“I pray to the same God as a Muslim prays” says President Bush (see this link).
Yeah, I guess so, except that the Muslim god is not a Trinity, does not have a Son, did not send that Son to become a man and die in the place of a fallen humanity, etc. Small details like that.
I would say that the President is bearing false witness against the Scriptural God and is also creating a god that does not actually exist, a polytheistic God that bears no resemblence to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As there is political correctness, there is religical correctness. My friend who went to the island of Malta back in the 70′s said that the Catholic Church on the island called God “Allah”. Have you ever heard that?
It is the Arabic word for God, so that’s no problem. I went to a Coptic Orthodox service and they use Allah for God when reading Arabic. The word “Allah” isn’t the problem, the philosophical concept of god in Islam is.
I would argue that this doesn’t make him a polytheist. The Jews worshipped God for thousands of years without recognizing that He was a Trinity of persons. The orthodox Jews of our day still do the same, by not admitting the New Covenant as fact. Did they change gods or simply deny God? Muslims, like Jews, claim that they worship the God of Abraham, and as such ARE worshipping the one true God. The problem lies in their refusal to worship Him as He has commanded us. They deny the Trinity, and believe in the Creator. Their problem is in their dispensational rejection and either hatred/ignorance of Christ. I would say that Yes, they do believe in God. But is that enough? Probably not.
Obviously with the advent of Christ old covenant Judaism is insufficient and does not bring salvation. The Second Temple rejected Christ and was obliterated in AD 70; Jesus said the only way to the Father is through him, not the Day of Atonement. The Muslim god is an even worse heresy; claiming to worship the ‘god of Abraham’ does not make it so. Their god is categorically different from the Christian God, and praying to him is NOT praying to the Triune God – that should be fairly clear. These two gods are different, and equating them is a form of polytheism.
Tillich’s comments about ‘the God beyond God’ would be appropriate here, there are many of them. As much as I dislike Bush I think that intuitively he points to that that is beyond creed and church, that that is beyond the memorized comments posted above.
Perhaps if one was to set aside, for a moment only, the Sunday School quotations, the carefully selected Bible, and was to look for and at what is behind all of them, all of this, towards that that cannot be doubted.
It takes courage, a lot of courage, to look at that, for that that cannot be doubted. Perhaps it would be an appropriate time to look forward and upward? Just a modest suggestion.
Apparently Tillich’s god beyond god did not mind if he had affairs and betrayed his wife. I’m not sure why I should listen to anything that this man said when the fruit of his life was disastrous.
A god ‘beyond creed or church’ is a god of your own imaginings Mr. Johnson, a god fashioned in your own image. You must deal with the historical person of Jesus, and not with neo-liberal myths from 100 years ago.
“that that cannot be dobuted” – what do you mean?
This topic has come up in my circle of friends on more than one occassion, and some people honestly don’t get it! Scripture, both the Old and New testaments, must be interpreted through the “lens” of Christ. God has not changed, but now that we have the WHOLE story we know exactly who He is.
The first chapter of Colossians tells us that Jesus is responsible for all of creation…does Islam teach and agree with this? NO! Therefore, we cannot possibly be talking about the same God here.
I can believe as fervently as I want that God is a purple elephant who lives in the ocean, but that does not mean squat. He is a specific being, with specific attributes and character, and my thoughts or feelings (or Bush’s!) regarding who He is have no bearing on the matter!
Praise God for remaining exactly who He says He is…
It all comes down to the Trinity, and the person of Jesus Christ.