Revisiting the Question of whether Jews, Christians, and Muslims Worship the Same God
January 18, 2016In a recent blog post at the Gospel Coalition website, Justin Taylor articulated six truths that will go a long way in answering the question before us: do Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God? Here is his proposal Continue reading . . .
In a recent blog post at the Gospel Coalition website, Justin Taylor articulated six truths that will go a long way in answering the question before us: do Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God? Here is his proposal:
Can we agree that the answer to whether or not Christians and Muslims “worship the same God” has a yes-and-no answer, depending on the meaning, but that Jesus taught that the following is true of all people, whether professing Jews, Christians, or Muslims?
1. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not honor God the Son, then they do not honor God the Father.
“Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:23)
2. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not receive God the Son, then they do not have the love of God the Father within them.
“I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.” (John 5:42-43)
3. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not know God the Son, then they do not know God the Father.
“You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:19; cf. John 7:28; 14:7)
4. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims deny God the Son, then they deny the God the Father.
“No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:23)
5. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not come to God the Son, then they have not heard and learned from God the Father.
“Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” (John 6:45)
6. If professing Jews, Christians, and Muslims reject God the Son, then they reject God the Father.
“The one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16)
The virtue of this line of reasoning, it seems to me, is it forces us to reckon with the biblical text where Jesus addressed what we must believe and what we cannot reject.
So if you want to say “Muslims worship the same God as Christians” and you can affirm that “Muslims do not know and honor but rather deny and reject the one true God”—then I think we are on the same page (though I also think the former statement will be very confusing to many people).
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