Muhammad himself was considered a political leader.
3. There appears to be some debate about the role of violence in Islamic thought.

On the other hand, I also knew that:

1. U.S. foreign policy typically supports Israel unconditionally.
2. That support is based on misinterpretation of the Bible (in my view).
3. Billions of Muslims all over the world want nothing to do with American Christianity because U.S. support of Israel.

I don’t pretend to understand all the ramifications of those things but I believed them at the time, as I do now, and I think it’s a shame.

Like most Americans, September 11th changed my perception of the world forever. In my case, however, I didn’t change my behavior. I realized I didn’t understand Islam but I took no action to change that. I could have and I would even say I “wanted to” but I didn’t. I went on believing, blindly, that Allah was not the God of the Bible.

Until just recently when two things made me think. The first was a film I saw on this website.

The second was a book I recently read. I was so moved by the film Of Gods and Men that I had to read the book which inspired the film. The book goes into great detail on the lives and values of the monks and one of the ideas explored is the belief by Dom Christian de Chergé, the prior, that God speaks to men in different ways. He clearly believed that Muslims were children of God.

So now I that I’ve had time to think about it my answer is different, but more importantly, I think it is the wrong question.

More on that tomorrow over here.