Do Christian’s and Muslim worship the same God?

My family is mixed with Christians and Muslims so we all have different views on things. My family and I got in a small disagreement about Muslim and Christian beliefs. They stated “Muslim and Christian believe in the same God and Muslims pray to God just as Jesus did, so in theory the God that Jesus prayed to the Muslims also pray to.”

I’m a bit newer in my faith so I’m still learning, but I don’t think that’s correct they don’t believe in the trinity as far as I know. They also don’t accept Jesus as God how could we possibly worship, pray, or believe in the same God.

I could be wrong, but I’m just coming on here to see what people who have more knowledge than me might think.

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The question is complicated and nuanced.

On the macro level: Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the God of Abraham; the answer is yes.

Things start to break down when we zoom in more. And it becomes a fundamental shift to “Who is God?”

For Jews and Christians there is a large shared sense of God’s Identity: God is the One who created all things. God is the One who chose Abraham, making a solemn promise to Abraham and his descendants. God is the One whose covenant faithfulness to Abraham is passed from Abraham to Isaac, and from Isaac to Jacob, and from Jacob to the Twelve Patriarchs. This is the God who redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt and delivered them into the land of promise, and who gave them the Torah and the Covenant. Jews and Christians all share this fundamental belief in God’s identity.

Muslims, on the other hand, while agreeing with some of these, do introduce a major difference: God did not choose Isaac, but Ishmael. That alone radically alters the story of God.

Does that mean Jews/Christians worship a different God than Muslims (and vice versa)? Arguments can be made in either direction.

After all, Jews and Christians ALSO reach different positions on God’s fundamental identity. For Christians, the fundamental identity of God is intimately connected to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Divine Son of God incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the long-awaited Christ (Messiah) from the line of David who would bring culmination to the promises made through the Prophets of Israel, bringing ultimate redemption to Israel and, indeed, the whole world. For Christians that is WHO God is: God is the God of Jesus Christ, the God we encounter in and through Jesus Christ. God is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is, Himself, God–the very and same God who redeemed Israel from slavery; because Jesus as the Son is consubstantial with the Father. That is why for Christians the doctrine of the Trinity is so important; the Trinity is how Christians address deep and complex questions about Who God is. The Who involves speaking of Three Divine Persons, each fully and entirely God, perfectly united in Being–not a triad of gods, but one Divine Being: One God. With the Trinity forming a deep and profound Mystery of faith.

Which then begs the question: Do Jews and Christians, therefore, worship the same God or no? Do heretical Christian groups who reject the Trinity, likewise, worship the same God or no?

All of these form a complex set of questions about Divine Identity–Who is God? Because, largely speaking, Jews, Christians, and Muslims actually would all basically agree that the question “What is God?” is an impossible question. God is God. By His own Self-Existent Reality He is beyond comprehension, understanding, and knowing; and so we do not come to know What God is, but Who God is; and so the fundamental questions of God are about Who He is.

So how do we answer these questions? Virtually no one would dare suggest Jews and Christians don’t worship the same God. This has been a universal constant, at least within Christian circles, for the last two millennia; with any suggestion to the contrary being categorized as Marcionite either in fact, or at least by proximity.

Wouldn’t that, then, mean that Christians and Muslims worship the same God as well? I think the answer actually is yes here. But it’s a yes with an asterisk. Yes Christians and Muslims worship the same God, in principle–on paper we do. Yet I can’t shake the sense that Christians and Muslims, when talking about God, aren’t talking about the same “thing”. And in that sense, perhaps the question “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” isn’t even really the right question we should be asking.

As for Christians, ultimately the question we pose to the world is: “Do you know the God who comes down and meets you, a sinner, in the suffering, death, cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?” That is to say, the Christian confesses the Gospel, and presents the Gospel before all nations, tribes, tongues, and people.

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A statement made by a professor at a leading evangelical college has become a flashpoint in a controversy that really matters. In explaining why she intended to wear a traditional Muslim hijab over the holiday season in order to symbolize solidarity with her Muslim neighbors, the professor asserted that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Is this true?

The answer to that question depends upon a distinctly Christian and clearly biblical answer to yet another question: Can anyone truly worship the Father while rejecting the Son?

This topic is also discussed here: Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? - Is Allah God?

Simply no. Well, yes and no. Yes, because there is only one God. No, because they see God in a false way. We, as true children of God, believe God’s Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

"Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58

"I and the Father are one.” John 10:30

"Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 1 Corinthians 8:6

Muslims follow a false, pedophile, hate-filled liar and denounce Jesus as LORD. So no. They do not worship the same God.

Be blessed, be a blessing,

Peter

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@Willow

There are some good, and interesting thoughts here. I appreciate that you asked this question.

My 2-cents comes from Paul, writing to the Ephesian, (and surrounding churches) said:

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18),

So, inverting Paul’s metaphor might also serve us in understanding @Willow’s question.

Let’s say person 1, is “drunk with wine”. He has ingested Alcohol to the degree that it affects nearly every part of his being; his physicality, his mentality, and his spirituality.
Person 2, who has smelled alcohol, maybe tasted it, and has seen its effects on a person, has a limited knowledge without any real experience.
Person 3, who has no interaction with alcohol of any kind is agnostic toward it.

The same might be said of one who is filled with The Spirit of God.

The OP specifically asked about “worship” though, which entails ascribing worth, recognizing transcendent value, or accepting superiority. Literally we worship that to which we are willing to bow. A person can only worship (bow to) what (or who) they know, and if one has little, or no knowledge of the True God, that person can not worship the True God. So a person cannot worship that which they do not know.

Jesus offers us some superior insight into this question when he answers the woman at the well in Sychar, who posed a similar question to Him. Jesus told her:

“Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24)

So, Jesus’s answer to “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” is: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Peace

KP

We do worship the same God; but we also believe very different things about God’s nature. That doesn’t make Muslims bad people (or Christians good people) but it means there are clear differences in the theological views and you have to choose between them because they’re mutually exclusive.

@Willow, you are right to say that Muslims don’t believe in the Trinity. Not only that, they deny the precious, historical truths that Jesus died and rose again, which are the heart of Christian beliefs that God forgives and empowers us to live for him.

Yes, but there is only one truth. Jesus is. It really is this simple. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. He is God. Anything else is a lie. Islam is a religion of hate and evil. It really is simple. If you are a Muslim, you have been misled. Please, hear the truth before it is too late. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He rose from the dead with over 500 witnesses. He is LORD. He is God, and He wants you to hear and accept the truth. Be blessed. Be a blessing. Jesus is LORD!

Peter

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I think yes but God has made all religions and likes it that way and like us that way but their is one God who is beyond complicated, mystical, mysterious and Holy. We are not to make others religions ours but he has given us the desires of our heart which God promise to us as a reality so if you love another religions prophet but you cannot be sure this is your religion ask God and realize that God may be asking you to make goals as a desire of your heart or if your fascinated with voodoo God may be asking you to really think what will heal yourself what concoction but we cannot take up religion that is not yours God is jealous and will deny that. I’m a believer in God chooses our religion we don’t. You cannot be baptized into a religion from birth but it may not be yours which goes against what some believe but I do believe that it’s possible. I also believe in peace and don’t go stirring troubles in others religions . And don’t be shocked if you thought you were Christian and after years of ways come to a conclusion that you may be a secret Jew yes it’s possible and God likes it that way and don’t be concerned with others God stick to your own as best you can God knows us and also within our religions we are each called differently and some things within our religion we are not to do it makes us who we are and gives respect to all and we are called to love others as ourselves and we are called to be separate from evil if they said you are to be a priest and your mind is now at that’s could be a evil we cannot be holy and only some are called to be closer that way but I believe in one God and many religions and they are all Gods wishes and creations and if you look closely at others and their religion you can look and see it and see it as right and real many times if they are living right with God you can see their religious foundations and their God when you can see it and respect God and his creation it just reminds you of the sacredness of the soul and life

The position you are arguing for ultimately would suggest that God hasn’t actually told us much of anything. Unless the only thing God is saying is some basic moral precepts. But if that were the case, then the conclusion isn’t that all religions are true, but that all religions are wrong.

Judaism says there is only one God, that God chose Abraham and made a promise to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants, through the line of Isaac, and then Jacob, to the twelve patriarchs. That promise is kept when God, ultimately, brings the Jewish people out of captivity in Egypt, into the desert of Sinai, at the base of Mt. Horeb, and hands down His Torah. God then brings His special people, Israel, into the land of promise, and establishes them as a nation there. The entire Jewish religion insists on God having done very specific things. Now, Judaism does not claim that non-Jews must observe the Torah, as Torah is only for the Jewish people. Judaism does, however, maintain that righteousness among the nations depends on recognizing the same and only God of Israel, and living according to more general, universal commandments, such as not to worship other gods, not to worship idols, not to engage in certain behaviors, etc. So there is a universal quality of God’s expectations for all humanity, and a special covenant with the Jewish people.

Now, say, let’s look at Islam. According to Islam God reached out to a man, Muhammad, and over a period of time, through the angel Gabriel, revealed what would later be written down as the Qur’an. The Qur’an is God’s Revelation (capital ‘R’) to the whole world. And so Muslims are required to affirm the Shahadah, “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet”. Further, according to the revelations given to Muhammad as recorded in the Qur’an, many prophets came before, such as Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus–but these are all inferior to Muhammad. And the revelations given through previous generations of prophets have been distorted over time. Muslims, therefore, believe that while God did choose Abraham, it was not through the line of Isaac, but of Ishmael. And that while God did reveal His Torah through Moses, it has been corrupted. And likewise Muslims believe that King David was a prophet, whose work of the Psalms were a revelation that became corrupted. And Jesus came, as a prophet, with a work of prophecy, the Gospel, which was corrupted. If Islam is true, then Judaism is not true. The two cannot be equally true. Because there are exclusive claims each religion makes.

When we, then, speak of Christianity. Christianity argues that God chose Abraham, and the promise was through Isaac, through Jacob, and to the twelve patriarchs and thus tribes of Israel. What the Jews call the Tanakh, Christians know as the Old Testament, and also hold that it is true. But Christians maintain that the promised Messiah is Jesus. Judaism doesn’t acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, but says the Messiah is still yet. Even still, Muslims do agree that Jesus is the Messiah. Christians say that Jesus is not only the Messiah, He’s the Son of God–He’s God Incarnate. And that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are God’s act to redeem and save the whole world. Jews, obviously, don’t recognize Jesus as anything–Jesus is irrelevant in Judaism. Muslims acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah, even that He was born of a virgin. But deny that Jesus is the Son of God, they deny Jesus’ Divinity, they do not believe Jesus even died on a cross, instead that Jesus escaped death altogether, but was taken into heaven without dying. Jesus will, when He comes again, according to Islam, die and rise from the dead as part of the general resurrection. Christians, additionally, reject the claims of Muhammad of being a prophet. Christians regard Muhammad as a false prophet, and the Qur’an as an un-inspired text that is entirely irrelevant to us. In the same way that Jews consider the New Testament entirely irrelevant to them.

And here we are dealing with just three religions, religions which share a LOT in common actually. And yet with claims which are mutually exclusive. There’s simply no way to reconcile those differences without completely destroying all three religions. If one says “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all true” that isn’t actually helping anyone. That’s actually saying “They’re all wrong”–because the deep faith claims each religion makes are only true if they are specifically true. Jesus can’t be the Messiah AND not the Messiah at the same time. Muhammad can’t be a prophet and NOT a prophet at the same time. Isaac can’t be the chosen son and NOT be the chosen son at the same time. The New Testament can’t be true and NOT true at the same time. The Qur’an can’t be true and NOT true at the same time.

And this isn’t even touching on the many other religions that exist in the world: Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Shinto, Wicca, just to name a handful.

While the desire for mutual peaceful co-existence among people of diverse and different religious persuasions is a good one. And it’s one I think we should seek to have in our pluralistic societies which we have established in the modern world; where religion is not imposed by the State, and no religion is oppressed by the State. The means to do this is not to say “all religions are true”, because that’s actually deeply insulting to ALL people of faith. It’s insulting to Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Wiccans, Sikhs, and all many other religious people. Because it is actually saying, “What you believe doesn’t matter, and you’re actually wrong–but I’m going to pretend as though I’m not dismissing your more cherished and strongly held convictions about the universe”. It’s not kindness, it’s bigotry under a different form.

Nope. Man did. Man even turned Christianity into a religion when it was never meant to be. Religion is not going to save you. Being a good little “Insert religion here” is not going to save you. Sorry. It is just the simple truth. Religion is a man-made concept and most of the time has nothing to do with the true God and/or His plan of salvation.

Simply put, Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6: Jesus is the key to Salvation. It is simply, accepted by you or not, a fact that without Him, you can not enter into Heaven. It is simply a fact, again, accepted by you or not, that “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

God made His plan of salvation simple and easy for all to obtain.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:16-18

First, notice this. Jesus does not say, "If you eat meat on Friday, or don’t eat meat at all, or walk half a mile on the Sabbath day, or if you say ten ‘Hail Marys.’ No, He says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Whoever. This means? Whoever. Anyone. Everyone. All you have to do is accept Jesus and believe He rose from the dead, and you shall be saved. Romans 10:9.

It also says this. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Does it say, “If you murder someone, or if you do not follow this or that tenet of said religion, or if you do all sorts of evil?” No. It says, “but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Whoever? Whoever. Anyone. Everyone. That simply? “has not believed” is? “Condemned already.” There is nothing you need to do except not believe in Jesus, and you are condemned already because He is the only true way to Heaven. He is the Door, the Gate, the Shepard. He and the Father are one. John 10 and Romans 10:13 say, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

So any religion that does not have this simple truth- Jesus IS Lord, and He is God- is a false religion. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 12:3

“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus puts it plainly as recorded in Mark 9:40

“Whoever is not against us is for us.” Which also works the other way.

You see, it really is that simple. You accept the gift. You receive the key. You are adopted into the family of God, and He becomes your Father. He tells us that His people are a family. That being a child of God, you are now heirs.

“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:17

When you have a child, all of a sudden, nothing else really matters. When the child is a baby, you have to treat it as a baby. Feed it, burp it, change it. Do everything for it. As it grows, you teach it. As it gets older, it will make its own choices. You still love him or her, no matter what choice they make. However, once they reach a certain age, they will decide the direction of their life. Either they will follow what you have taught them, or they will go out on their own. But you are still their parent, and they are still your children. True salvation is a relationship. Religion is tradition.

Be blessed, be a Blessing, Jesus is LORD!

Peter