Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

[Marybeloved]

Oh man! We get on the Hot list and the thread starts dying a slow natural death? :shrug:This makes me sad Come on people, Lets argue some more!!!:bounce:

 

[ringil]

Oh man! We get on the Hot list and the thread starts dying a slow natural death? :shrug:This makes me sad Come on people, Lets argue some more!!!:bounce:

But, really. what is there to discuss for a Catholic.

The Church has told us, through the Catechism, that Muslims worship “the one true God.”- this is our same God.

They have an imperfect understanding of the nature of God but they do worship the same God we do.

This is Doctrine.

 

[MorningSong51]

so then did Gabriel get it wrong and all confused at Lk 1:27,32&37and right at Sura 19 - it seems Luke got his info direct from Mary - so who is more likely to have the correct information - this of course is possible since the Muslims have a Jesus but not the Christian Jesus - they are pro a Jesus but anti Jesus Christ the son of God - so lets enquire if Jesus Christ was not the son of God,who’s son was He and who was His Father,was it Gabriel- This would or should make Him and Mary greater than Mohammed and honoured as such as only Christians do - twinc

No, when Gabriel came to Mary it was to announce the coming of the Messiah - King and Savior, specifically to the nation of Israel. Backing up a little bit here, Gabriel came first to Zechariah to announce John’s birth so when Elizabeth gave birth, as Zechariah wrote down the name of the child - he then prophesied that John was a prophet of the Most High God (vs 76) **who would go before the Lord, to prepare a way for him **- and to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins because of the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us

So according to Jewish law, or law of the Kings, the prophet needed to validate the Messiah/and Savior - remembering this is one of the requirement and this pointing toward Samuel who identified David (after Saul) as being a King. There is such a wide difference between the passages in Deuteronomy indicating the word “a prophet”–as this would seem to overturn from prophet to the Messiahship - with or without realizing the authoritativeness from a prophet to Messiah to the people, as we read in 1 Samuel 8:6 the elders of Israel came before the prophet to say: “Appoint a king over us, to judge us, like all the other nations”. Samuel went to the Lord and prayed about this and the message came back with, "9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” but the people of Israel refused to listen and wanted a King to them lead them and to "go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel repeat this back to God, God said "“Listen to them and give them a king.” So Samuel was responsible for choosing a King for the people. That being, a prophet would have identify the Messiah or to anoint him -

If we read Ahmadiyya Writings - this states:
**
Moon of the Prophets**

“As according to Ahmadiyya belief, Islam was the final and perfect religion for man, this religion, as all other religions, underwent corruption over-time. Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, contemporary Islam found in the world is in part corrupted and is not the same Islam as was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. For this reason, Prophet Ahmad came in the 14th Islamic century, according to Ahmadiyya belief, to fulfill prophecies regarding eschatological reformers found in the world religions, as a Prophet and the Promised One of all religions. He was to re-establish true Islam on earth and reveal more fully the truth. He was called the “Moon of the Prophets” by his wife at his funeral and also in many revelations of his, namely: “The Moon of the Prophets will arrive and your affair will become manifest” Ahmadis take this to apply to many verse of the Qur’an, namely: “By the sun and the time when it begins to radiate, And by thy moon when it follows it (the sun).” (Surah Al-Shams 91:2-3) According to the following verses, the sun is the Prophet Muhammad and the moon that follows it is the Prophet Ahmad. The sun is luminous while the moon is not; it reflects light from the sun. In this verse, the word for ‘moon’ in Arabic is not Hilal as is the word commonly used for ‘moon’ in Arabic and means ‘crescent moon’ but in this verse, the word used is Qamar or ‘Full Moon’. The Full Moon usually comes on the 14th day of the lunar month and reflects the light of the sun. Thus, according to Ahmadiyya belief, Ahmad did not create his own law (i.e. ‘light’), reflected the law (i.e. ‘light’) of Muhammad (who was the sun) as he was a Muslim and did not bring forth a new law and finally, came on the 14th Islamic (lunar) century as the full moon comes on the 14th day of the lunar month.” LINK:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophethood_%28Ahmadiyya%29

 

[MorningSong51]

and here’s where the meat of the argument lies: Moses said: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me** from among your own brothers**. You must listen to him." - the prophet must be from within their own tribe.

What is the role of the king ? The Torah commands: “Appoint a king over you…”(Deut.17:15) [Note: the JPS version, “You shall be free to set a king over yourself,” is not in accord with the halachic understanding of this verse] and then goes on to tell us who is ineligible for the job - “You must not set a foreigner over you”(ibid.). Further on we read of limitations which are placed on the rights of the king: “He shall not keep many horses… he shall not have many wives… nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess”(ibid.,16-17). He is also enjoined to write a Torah scroll for himself so that it may be with him always, “So that he may learn to revere the Lord … Thus he will not act haughtily towards his fellows”(ibid., 19-20). And yet we have learned nothing of his powers or of his role.

P.S

"Gabriel was saying something about the nature of Mary, that Christians would recognize until the end of time. The Greek words he used were “Chaire, kecharitomene!”. [Caire, kecaritomene!].

“kecharitomene”… is a perfect passive participle. It means one endowed with favour or grace in a “permanent or perfect” fashion. According to Greek grammatical lexicons, the perfect stem of a Greek verb means the ‘perpetuation of a permanent result or completed action’.

Catholics believe Gabriel chose his words carefully. His greeting to Mary was very different from his greeting to Zachariah whom he called by name, Mary was called by her title. In order for Mary’s soul to Magnify the Lord (Lk 1:46), her soul would need to be sinless."

Also, you might want to not that the expecting of a Savior was forth coming from the moment Adam and Eve sin. Each Matriarchs & Patriarchs brought the promise of God closer to us - until the time of Mary who had prophesied the final realization. Perhaps looking at the entire genealogy of these families and seeing a whole picture being developed was on the fact on how they had enormous bond, Adam & Eve, Abraham & Sarah, Rebeka & Isaac, Jacob & Rachael. Each couple had added strength of the promise–each couple was partner to the promise to help it develop.

So you can’t compare the appearance of Gabriel to Mary to that of Mohammed - the two are very different…totally!

 

[MorningSong51]

so then did Gabriel get it wrong and all confused at Lk 1:27,32&37and right at Sura 19 - it seems Luke got his info direct from Mary - so who is more likely to have the correct information - this of course is possible since the Muslims have a Jesus but not the Christian Jesus - they are pro a Jesus but anti Jesus Christ the son of God - so lets enquire if Jesus Christ was not the son of God,who’s son was He and who was His Father,was it Gabriel- This would or should make Him and Mary greater than Mohammed and honoured as such as only Christians do - twinc

one last post:

I’ll repeat this next verse and raise you another one:

Muslims believe that Gabriel was the angel who informed Zachariah of John’s birth as well as Mary of the future birth of Jesus and that Gabriel was one of three angels who had earlier informed Abraham of the birth of Isaac. Link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel#Gabriel_in_Islam

If this is so, then in vs 76 - it should state, 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven."

John was a prophet - Jesus, and according to Gabriel, will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

and another verse, The Law and the Promise

15 To give a human example, brothers:even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to off springs,” referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring,"who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

---

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance and direction for humanity and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the literal word of God,** revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years** and view the Quran as God’s final revelation to humanity.

see Apostle Paul - in Galatians 3:19 and Apostle Stephen in Act 7: 53, as he spoke to the Sanhedrin, "you who have received the law that was given through angels Mohammed is making the comparison to how the laws (Torah) were ministered by an Angel - would this be Angels or Angel, as in Gabriel. Gabriel is the Angel in the burning bush, who called out to Moses - and was also the Angel who drove a burning coal to Moses tongue, that’s why Moses had a speech impediment - see Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” And if you notice it will be Gabriel,in Islam, Gabriel was the medium through whom God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, and that he sent a message to most prophets, if not all, revealing their obligations. He is called the chief of the four favoured angels and the spirit of truth. He is called the created Holy Spirit (Islam) that spoke to Muhammad, which is not to be confused with the Holy Spirit of God in Christianity who is revered as God Himself.

Wahy in Islamic and Quranic concept means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzul (to come down). As the Quran says, “With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down.” It designates positive religion, the letter of the revelation dictated by the angel to the prophet. It means to cause this revelation to descend from the higher world. According to hadith, the verses were sent down in special circumstances known as asbab al-nuzul. However, in this view God himself is never the subject of coming down.

Also, I really would like some thoughts on the time of revelations, and how the Muslim religion will participate in the end of days -The Dajjal will appear somewhere between Syria and Iraq and will travel the whole world preaching his falsehood, but will be unable to enter Mecca or Medina. Isa (Jesus) will return and the Dajjal will gather an army of those he has deceived and lead them in a war against Jesus, who shall be accompanied by an army of the righteous.

Reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masih_ad-Dajjal

 

[rain_bow]

Compared to most of the major world religions, Islam is remarkably tolerant to other religions and, unlike many other contemporary religions, this tolerance is not a result of reform or going contrary to what was established originally. Muslims are instructed to be tolerant of people of other faiths directly in the Qur’an.

Are you kidding?

 

[Defender1]

Defender1, please don’t get annoyed that I have quoted John 3: 17-21 in my post. Since the replies to the posts are read by everyone it was for the benefit of those who are not so well versed in Scripture like maybe yourself. Having the Scripture readily given in the post itself has the advantage that you don’t have to go searching for it if you don’t immediately recollect it. Did not intend to be impolite at all.

I thought you were coming off arrogant and condescending . I got the impression you were quoting directly to me in that case you were wasting your time because I already know this stuff . And I thought you knew that already .

 

[gerhardc]

If we try to find the truth by consulting our subjective senses or intellect, as we so often try to do, we will no doubt arrive at different answers. If we consult objective truth (refer John 17:17 - “your word is truth”) then we may arrive at the right answer.

Thus, if we consult the Bible (refer the first epistle of John) then we see that whoever does not love (believe in) the Son does not love the Father either, for the Son and the Father are one.

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5)

“And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)

Scripture does not reflect our own judgement or preferences on a matter. It reflects God sovereign will. Not point in trying to reason away what is written.

Of course there are many who will want to find a way around what is written. Mostly, arguments are based on church doctrine and tradition, or the intellect of what is perceived to have been a godly man/woman. But that is foolish. Church doctrine has been developed by men. Scripture has not.

 

[Discipulo]

Of course there are many who will want to find a way around what is written. Mostly, arguments are based on church doctrine and tradition, or the intellect of what is perceived to have been a godly man/woman. But that is foolish. Church doctrine has been developed by men. Scripture has not.

Scripture is the basis for Church Doctrine but as well as Sacred Tradition, which has handed down to us from Jesus and His Apostle’s, this was an undisputed fact for the first 1500 years of Christianity’s existence.

 

[someguy14]

Are there any muslim followers that believe that Yousef Nadarkhani should not be executed for believing in Jesus?

Execution of Iranian Pastor Temporarily Delayed

News Video with Heather Sells and Jordan Sekulow update on Iranian Christian Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

 

[MorningSong51]

If we try to find the truth by consulting our subjective senses or intellect, as we so often try to do, we will no doubt arrive at different answers. If we consult objective truth (refer John 17:17 - “your word is truth”) then we may arrive at the right answer.

Thus, if we consult the Bible (refer the first epistle of John) then we see that whoever does not love (believe in) the Son does not love the Father either, for the Son and the Father are one.

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5)

"And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one." (1 John 5:7)

Scripture does not reflect our own judgement or preferences on a matter. It reflects God sovereign will. Not point in trying to reason away what is written.

Of course there are many who will want to find a way around what is written. Mostly, arguments are based on church doctrine and tradition, or the intellect of what is perceived to have been a godly man/woman. But that is foolish. Church doctrine has been developed by men. Scripture has not.

see post below…

 

[MorningSong51]

Again, this thread was about if Muslims and Christians believe in the same God? - not if Muslims worship God in the same way as Christians. Even though, each Christian denomination has it own form of worship and beliefs, would or should this affect any other religious group outside the Christian faith? - If they believed in Jesus but not as Christians do, and they call him a prophet instead of the Son of God, would that lessen their religion? Honestly, I don’t think that this is the problem - its not a matter of how they believe in the divinity of Christ. If it were, which I don’t think that it is, then I say that they are the “doubting Thomas”…

"Thomas is like so many of us in that he would require tangible, visible proof that Christ is really active in the lives of His people, caring for creation, and that He was what He claimed to be: "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." (John 14:9) Some today desire generally that kind of evidence even for God’s existence, "irrefutable" evidence making it impossible for man not to believe. That type of unquestionable, undeniable proof, we can say, will be put forth only at the end of this age, when "the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him..." (Matthew 25:31) At that time it will indeed be quite impossible for anyone (although some may try in vain) to deny "the King of kings and the Lord of lords." (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 19:16)

God’s most important gift to man, that which identifies him as a creature made in the image of God, is free will. The Lord honors this gift. He loves man and would have man love Him freely in return. God, therefore, will not force man to accept Him, but would have him approach his Creator in faith and trust. We would do well to remember the example of St. John the Baptist. He bore witness to his Lord saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Yet after being arrested, in a moment of hesitation or doubt, the Forerunner sent his disciples to Christ asking, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3) At first glance this question seems strange, indeed contradictory, for "the greatest born of women" to be asking.It is thus important to note that Jesus does not seek to answer it in some "definitive" way, irrefutable in John’s mind. Rather He responds in terms of an invitation, still beckoning His servant to place his trust freely in Him: "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Matthew 11:4-6)"

LINK: orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/fasts_feasts/dmitri_thomas_sunday.htm

I believe, what brought this question to the board was how severe the Muslims can be when it comes to their laws and how one perceives/understand them and transmits them to the people- are they necessarily the words that God commanded for all those outside of their own faith. Some/a lot of people are questioning the fact, are these revelations that Gabriel transcript to Mohammed necessarily coming from the God of the Israelites? or the same God that sent Christ to us? As one religion speaks of submission to the will of God - while in another vein, scripture tells us that God gives us a choice “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”

Obviously, choosing life instead of death - the death of sin,should be a simple choice. We know through our own teachings, as we should not exercise authority from one religion from to another (they shall not covet - meaning to have power over another, to possess), that we have traditions and doctrine that are in alinement with scripture passages and also (like any other religion) they are interpreted and transmitted to the people to follow. These doctrine and traditions would not and should not deviate anyone from the choice of life or would cause anyone of us to greatly sin, as all are free to choose a religion and free to seek out the truth in them. Also, we don’t have laws that would entangle our beliefs into the civil laws of the country - and if in fact that they do - we can, at least, argue the fact of how they would be justifiable or unjustifiable.

However, there are occasion when we find that family law and civil law do mix - but the majority of these laws (Muslim, Jewish and Christian) are addressed initial within their own denomination, movements and/or congregations under the heading of their own authority -

jlaw.com/About/
science.jrank.org/pages/7816/Law-Islamic.html
catholicleague.org/

 

[MorningSong51]

Scripture is the basis for Church Doctrine but as well as Sacred Tradition, which has handed down to us from Jesus and His Apostle’s, this was an undisputed fact for the first 1500 years of Christianity’s existence.

yes, and if one would look and search out the scripture under the Vatican’s website, they are explained in great detail and also for those who want to search out the scripture in depth there are many wonderful Christian scholars within the Catholic religion that have written very good books on scripture points.

The point of my last post - is that there is a crisis within our own society about the belief in God - and teaching them who God is. I think that our community, along with others, are doing everything they can to help our youth and young adults to search out the scriptures. The religious communities can provide the tools to them to search but someone has to lead our society to them.

 

[MorningSong51]

Ahimsa:
Thank you for bringing up this topic. I have meant someone really good people on this thread and also I feel a lot more comfortable around the members. Sometimes its difficult to meet new people and also getting familiar with a new forum. Again many thanks -

With much Blessings -
Mary

 

[gerhardc]

This question does not have an answer beyond our reach. On the contrary, it is clear for us to see. The choices we have is to either believe what is written or to try and find a way aroun it:

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15).

From the verse quoted above, to abide in God the Father means that you have confessed Jesus as the Son of God. Thus, if anyone - whether they are Muslim, or any other religion - does not confess Jesus as the Son of God, they do not abide in God the Father. Thus, they do not worship God. Accordingly, their worship is to another god.

 

[Discipulo]

This question does not have an answer beyond our reach. On the contrary, it is clear for us to see. The choices we have is to either believe what is written or to try and find a way aroun it:

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15).

From the verse quoted above, to abide in God the Father means that you have confessed Jesus as the Son of God. Thus, if anyone - whether they are Muslim, or any other religion - does not confess Jesus as the Son of God, they do not abide in God the Father. Thus, they do not worship God. Accordingly, their worship is to another god.

This verse is not an either or, because we as Christians believe ourselves as well as the Jewish people worship the same God, even though the Jews reject Jesus.

 

[gerhardc]

What people believe and what Scripture says is true is not always the same thing.

 

[pismopal]

No contradiction? well How would you explain those verses from OT?

Judges 21:

**Now the Israelites had sworn at Mizpah, ‘No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.’ 2And the people came to Bethel, and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3They said, ‘O Lord, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?’ 4On the next day, the people got up early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt-offerings and sacrifices of well-being. 5Then the Israelites said, ‘Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?’ For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, ‘That one shall be put to death.’ 6But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin, and said, ‘One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?’

8 Then they said, ‘Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?’ It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly. 9For when the roll was called among the people, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10So the congregation sent twelve thousand soldiers there and commanded them, ‘Go, put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including the women and the little ones**. 11This is what you shall do; every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.’ 12And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man and brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them. 14Benjamin returned at that time; and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; but they did not suffice for them.

15 The people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16So the elders of the congregation said, ‘What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since there are no women left in Benjamin?’ 17And they said, ‘There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel. 18Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.’ For the Israelites had sworn, ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.’ 19So they said, ‘Look, the yearly festival of the Lord is taking place at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.’ 20And they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, ‘Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22Then if their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, “Be generous and allow us to have them; because we did not capture in battle a wife for each man. But neither did you incur guilt by giving your daughters to them.” ’ 23The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory, and rebuilt the towns, and lived in them. 24So the Israelites departed from there at that time by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories.

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.

Mohammad is not God for Muslims and for me he is nothing but a power Hungry war lord, who used to see lots of dream and Koran is also his dream partly and the result of his endless power hunger. I admire Jesus for his Good work as a Good man, but He raised from death? What proof would You provide except NT?

By asking for “proof” I think you might mean evidence, as proof is highly subjective and comes as a result of the review of the evidence. The NT accounts of Jesus being raised from the dead were written by those who actually witnessed the event but perhaps they were lying…could be. The evidence that the accounts of Jesus and His miracles are true are more credible by taking into account the behavior…the acts of those Apostles. They went from weak, fearful followers, to men who cheerfully went to their painful deaths because of what they saw Jesus do, before and after His death. This is the strongest evidence…good enough for me.

 

[apfrita]

I thought you were coming off arrogant and condescending . I got the impression you were quoting directly to me in that case you were wasting your time because I already know this stuff . And I thought you knew that already .

I don’t know anything about you.

 

[apfrita]

Some facts mentioned below which suggest that the God the Muslims worship and the God that the Christians worship cannot be the same:

1. God of the Christians is also the God of the Jews at least in the first person of the Trinity - God the Father. No Muslim will ever agree that the Jews and themselves worship the same God, otherwise there would not have been the age-old animosity between the two.
2. Jesus - the 2nd person of the Godhead worshipped by the Christians is treated as a mere prophet by the Muslims.
3. The Holy Spirit - the third person of the Godhead worshipped by the Christians was sent by Jesus himself to form his living church on earth when he himself ascended to his Father in heaven after his resurrection. This church was given the responsibility to tell the whole world about the gospel. The Church along with the Holy Spirit would do the work of evangelizing the whole world to know the one true God. Do Muslims even have the concept of the Holy Spirit in their knowledge of God.? Do the Muslims accept the authority of the Christian Church? The New Testament which was cannonized by the Church as Scripture is mis-trusted by the Muslims, because if they believe it then they have to believe that Jesus is God. By mis-trusting the Scripture cannonized by the Church, the Muslims prove that they don’t believe in the authority of the Church.
4. Muslims do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Christianity would be a dead religion without the believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus himself predicted his passion and death and resurrection 3 times as recorded in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Muslims treat him as a prophet but don’t believe in everything he has said which is recorded in the gospels thus making his a lying prophet. At most they probably believe in the heretical gospels that were available to their prophet Muhammed when he lived on this earth, because of which Muhammed came to the conclusion that Jesus was only a mere prophet - i.e. only human and not divine.
5. Christians believe that Jesus, as Son of God will judge the living and the dead at the end of time. Muslims believe that Jesus will be one of those who will be standing in the line to be judged by their God, thus making him similar to any other man.
6. Christians believe that God the Father sent his prophets to this earth in the past but when he sent Jesus, he sent his Son so there cannot be any more public revelation of God after Jesus, so no more prophets will come after Jesus. Muhammed comes centuries later and calls himself a prophet of God.

These are some of the contradictions in what the Christians believe as God and what the Muslims believe as God. With such basic contradictions, how can anyone even suggest that the Christians and the Muslims worship the same God? If they do then they have to also agree that God is confused totally revealing himself to the Christians in one way and then revealing himself to the Muslims in so many contradictions. The only conclusion that can be drawn in spite of these contradictions is that the two religions worship different Gods. Since both religions are strictly monotheistic, this also means that both of them believe that the God which the other religion worships must be a false god. There can never be a chance for Muslims and Christians to unite in any matters of faith unless either of them are willing to compromise on the basic tenets of their faith. Jews and Christians however can someday unite , reason being that the Christians believe very strongly that the Jews are the chosen people of God and that election can never be undone and that their God is the first person of the Trinity. So Jews only lack the full revelation of their God but their belief in no way contradicts the Christian concept of God - because of this there can always be a hope that the two religions will one day operate as one. In fact the Christians believe that when Jesus comes again the 2nd time, he will take his Church to himself which will consist of all believing Jews and Gentiles, definition of ‘believing’ being believing in God the Father, God the Son, Jesus and God the Holy Spirit.