Do Muslims worship the same god as Christians?

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Note: In this argument, God refers to the Christian understanding of Him, and YHWH refers to the Jewish understanding
  1. Jesus is God, and therefore sinless
  2. One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt have no false gods before me”
  3. Jesus, being sinless, cannot break this commandment.
  4. Jews worship YHWH
  5. Jesus was a Jew (One of the many evidences being that the Last Supper was Passover)
  6. As a Jew, Jesus would worship YHWH
  7. Let us suppose YHWH is NOT God.
  8. This would mean Jesus worshipped a false god, which contradicts point #3
  9. Therefore YHWH must be the same as God, argumentum ad absurdum
Jesus prayed to the Father because he IS the Son, the Second Person. I van tell you that nneither you nor I is Jesus, thus we must pray through him to the Father.
 
The scriptural stance is that neither do.

No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. [1 John 2:23]

Rejection of the Son is rejection of the Trinity in toto, therefore they are rejecting God. Worshiping a Unitarian God rather than a Trinitarian God is worshiping a different God, because you are denying the makeup of His very Being, and the way the Trinitarian persons interact.

Christ was a fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, not Judaism (Mt 5:17; Lk 24:44). The Judaism of today is not the Judaism of Jesus’s time, as they deny this fulfillment and do not confess Christ as Messiah.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. [Matthew 10:32-33]

True “Jews” today are those who worship Christ as their Messiah and Lord. They worship the true God, as Abraham did. As the apostle Paul wrote:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. [Romans 9:6-8]

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. [Galatians 3:7-9]

Islam was born out of a lie told to a false prophet in the Arabian desert. One might as well say that Mormons worship the same God because they claim to worship the God of Abraham. In fact, the god of Islam claims: Christ is not divine (S. 5:116), was not crucified (S. 4:157), and the Trinity is a damnable lie (S. 5:73). Why would the God of Christianity teach other people complete opposite things? This is contradictory not only to the word of God, but simple logic.

Like it or not, Muslims and the disbelieving Jews of today are not worshiping the same God. This is what the word of God itself says, as well as just plain logic. A person might not like this and may say it’s mean, or repeat “But the pope said…” ad nauseum, but I would invite them to interact with the passages presented here.
take a glance at Uagi’s analogy about “Fred”. The CCC says that they DO worship the same God.

They only reject Christ because THEY believe that “god has no son, father or partner” in the fear of becoming an idolitor. Would you even think about Christianity if you had that logic?

While I certaintly disagree with the rampant belief that all religions are “equal” (even the Catholic Church CONDEMNS it), I DO believe that through their great faith in their gnorance some will be indirectly saved by Jesus.

IMHO All I can say is that if they are willing to seek truth, they will find it in Catholcism.

I once heard the presenter of a Muslim radio station (who is a psycologist and was giving some advice on depression, etc.) reading a text a listener sent and it sounded something like: “I’ve been a Christian listener of many years…I appreciate your [non-religious] advice”
The presenters response was “I’m glad you mentioned that you are Christian. We are all one under the Creator” [that was the presenter’s exact words].

There is a lot of truth in that simple sentence: "We are all [Muslims, Christians & Jews] one under the Creator. Just think about that.

Again, refering to Uagi’s analogy on Fred: They DO worship the same God…but that does NOT necessarily make them the true religion. The true religon is Catholicism.

For the record: Pope John Paul II was the first pope to kiss the Quran and pray in a mosque. He wanted to show that Christians and Muslims worship the same one and only God, and he wanted to mantain a dialogue with them. JPII wouldn’t do that if he was positive that Muslims do not worship the same God as Christians.

OFF-TOPIC: Brandon Vogt (A prominent Catholic blogger) sent a picture on his Tiwtter account: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/28035_144010909081993_801404326_n.png

He tweeted that on 19 December 2012 (you can check it out).

The caption was: A Jew, A Catholic, A Muslim and an Atheist walk into a bar regardless of their spiritual differences.

As Catholics we SHOULD do all we can to mantain a dialogue with Muslims [and other faiths].
 
Then you are rejecting a truth taught by the One True Church of God, and thereby rejecting the Church. Your intolerance will get you no where. You need to look up what the Church teaches on ignorance. Ignorance of who and what God is would fall under that category.
Amen!

Nicely said.
 
I know what the Church of Rome teaches on the matter. I am not a member of that communion and even were I one, I would have a hard time believing that people who explicitly reject God also worship him at the same time.
You should have said that before…
 
take a glance at Uagi’s analogy about “Fred”. The CCC says that they DO worship the same God.
Take a look at what scripture says regarding those who deny the Father and the Son, and what constitutes a true follower of the true God. You are pitting a human analogy (and every analogy that deals with the Trinity fails for one reason or another) against scripture.
They only reject Christ because THEY believe that “god has no son, father or partner” in the fear of becoming an idolitor. Would you even think about Christianity if you had that logic?
I assume you are speaking about Muslims here. If you are, that is incorrect - it is not that they believe God has no son, father, partner, etc. - it is that their god says that, as I cited before from their own Quran. Their god teaches that Christ is not divine, wasn’t crucified, the Trinity is a damnable lie…why would anyone in their right mind believe this God was the same God which the apostles and earliest Christians worshiped?
While I certaintly disagree with the rampant belief that all religions are “equal” (even the Catholic Church CONDEMNS it), I DO believe that through their great faith in their gnorance some will be indirectly saved by Jesus.
Demonstrate it from scripture, not your own opinion.
I once heard the presenter of a Muslim radio station (who is a psycologist and was giving some advice on depression, etc.) reading a text a listener sent and it sounded something like: “I’ve been a Christian listener of many years…I appreciate your [non-religious] advice”
The presenters response was “I’m glad you mentioned that you are Christian. We are all one under the Creator” [that was the presenter’s exact words].

There is a lot of truth in that simple sentence: "We are all [Muslims, Christians & Jews] one under the Creator. Just think about that.
Again, what does scripture say?
For the record: Pope John Paul II was the first pope to kiss the Quran and pray in a mosque. He wanted to show that Christians and Muslims worship the same one and only God, and he wanted to mantain a dialogue with them. JPII wouldn’t do that if he was positive that Muslims do not worship the same God as Christians.
I’m very sorry, but Pope John Paul II was wrong. Again, what does scripture say?
 
I watched a Mass on EWTN the other day and a Bishop said that Muslims and Jews don’t worship the same God as we (Catholics) do. He said God doesn’t dwell in there temples.
 
They believe in most of the old testament as Jews do, therefore do they believe in the same god? Allah is merely God in Arabic.
According to my understanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church, Muslims do worship the same G-d as Christians even though they do not believe in the Trinitarian G-d. (I do not know what the belief or beliefs of the various Protestant denominations are on this subject.) Likewise, according to Orthodox Judaism, Muslims worship the same G-d as Jews although they do not regard the Torah as their sacred text. In fact, once upon a time, most Orthodox Jews regarded Christianity as further removed from Judaism than Islam since Islam was viewed as more strictly monotheistic than Christianity. A Jew was never forbidden to enter a mosque but was forbidden to enter a church. This attitude has, thankfully, changed for most Jews.
 
Jesus prayed to the Father because he IS the Son, the Second Person. I van tell you that nneither you nor I is Jesus, thus we must pray through him to the Father.
Again, Jesus was Jewish! Christianity didn’t exist until after his death. Acts of the Apostles is even about how we stopped being a Jewish sect and became our own religion.

There’s even proof of this in the Bible:
-The Finding in the Temple
-The Last Supper being a Passover dinner
-INRI– Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews)
-(Someone help me, those are the only three I’ve got)

By being Jewish he necessarily worshiped YHWH. If YHWH is not the Christian God, he would have broken his own 1st Commandment.

Also, how do you explain the Old Testament being (more or less) the same as the Hebrew Bible?
 
Beyond a doubt Muslims and Jews are created by the same God who created Catholics, beyond a doubt the same God hears all our prayers despite our differences. You will never look into the eyes of anyone who does not matter to God, and it is not for us to judge others, we should leave that to our Lord and Saviour.
 
Again, Jesus was Jewish! Christianity didn’t exist until after his death. Acts of the Apostles is even about how we stopped being a Jewish sect and became our own religion.

There’s even proof of this in the Bible:
-The Finding in the Temple
-The Last Supper being a Passover dinner
-INRI– Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeorvm (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews)
-(Someone help me, those are the only three I’ve got)
Yes, Jesus was raised under the Old Testament Laws, but that was because part of his role post-incarnation was to live as the perfect man and fulfill the Law under our behalf. This is why arguing “Jesus was Jewish” is really just a non sequitor. Jesus may have been Jewish (again, in the sense that, during his lifetime, he followed the Mosaic customs and Laws), but that does not mean all Jews are exempt from disbelief or rejection of him as God the Son - again, refer back to the passages I brought up on the second page of this thread.

As for the Romans calling him “King of the Jews,” that was meant as an insult towards him, and if you study the story of the crucifixion you’ll find the Jews didn’t want him associated with that title (Jn 19:21-22).
By being Jewish he necessarily worshiped YHWH. If YHWH is not the Christian God, he would have broken his own 1st Commandment.
Are you arguing that Jesus worshiped the Father separate from the Trinity? Because that appears to be how you are arguing - in fact, this kind of mentality is how Islam argues against the Trinity (ie., “If Jesus was God, who was he praying to?” etc.), and I think we do a disservice to the CAF community bringing it in here. It will lead to confusion and a stumbling block for many.

The fact is, Jesus was God the Son. He was YHWH. Those who have witnessed to Jehovah Witnesses know how important it is to prove that the divine name was attributed to Jesus Christ (let alone the Holy Spirit). We confuse categories and names if we ask whether or not Jesus really worshiped YHWH. This is why this kind of argumentation is so dangerous. And if you deny Jesus is YWHW, you deny YWHW.
Also, how do you explain the Old Testament being (more or less) the same as the Hebrew Bible?
That is completely irrelevant. Also, those who worshiped God in the Old Testament worshiped the Trinitarian God, not just God the Father. There are many passages where the preincarnate Son is seen, and though they were not aware of it because the fullness of the Trinitarian revelation was not seen, they still worshiped the Trinitarian God. By contrast, the revelation has been given, our salvation has been seen as through Christ alone, and under the new covenant which we are under, those who reject the Son will not have the Father nor the Holy Spirit.
 
That is completely irrelevant. Also, those who worshiped God in the Old Testament worshiped the Trinitarian God, not just God the Father. There are many passages where the preincarnate Son is seen, and though they were not aware of it because the fullness of the Trinitarian revelation was not seen, they still worshiped the Trinitarian God. By contrast, the revelation has been given, our salvation has been seen as through Christ alone, and under the new covenant which we are under, those who reject the Son will not have the Father nor the Holy Spirit.
Amen, brother.
 
I’m sad. I’m shocked. Our Church has truly failed in catechizing if there is one Catholic who does not understand that the Jewish people worship the true God, the same one the Catholics worship. I’m sorry also that some are so uneducated as to believe that the Muslims don’t likewise worship the same God of Abraham, but I understand the prejudice behind that belief.

Jesus was/is a Jew. He worshiped the one true God and he did so in a manner more perfect than any of us could achieve. He was so convincing and authoritative, that even as a young boy he held the elders in the temple speechless. Mary was also a Jew. So were the apostles. They didn’t stop worshiping the God they had always worshiped before and started worshiping a new God when Jesus died and rose again. They merely deepend their understanding of God.

As someone said, the inklings of the fullness of truth, explicit in the trinitarian belief (which, frankly, most or all of us still don’t understand in its entirety) exists in the Old Testaments. There are frequent references to the breath of God, which is translated in English as spirit, I believe. And of course the many references to the long awaited Messiah.

As for EWTN having a priest who spoke against Catholic teaching saying the Jews and Muslims do not worship the same God, I must think the poster misheard or misunderstood. Otherwise, the priest was speaking against the Church.
 
Jesus was/is a Jew. He worshiped the one true God and he did so in a manner more perfect than any of us could achieve. He was so convincing and authoritative, that even as a young boy he held the elders in the temple speechless. Mary was also a Jew. So were the apostles. They didn’t stop worshiping the God they had always worshiped before and started worshiping a new God when Jesus died and rose again. They merely deepend their understanding of God.
This is what I was trying to say
 
What was the difference between the Jews of the early church and the other Jews of that time, who were called a “crooked generation” (Acts 2:40)? They worshiped Christ as God. When Peter said “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), that was a major stumbling block to unbelieving Jews. The “name” Peter referred to was the name of Christ, and he was making reference to a Jewish custom of the time of saying “The Name” rather than the holy name of God. To the unbelieving Jews, that was blasphemous, and most of them treated it accordingly.

As I said before, and from scripture, rejection of God the Son, within whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9), is rejection of God in toto. Not worshiping Christ as God, let alone identifying him as the apostle Thomas did with “my Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28), is not worshiping the true God.
 
As I said before, and from scripture, rejection of God the Son, within whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9), is rejection of God in toto. Not worshiping Christ as God, let alone identifying him as the apostle Thomas did with “my Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28), is not worshiping the true God.
To the degree that Muslims and Jews embrace the truth of God is the degree that they worship true God.

Just as we Catholics do not tell Baptists that the Jesus they worship is not the true Jesus, since Baptists reject the True Christ in the Eucharist, we also do not tell Jews and Muslims that they are not worshipping the true God.
 
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