Re: Do Muslims & Christians Worship The Same God?

rtdavide@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
abdul.halim2005@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
sonclad wrote:

if I remember correctly, shirk, which is basically idolatry, is the
biggest sin one can commit under Islam.

Yup.

I don't see people today really making idols out of wood or stone,
and claiming them to be gods, but most people do indeed fashion their
own gods using mental constructs.

Yup.

It is true that both Muslims and Christians worship a concept that is
creator, omniscient, omnipotent, etc, but there are some very
significant conceptual differences as well.

Yup.

Undoubtedly both
camps believe there are not 2 separate Gods, we both accept that there
is only one, and it is true that we disagree about the nature of God,
but given the differences, Islam would definitely call the Christian
conception shirk/idolatry, which would lead me to believe they don't
believe we are really worshipping God, but some false construct-

I'm Muslim, and while I definitely have theological disagreements with
Christianity, those still aren't so significant that I would want to go
around saying that Jews and Christians worship a different God. Even in
the context of the orginal revelation of Islam, many of the the pagans
(mushriks, those who commit shirk) who were not even Christian or
Jewish still worshiped Allah. (Allah was worshiped even before
Muhammad) The Quran doesn't categorically say that they worshiped some
different God necessarily. The Quran describes their mistaken beliefs
but still acknowledges that they are talking about a common reality.

For example, the Quran says:

[2.62] Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the
Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day
and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there
is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

Jews and Christians here are included in "whoever believes in Allah".

Personally, when I hear this language of Christians and Muslims
believing in different Gods it seems like it is laying the groundwork
for some really offensive xenophobic attitudes.. often rooted in
ignorance... like the silly but all-too-common "Allah is a moon God"
type of nonsense.

Let me repeat a question I asked earlier in this thread to get your
specific response. If you say Muslims and Christians worship different
Gods are you also willing to say that religious Jews and Christians
also worship different Gods?

Abdul-Halim
www.planetgrenada.blogspot.com


.

Quantcast