For the followers of the Abrahamic Faiths, do you believe in the same God?

[zenobia]

This is my personal belief and I believe my Jewish, Christian, and Muslim brothers and sisters may not agree with me but me being a Muslim, I believe that we do worship the same God and here are my reasons:



That's just me. What do you guys think?

Looking forward to your responses.

Shalom Aleichem, Assalamualaikum.

Walaykum-assalaam,

I can understand you coming to that conclusion because as you say, Jews, Christians and Muslims state they worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and of course Moses). Yet, we can see that some 'versions' of who God is, is so different that some may conclude that we do worship a 'different' God. For example, I am a Christian (Follower of Christ) yet I do not believe in most of the teachings and dogma of Christendom - (Trinity, immortal soul and so on).

The question all of us need to ask about who we decide to worship is: Who does our Creator say he is and how does he say he wants to be worshipped? How do we separate tradition and influences that deviate from God's will, identity and purpose? How can we source reliable information?

Having asked these questions myself, I have found the answers through prayer (ask God for truth), mediation (think deeply with our God given intellect) and a careful consideration of God's inspired word (these are his words to us). Our Creator doesn't want us to be mislead, confused or ignorant of His identity, will and purpose. However, it does make a difference to God how we individually choose to worship Him, in fact it is a 'life and death' issue.

Thank you for raising such an important discussion

 

[shunyadragon]

If you read books like The Fulfillment of All Desire, you'll come to understand that this is in line with the kind of thinking of the Saints.

View attachment 22281

I do not believe referencing a New Age book is meaningful here.

As I said before, 'anybody can believe anything, and ah . . . write books.

 

[Cooky]

I do not believe referencing a New Age book is meaningful here.

As I said before, 'anybody can believe anything, ah . . . write books.

You are mistaken, Ralph Martin is orthodox Catholic.

Dr. Ralph Martin | Sacred Heart Major Seminary

You may also not realize that Catholic Mysticism is orthodox Catholicism as well, as many of the desert fathers and Saints were known mystics, such as St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. John of the Cross, etc.

Famous Catholic Mystics

 

[robocop (actually)]

This is my personal belief and I believe my Jewish, Christian, and Muslim brothers and sisters may not agree with me but me being a Muslim, I believe that we do worship the same God and here are my reasons:

1) Jews believe that their God is the God of Moses and Muslims believe in the very same God of Moses.
2) Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and also part of the Holy Trinity.
3) Muslims (as mentioned in the No. 1) believe in the God of Moses. However, it's mentioned in the Qur'an that not only Jesus is a Prophet but God denied the idea of Him having a son nor being part of the Holy Trinity.

So based on my points in the above, my logic is this:

For example, I'm one of your colleagues in an organisation. A group from Finance believe that I am happily married with kids. Another group Procurement believe that I'm currently dating with someone from the company and the last group from HR thinks I am just single.

Ultimately, these are just assumptions (beliefs) made by them but all of them are still referring to the same person i.e. me.

Similarly, in the context of the Abrahamic faiths at least, I think we do worship the same God. It's just that our attributes for Him are slightly different.

That's just me. What do you guys think?

Looking forward to your responses.

Shalom Aleichem, Assalamualaikum.

Thank you, Raelians unite the Abrahamic faiths and all other non-man-made faiths as well, like Buddhism and Hinduism.

 

[shunyadragon]

You are mistaken, Ralph Martin is orthodox Catholic.

Dr. Ralph Martin | Sacred Heart Major Seminary

You may also not realize that Catholic Mysticism is orthodox Catholicism as well, as many of the desert fathers and Saints were known mystics, such as St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. John of the Cross, etc.

Famous Catholic Mystics

Unfortunately they did not write the Catechism, which is the standard of the Roman Church.

 

[shunyadragon]

Thank you, Raelians unite the Abrahamic faiths and all other non-man-made faiths as well, like Buddhism and Hinduism.

Being man made religions is indeed an option. So is progressive Revelation corrupted by human egocentric agendas.

 

[Father Heathen]

If the god's attributes are all different, then the god is not the same.

Batman from the 1960's TV series is quite different from Batman of contemporary movies, but it's still Batman.

 

[Deeje]

in the context of the Abrahamic faiths at least, I think we do worship the same God. It's just that our attributes for Him are slightly different.

Since there was just one Creator God in the beginning, it stands to reason that he has not changed....it is men who have changed this God into their own version of who and what they want him to be.

Jesus said that salvation originated with the Jews, but it does not end with them. God told Abraham that through his family line would come the Messiah, and that people of "all nations" who obey him, would be "blessed" . That agent of salvation was sent to the Jews, but they rejected him. Jesus then said that God would then reject them. (Matthew 23:37-39)

Jesus said that he was God's son, so anyone who denies that Jesus is the son of God calls him a liar.

Jesus also said that he was "the way, the truth and the life" and that no one could come to the Father except "through him". So that leaves only Christians IMO. However, Jesus made it clear that weeds of false Christianity would also be sown by the same agency who corrupted all other worship.....satan the devil.
Christendom chose to worship a triune god who was completely unknown to Abraham.

What does this all mean? I believe it means that God makes himself known only to those who follow Jesus' teachings even when it is difficult or not popular to do so. He said that only a "few" would be on the road to life compared to the "many" who would be on the road to destruction. (Matthew 7:13-14)
The way to life is "cramped and narrow" and Jesus true disciples would be hated and treated badly like he was. (John 15:18-21)

His first century apostles showed us how to become imitators of Christ as they were. They said that the last prophet sent to mankind was Jesus...a man of peace who taught us to love our enemies and our fellow man and to preach about God's Kingdom bringing peace to the whole earth. (Matthew 24:14) His disciples would be known for the love they had for God, for one another and for their neighbors.

So, it isn't a case of looking at what people say....we have to look at what they do in imitation of Jesus Christ. He said that only those found to be "doing the will of the Father" will be judged worthy of life. (Matthew 7:21-23)

So who today are imitating Jesus?

 

[Brickjectivity]

This is my personal belief and I believe my Jewish, Christian, and Muslim brothers and sisters may not agree with me but me being a Muslim, I believe that we do worship the same God and here are my reasons:

It is very good for people to cooperate and recognize each other, and one of the ways to do it is to overlook differences.

1) Jews believe that their God is the God of Moses and Muslims believe in the very same God of Moses.

I think Jews are free to believe in God or not, but many do. It seems they do not have to accept God as a being as long as they live like it.

2) Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and also part of the Holy Trinity.

A high percentage of Christians do, but keep in mind we often debate about it. Its easy to misunderstand, and a lot of Christians do not know how to derive the concept of Trinity from first principles. It is the object of both educated and uneducated debate.

3) Muslims (as mentioned in the No. 1) believe in the God of Moses. However, it's mentioned in the Qur'an that not only Jesus is a Prophet but God denied the idea of Him having a son nor being part of the Holy Trinity.

One issue is that preachers tend to insist Myslims are deceived, and so it makes it hard for Christians to overlook differences.

Without being too offensive, I would assert the same but not only of the Jews but also of Islam. Why? Because they have rejected Christ as the son of God (not Christ as God the son, but Christ as the son of God). What is so important? He who denies the son is a liar. 1 John 2:22

Actually that is a horrible misuse. John is certainly not issuing a word test. He is saying that if you do not love then you deny the son, and hw restates this many ways. A muslim can indeed believe in the Son through love without speaking the right words. This is in harmony with our scripture 1 corinthians 8:1 knowledge puffs up but love builds up and with Johns other writing and with James who says we must not both bless God and curse men. There is no written exam to confirm who believes in the Son. Denial is not a matter of words and love covers a multitude of mistakes. That is Christian, not judgy picky nonsense.

The OP asked the question are they the same, the fact is they're not...

• Islam doesn't mention the Divine Council, with Yeshua/YHVH as its chief Elohim (Arch Angel).
• Aware Baha'i just copies the same mistakes that both Judaism, Christianity, and Islam makes.
• Christianity thinks YHVH is the father of Yeshua, when Yeshua is the Right Arm or an Avatar of YHVH, with the Most High as his father.
• Rabbinic Judaism is the same as Islam, where they've forgotten the Divine Council after the Babylonian Exile, and made YHVH the Most High.
• You're right tho, the Most High and the descriptions of Allah are similar to Brahman, and YHVH is similar to Brahma.... Yet the Quran like Rabbinic Judaism, didn't know the differences.

Similarities abound, but so do differences.

First, let me commend you on your attempt to show the universality of all three popular faiths. I too, share the same sentiment as you do and believe that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God (since there is only one to begin with). Second, I think the differences between all three are the result of some minor/major theological difference from text.

So far the differences have been insurmountable. What has to happen is long term patience, so that old bitter enemies can forget and be forgotten.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I don't think that it makes logical sense to expect the god-conceptions of the Abrahamic faiths to conform to human expectations of validation.

After all, where would the authority for such validation come from?

Far as I can tell, adoption of god-concepts is unavoidably a matter of personal affinity and efforts at showing those to be "true" are, at best, naive. If any true deities exist, it is not for humans to speak on behalf of their existence.

On the Abrahamics at least, that would be akin to expecting ants to give sworn testimonial on who is the true owner of a kitchen - somehow it just doesn't feel like an useful exercise.

It is perhaps conceivable that the God of Moses is the same of the Bible, and/or of the Qur'an. Or perhaps they are not. Any or all of them could not exist. They may or may not change with time, and have single or multiple aspects.

They may even have otherwise irreconciliable attributes, such as both not existing and definitely existing, or being both unchanging and ever adaptable. They are, after all, presumably well beyond human understanding and literal makers of miracles. Does it make sense that a keyring may be one and multiple at the same time, but a deity somehow can not?

Why would they even consider conforming to human expectations for consistency? Why would humans even be capable of understanding such aspects of its nature in any meaningful way? I don't think we would, even hypothetically. Even assuming that we could, how could that be in any way useful?

We all are probably far better off embracing the highly personal nature of those concepts and taking full advantage of what constructive inspiration they might present us. And, of course, accepting the personal responsibility that comes with that, for we can make sincere mistakes, god or no god.

I find this to be an impressively good post. Thanks.

 

[TrueBeliever37]

This is my personal belief and I believe my Jewish, Christian, and Muslim brothers and sisters may not agree with me but me being a Muslim, I believe that we do worship the same God and here are my reasons:

1) Jews believe that their God is the God of Moses and Muslims believe in the very same God of Moses.
2) Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and also part of the Holy Trinity.
3) Muslims (as mentioned in the No. 1) believe in the God of Moses. However, it's mentioned in the Qur'an that not only Jesus is a Prophet but God denied the idea of Him having a son nor being part of the Holy Trinity.

So based on my points in the above, my logic is this:

For example, I'm one of your colleagues in an organisation. A group from Finance believe that I am happily married with kids. Another group Procurement believe that I'm currently dating with someone from the company and the last group from HR thinks I am just single.

Ultimately, these are just assumptions (beliefs) made by them but all of them are still referring to the same person i.e. me.

Similarly, in the context of the Abrahamic faiths at least, I think we do worship the same God. It's just that our attributes for Him are slightly different.

That's just me. What do you guys think?

Looking forward to your responses.

Shalom Aleichem, Assalamualaikum.

So does that mean you worship YHWH, the God of Moses?

 

[outlawState]

Actually that is a horrible misuse. John is certainly not issuing a word test. He is saying that if you do not love then you deny the son, and hw restates this many ways. A muslim can indeed believe in the Son through love without speaking the right words. This is in harmony with our scripture 1 corinthians 8:1 knowledge puffs up but love builds up and with Johns other writing and with James who says we must not both bless God and curse men. There is no written exam to confirm who believes in the Son. Denial is not a matter of words and love covers a multitude of mistakes. That is Christian, not judgy picky nonsense.

I think that you are trying to absolish the need for acknowledging Christ. You posit that people can love Christ, love their brethren, independently of acknowledging Christ by speaking the rights words. Thus you nullify Christ. Now I know that it is possible to separate e.g.

1Jo 5:1
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

into

(a) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
(b) Everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

and then say, if muslims love the Father, then they love the Son (even if they do not speak the right words), but....

Question: how can you love the Father if you believe that the Christ of the gospels is a fabrication of men?

Christ had another view.

Jhn 14:23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."

If you do not believe Christ of the gospels was the son of God, why would you obey his teaching?

If you believe in the gospel Christ, you have apostatized from Islam and are no longer a muslim.

Don't forget. Muslims and Jews do not accept the gospels, other than as fabrication. How can you love your brother, if your witness is "the Christ of the gospels is a fabrication?"

 

[Brickjectivity]

I think that you are trying to absolish the need for acknowledging Christ. You posit that people can love Christ, love their brethren, independently of acknowledging Christ by speaking the rights words. Thus you nullify Christ. Now I know that it is possible to separate e.g.

1Jo 5:1
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

into

(a) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
(b) Everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

and then say, if muslims love the Father, then they love the Son (even if they do not speak the right words), but....

Question: how can you love the Father if you believe that the Christ of the gospels is a fabrication of men?

Christ had another view.

Jhn 14:23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."

If you do not believe Christ of the gospels was the son of God, why would you obey his teaching?

If you believe in the gospel Christ, you have apostatized from Islam and are no longer a muslim.

Don't forget. Muslims and Jews do not accept the gospels, other than as fabrication. How can you love your brother, if your witness is "the Christ of the gospels is a fabrication?"

Sorry I forgot we were in Comparative rligion, and debate is not allowed in this section. We will have to continue the discussion elsewhere.

 

[Syazrin Mohd Noor]

Beautiful responses!

Firstly, my apologies for not being able to reply to each and every one of you as they are too many of them but please do know that I have read all of them and thank you for the input.

However, I will be able to address to some of your queries here:

1) Allah/God/YHWH/Elohim/Brahma? - To me, it's just the matter of language.

2) For the believers from the non-Abrahamic faiths, my apologies for limiting God only to the followers of Abraham. The reason why this was addressed to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims is because of the clear similarities between each religion. However, there are hints in my religion (Islam) that God gave scriptures even (possibly) to the followers of Hinduism as we believe that there were 100,000++ prophets that were sent by God previously.

2) My intention to write this thread was not to belittle any of my brothers and sisters in humanity in regards to what you worship. I'm purely stating my own belief. I am neither saying that my belief is better than you nor my belief is more correct and you are in falsehood. Having said that, God in the Qur'an responded to the claim that Jesus is the son of God, from that point onwards I believe that we worship the same God. Purely because of His responses. Adding further to my first post, I believe that if Christians worship a different God, then there would not be a response in the Qur'an.

Furthermore, the Qur'an didn't deny but instead confirms the revelations of the previous scriptures i.e. the Torah and Gospel. All the more reason for me to believe that we are worshipping the same God. But in the end, as mentioned by Zenobia, it is just the matter of how we decide to worship Him.

Just my own opinion and belief.

I'm sorry if my writings offend any of you anyhow.

Peace be with you.

 

[Sanzbir]

If the god's attributes are all different, then the god is not the same. If we were both talking about a bird and you described it as black, small and making a screeching sound, and I described it as large, fluffy, brown and making a sweeter sound, it is clear that, while we both may be describing a bird, we are not describing the same bird, since one is a crow and the other an owl.

Interesting idea, and it makes sense at first glance, but on closer scrutiny...

One of my friends describes Donald Trump as a great genius who is using persuasion to better the country. Another one of my friends describes Donald Trump as an idiotic, bigoted, orange Hitler. My description of Trump matches neither of my friends.

If your argument holds true, then holy crap!! THAT MEANS THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT DONALD TRUMPS RUNNING AROUND OUT THERE!!

 

[whirlingmerc]

I don't think that it makes logical sense to expect the god-conceptions of the Abrahamic faiths to conform to human expectations of validation.

After all, where would the authority for such validation come from?

Far as I can tell, adoption of god-concepts is unavoidably a matter of personal affinity and efforts at showing those to be "true" are, at best, naive. If any true deities exist, it is not for humans to speak on behalf of their existence.

On the Abrahamics at least, that would be akin to expecting ants to give sworn testimonial on who is the true owner of a kitchen - somehow it just doesn't feel like an useful exercise.

It is perhaps conceivable that the God of Moses is the same of the Bible, and/or of the Qur'an. Or perhaps they are not. Any or all of them could not exist. They may or may not change with time, and have single or multiple aspects.

They may even have otherwise irreconciliable attributes, such as both not existing and definitely existing, or being both unchanging and ever adaptable. They are, after all, presumably well beyond human understanding and literal makers of miracles. Does it make sense that a keyring may be one and multiple at the same time, but a deity somehow can not?

Why would they even consider conforming to human expectations for consistency? Why would humans even be capable of understanding such aspects of its nature in any meaningful way? I don't think we would, even hypothetically. Even assuming that we could, how could that be in any way useful?

We all are probably far better off embracing the highly personal nature of those concepts and taking full advantage of what constructive inspiration they might present us. And, of course, accepting the personal responsibility that comes with that, for we can make sincere mistakes, god or no god.

Because the various groups may have quite different understanding of both who Abraham really was and God's promises to Abraham and the nature of the God of Abraham not necessarily the same

But there are significant overlapping of ideas

 

[shunyadragon]

Beautiful responses!

Firstly, my apologies for not being able to reply to each and every one of you as they are too many of them but please do know that I have read all of them and thank you for the input.

However, I will be able to address to some of your queries here:

1) Allah/God/YHWH/Elohim/Brahma? - To me, it's just the matter of language.

2) For the believers from the non-Abrahamic faiths, my apologies for limiting God only to the followers of Abraham. The reason why this was addressed to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims is because of the clear similarities between each religion. However, there are hints in my religion (Islam) that God gave scriptures even (possibly) to the followers of Hinduism as we believe that there were 100,000++ prophets that were sent by God previously.

The relationship that you cite as possible with older religions like Hinduism are generally if not universally not accepted in Islam. The scripture of the Baha'i Faith describes this relationship with religions all through the history of humanity.

2) My intention to write this thread was not to belittle any of my brothers and sisters in humanity in regards to what you worship. I'm purely stating my own belief. I am neither saying that my belief is better than you nor my belief is more correct and you are in falsehood. Having said that, God in the Qur'an responded to the claim that Jesus is the son of God, from that point onwards I believe that we worship the same God. Purely because of His responses. Adding further to my first post, I believe that if Christians worship a different God, then there would not be a response in the Qur'an.

Despite your humility, in general Islam does consider the dogma and doctrines of Christianity concerning God as falsehood, and heresy.

Furthermore, the Qur'an didn't deny but instead confirms the revelations of the previous scriptures i.e. the Torah and Gospel. All the more reason for me to believe that we are worshipping the same God. But in the end, as mentioned by Zenobia, it is just the matter of how we decide to worship Him.

Claims of worshiping the same God is superficial to the problems of violence and division among the Abrahamic religions. All the Abrahamic religions acknowledge previous revelations in a qualified way, but future beliefs in religions are rejected often violently as Islam rejects and persecutes the Baha'i Faith, and other minority religions in Islamic countries.

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Comments in blue.

Beautiful responses!

Firstly, my apologies for not being able to reply to each and every one of you as they are too many of them but please do know that I have read all of them and thank you for the input.

However, I will be able to address to some of your queries here:

1) Allah/God/YHWH/Elohim - To me, it's just the matter of language.

One of these things is not like the others. One of the things is different~~~

2) For the believers from the non-Abrahamic faiths, my apologies for limiting God only to the followers of Abraham. The reason why this was addressed to the Jews, Christians, and Muslims is because of the clear similarities between each religion.

Clear similarities, you say? Judaism is unitarian monotheist, Christianity is trinitarian monotheist, but these who have common links and are the logical extension of a reform of Judaism.
Islam distorts any Abrahamic figures into gross parodies. Observe.

Muhammad's Silly and Ridiculous Teachings [Part 2]

“Narrated (Abu Huraira): The prophet said, ‘The (people of) Bani Israel used to take bath naked (all together) looking at each other. Prophet Musa (Moses) used to take bath alone. They said, ‘By Allah! Nothing prevents Musa (Moses) from taking a bath with us except that he has a scrotal Hernia.’ So once Musa (Moses) went out to take a bath and put his clothes over a stone and then that stone ran away with his clothes. Musa (Moses) followed that stone saying, ‘My clothes, O stone! My clothes, O stone!’ till the people of Bani Israel saw him and said, ‘By Allah, Musa (Moses) has got no defect in his body.’ Musa (Moses) took his clothes and began to beat the stone.’ Abu Huraira added, ‘By Allah! There are still six or seven marks present on the stone from that excessive beating.’”

(Moses has scrotal hernia)

“Narrated Abu Huraira: The prophet said, ‘Allah created Adam, and his height was 60 cubits.’”

(90 ft tall, btw)

If not for the gross double standard where people are attacked as "Islamophobes" most sane people would be offended at having their religious culture effectively mocked. I'm not most people though, and I have no reserve in stating facts. This is offensive.

3) My intention to write this thread was not to belittle any of my brothers and sisters in humanity in regards to what you worship. I'm purely stating my own belief. I am neither saying that my belief is better than you nor my belief is more correct and you are in falsehood. Having said that, God in the Qur'an responded to the claim that Jesus is the son of God, from that point onwards I believe that we worship the same God. Purely because of His responses. Adding further to my first post, I believe that if Christians worship a different God, then there would not be a response in the Qur'an.

Now you've moved from nonsense into an outright lie. Muslims say repeatedly Allah has no son, and have Jesus not dying on the cross but instead Judas winds up on there. Not the same at all.

Furthermore, the Qur'an didn't deny but instead confirms the revelations of the previous scriptures i.e. the Torah and Gospel. All the more reason for me to believe that we are worshipping the same God. But in the end, as mentioned by Zenobia, it is just the matter of how we decide to worship Him.

More lies.

The Quran and related literature declare the Torah/Bible to be corrupt. And Muslims themselves admit that Allah is not God. Yet they expect Christians to muddle their religion.

Billy Graham observes that Muslims themselves don't consider God the same as Allah.

The God of Israel and of the Christians is personal. He is a God who is "like us" who we have a relationship with. The god of Islam is impersonal and unknowable. These are fundamentally not the same God. And throwing Hinduism into the mix is clearly an attempt to further muddy things is a pretty crappy move. Not that I have a problem with Brahma, Hinduism is fairly inoffensive. What I do have a problem with is having Muslim apologetics try to push Christianity into a syncretism in order to make them dhimmi. I am a syncretic (pretty much every religion but Islam), but it is my decision, not someone else's to tell me that "our religion is just like yours."

Just my own opinion and belief.

I'm sorry if my writings offend any of you anyhow.

You did.

Peace be with you.

Peace, you say.

What you said was a wicked lie, not peaceful at all. So, I give to you the judgement of those who falsely speak of peace.

Jeremiah 6:14-15 and Isaiah 48:22

 

[Sundance]

To throw my answer here, yes. I personally believe we do.

 

[shunyadragon]

But let me guess, your version is the unedited one.

I am already yawning.

Yawning?!?! Typical response of indifference to the problems of conflict and violence between religions in the history of humanity.

Well, as a matter of fact yes by the objective verifiable evidence that supports the facts that the scripture of Judaism and Christianity are NOT original authored texts, and edited, redacted, and compiled over time, and dated fairly recently. The oldest Hebrew texts can only be dated optimistically ~1000 to 700 BCE. The Christian gospels are at best dated beginning about ~150 AD, and also have been edited, redacted and compiled between ~150 to 500 AD.

The Baha'i scripture is based on original authored texts still preserved on Mount Carmel. Nonetheless ALL scripture over time has a fallible human element in understanding and comprehending scripture, which is most often not accepted by ancient religions, which put their scripture on the alter above all others, and reject all others,