It is often repeated that Christians and Muslims should be able to live as brothers because they worship the same God. In fact, the Quran states as much, “Our god and your god are one” (Surah 29:46). Pope Francis has also made similar comments.[1] However, is it really true that Christians and Muslims are just variations of the same faith? Do they really worship the same god? Are our differences just minor, in-house debates that could be resolved if we just communicated with each other better?
Before we go any further, let us answer the question decisively: Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God.
The problem comes from each side’s understanding of monotheism. Both Christians and Muslims assert that there is only one God. We can all agree on that. Just because both religions assert there is one God does not mean that they are both arguing for the same god. It is better to ask: who is God? That is the question which Muslims and Christians answer differently. For Christians, God is one and He is three—in other words, God is a trinity. The classic definition of the Trinity is one God eternally existing as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; all three are God, and there is only one God. Sounds confusing, right? This truth has always been a mystery because it largely defies human logic, yet it is clearly taught in Scripture. Any attempt to make one member of the Trinity as “more important” than the others will end up falling into heresy. And any attempt to separate the three from the one will end up in heresy. All branches of Christianity agree on the Trinity of God, it is an essential doctrine. But this is a doctrine that Muslims reject. First, the Muslim (mis)understanding of the Trinity is God the Father, Jesus, and Mary. Islamic teaching says that God had sex with Mary and conceived Jesus. To a Christian, this is an abhorrent idea. Jesus is always God. He is eternal. He is with God the Father at Creation, just as God the Holy Spirit is. So, the idea that Jesus is created by a sexual union of God and Mary is unbiblical. Secondly, it is abhorrent because Christians reject Mary as part of the God-head. She is not God and never has been God and never will be God. So, we can accurately say that the Muslim understanding of the Trinity is completely at odds with what Christians believe about God and there is no way to reconcile those two positions.
Second, in as much as Muslims reject the concept of the Trinity, they reject Jesus Christ as the second member of the Godhead. According to Muslim teaching, Jesus is a prophet in a long line of prophets and second in importance only to Mohammed. Christian teaching agrees that Jesus Christ is a prophet, but he is also a priest (e.g. Hebrews 3:1; 4:14) and a king (e.g. Revelation 19:16)—and above all this, Jesus is God (e.g. John 1:1; Acts 9:20 et al). Any discussion about who is God cannot leave out Jesus Christ. So, if a Muslim says, “Our god and your god are one,” ask him if he believes that Jesus is God. Muslims believe that Allah is God and none other is god.
Third, Christians believe in a God who is intimately involved in the world. Theologically, we call this God’s immanence, it means that God is within the world that He created, that He is near. This is an abstract thought for Muslim theologians, for Muslim theology teaches that God is far and that he has little interaction with our world. Of course, like Christians, Muslims believe that God created everything and that everything that happens is because of the will of God. But the notion of a God who loves and cares for his people is abstract in Islam. Furthermore, Islam rejects the incarnation of God. Nothing shows more love and care for his people than when God incarnated, became a man, and lived among us (cf. Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 1:1-3).
The points above are just a few of the points that show that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God. We could go on listing more points of essential doctrine that would make the division clearer. (For instance, we haven’t even begun to explore the doctrine of the Holy Spirit who is God and who indwells Christians. And there are many other points, as well.) The fact is that both Christians and Muslims are using the same word “God”, but they are referring to different entities. We must counter the claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God by asking the questions: Do you believe that Jesus is God? Do you believe that God incarnated, walked on earth, died for our sins, and resurrected? If they cannot agree, then Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God.
[1] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Vatican Council and Papal Statements on Islam.” [Online: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical-and-interreligious/interreligious/islam/vatican-council-and-papal-statements-on-islam.cfm Accessed 12 June 2020.]
