Christianity and Islam: Not the Same God

I’ve grown pretty tired of hearing a certain adage that has unfortunately become par for the course in any discussion about Islam and Christianity. I refer to the idea that “Christians and Muslims worship the same God.” Or, in its more stylish (though technically more confusing) form, “God and Allah are the same.” This notion is corrosive to an honest and critical understanding of religious differences, leading to a false sense of interreligious agreement, which usually requires one or both faiths to deny their true identity. And that is the biggest problem with the “Allah = God” idea—it denies important aspects of both religions.

Now before getting into this, let’s take care of the obvious objections. Yes, Allah means “God” in Arabic. And yes, Arab Christians use the term Allah to signify the God of Christianity. And yes once more, many or most Muslims are happy to translate the word Allah as “God.” But to hook onto mere names and words is to misjudge the depth of the argument here. We are examining not the name that each faith gives to God, but the words, actions, and attributes of God in each faith. In Islam and Christianity, these are quite different, even if they are both called “God.”

REVELATION: THE WAY TO UNDERSTANDING

How do we, as faithful people, learn about God? The answer, of course, is revelation. Revelation, in the traditional sense, is the transmission of God’s Truth into the world through various means. In Christian and Muslim contexts, revelation was memorized, transmitted orally, and later written down, or written down from the start. Revelation is important because it is our foundation for any claims about God; without it, the tools of reason and practical experience can only help us speculate about God. Add revelation to the mix, though, and the human mind and memory have something to work with. This phenomenon could be expressed as a simple equation:

Revelation + Reason + Experience = Knowledge of God

But the important fact to remember is that revelation is the most important component of the equation above. If the Qur’an states about God that “He created all things and He is All Knowing of all things” (6.101), then we don’t need to do much logical reasoning to understand this. It’s a pretty clear statement about God. And we certainly could not employ reason or experience to contest a claim of revelation. The point is, revelation is the first and foremost factor in understanding God from a Christian or Muslim perspective, and so we must give it higher priority than anything else when comparing the two religions.

So let’s do that, and see if Christians and Muslims really worship the same God.

“THE GOSPEL TRUTH”

In the 4th Sura (the Qur’anic equivalent of a chapter in the Bible), it is written:

O People of the Book! Do not commit excesses in your religion: Nor say anything except the truth about God. Messiah Isa (Christ Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary) was a messenger of God, and His Word, which He sent down to Maryam, and a Spirit created by Him: So believe in God and His messengers. Do not say “Trinity”: Stop: It will be better for you: Because God is One God: Glory be to Him…. (4.171)

This passage is an answer to the Christian claim that Jesus, as the second person of the Holy Trinity, is the Son of God. For the sake of historical context, note that the Christian claim about Jesus predates the Muslim one by about 550 years! But I digress. The point here is simply that the Qur’an clearly speaks against the idea of a Triune God, divesting Jesus of his divinity and emphasizing the oneness of God.

Christians, on the other hand, beg to differ about Jesus, and consequently about God. As Jesus testifies in the Gospel of John,

The Father and I are one. (10:30)

And lest anyone point out that John’s Gospel pushes the divinity of Jesus harder than the other Gospels, let’s throw in the final verses of Matthew’s Gospel, for both good measure and a solid demonstration of the Trinitarian formula:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. (28:19-20)

The point here, plain and simple, is that Muslims worship a God of total, inviolable unity. This principle of God’s oneness is in fact the first part of the shahadah, the concise profession of faith that one must make in order to become a Muslim. This principle is, by any Muslim’s admission, the core of Islamic belief about God.

Contrast this image of God with that of Christianity. God is one unity expressed in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christians accept the admittedly confusing mystery of the Trinity as essential to their faith because it was handed down to them from revelation and through tradition, but they do not see themselves as worshipping more than one God.

But is this one God the same as the one God worshipped by the Muslims? Unless Muslims consider Jesus to be God (they don’t), or Christians consider God to be a Unity rather than a Trinity (they don’t), we are dealing with two very different images of God here.

CONCLUSION

When Christians say that they worship “the same God” as their Muslim brothers and sisters, they are allying themselves with a God who denies the divinity of Jesus. Do Christians really want to make such a claim? The same is true for Muslims. When they identify their own God as “the same” as the God of Christianity, they are adopting God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as objects of their veneration. If they do not agree to do this, then they are not worshipping the God of Christianity.

We are entering an age in which religious understanding will become perhaps more important than ever before; as such, religious self-understanding takes on an even more breathtaking urgency. It will not help to claim erroneous similarities between religions in the hopes of breaking down barriers, when those barriers are foundational and essential assertions of each faith. There are differences; we must learn and embrace these differences if we want our faith to retain its astounding power in the world, the blazing power of Truth, unadulterated. If all faith was actually the same, there would be only one faith.

The Secret of the Yogis

I recently read the ancient Yoga Sutra, attributed to the renowned (by some) eastern philosopher Patanjali. I was expecting a mystical exercise manual that would teach me to do the splits and hover cross-legged in the air; what I received was a vague and wordy outline of yogic philosophy, which seems quite similar to Buddhist philosophy. Basically, Patanjali argues that one’s ultimate goal must be to halt the flow of thought through the mind: “When thought ceases, the spirit stands in its true identity as observer to the world. Otherwise, the observer identifies with the turnings of the world” (1.3-4). He goes on to outline the various powers available to one who practices such liberation from thought, including supernatural strength, levitation, and telepathy. In case you were wondering, he does not provide detailed instructions on how to practice these powers. “Just stop thinking”—that’s pretty much all the help he’s willing to give us.

Like most religious worldviews, Patanjali’s philosophy is hit or miss. It is impossible to halfheartedly agree with him; either you agree that cessation of thought is the ultimate goal, or not. This is true of all real religions. Either you accept the Resurrection of Jesus, or you are not a Christian. Either you accept the Torah as divinely-revealed Law, or you are not a Jew. Either you accept the supreme power of human reason, or you are not a rationalist. Any lukewarm religious devotion is uninspiring and, if you ask me, pointless. Why should I be a Catholic if I don’t believe Christ was born to a virgin, performed miracles, and rose from the dead? What’s the point? If you don’t believe Jesus was God, all that you’re really doing at church every week is remembering a really nice guy. Bob Hope seemed like a nice guy, but nobody worships him. What’s the point?

This idea (in the words of Sinatra, “All or Nothing At All”) applies just as strongly to Patanjali’s philosophy—so as a Christian, I must wholeheartedly reject it. Nonetheless, I do believe it wise to read a text such as this (opposed as it is to my beliefs) in search of wisdom, because there certainly is some wisdom to be found in a source like the Yoga Sutra.

In this case, the Christian wisdom is found by interpreting some of Patanjali’s words in a different sense than he likely intended. While reading the section entitled “Mastery of the Physical World,” I was struck with the inspiration to interpret his message metaphorically. The way I received this inspiration is a rather entertaining story.

I had just read that “from loosening the fetters of bondage to the body and from awareness of the body’s fluidity, one’s thought can enter into the body of another” (3.38). I instantly knew what Patanjali was telling me—I could read minds! After concluding that reading people’s minds would not constitute a betrayal of my own religious convictions (it would just be really cool), I decided to give it a try. Centering myself in a prayerful and loving frame of mind, I “reached out” and tried to put myself into the head of someone in the neighboring room. As I concentrated, a message materialized in my thoughts: “IT’S CALLED EMPATHY.”

And I had to admit that Whoever inspired that thought was right. Empathy does allow us to read minds. By conscious effort, we are able to understand and experience another’s thoughts and feelings. Sure, we may be wrong sometimes—but so would a mind-reader. And empathy doesn’t take nearly as much practice.

I quickly scanned the other powers Patanjali listed:

“From perfect discipline of the strength of an animal such as an elephant, one gains that strength.…From mastery of the vital breath rising in the body, one does not sink into water, mud, or thorns, but rather rises above them. From mastery of the breath of fire in the belly, one acquires a fiery radiance. From perfect discipline of the relation between the ear and space, one has divine hearing” (3.24, 39-41).

So let’s read this text as non-literal. What do we find? Discipline results in great strength. Calm, controlled breathing results in a light and buoyant existence. Strong breathing powers one with fiery energy. Awareness of the sense of hearing reminds one that it is a truly divine gift.

Perhaps, then, the secret of the yogis is simply this: reality is magic. The powers of humanity are supernatural enough; there’s no need to wish for more! Want to be super-strong? Exercise and take good care of yourself—you’ll be stronger than you imagined possible. Want to read a mind? Think about someone else’s problems and try to put yourself in their place. Want to float in the air? Try being truly happy, and you will feel light enough to fly. Voila! We all have magic powers. Few of us choose to put them to good use. The most wonderful things about life are the simplest ones, and great power is found in a calm acceptance of the present moment, coupled with profound gratitude to one’s Creator.

Am I reading into this too much? Perhaps I am, if you are a yogi. But I am a Christian; St. Paul tells me “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Thus, it is my job to relate everything I read back to my own beliefs. This is how I bring myself closer to God. I hope this post finds you closer to Him, as well.

Enlightenedly His,
Joezilla