In the overload of news events inundating media headlines these days, events eroding our sensibilities, events elevating fear and insecurity across the world, few may have noticed the same God polemic that recently brought national attention to Wheaton College and one of its Professors, Dr. Larycia Hawkins. Perhaps fewer noticed Dr. Hawkins’ Facebook post, which set off this controversy, eventually leading to her dismissal from the College.
Back in early December 2015, several days following the San Bernardino massacre, Dr. Hawkins pledged to wear a hajib (the headscarf worn by Muslim women) throughout the pre-Christmas season of advent, including while teaching classes at Wheaton College. This she did as a gesture, showing her support of what she called “embodied solidarity” with Muslims.
In addition to this outward demonstration of unity, she posted to her Facebook page the following: “I don’t love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity. I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of mankind — a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014. I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
It was those last five words that did her in. When the decision was made to terminate Dr. Hawkins, College officials emphasized her wearing a Muslim hajib had little to do with the decision. Rather it was particular statements, which she posted on social media, which ultimately lea to her departure. Dr. Hawkins’ view that Muslims and Christians worship the same God was in conflict with the school’s Statement of Faith, which all faculty must sign annually.
From the onset, the support Dr. Hawkins received from the local religious community and religious leaders had been overwhelming. In a subsequent interview on Chicago’s WTTW program, ‘Chicago Tonight,’ Dr. Hawkins defended her Facebook postings by saying, “What I said in my post has been affirmed by the Christian church for centuries and has been affirmed by many prominent evangelicals.”
“For centuries” may be questionable. However, of late, notice: Addressing Catholic faithful back in 1964, the Lumen Gentium 16 affirmed that of Muslims –– “Mohammedans, who professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one, merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”
In a recent speech, Pope Francis addressed Vatican guests by saying, “Jesus, Jehovah, Allah. These are names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world … we are all the children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by … we can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such movement is now.”
According to LifeWayResearch.com, about 35% of Evangelical Protestants believe Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Among the general population in America, 46% believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Interestingly, the phrase “people of the book” as used by Dr. Hawkins, is found in the Koran to describe Christians, Jews and Muslims. Today, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are universally acknowledged as the three great monotheistic religions. It is commonly asserted that all three religions worship the God of Abraham, as Abraham provides the nexus among all three faiths.
Zeki Saritoprak, Professor of Islamic studies at Cleveland’s John Carroll University pointed out that in the Koran there is the story of Jacob asking his sons whom they’ll worship after his death. Jacob’s sons replied, ‘We will worship the God of your fathers’ — Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. As the Koran teaches, the God that Jacob worshipped, the God that Abraham and Isaac worshipped is the same God that Ishmael worshipped. Consequently, it is taught, that this God — the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob –– is the God Muslims worship today.
With these examples, it is logical then to understand why theologians such as Dr. Hawkins, Protestants, Evangelicals and Catholics and those having little or no religious education would conclude that these three faiths all worship the same God.
However, do they? Do these three monotheistic religions worship the same God? Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Do Muslims understand who is the God of Christianity?
Examining the origins of these three religions, it is recognized that Jews and Christians have a common ground, a similar root of truth, a foundation that they share. Christianity progressed out of the religion of Israel/Judah of that day. The term Judeo-Christian has a significant meaning and necessary relevance even today. However, this sharing of common ground cannot be said of Islam. Islam is a religion that took shape during the 7th century AD, consisting of diametrically opposing doctrines, beliefs and concepts of God.
In the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which is equivalent to the Jewish Tanakh, the book of Genesis reveals the identity of the God who spoke to Ishmael’s mother Hagar, while she was on a road between Beer-Sheba and Egypt, the God who blessed Ishmael physically (cf. Genesis 16, 17:20; 21:13-20).
The God of Abraham is the God who interceded in the lives of Hagar and Ishmael for that moment in history. Because Ishmael was Abraham’s son, God was merciful and promised a physical blessing, promising Ishmael bountiful progeny. God promised Ishmael that he would beget twelve princes and God would make him a great nation. However, any promise of a coming Messiah, any spiritual and physical blessings, any covenant or any responsibility to preserve the truth of God –– that was not given to Ishmael or his children.
Of tremendous importance and a fact of history, Ishmael was not the child of promise. God only showed Ishmael and his mother physical mercy. Factual and most importantly, Isaac was and is the child of promise (cf. Genesis 17:19-21; Genesis 21:2- 3,12; Genesis 26:24-25; Genesis 28:13-14; Acts 3:25; Romans 9:7-10; Galatians 4:28; Hebrews 11:18-20), the child of the covenant, given both physical and spiritual blessings. With Isaac was the promise that all nations of the earth would be blessed and the coming of the Messiah. Included in the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we find that the truth revealed by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be spoken of, promoted, known, maintained and preserved among their descendants, throughout all generations.
The truth of God would not be maintained with or preserved through Ishmael’s descendants. As the subsequent centuries of history confirmed, the descendants of Ishmael worshipped various pagan gods and adopted heathen practices. God did not bless or punish them directly or specifically. God was not involved with their lives. There was no common central religion nor worshipping of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob among the divided and numerous Ishmaelitish tribes. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not work with or through Ishmael’s descendants.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was known personally and intimately to these men by the name El Shaddai (a Hebrew phrase meaning “God Almighty” cf. Exodus 6:3). This same God was later distinguished by the name Yahweh; I AM THAT I AM (cf. Exodus 3:6-16), the memorial and covenant name by which the Children of Israel would call God; being preserved by the successive generations of the Children of Israel.
In the 7th century AD came the arrival of Islam and a new adaptation of God. With Islam’s interpretation of historical events, Ishmael replaced Isaac as the son of promise. Along with this aberration, the Koran reinterprets the lives of Biblical celebrities such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David as well as Jesus and Mary. The most glaring fabrication and reinterpretation is that of Jesus Christ and of who He was.
With Islam came a new interpretation of God; an interpretation not befitting the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; an interpretation clearly not harmonious with the God of the New Testament.
Who then is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God recognized by Christianity? Can it be said that Muslims worship this same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as do Christians?
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is this very God, who was “in the beginning” (cf. Genesis 1:1). The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God consistent throughout the Christian Bible and the Jewish Tanakh; who is revealed as the creator and sustainer of life; the Almighty One who is the provider, who is merciful, compassionate and forgiving, who loves life and hates evil. A God who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2) but only reveals truth, who stands for justice, liberty, mercy and righteousness; a God who punishes unrepentant evil works but is forgiving to those who repent.
Revealing the truth of God does not end with the Tanakh. God’s precious truth continues and is further revealed in the Christian Bible. The truth of and about God, the truth which Islam will never accept or teach is the fact that the very God of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ. The God who was known and is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who spoke to the prophets; the God who covenanted with Israel; that God is the very being, the very individual, the very personage who is Jesus Christ.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob emptied Himself of His Godhood, His power, His glory. Jesus Christ, who IS the very God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob humbled himself to become a human being, to save His people from their sins. He was miraculously transformed by His Father, placed in the womb of a young virgin, developed as a zygote, then a fetus to be born a baby, to grow and mature into a man, to die by crucifixion at the age of 33 and a half years. This very God, who became man, lived and died in the flesh, was then resurrected three days and three nights later, to once again become God –– to live forever more as Redeemer and Savior of mankind.
For the Christian faith, the facts are evident, plain and clear. As revealed in the Book of John (1:1-18, along with 1 John 1:1- 4 and John 17:5), we learn that Jesus Christ, who was “in the beginning,” was God. Jesus Christ was the Word (Greek: Logos, meaning “spokesman”). Jesus Christ was God and was with God (the God who we know today as God, the Father).
When the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Jesus Christ) came to this earth through physical birth in the flesh, He was named Jesus (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31, 2:21). He was called the Son of God (Matthew 3:17, Luke 1:35), also named Emmanuel (Matthew 1:23), meaning “God is with us.” Among His many responsibilities was that of revealing, introducing for the first time, His Father –– God, the Father, to mankind. Prior to that time, the world did not know God, the Father (cf. John 8:54- 55, 17:25, John 1:18, Matthew 11:27). No one has ever seen the Father nor heard His voice (John 1:18, John 5:37, John 6:46; 1 John 4:12). Consequently, as a truth, the God who spoke to His creation, spoke to Israel, spoke to Moses and the Prophets; the God who was seen (e.g. Exodus 24:9-11; 33:18-23; Deuteronomy 4:12, 33, 36; 5:24), was and is the very being who is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was and is the I AM (cf. Exodus 3:6-16) of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who spoke to Abraham. Jesus Christ existed before Abraham was even born. Notice: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM” (John 8:56-58 NIV).
In the beginning there existed two distinct, individual “mighty ones;” two individual spirit beings, two distinct Gods. The Hebrew word Elohim clarifies that fact. Elohim is a uni-plural word expressing two or more existing as one. Like the words church or family or nation which expresses a group of many, all acting in unison as one. Elohim translates to the English phrase “mighty ones.” In the beginning, God, Elohim (two acting in concert, as one, with one purpose and one objective) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness … (Genesis 1:26). Notice also Genesis 3:22, which reveals two beings. “And the Lord God said, Behold the man has become as one of us …”
Notice now 1 Samuel 4:8. “Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.”
Jesus Christ said, “My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hands. I and the Father are one” (John 10:29-30 NIV). Continuing, Jesus Christ said, “I go unto my Father: for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28).
It is evident; from the beginning there have been two distinct, two separate, two unique, two individuals; TWO Gods, who are both God; both functioning together in harmony as one. God the Father is greater and above all. Jesus Christ is His beloved Son, God, Judge and Savior of mankind, who speaks on behalf of, is the Spokesman for the Father, facilitator over His Father’s work. Both existing from the beginning, acting in one accord, in unison of purpose, objective, expectation and principle.
For the Christian religion, Jesus Christ was God; became a human being, died and was resurrected and now again is God. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, the Messiah and Savior of mankind. The promise of the Messiah extends back to Genesis 3:15 and is prevalent throughout the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, anointed by His Father; was born in the flesh, by a miracle, begotten of God, the Father. Jesus Christ came down from heaven, from His Father (cf. John 3:13, 16:28). After He was resurrected, Jesus Christ then returned to His Father (cf. John 20:17), sitting at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven (cf. Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 3:1, Hebrews 1:3).
This is the truth that Islam does not understand, accept or teach. That Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament and that He was born in the flesh, the Son of God, that He was crucified is anathema to the Islamic faith.
To Muslims, Jesus was just a man, a messenger of God who eventually died. He was nothing more. Jesus was acknowledged as the son of Mary, not the son of God, because it would be “unseemly,” as the Koran teaches, for Allah to have offspring.
The Koran states (surah 3: 58), “Jesus is as Adam in the sight of Allah. He created him as dust.” Notice further in surah 5:75: “Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food.” Notice surah 19:92: “For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.”
Islam denies the crucifixion of Christ. “That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not” (surah 4:157).
That Muslims and Christians worship the same God; such a statement is born out of ignorance of the truth. Do these two religions worship the same God?
No! These two religions do not worship the same God!
Be it for those of the Islamic faith, Christian faith, Jewish faith, of all faiths currently extant today; there is one truth that all religions will come to know.
When Jesus Christ returns to this earth as God and King over all the nations of the world, then all religions with their gods will be dissolved. There will no longer be any such confusion. Then all mankind will gladly bow their knees before Jesus Christ, the very God who is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; doing so to the glory of God, The Father (cf. Philippians 2:9-11). “And the Eternal (the I AM, who is Jesus Christ) shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord and His name one” (Zachariah 14:9). When that day finally arrives, then all humanity will worship the same God.
