Question about Jews, Muslims, and God

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I saw a post on social media about how Jews, Muslims, and Catholics have the same God according to Pope Francis. (I’m not sure he said that or if it’s being twisted here) People were arguing that they don’t because Jews and Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Others said, well technically they do have the same God because He is our Father but they don’t all worship the same God.

I’m confused. Allah is not the God that Catholics worship, right? But the Jews worship the same God that Catholics worship, they just don’t believe in the Trinity, therefore not believing in Jesus’ Divine Nature, correct?
I’m not saying they don’t HAVE the same God because we all have God as our Father and we all have Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, making three persons in one God, they just don’t all BELIEVE that.

Any clarification in this would be appreciated!
 
Footprints said:
Allah is not the God that Catholics worship, right? But the Jews worship the same God that Catholics worship, they just don’t believe in the Trinity, therefore not believing in Jesus’ Divine Nature, correct?
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That’s my understanding. The church recognizes what’s true in all world religions. It commends Islam for acknowledging that there is one true God, for example. But I don’t think we would say that the Islamic Allah is God. We don’t have a similar enough understanding of who God is.

It’s worth mentioning as an aside that, if I was correctly informed, in Arabic Christians call God “Allah” as well.
 
We believe different things about the same God, both as the personal God of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and King David (and Adam and Noah), but also in the broader respect of monotheism.

When we start talking of them as different beings all falling in the same category, we creature-ize God.

And Allah isn’t a name. It’s just the word for God is the Arabic language. Christians who speak Arabic use the word Allah.
 
I see @wesrock and @chessnerd321
I didn’t know Allah was the actual Arabic term for God. Thank you for letting me know!

I guess I’m just trying to find out what Catholics believe in this case since I saw some Catholics saying that Jews specifically (and also Muslims) don’t believe in God and I was confused.
 
Muslims and Jews do acknowledge the one God, even if they profess other errors. First, I think there should be noted the difference between worshiping God in Spirit and in truth, offering Him “true worship,” having supernatural faith, obeying Him, etc., and acknowledging God or worshiping God according to religion (which is not a theological virtue; it falls under natural justice).

St. Thomas defines this virtue in the Summa as “to show reverence to one God under one aspect, namely, as the first principle of the creation and government of things.” SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: Religion (Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 81)

They both certainly worship God as First Principle and Supreme Governor of all things, but is it the same God we know? Can one acknowledge the one God without acknowledging the Trinity?

Faith is required to acknowledge the Trinity. The Trinity cannot be reasoned out, as St. Thomas explains:
I answer that, It is impossible to attain to the knowledge of the Trinity by natural reason. For, as above explained (12, 4, 12), man cannot obtain the knowledge of God by natural reason except from creatures. Now creatures lead us to the knowledge of God, as effects do to their cause. Accordingly, by natural reason we can know of God that only which of necessity belongs to Him as the principle of things, and we have cited this fundamental principle in treating of God as above (Question 12, Article 12). Now, the creative power of God is common to the whole Trinity; and hence it belongs to the unity of the essence, and not to the distinction of the persons. Therefore, by natural reason we can know what belongs to the unity of the essence, but not what belongs to the distinction of the persons.
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newadvent.org/summa/1032.htm

Therefore, we can know of God, as the Principle of all things, apart from faith, but we can only know of the Trinity with faith since it is a revealed dogma. The First Vatican Council also defined that God can be known from natural reason alone (Dei Filius, Canon 2.1) and St. Paul says, on account of this, those who do not acknowledge God (but worship idols, are atheists, etc.) are without excuse (Rom. 1:20).

Therefore, one can acknowledge the one God and Creator of all things without having faith and acknowledging the Trinity.

continued…
 
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continued from above…

In addition, it is the essence of the thing that determines what it is. If we acknowledge the same essence, we acknowledge the same thing. What we can say about the essence of God is that it is the same as His existence. This is summed up as “God is” or, in His own words, “I AM” or “I AM who AM.” (Exo. 3:14).

God is a purely self-existent being that exists in complete actuality. God is not a being that is created by another god; neither does God create Himself into existence. Rather, God has always existed as an unchanging, completely actualized being. God has his Being of himself and to himself such that he is absolute being and the very definition of existence (see Acts 17:22-28). Since God’s existence is the same as his essence, it follows that God is existence. (Note: this is not to assert pantheism. All other beings participate in his existence on a contingency and thus do not possess the essence of God. Therefore, no other being can be said to be a god or share a part in the godhead since they exist solely on a contingency.) This concept is at the root of the definition of all of God’s other perfections because if God is absolute being he must logically contain in Himself all perfections of being.

Since God’s essence is existence, if one acknowledges His essence, one can only acknowledge He who exists–it is impossible to acknowledge a completely actualized being that is not the one and only God. Similarly, there cannot exist two of such beings, because then neither would contain in Himself all perfections of being.

The CE article on Essence and Existence explains this:
-If essence and existence were but one thing, we should be unable to conceive the one without conceiving the other. But we are as a fact able to conceive of essence by itself.
-If there be no real distinction between the two, then the essence is identical with the existence. But in God alone are these identical.
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newadvent.org/cathen/05543b.htm

Since Muslims and Jews do conceive of God as being completely self-actualized and being non-contingent where essence and existence are one thing, they therefore can only be said to acknowledge the one God who exists and it is to Him that they honor and worship as First Principle and Creator according to the virtue of religion.

I would say therefore that we know God; they know of God. St. Thomas makes this distinction in his commentary on John to reconcile Biblical passages where Jesus says one must know Him to know the Father with those where people without faith are said to know or worship God (such as those passages cited above from Acts and Romans). We know Him as the Father of an only Son and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth and serve Him in supernatural faith and charity.

See also this article by a well-known Catholic philosophy professor:

 
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Footprints said:
I saw a post on social media about how Jews, Muslims, and Catholics have the same God according to Pope Francis. (I’m not sure he said that or if it’s being twisted here) People were arguing that they don’t because Jews and Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Others said, well technically they do have the same God because He is our Father but they don’t all worship the same God.

I’m confused. Allah is not the God that Catholics worship, right? But the Jews worship the same God that Catholics worship, they just don’t believe in the Trinity, therefore not believing in Jesus’ Divine Nature, correct?
I’m not saying they don’t HAVE the same God because we all have God as our Father and we all have Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, making three persons in one God, they just don’t all BELIEVE that.

Any clarification in this would be appreciated!
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Consider this response Do Muslims Worship the Same God Catholics Do? | Catholic Answers
 
The Catechism states Gods plan of salvation includes muslims and jews.
 
Footprints said:
… according to Pope Francis. (I’m not sure he said that or if it’s being twisted here)
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That was way before Pope Francis. Reference is often made to Lumen Gentium, a document promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1964, but the ideas probably were around long before then.
 
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MiserereMei25 said:
The Catechism states Gods plan of salvation includes muslims and jews.
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Yes God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. It doesn’t mean God forces anyone, or that people will respond freely.

From the CCC
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

Footnote 330 refers to LG (Lumen Gentium) http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...s/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html) paragraph 16
  1. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.(18*) In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh.(125) On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.(126) But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things,(127) and as Saviour wills that all men be saved.(128) Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.(20*) She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator.(129) Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, “Preach the Gospel to every creature”,(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.
Paragraph 14, in LG, gets to the bottom line.
 
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Common misunderstanding. For centuries, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in the Middle East have seldom used the word Allah when speaking about God, because although grammatically correct, the word has been associated with a quite different concept of the divine. Instead, when speaking of God they traditionally have used the word Rabb, “Lord,” or Rabbuna, “Our Lord.”
 
Theprodigalson84j said:
Common misunderstanding. For centuries, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in the Middle East have seldom used the word Allah when speaking about God, because although grammatically correct, the word has been associated with a quite different concept of the divine. Instead, when speaking of God they traditionally have used the word Rabb, “Lord,” or Rabbuna, “Our Lord.”
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Check out this article http://catholicnews.sg/index.php?op...hip-the-same-god&catid=119&Itemid=473&lang=en
 
Yah I actually just took mine from the 20 Answers booklet on Islam 20 Answers question 7. Idk complain to them .
 
Jesus talked to the same God as the Jews?

This is a confusing subject
 
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As good an explanation as I’ve ever heard (from a Christian perspective, of course).
 
Genesis315 said:
Faith is required to acknowledge the Trinity. The Trinity cannot be reasoned out, as St. Thomas explains:
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The passage noted, but I dare say Aquinas might be wrong on this point – though it hinges on what exactly he means by “faith”, which is never quite clear to me with Aquinas. In any case, I’m not sure how it happened that Christians came to subscribe to the idea that the Trinity is an inexplicable mystery that was never anything but dogma. It’s a very strange situation because it is generally acknowledged that the Trinity is an anthropomorphic description of God’s three hypostases. These hypostases are knowable and (therefore) understandable in an intimate sense (not only a conceptual or dogmatic sense) for those to whom God reveals them. (If this intimate knowing is what Aquinas means by faith – which is not the impression I get – then of course he’s right.)
Genesis315 said:
I would say therefore that we know God; they know of God.
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There may be some truth to this. But the “we” and “they” don’t neatly fall along the divisions between the world’s great religious traditions. There are many Christians who only know of God even though theologically Christianity is about knowing God. Similarly, there are muslims who know God even though theologically Islam appears to be more about knowing of God. And note that I say “appears”, because there is much more to Islam (theologically) than usually meets the (Western) eye.
 
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The Maltese language is descended from Classical Arabic. In Maltese, God is called Alla. The Maltese language simply dropped the final h in this word, just like in other words. And the great majority of the Maltese people are Catholic.
Incidentally, the Arabic word Rabb ‘Lord’ is used not only by Christians,but also by Muslims, of God. It is used so also in the Qur’an. And when Muslims speak English, they can refer to the Deity as God. Allah is the Arabic word for God.
So in my opinion, when Muslims speak of God, they speak of the same Deity as when Christians speak of God, when Jews speak of God, when Baha’is speak of God, when Samaritans speak of God, when Sikhs speak of God, when Cao Dai believers speak of God, when Tenrikyo believers speak of God, etc. Including also when those Hindu who are monotheistic, speak of God. Regardless of the fact that Christians usually have different beliefs for what God is like. Most Christians believe God is a Trinity of 3 persons. Some Christians believe God is a Binity, two persons. Some Christians have a more Modalistic concept of God, they believe God is one person, who has 3 roles, as the Father, as the Christ, and as the Holy Spirit. Some Modalist Christians just believe God has the first two roles, while the Holy Spirit is not strictly speaking a person. Some Christians though have a similar concept of what God is like, just like that found in Judaism, Islam, Baha’i Faith, Tenrikyo, Samaritanism, Sikhism, etc., that God is simply one. So then Christ is not God.
Though in the Mormon churches, like LDS, FLDS, etc., they have a different concept of God, that each God is one of many God. So the God they pray to, God the Father, is simply one of many Gods. In their case I could say that their concept of God is quite different from the God of the monotheistic churches and of other monotheistic religions. That it is just not the same God.
 
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