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Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
A cross the Western world our major towns and cities are now incredibly diverse, with myriad religions and beliefs jostling together. Where I grew up in London, one could choose from every religion imaginable: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity. Given that maze of religious diversity, no wonder some people have tried to navigate it by assuming that all religions are essentially the same; just different paths to the top of the spiritual mountain.
This is especially true when it comes to Islam and Christianity, religions that are often lumped together (along with Judaism) under the term Abrahamic faiths. But is it true that Muslims and
Christians worship the same God? This is a trickier question than it appears, because it’s actually two questions combined. First, does the Qur’an describe the same God as the Bible? And second, are some Muslims seeking after the same God as Christians worship? I would suggest that there are three major attributes of God that, while absent from the Qur’an, saturate the whole Bible: namely that God is
relational, knowable, and loving.
The incredible claim at the heart of
the Bible’s story is that God is both
Lord and King but also One who can
be known personally.