[AthenianStranger]

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I didn't say that they were the same god in the sense that you are thinking about it..I said they were the same god in the sense that...

assuming that there is only 1 god (as all three believe), they are praying to that god..saying.. god, answer my prayers, etc...

each group, however, believes that this god is essentially a different god that what the others believe...one believes that Jesus was His son, one believes that He insprired muhammed and the Qur'an..and one believes that neither of these are true of god...

these are in no way bigger or smaller differences than a monthiestic religion which does not have the story of the OT at it's core..at least in terms of whether or not it is the "same god"...

if two people have the same view of god except for one minor detail about what this god deems as right and wrong perhaps, then you might say that they worship the same god..we say that christians worship the same god even thought all christians do not agree on everything..

or you could say that technically, they are not praying to the same god...just as you would say that a christian and an egyptian worshiping Aton aren't worshipping the same god...

but either one or the other exists (or none, but basically they can't both exist)...just as the christian god cannot consider homosexuality a sin and not consider it a sin..since only one of them is real

and both of these gods (as gods of the entire universe) could certianly hear the prayers of the member of the wrong religion


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I agree with most of this, especially the last paragraph. Of course, on God's side, He can hear anyone's voice, regardless of how mistaken that person is about Him. WE ARE ALL MISTAKEN ABOUT WHO GOD IS.

The point is to actually share all of the same beliefs in common. That is the ideal of any self-respecting Church. That's why there are so many divisions. That is the meaning of being in communion-- to share the same beliefs in the heart, so that in Communion-- the sacrifice, the faithful believers can share in the same Body and Blood of Christ, the same Living God. In Christian theology, through Communion the faithful become ONE body-- the Body of Christ.

If some person partakes of that and does not believe that God is real, then they are not part of that Body. They are not worshiping the same God. Neither is anyone else who does not partake of that. This is the Christian teaching, in the Bible.

Of course the One and the same God knows all people, regardless of what they believe, and he can hear and answer their prayers.

The paragraph that I've italicized I can't understand.