Do Christians And Muslims Worship The Same God?

DO CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS WORSHIP THE SAME GOD?

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Phone Call

1. Three men wanted to make a phone call from Hell to remind to their relatives about its harsh conditions. Their Nationalities were American, Italian and Polish. So they went to Devil who is the boss.

2. The American made a call and the Devil made him to pay $1,000. Then the Italian made a call and the Devil made him to pay 100 Euros because Italy is less developed than the USA.

3. LASTLY the Polish man made a call and the Devil made him to pay a 10 cents. Both the American and Italian complained that the price difference wasn’t fair.

4. The devil responded to them, "The Polish call was a local call whereas yours were long-distance calls."

[From a Polish website]

HUMOR # 2

1. Three university students were caught in North Korea and sentenced to be shot as spies. One was from UT, one from SHSU, and the 3rd was from A & M.

2. The commandant ordered they be shot one at a time by firing squad. They brought out the Longhorn and stood him in front of the pole. He pointed up and shouted, "Tornado!" The soldiers all ran for cover and he climbed the wall and escaped.

3. Next, they brought the Bearkat in front of the firing squad. He pointed at the mountain and yelled, "Earthquake!" The soldiers all panicked and ran and the Bearkat escaped.

4. Last up was the Aggie. He had learned from the other 2 students to distract the enemy with a disaster. So as the firing squad prepared to shoot, he looked around and shouted, "Fire!"

B. WHY THE CURRENT DEBATE

1. In a post December, 2015, that included pictures of her wearing a headscarf, Larycia Hawkins, who teaches political science at the Wheaton Christian college in Illinois, shared her religious sentiments.

2. “I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book…we worship the same God.”

3. On December 22, Wheaton College announced the decision to suspend Dr. Hawkins due to theological reasons; her comments violated the college’s statement of faith.

4. This caused furor among those promoting universalism or the idea that all faiths lead to God.

C. THESIS

1. So I want us to look into this vital subject, which is the subject of current debate.

2. So we’re going to look at the subject, “Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?”

3. We’re going to look at:

a. Does the Name of God matter?

b. Are we inconsistent between Allah & Jehovah?

c. What are the real doctrinal differences between the God of the Bible and the God of the Quran?

I. DOES THE NAME OF GOD MATTER?

A. SOME SAY IT’S THE SAME GOD

1. Some theologians argue that Christianity and Islam, both Abrahamic faiths, have similar beliefs, including a shared belief in same God.

2. Several years ago, a bishop in the Netherlands attracted controversy when he argued that Christians should call God “Allah” in order to lower theological tensions.

3. He also argued that calling God “Allah” would be commonplace in Christian churches within a century and that this would lead to a synthesis of Islam and Christianity.

4. According to that survey, 46 percent of Americans agreed that Christians and Muslims pray to the same God, while 47 percent disagreed.

B. IT’S MORE THAN JUST A NAME!

1. To change the name of God is to redefine the God we reference. It’s no small matter.

2. As a matter of fact, God takes His name very seriously, and the Ten Commandments include the command that we must not take the name of the Lord in vain/ tamper with His name.

3. We are to use the names God has named Himself. Any confusion about the name of God will lead to confusion about the nature of God, if not to idolatry.

4. An Islamic court in Malaysia ruled that only Muslims can use the name “Allah” in print publications, saying, “The usage of the word will cause confusion in the community.”

5. In the Bible, God reveals Himself to us in many names. These names are His personal property. We did not invent these names for God. To the contrary, God revealed these names as His own.

[Points in this section are from Albert Mohler’s article, “Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?”]

II. ARE WE GUILTY OF INCONSISTENCY?

A. ALLAH VS. JEHOVAH/ YAHWEH?

1. Some writers accuse Christians of inconsistency;

“There is some inconsistency among Christians who argue that Muslims’ rejection of Jesus as savior means that they do not worship the same God. These Christians do not hold the God of Israel in the Old Testament to the same standard.”