Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
Of Course Christians and Muslims Don’t Worship The Same God – By Dr Michael Brown
First, God is the heavenly Father of Christians, but Allah is not the Father of Muslims.
This is one of the most fundamental revelations of the Bible, which is why Jesus taught His followers to pray the “Our Father” prayer on a daily basis (Matt. 6:9-13). The New Testament even goes as far as saying that God has put the spirit of sonship into our hearts so that we can call God “Abba,” just as Jesus called His Father “Abba” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6).
But Allah is not seen as the heavenly Father in Islam, let alone as “Abba,” an even more endearing term. That’s why “father” is not one of the 99 names of Allah in Islamic theology.
Second, through Jesus, we can have intimate fellowship—even friendship—with God.
Already in the Old Testament, God referred to Abraham as His friend (Is. 41:8), but in the New Testament, Jesus takes this even further, saying to His disciples: “Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:13-14).
A Muslim could not possibly think of Allah in such terms. To the Muslim, God (Allah) is too transcendent and “other” to be our friend. He is to be worshiped and adored and obeyed—just as our heavenly Father is to be worshiped and adored and obeyed—but Muslims do not have “communion” with God as Christians do (2 Cor. 13:14).
In Islam, a human being cannot enjoy that kind of personal intimacy with the Creator. This difference between the Christian conception of God and the Muslim conception of God is seen clearly when we consider the aspect of prayer. The depth of communion we enjoy with the Lord is expressed in the words of a famous hymn by Fanny Crosby, who wrote,
“O the pure delight of a single hour,
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!”
In Islam, Muslims must follow prescribed prayers in Arabic, even if they don’t understand Arabic. So much for friendship with the deity. This alone underscores the deep contrast between these two faiths in terms of how God is viewed.
Third, Christians believe that Jesus is the full manifestation of God,…
whereas Muslims see Jesus as only a human prophet, not as the unique representation of the image of God. Jesus told His disciples that if they He had seen Him, they had seen the Father; that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him; and that He and the Father are one (John 14:9-11; 10:30). The New Testament also states that Jesus is the very image of the invisible God and “the express image of Himself” (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3).
All of these concepts are totally foreign to Islam. For Muslims, Jesus is simply another creation of Allah. For Christians, Jesus is the one through whom the Father made the universe.
Fourth, the Christian “blessed Trinity” is, for Muslims, a cursed blasphemy.
For 200 years, Christians have sung the classic hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy,” which speaks of “God in three persons, blessed Trinity,” articulating truths taught by the Church for centuries. The words of that hymn are terribly offensive to Muslims, as emphasized in a chapter in the Quran which Muslims recite in prayer five times a day, Sura 112, which states that Allah “begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.” This Sura was originally spoken with reference to Muhammad’s polytheistic hearers but was then applied to Christian beliefs as well. This means that five times a day, Muslims denounce some of the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith.
Fifth, true Christians would rather die than deny Jesus as Lord;….
true Muslims would rather die than confess Jesus as Lord. This is as basic as it gets, and I can’t imagine that a devoted Christian or Muslim would argue with this premise. The New Testament tells us that an essential element of salvation is confessing Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10). In stark contrast, the Quran says of those who believe that Jesus is God’s Son, “May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?” (Sura 9:30). Can there really be any serious debate as to whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God? Someone could argue that both faiths represent human attempts to please and obey the Creator, but what those faiths say explicitly about that Creator is mutually exclusive.
We do not worship the same God, which is why Muslims seek to convert Christians to Islam and Christians seek to convert Muslims to faith in Jesus. The good news is that Jesus really is Lord and that one day, willingly or unwillingly, every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will make that very confession—”Jesus Christ is Lord”—to glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11).
Have yet to see Dr. Brown debating Zakir Hussain for many months now. What happened?
On-topic, any Qu’ran verse(s) or classic Islamic scholarship discerning the two “gods” between that according to Islamic tradition and as understood from their Judeo-Christian counterparts?
Peace be with you all.
Is it the time where I say, “Though so!”?
The Qur’an surab9:30 is quoted out of context. Still waiting for Brown-Hussain debate.
So much for the bigots who still worship a false Messiah. The trinitarian invention is being exposed by the minute.
Carl,
What is Messiah in Islam? Can you show me the significance of “Messiah” from your Quran or hadiths?
In the Bible, Messiah is a divine figure that will be worshipped and served by every nation and language, as prophesied by Daniel, David, Isaiah and others.
In 7th century Arabia, Muhammad simply plagiarized the title he heard repeatedly from the Jews and Christians and applied it to the character Isa he created, without a clue as to the meaning and significance of the title.
Woah there, you are replying not to an ordinary Muslim on the street. Just a random wanderer with some knowledge of theology. But yes, God willing, let me answer to the best of my ability. Islamic Messiah (al-Masih) concept, in short, is a simplistic version of the Christian concept without the divinity and atonement “corruptions” or “additions”. Origin is still up to debate, whether it is an Arabicized form of the Judeo-Christian (or either one) counterpart, or from some cognate Semitic root. The “prophecy” card is an excuse to bring much of the faithful into the syncretistic Chalcedonian form which is the basis of much of modern Christianity. “Worship” is not a good translation for a Septuagint term. Jews were supposed to expect two messiahs.
Īsa is but an Arabic rendering of Jesus’ name from his native Aramaic, through Syriac. Your last statement requires that Muhammad or his inner circle had access to an Arabic Bible, which is likely an impossiblity since the earliest ones appeared around the 9-10th centuries. How could the Arabs create the “Īsa” from hearsay? That is a bold claim without scholarly backing.
Any request for references will have to wait, and my views/beliefs will be totally different from the curbside Christian/Muslim if you wish to continue discussing.
Carl,
1) I asked you to show me the meaning or significance of “Messiah” (al-Masih) from the Quran. Not your opinion that it is supposedly a “simplistic version of the Christian concept” etc.
if there is nothing in the Quran, then show me something from the hadiths. Many cults have invented their own “Messiahs”. Islam is no different.
2) It is incorrect to say that my statement requires that Muhammad must have access to an Arabic Bible.
Muhammad had access to Arab Christians! They addressed Jesus as Yasuwa in Arabic. They always have and they still do to this day! Ask an Arab Christian and see what they say.
If Muhammad was talking about the same historical Yasuwa that the Arab Christians worshiped, why didn’t he use the same name the Arabs had used for hundreds of years?
No. Instead, he innovated a new character for his religion, named “Isa” but based on what he had learnt about Yasuwa from the Arabs. He modified and copy pasted bits and pieces of the story,
including fabricated stories from apocryphal sources circulating in the region at the time, like the Syriac Infancy Gospel from the 6th century!
Carl,
You’re barking up the wrong tree. I’m neither the spokesman for Dr Brown nor Zakir Hussain. Why don’t you contact them and ask?
As for your question in your original comment, it isnt clear to me what you are asking. Please rephrase.
If you are talking about where the quran speaks of Christian belief in God….
the author of the quran gets it absolutely wrong and commits a blunder by misrepresenting our beliefs by claiming that we believe in 3 gods. This is seen in verses like 4:171, 5:116, etc.
Very well, realized this was a repost from another blog or something. Have you been to Hamza’s den or arena?
The original comment is for if you can find Qur’an verses and/or hadith extracts saying that the yuddayya and nasariyya (Jews and Christians) worship a different god (so-called Tetragrammaton) other than the God in the Islamic concept. Else, why aren’t they branded as “mušrikīn” (polytheists)?
So much for the polemic gymnastics.
Carl,
Allah didn’t know the beliefs of the Jews and Christians.
Time and time again he gets it wrong. See 5:73-77, 5:116, 4:171 for instance
There are many verses that expose the ignorance of the Quran with regard to the beliefs of Christians and Jews.
Oh, gods; to compare an incomprehensible being to something falliable limits the God’s infiniteness. To summarize 4:171, it admonishes the umm-al-Kitab for hiding the true Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, an intermediary to the Banu Israeli. How were you able to identify “kalimat-Allah” the same as “logos o Theos”? Which Christians at the time of wahy are you talking about, and do the Arab counterparts share the same theology with those in Rome or Constantinople? If yes for the latter, why you conflate nasariyya with the so-called “trinitarians” far west? The key is that very term, it attests to an unbroken line of apostleship distinct from Greek thought and retaining the Semitic (Abrahamic) roots. Gnosticism may have some influence. No way the verses of the Table Spread talks about the Trinity as misunderstood for mainstream Christians, this is modern interpretation starting with Yusuf Ali. It is simple as “I am not a member of a three-god pantheon. Remember when I said ‘O Jesus, did I take you and your mother as deities apart from Me?’ They are supposed to only worship Me.”
You said, “It is as simple as ‘I am not a member of a three-god pantheon.'”
But…
WHO BELIEVES IN A THREE-GOD PANTHEON?
Whose belief is allah refuting in 5:116? And also 5:73 and 5:75 for that matter.
Not Christians!
This is a classic strawman fallacy.
Allah or Muhd attempted to “educate” Muslims about the beliefs of the Christians and got it utterly wrong.
You are repeating the same mistake as Dr. James White among others in their debates: you presuppose your Trinitarian belief and cherrypick those three ayat to state your claim. There were many Christian sects in Arabia during the time of the Prophet and the theology is way different than in Rome or Byzantium. Ebionites, Nazarenes, etc. they who accept the Messiahship. To my understanding, the three are basically attacks on the theology of contemporary Byzantine Christians. Suggest joining in to or recommend watch videos of “The Arena” by Hamza’s Den or “The Open Forum” by EFDawah if you like a better answer to your issue.
Carl,
It doesn’t matter what cults teach. If they are contrary to the teaching of Scriptures, they are NOT Christian.
Does the koran refute the Biblical trinity? No. At best, you can claim that your eternal koran is outdated and argues against
some obscure unknown cults that do not even exist anymore.
My replies have not yet been approved or censored to ensure respectful communication as of this one. Reply in plain terms for now becuase in summary: you’ve lost it. The Qur’an (Recitation) states that “the Messiah” is Jesus himself. Anywhere there with him saying “I died for the sins of Bani Israel”? I repeat, is there any mention in the Recitation of the God named as the Tetragammaton, triune, etc. distinct from “the God” (Allah)? If they do not refer to the same “the God” then I assume yourself in a lower plane of understanding. God transcends all religions and theologies; a polemic will bring no salvation to either side.
Did Jesus say he died for our sins?
Yes.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
“This is My blood of the covenant,e which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28
And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:46-48
John the Baptist said about Jesus, ““Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
You misunderstood my question once again and will rephrase it to: where in the Qurán does it say something like “The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, died for the sins of the Children of Israel and was raised from the dead” or a quote from Jesus himself saying that in the same book. Quote 19:33 and you’ll still be misguided. Your Gospel references seem out of context, the Mark one refers to general service or lesser sacrifice to serve others. Matthew’s reference to the Last Supper is Eucharist, or for smaller sects remembrance. The Luke quote took place after Jesus’ “resurrection” (extraordinary claim). The John quote is part of the baptism narrative and nothing to do with the so-called atonement. None of them confirm the erroneous doctrine of one sacrificing himself for every future man for almost 2000 years. Goes to show how most Christians stay at that low level of understanding without exploring the esoteric. My last piece to share with you: look inside yourself, the kingdom within, why go outside… that ego of yours has to be calm.
Carl,
You want a quote from your koran that Allah says that Jesus died for sins? Are you kidding? The author of the koran repeatedly failed to articulate our beliefs correctly and you expect him to teach you about atonement?
The message of the Bible is redemption and atonement. This is the core of the faith of Jews and Christians. Right from Genesis, you will see redemption and atonement throughout.
Christians believe this was accomplished for us through our Redeemer, Christ.
The closest Islam has to a redeemer is the black stone that enables the expiation of your sin if you touch it and kiss it just like the pagan Meccans used to do.