Apologetics for the Masses #496 - Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

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Topic

Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

General Comments

Introduction

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph #841, it states that, "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us [Catholics] they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."  In other words, the Church teaches - at least in the Catechism - that Muslims do indeed worship the same God as Christians.  However, that is not a doctrinal teaching of the Church, and, as it turns out, it is a teaching that a number of Catholics disagree with, as do many Protestants - particularly among Evangelicals, Baptists, non-denominationalists, etc. 

So, in this edition of the newsletter, I'm going to give you my take on the question as to whether or not Muslims worship the same God.  First, I'll give you the arguments made by a Catholic that Muslims do not worship the same God as do Christians, and then my comments will follow.  By the way, the arguments against, were taken from www.mastercatechism.com, which is a part of the Tradivox Project - www.tradivox.com.  These are, as you can probably tell from the name, Traditionalist websites.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Do Catholics and Muslims Together Believe In and Worship the Same God?
No, Catholics and Muslims do not believe in and worship the same God.

1. Nature of God: Catholics profess a belief in "one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity," which is a fundamental aspect of their faith. In contrast, the Muslim religion explicitly rejects the concept of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the adoration proposed in Islam cannot be considered true worship of the same God as understood in Catholic doctrine.

2. Rejection of Divine Revelation: The Muslim faith denies the revealed truths of the Incarnation, the divinity of Christ, and the Holy Trinity. This fundamental difference in understanding God means that while an individual Muslim may acknowledge God as Creator, this acknowledgment does not equate to the same understanding of God held by Catholics.

3. Faith of Abraham: The belief that Muslims hold the faith of Abraham is also contested. While Muslims may claim to follow the monotheistic tradition of Abraham, the Catholic Church teaches that Abraham's faith included a belief in the Trinity and the future Redeemer, which Islam explicitly excludes.

4. Worship Practices: Catholics worship the one true God and distinguish between the honor given to God and that given to saints. In contrast, the worship practices in Islam do not align with the Catholic understanding of divine worship, which is directed solely to God.

In summary, the fundamental theological differences regarding the nature of God, the rejection of key Christian doctrines, and the understanding of worship practices indicate that Catholics and Muslims do not worship the same God.

My Comments
I'm going to start by stating that it is my belief that Muslims do indeed worship the same God as Catholics.  However, they obviously have serious misunderstandings about the God they worship.  But, a misunderstanding about the nature of God does not constitute worshipping a false god.

As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John's Gospel, "You worship what you do not know," (John 4:22).  The Muslims worship what they do not know.  Think of a woman - Jane Doe - who is going on a blind date, and she's been given a description of her date, but it's a description that does not match the reality of the person.  She's been lied to.  So, she has an idea in her head of her date - John Jones - who is a real person, but it is a wrong idea...a false idea. The belief does not match the reality.  Versus the idea that a brother of John Jones has about him.  He has an accurate idea of who John Jones is...a true idea.  So, one person has a true idea about John Jones, while the other person has a false idea about him.  But, regardless of what you believe about him, John Jones is still the same person and he is who he is.  The fact that Jane Doe has erroneous beliefs in regard to her blind date - John Jones - doesn't mean she is thinking of a completely different person named John Jones.  Just so with Muslims in regard to God.  Just because they have erroneous beliefs about God, it doesn't mean they are actually worshipping a different God.

1) On the Nature of God, Muslims do indeed reject the dogma of the Trinity.  They have a false idea in regard to the nature of God.  Again, as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "You worship what you do not know."  "Therefore, the adoration proposed in Islam cannot be considered true worship of the same God as understood in Catholic doctrine."  Muslim "worship" of God is indeed flawed, especially since they have no "pure offering" to offer (Malachi 1:11), but that doesn't necessarily mean they worship a false God. It just means their worship is flawed.  The worship of the Samaritan woman was obviously flawed; yet, Jesus did not say to her, "You worship a false god."  In Genesis, Cain brought a flawed offering to worship God - it was rejected by God.  Yet, even though his worship of God was flawed, that didn't mean he was worshipping a false god.

2) The argument made in regard to the Muslims' Rejection of Divine Revelation is not an argument as to whether or not Muslims worship the same God, it's simply a statement of things that Muslims reject.  "...while an individual Muslim may acknowledge God as Creator, this acknowledgment does not equate to the same understanding of God held by Catholics."  No one is arguing that Muslims have the "same understanding" of God that Catholics do.  But, again, a misunderstanding about the nature of God, Divine Revelation, the Incarnation, etc. does not equate to worshipping a different God.  It equates to worshipping what you do not know. 

After all, everything said in #2 about the Muslims, can also be said of the Jews.  Do you want to argue that the Jews worship a different god because they, too, reject the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Divinity of Christ, the New Testament, and so on?  The Jews worship the God Who created the universe.  The God Who directed Abraham to the Promised Land.  The God Who spoke to Moses in the burning bush.  The God Who brought their ancestors out of Egypt.  The God Who gave them the Old Testament.  Does someone want to argue that that is not the same God Catholics worship? 

The Muslims worship the God Who created the universe.  The God Who directed Abraham to the Promised Land.  The God Who will judge all at the end of time.  The God Who is in Heaven above.  Is that not the God Catholics worship?

3) As to the Muslims holding to the Faith of Abraham, the Catechism states that they "profess" to hold the faith of Abraham.  Just because they claim it, doesn't make it true.  "Catholics" who believe that abortion is okay, that contraception is perfectly acceptable, that women should be priests, and that homosexuality is completely moral, can claim they are Catholics in good standing all they want, but that doesn't make it so. 

As to the argument that "the Catholic Church teaches that Abraham's faith included a belief in the Trinity and the future Redeemer," I'm not so sure about that, at least, in regard to the Trinity.  I don't know of anywhere that the Church teaches Abraham believed in the Trinity.  I'm not saying the Church definitely does not teach that - possibly as a small "t" tradition - but if it does, I have never seen it. But, if He did believe in the Trinity, then why didn't he pass that belief along to his people? St. Gregory the Great said the following in one of his sermons: "With the progress of the times, the knowledge of the spiritual Fathers increased; for, in the Science of God, Moses was more instructed than Abraham, the Prophets more than Moses, the Apostles more than the Prophets."   If Moses knew more about God than Abraham, and the Prophets knew more about God than Moses, then if Moses or the Prophets did not teach the Israelites about the Trinity, I think one is hard pressed to argue that Abraham believed in the Trinity. (If someone knows of some magisterial document that states he did indeed know about the Trinity, please let me know.)

Now, I think we can say that Abraham did indeed believe in a future Redeemer...a Messiah...but that comes from Genesis 3:15, and that is a belief of the Jews as a whole.  Jesus says, in John 8:56, that Abraham "saw" His [Jesus'] day.  Speaking of the Old Testament Fathers, Hebrews says, "These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar..." (Heb 11:13).  So, some of the folks in the Old Testament - Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, et al - may have been given a special vision of the coming of the Christ.  However, there is nothing there that implies knowledge of the Trinity. 

So, until I see evidence to the contrary, I don't think it can definitively be said that the "faith of Abraham" includes a belief in the Trinity.

4) As to the Worship Practices of the Muslims, I'm not really sure what the argument is there, other than the fact that the Muslims do not have a "true" worship of God since they have mistaken beliefs as to the true nature of God and the Revelation of God.  Which means that, of course, "the worship practices in Islam do not align with the Catholic understanding of divine worship."  And I would refer you back to what I said about Muslim worship under #1 above.  Flawed worship practices, however, do not equate to a belief in a different God.  Again, I cite Cain as an example. 

Basically, the way I look at it, is that if you say that Muslims do not worship the one true God, then you have to say that neither do Jews worship the one true God.  I mean, neither Muslims nor Jews believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Divinity of Christ, the Resurrection, the inspiration of the books of the New Testament (nor of the Old Testament for the Muslims), and so on.  Yet, most of the people I know who say Muslims worship a different God from Christians, also say Jews worship the same God as Christians.  So, again, I argue that if Muslims worship a different God than do Christians, then so do the Jews.  Which, to me, is a ridiculous position to take. And, nowhere does anyone in the New Testament say such a thing. 

For me, John 4:22 is a critical passage.  The Samaritans worshipped the Father, as Jesus says in that passage.  Yet, He told the Samaritan woman, "You worship what you do not know."  They didn't worship a different God, they worshipped a God that they did not know.  The same thing can be said of the Muslims. 

One last point.  Going back to Paragraph #841, many people - i.e., Protestants - often mistake what is said there as the Catholic Church teaching that Muslims are somehow automatically "saved".  The "offending" verbiage is this: "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims..."   "See," they'll say, "the Catholic Church teaches that Muslims are saved."  Uhm...not so fast.  Saying that the Muslims are included in the plan of salvation is not the same thing as saying the Muslims are saved.  The plan of salvation also included the Assyrians wiping the northern tribes of Israel off the face of the map.  The plan of salvation also included the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites.  The plan of salvation also included the scribes and the Pharisees who plotted Jesus' arrest, torture, and execution. 

The plan of salvation includes a whole lot of folks who were not very nice people.  And nowhere does the Church teach that everyone who is included in the plan of salvation is necessarily saved.  The Church teaches, very clearly, that faith in Christ is a necessary component of one's salvation.  That the Sacraments are a necessary component of one's salvation.  Given that, any interpretation of CCC #841 that has the Church teaching Muslims are necessarily saved in and through Islam, is a bogus interpretation that can only be arrived at by ignoring the rest of the Catechism.

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week.  And, I hope a good number of you will be moved to contact Sue Turner (see the "General Comments" section above) and get involved with that project I mentioned. 

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