Do Christians, Muslims and Jews all believe in the same god?

[Prodigy54321]

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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.

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what I was trying to say was that technically, two people who have a differing view in just ONE part of a particular religion, do not believe in the "same god"

that small part may be god's attitude toward homosexuality..and god cannot have both attitudes toward homosexuality.

just like different denominations of christianity are that way because of a (relatively) small amount of differing opinions, different religions are that way because of a large number differing opinions.

[AthenianStranger]

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and this is why your comment about how atheists shouldn't repond to this post is backwards...there is no information to be gained about the OPs question if we assume that one of the gods is the one that exists...they would be interchangeable in the discussion since it makes no mention of their validity.

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What? So you're just assuming the answer already--- All "gods" are the same whether they exist or not?

The question is whether they are the same! I say 'No' because I believe in one of them and not the others. You say 'Yes,' "they would be interchangeable in the discussion since it makes no mention of their validity."

THE WHOLE QUESTION IS THEIR VALIDITY!

[Prodigy54321]

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and this is why your comment about how atheists shouldn't repond to this post is backwards...there is no information to be gained about the OPs question if we assume that one of the gods is the one that exists...they would be interchangeable in the discussion since it makes no mention of their validity.

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What? So you're just assuming the answer already--- All "gods" are the same whether they exist or not?

The question is whether they are the same! I say 'No' because I believe in one of them and not the others. You say 'Yes,' "they would be interchangeable in the discussion since it makes no mention of their validity."

THE WHOLE QUESTION IS THEIR VALIDITY!

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THE WHOLE QUESTION IS THEIR VALIDITY!

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ummm if this were true, how are you answering the question by assuming that christianity is the valid one...as you just said..that's the whole question!!! You're trying to make the argument that christianity is the valid one by making the assumption that christianity is the valid one??

what am I missing here?

anyway...as I tried to explain..the question is not their validity...is it semantics

[AthenianStranger]

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ummm if this were true, how are you answering the question by assuming that christianity is the valid one...as you just said..that's the whole question!!! You're trying to make the argument that christianity is the valid one by making the assumption that christianity is the valid one??

what am I missing here?

anyway...as I tried to explain..the question is not their validity...is it semantics

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Great. You're reducing the meaning of life, the universe and everything to semantics.

My argument is not circular. Allow me to demonstrate:

A-people believe in God A. B-peeps in B, etc.
I am an A-person, I believe in god A.
The question is: Are gods A, B and C the same. Do persons A,B and C believe in the same God. By implication, if one of the Gods is the existent one, either all the Gods are the same as that one, or they are all different.
I think that A is the true God. Furthermore, my understanding of god A leads me to believe that B and C are false.

Allow me to demonstrate how I perceive your position (and please, correct me if I'm wrong):

A, B and C don't exist, or I don't know whether they exist.
Are A, B and C the same?
Well since it doesn't matter whether either god A, B or C are valid, they are all the same. Or different. Who knows?

So to correct you, I am making the assumption that the gods are different based on the assumption that the Christian God is the true one.

Do you see how we must assume that one is valid in order to get anywhere? This is why I said that atheists/agnostics are at a disadvantage in answering the question.

[David Sklansky]

Christians, and I believe, Muslims worship the Jewish God. The one they say created the universe and administered the Earth for a long time in an undebatable way (undebatable between those three groups that is). They have a disagreement about what that God did or said within recent times.

Why was it necessary for me to be the first one with this simple obvious answer?

[JayTee]

Wouldn't all knowledgable members of any Abrahamic religion agree that their origin is all the same? Isn't the difference only that each of these sects believes that the others doctrines have been corrupted over time?

This is basically an argument of semantics. Do Christians and Catholics worship the same god? Babtist and Methodist? What about Sunni and Shi'a Muslims? Or the different denominations of Jews?

edit: obv. Protestants and Catholics [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Prodigy54321]

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Great. You're reducing the meaning of life, the universe and everything to semantics.

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first of all...as with the "meaning of life" post...it certainly does come down to what determine the meaning of the word "meaning" to be..so yes actually it would come down to semantics..but that's beside the point

last I read the OP, it made mo mention to the meaning of life. and I am not talking about whether or not any of the religions are true..I only commented on the question about whether or not they worship the same god..and I made the arguments that the OPs question is simply a result of people interpreting what "the same god" means...

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By implication, if one of the Gods is the existent one, either all the Gods are the same as that one, or they are all different.


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try to think about exactly what you are saying here...

that's where it comes down to semantics

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Allow me to demonstrate how I perceive your position (and please, correct me if I'm wrong):

A, B and C don't exist, or I don't know whether they exist.
Are A, B and C the same?
Well since it doesn't matter whether either god A, B or C are valid, they are all the same. Or different. Who knows?

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I hope you are joking..what does this even mean..did you not see my entire response to the OP about how they can be considered to be "the same" or "not the same" depending on what you mean by "the same"..and I covered a couple possibilities

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So to correct you, I am making the assumption that the gods are different based on the assumption that the Christian God is the true one.

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alright...your position seemed to run into istelf because it was worded in such a way that it didn't say this

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Do you see how we must assume that one is valid in order to get anywhere? This is why I said that atheists/agnostics are at a disadvantage in answering the question.

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not, you seem to use a very strange meaning of "the same"..so you will have to clarify what your definition of this is..perhaps then it will actually become an argument

[Prodigy54321]

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This is basically an argument of semantics. Do Christians and Catholics worship the same god? Babtist and Methodist? What about Sunni and Shi'a Muslims? Or the different denominations of Jews?

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thank you

athenian...does this make it clearer?

[Taraz]

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Christians, and I believe, Muslims worship the Jewish God. The one they say created the universe and administered the Earth for a long time in an undebatable way (undebatable between those three groups that is). They have a disagreement about what that God did or said within recent times.

Why was it necessary for me to be the first one with this simple obvious answer?

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I think this is closest to the correct answer. It's called Progressive Revelation. The idea is that God sends a new prophet/messenger for different time periods.

Jews believe in God A. Christians believe in God A and that God A sent Jesus to save us all. Muslims believe in God A, that God A sent us Jesus, and that God A sent us Muhammad afterward. So it all depends on who you ask. Jews don't believe their God sent Jesus and Christians don't believe their God sent Muhammad.

The standard reply from Christians is that Muslims can't believe in the same God that they do or else they would believe that Jesus was the son of God and the only way to salvation. Muslims contend that that is only one way to interpret the bible.

So basically they are all the same God, but each of the older religions will never accept this or else they would convert to one of the newer ones.

I personally think it's silly for Christians to say that Muslims don't believe in the same God that they do. By definition the Muslim God is the same as the Christian God. What Christians should say is that Muslims are mistaken that Muhammad is from God, not that there are different Gods.

[Darryl_P]

Is there more than one way to be omniscient, omnipotent, and perfect?