Increasingly Superficial Answers
A couple of days ago Brian McLaren was asked the following question on his blog, “… third, that you believe (based on some of your latest comments) that the god worshipped by Muslims is the same God that Christians worship. Are these assumptions true?” In typical fashion, McLaren has provided non-answers in the form of further questions. Those questions and the point they are trying to get across, however, are extremely superficial, especially considering the position McLaren is in (at least as I understand what McLaren is saying).
On your question about the God worshipped by Christians and Muslims, here’s what I would say:
1. Do all Christians hold exactly the same concept of God when they worship? For example, does the concept of God held by Prosperity Gospel Pentecostals differ greatly from that held by double-predestinarian Calvinists? Does the concept of God held by a pacifist Mennonite differ greatly from … (Read more)
Are Allah and YHWH the same God?
I’ve recently been reading the writings of Emir Fethi Caner (Passionate Conviction, “Islam and Christianity”, 187–204) and this is what he has to say on some of the ‘comparisons’ between Christianity and Islam and their conceptions of God.
Often times Muslims or religious pluralists will draw comparisons between words. ‘Allah’ is the Arabic word for God, YHWH is the Hebrew word for God, therefore, Muslims and Hebrews worship the same God, who is simply denoted by a different word. This is what’s known as equivocating.
Consider the etymology of Baal, which is derived from the root word for lord or master. Yet we read in 1 Kings 18:21, “and Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ but the people answered him not a word”. If it … (Read more)
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