By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President
In our flagship FaithSearch Discovery presentation we teach that these three Abrahamic faiths share in common the view that God is both an infinite and a personal being. Does it follow from this that these faiths all worship the same God, each with a different name?
First, the Bible makes it clear that there is only one God: “‘You are my witnesses’ declares the Lord…‘understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me’” (Isaiah 43:10). Thus, if Jews and Muslims do not worship the same God, they worship none at all!
Regarding Islam, Allah as revealed in the Koran cannot be the same as Yahweh in the Bible: each has quite different attributes. For example, Allah only loves those who love him (Qur’an 3:31-32); the God of the Bible loves all even when they are sinners (Romans 5:8). Muslims also claim that Allah is “above the limitation of metaphor,” meaning that he cannot be described in human experience—like the “Good Shepherd,” the “Lamb of God,” and the “door”—metaphors revealed in His Word which endear Christians to their God.
Regarding Judaism, Jesus answered this question for us in John 8:19: “You know neither Me, nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” He further stated that “If God were your Father, you would love Me” (John 8:42). He concluded that discussion with the Pharisees by saying, “you are not of God” (v. 47).
The bottom line: Neither Jews nor Muslims worship Jesus; therefore, they do not worship the same God. Both Jews and Muslims deny the deity of God’s Son, thus they deny the nature of God as trinity and are not saved (John 3:36).
If Christians really care about the eternal destiny of Jews and Muslims, we must be willing to share this truth with them in love (Ephesians 4:15; Acts 4:12).
