Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

Today I wanted to write about a perennially debated question: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

I find that there are two common points of view regarding this issue.  Let’s examine them.


Seeking Commonalities: 

The first perspective recognizes the things we share in common with Muslims regarding the identity of God.

Imagine you saw a person praying.  You approach him and ask:

 “To whom are you directing your prayers?”

He responds:

“I’m praying to the one, self-existent all-powerful God who created the universe from nothing. Who revealed Himself to Abraham and continued to interact with mankind by sending prophets.  Who is completely holy, righteous, merciful, just, and sovereign and who will judge all of mankind on the last day.”

Given that description, most Christians would reasonably conclude this man is praying to the same God they do.  Perhaps this person doesn’t have the complete story regarding God, but he’s clearly sending his prayers to creator@universe.gov.

And since God is looking to draw all people to Himself, we can be confident they are being heard. He may be like Cornelius the Centurion from the book of Acts.  He wasn't a Jew, he didn’t know about Jesus, but he did fear God.  Thus the angel said to him:

“Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God.” – Acts 10:4

Enforcing Distinctions:

The other side of this discussion also raises a good point.  Suppose I asked you:

 “Have you met my father?”

And you replied:

 “Oh yes, I’ve met your father.  He is 5’6” tall, has blond hair, works at Target, wears glasses, and is highly tattooed.” 

I would rightly reply:

 “No, I think you have someone else in mind.”

Going of this thought pattern, many Christians would point out the differences between the Islamic and Christian concept of God.  Things like:

• The God of Christianity is one being with three persons, the God of Islam is one being with one person.

• The God of Christianity took on a human nature and became present in space-time-reality as Jesus of Nazareth, the God of Islam takes offense at that notion.  (1)

• The God of Christianity wants to be regarded as a loving Father, the God of Islam regards such a notion as a species of blasphemy called "shirk". (2)

• The God of Christianity historically ordered His people into violent conquest (3.1), but the final standing orders were to “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” (3.2),  The God of Islam began with a message of reconciliation and nonviolence (3.3), but the final standing orders quite open to the use of force.  (3.4)

Given these rather notable distinctions, many Christians feel quite justified in saying that the Islamic concept of God is so different as to constitute a description of a different entity.

Putting the Two Together:

Both of these perspectives contain important truths, so they both must be taken into account.  

Here it is instructive to look at the case of Jewish belief.  Jews also deny such things as the Trinity and the Incarnation.  Still, very few Christians would deny that Jews worship the same God as themselves... even if they deny certain important facts about God.

So it seems reasonable to apply the same thought to Muslims.  To reprise the analogy from above, it would be like someone knows some basic facts about my father - and is clearly thinking of the right man -  but he also heard some erroneous ideas about him.

Thus, we can say to our Muslim friends that together with us they adore the one, merciful God - mankind's judge on the last day.  But then propose a serious reexamination of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.


Sources:
1. Sura 5:72 , 10:68, 19:35
2.  Surah 5:18
3.1 Num 33:51
3.2 Matt 5:44, Matt 26:52
3.3 Sura 2:256
3.4 Sura 9:5, 9:29-30

Do Orcs Have Souls?

Back when I was in middle school I saw this Arnold Schwarzenegger movie called "The Sixth Day".  It was all about this evil corporation which runs this secret, behind-closed-doors human cloning market.

The film ends with a cloned Arnold Schwarzenegger talking to the original one about the meaning of his life as a clone.  He asks, "Do I have a soul?"

A similar question was asked at a recent Bible Study meeting.  One of the students asked if the Orcs from the Lord of the Rings fiction would have had souls.  Another asked about Ents.

And, as always, people are very curious about whether dog, cats, and llamas have souls.  (No one is ever curious whether dung beetles have souls.)

The Catholic faith, by way of Thomas Aquinas, has a lot to say on the topic.  So let's dive in.

Christianity and Sexism: Is God a Dude?

I recently ran across a book called, “Stellarella”.  It’s a book that tries to present positive female role models for young girls.  (Hoorah!)   But one distinctive feature of the book is that Stellarella refers to God with feminine pronouns:

“Did you know God makes rain too, Tank?  She’s very clever.”

If you are like me, you’ve grown up hearing God referred to exclusively in the masculine.  Reading a divine feminine pronoun can be a bit jarring.

Still… it raises a good question.  God doesn’t have an innate physical form.  The Creator isn’t properly male or female.  So why the insistence on referring to God in the masculine?  Why can’t God be a she?

Is this convention simply a leftover from a cruder age of sexism and patriarchy… or does it point to something deeper?

Answering the Five Objections to the Communion of Saints

It's the month of October.  And in the run-up to Halloween I wanted to cover some different aspects of what is called "the Communion of Saints".  Last time I talked about praying for the deceased.

Today I wanted to discuss a practice which is common to Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, but is rejected by certain other Christians.  I'm referring, of course, to asking for the prayerful intercession of our blessed friends in Heaven.

All Christians agree we are supposed to pray for one another and ask for one another's prayers.  This builds up the community in mutual affection and can bring about powerful results.

In Catholic and Orthodox circles, we believe this role of intercessory prayer continues even after a person goes to be with God in Heaven.  We believe these people, whom we call "the Saints", can receive our prayer requests  - and indeed do pray for us in the presence of God.

There are five boilerplate objections to this practice. Let’s go through them:

Praying for the Dead?

A long while ago I was reading an article about the death of Harold Camping - the infamous predictor of the end times.  I left a comment on the article saying: "He was a strange and confused man, but we should pray that he finds rest with the Lord."

The reaction I got from the rest of the Christian audience was  .... unexpected.

Praying for the dead is a completely normal thing within Catholic circles, but is considered by many others to be bizarre and possibly heretical.  So what unfolded in that combox was a long, somewhat exasperating exchange in which I tried to explain the concept.

Why would one pray for the dead?