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IGotQuestions
Guest
Why do some people insist that Allah is not the same God Christians know? Christians who speak Arabic use the word Allah.
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LaughingBoy1503
Well-known member
When it comes to non-Catholic Christians, there can be a variety of reasons.I have never heard a protestant say Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Even when I was a protestant, most of the time I thought that “Allah” was a name. The name of the muslim god. I did not know it actually meant God. Some evangelicals are taught that the god of the muslims is actually a pagan moon god. I read a Chick tract when I was a kid that muslims worship a pagan moon god. And of course in the tract, when a muslim is told this by a evangelical, the muslim converts to christianity in about 5 minuets, as if winning a genuine convert is ever going to be that easy
When a Catholic claims that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God it can be one of two things. One, they have never read The Catechism of The Catholic Church or have been taught wrongly on the subject. Or two, they have read the Catechism or been rightly taught but they think they know better than The Church for whatever reason. You will hear lots of Catholics saying that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God but here is what The Catechism says on the subject.
841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the **Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day."330
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They worship The God of Abraham. They just do not have a correct understanding of God according to our understanding, which obviously all Catholics should think is the correct understanding. They do not believe in The Trinity obviously, but neither do the Jews. That does not mean that they do not worship The one true God. PERIOD. No matter what some Catholics claim.
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JohnGerard
Guest
Hey IGot,
Others have answered your question well already, but here is a couple more cents…
Why do some people insist that Jesus Christ is not the same God to everyone who believes in Him? After all, Christians and non-Christians alike who speak English use the words (name) Jesus Christ.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ… and they mean He was a good, moral person only. Just like many other good moral people who have walked the Earth. And that’s it. There is no God.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ…and they mean He was an “enlightened one”…a more perfected human being through the process of reincarnation.
He showed us how we can become like Him through our own reincarnations.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ…and they mean He was a man, just like us, who eventually became a god…and we can do the same thing He did and become gods ourselves.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ…and they mean that the one God appeared for a time in the person of Jesus Christ but then returned to His former state of existence.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ…and they mean that He was really St. Michael the Archangel in Heaven…but then came to earth as Jesus Christ… and now is St. Michael the Archangel in Heaven again.
Some people who speak English use the name Jesus Christ…and they mean the third person of the Holy Trinity who came to Earth through the Incarnation. He opened the gates of Heaven to mankind through His passion, death, and resurrection.
Using a similar name or term doesn’t automatically mean the beliefs are the same.
For people who use the term Allah…what do they mean by that?
Obviously, to believe in one True God makes one a monotheist…like Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But what is meant by “one True God” and the word Allah varies.
Here is a link to an article by Tim Staples that I think answers your question very well. It basically says that Islam has it right in worshiping one God, but misunderstands what that one God has revealed to us.
catholic.com/blog/tim-staples/do-muslims-worship-the-same-god-catholics-do
Happy New Year!
E
exnihilo
Guest
You asked why and we can only speculate as to reasons. But I think the motivation is chiefly twofold. It is to draw a sharp distinction between the teachings of Islam and Christianity. And it is to avoid the real and serious problem of indiferrentism in our culture.
Personally I don’t think it is a useful approach. I think it in part a result of living in a culture where we are afraid to speak clearly and honestly. And it creates a new problem. If you predicate worshiping the same God on believing the same revelations, in their specificity, or understanding God to be certain attributes then it might be that very few people or no one actually worship the same God. Anywhere two men, even two Christian men, in any way deviate on their mental understanding of some aspect of God then those two men would believe in a different God. So to speak clearly I prefer saying that Islams understanding of God is deficient or wrong.
Personally I don’t think it is a useful approach. I think it in part a result of living in a culture where we are afraid to speak clearly and honestly. And it creates a new problem. If you predicate worshiping the same God on believing the same revelations, in their specificity, or understanding God to be certain attributes then it might be that very few people or no one actually worship the same God. Anywhere two men, even two Christian men, in any way deviate on their mental understanding of some aspect of God then those two men would believe in a different God. So to speak clearly I prefer saying that Islams understanding of God is deficient or wrong.
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808Catholic
Guest
Short and to the point; I like it.
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808Catholic
Guest
More to the point: do Muslims believe Christians worship the same God as they???When it comes to non-Catholic Christians, there can be a variety of reasons.I have never heard a protestant say Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Even when I was a protestant, most of the time I thought that “Allah” was a name. The name of the muslim god. I did not know it actually meant God. Some evangelicals are taught that the god of the muslims is actually a pagan moon god. I read a Chick tract when I was a kid that muslims worship a pagan moon god. And of course in the tract, when a muslim is told this by a evangelical, the muslim converts to christianity in about 5 minuets, as if winning a genuine convert is ever going to be that easy
When a Catholic claims that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God it can be one of two things. One, they have never read The Catechism of The Catholic Church or have been taught wrongly on the subject. Or two, they have read the Catechism or been rightly taught but they think they know better than The Church for whatever reason. You will hear lots of Catholics saying that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God but here is what The Catechism says on the subject.
841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the **Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day."330
**
They worship The God of Abraham. They just do not have a correct understanding of God according to our understanding, which obviously all Catholics should think is the correct understanding. They do not believe in The Trinity obviously, but neither do the Jews. That does not mean that they do not worship The one true God. PERIOD. No matter what some Catholics claim.
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808Catholic
Guest
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KathleenGee
Guest
From what I have learned, Allah comes from the ancient name of Satan.
I saw photos of Edgordan entering Kaaba in Saudi Arabia that is closed. It was opened prior as well for two former Turkish presidents. The entire imagarey is so totally different from Christianity.
I saw photos of Edgordan entering Kaaba in Saudi Arabia that is closed. It was opened prior as well for two former Turkish presidents. The entire imagarey is so totally different from Christianity.
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808Catholic
Guest
One can also make the point that pagan worship the one true God among the other gods. Like the Romans. Yes, I believe in the Catechism and I follow Church doctrine. And I do struggle with understanding how Muslims or Jews could worship God if they don’t believe the Triune God as we do. Something I’ll have to keep praying on the rest of my life. God bless you.
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ComplineSanFran
Guest
??? What??? Allah is cousin to El, which Jews know as the name of God. It’s a word we use for God. Christians AND Muslims. AND Jews, if they speak Arabic.
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ComplineSanFran
Guest
Well, Jews have a really hard time understanding how we took their God and made God triune.
LaughingBoy1503
Well-known member
I have no idea. I have heard of at least one muslim saying we do but I do not know what their leaders teach. I am sure some say yes and some say no, just like among Christians. It does not matter to me even if the majority say no because I believe The Catholic Church.
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808Catholic
Guest
Christians didn’t “take” God and “make” Him Triune; He was always triune. That the Jews didn’t understand is clear from historical and Biblical accounts.
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808Catholic
Guest
Your position may be analogous to how we viewed the Soviet Union back in the '50s. Because of our lack of understanding their beliefs and goals, we entered into a decades long Cold War. In the end, understanding that the Soviet people were just like us but their leaders had a totally different goal than their people (and the US) allowed the US to employ asymmetrical strategy to defeat them (don’t defeat their tanks on the battlefield, bankrupt their economy instead.) As Catholic Christians, we should indeed be primarily focused on our faith but we will deal with non-Catholics still and need to understand them if we are to communicate with them in mutual love.
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spedteacherita
Guest
I guess I’m confused. Isn’t Jesus the Way, the Truth and the Life? Maybe I’m misunderstanding what the CCC quotation meant…
Blessed New Year!
Rita
Blessed New Year!
Rita
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Eric_Hilbert
Guest
Stay within forum posting rules for inter-religious dialogue please.
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ComplineSanFran
Guest
But God first came to the Jews, yes? The Covenant, which still holds today, is with God as Creator, not with Jesus nor the Holy Spirit, tho there is recognition of God (YHVH) as Spirit (Ruach). If you were an Observant Jew, you would undoubtedly look at how Christians basically changed the nature and description of God - as Trinity - and scratch your head in wonder. ‘How did you get THAT?’ I’ve read some of the medieval discourses (many years ago) and much of the arguments were on this topic. Perhaps the God (El) of the Jews is closer to the God of the Muslims (Allah) from outward appearances than is the Trinitarian God. Just a thought.
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Servant19
Guest
Much Truth in this post.
It must be said also that the God of the Baha’is is also very much closer to the God of Christianity.
A perspective to consider is that Islam is to the Middle East what Judaism is to Israel, and Christianity is the fulfilment of Judaism as the Baha’i Faith is the fulfilment of Islam.
They are all of course, dimensions of the one God, for there is little, if any difference between Islam and Judaism which both formulated the foundations of Christian and Baha’i theology
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TonyBS
Guest
This is a good question. Language is always an issues and…
The veil of Names is one Reason and the Veil of Love another.
History has shown that Humanity flocks to the “New Name” and the power of the Word it reveals. A God given balance is required, a balance between Faith and Reason which require a balance between Religion and Science our 2 paths of Knowledge given by God.
A good example of the Veil of Names is this explanation of Translation - Bold added to show verses translated to Arabic
In Isaiah, we read, " … Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down; Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits." Isaiah also says, " … The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellence of our God…"
…It is interesting to compare this last verse with its Arabic version which, when translated literally, into English, reads as follows: "God will render to Lebanon its glory: the Bahá of Carmel and Sharon shall be manifested, and they shall see the glory of God, the Bahá of our Lord."When Jesus spoke to the Jews who were familiar with these terms, He told them that He would return “in the glory of the Father.” bahai-library.com/faizi_symbol_greatest_name
It is not until we embrace all the Names of God that the mystery of how they are connected all begin to unfold.
Regards Tony
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