EMQ » January–March 2022 » Volume 58 Issue 1
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder, EMQLibraryInstitution”]By J. David Willoughby
Down through the centuries many have asked whether Christians, Muslims, and Jews worship the same God. This question was again highlighted when Wheaton College put professor Larycia Hawkins on disciplinary leave for asserting Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Miroslav Volf took exception to their actions and penned a widely read editorial in the Washington Post in which he claimed that both religions indeed worship the same God.[1] His central argument was that it was illogical for Christians to say that they do not worship the same God as Muslims (because they deny the Trinity), but at the same time believe that they do indeed worship the same God as Jews (who likewise deny the Trinity). Such a conclusion, he said, was the result of “anti-Muslim bigotry” and “enmity towards Muslims.” In Volf’s thinking, one should either accept that Jews also do not worship the same God or concede that Muslims do worship the same God as Christians. Treating the Muslim rejection of the Trinity different than the Jewish rejection of the Trinity is seen as illogical and baseless.
This article refers to such reasoning as the Muslim-Jewish Parallel (MJP). While other authors have used a similar MJP argument (see Beckwith),[2] this article will interact mostly with Volf, since he has become the most well-known proponent of this view. The purpose of this article is not to evaluate the many different aspects of the same God argument, but rather to show the weakness of the Muslim-Jewish Parallel as stated by Volf.
The MJP has been called the strongest argument for the same God point of view[3] and is something Volf repeats as one of the main lines of reasoning, not only in his online article, but also in in his influential work Allah,[4] his later book Do We Worship the Same God?,[5] as well as in his university lectures.[6]
Evaluating the MJP
Like a good sermon, the MJP has three points and a conclusion. The MJP essentially contends, (a) that Christians believe they worship the same God as Jews despite the fact that (b) Jews reject the Trinity. Since (c) Muslims also reject the Trinity, therefore, (conclusion) Christians should also believe they worship the same God as Muslims. To assess the MJP, these three initial claims must be evaluated.
New Testament Affirmation that Jews and Christians Worship the Same God
The New Testament clearly shows that the early disciples saw continuity between the God they believed in and followed, and the God of the Old Testament. In the book of Acts, one finds the repetition of the phrase “the God of our fathers” – a statement that locates the early disciples on a continuum of faith stretching back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Thus, Peter announced to the Jews in Jerusalem, “the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus,” (Acts 3:13; 5:30, ESV). Similarly, Ananias declared to Saul, “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth” (Acts 22:14, ESV). The apostle Paul himself held this view, asserting at his defense, “I worship the God of our fathers” (Acts 24:14, ESV). The repetition of this phrase by multiple leaders in a variety of settings throughout the book of Acts shows how common this understanding was among the first followers of Jesus.[7] Clearly, the early disciples self-identified as worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the “same God” as their fellow Jews.
The Jewish Rejection of the Trinity
The second point of the MJP contends that Jews deny the Trinity. In his editorial for the Washington Post noted earlier, Volf stated: “For centuries, a great many Orthodox Jews have strenuously objected to those same Christian convictions: Christians are idolaters because they worship a human being, Jesus Christ, and Christians are polytheists because they worship ‘Father, Son and the Spirit’ rather than the one true God of Israel.” In a separate volume devoted to the subject, he highlights the fact that, generally speaking, Jews “deem Christians to be idolaters and therefore not true monotheists.”[8]
This is confirmed by Peter Ochs, Jewish philosopher and professor of Modern Judaic Studies, when he notes that, “as a rule, Jewish medieval thinkers considered both Islam and Christianity false religions.”[9] Such belief followed the thinking of the renown Jewish teacher Maimonides who, in the Mishneh Torah, stated rather bluntly, “The Nazarenes are idolaters.”[10] As such, Christians were considered guilty of idolatry or foreign worship, known in Hebrew as “Avoda Zara.”[11] Alon Goshen-Gottstein points out that, “Maimonides is the classical point of reference for considering Christianity as Avoda Zara… [which] often appears as the default Jewish position.”[12] Clearly, despite Christians seeing themselves as worshipping the same God as Jews, many Jewish scholars conclude the opposite – that because of Trinitarian theology and the distinctive of Jesus’ divinity, Christians worship a different God and are, therefore, idolaters.
Islamic Rejection of the Trinity
The third point of the MJP – that Muslims reject the Trinity – finds clear backing in the Qur’an: “If anyone associates others with God, God will forbid him from the Garden, and Hell will be his home. No one will help such evildoers. Those people who say that God is the third of three are defying [the truth]: there is only One God.” (5:72–73; see also 4:171; 5:17).[13]
Some attempt to downplay these statements by claiming that the Qur’an denies a misunderstanding or caricature of the Trinity.[14] Yet, Muslim philosopher Shah Kazemi notes that the Qur’anic opposition to the Trinity “is focused on the Christian idea of three Persons being identical to the one Essence… It is precisely this ‘sharing’ of all divine attributes that is deemed by Muslim theologians to be a violation of Tawhid.”[15] Therefore, even if the Qur’anic critique rests on a misunderstanding of the actual persons of the Trinity, this does not change the central Islamic argument that the three persons (whomever they might be and however arranged) in the Trinity, violate the divine unity, or Tawhid.[16]
Thus far, the three points of the MJP ring true. Nevertheless, the conclusion does not necessarily follow – namely, that Christians should view the Muslim understanding of God in the same way they view the Jewish one. Although Muslims and Jews parallel one another in their conception of the Trinity, they do not parallel one another in their relationship to Christianity, which is a very important distinction.
Why the MJP Ultimately Fails
The fact that both Judaism and Islam repudiate the Trinity does not provide the key to equate the two religions in the search for an answer to the same God question. First, despite their denial of the Trinity, Muslims still believe they worship the same God as Christians (which does not parallel the case with historic Judaism). Second, unlike Judaism, the Islamic religion came after, not before, Christianity and this (as will be shown) becomes the most significant difference.
Islam and the “God of Our Fathers”
It is important to note that while the Qur’an strongly denies the Trinity, it also clearly points back to the same God of their fathers as the early Christian disciples did, and with the very same language: “We shall worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac” (2:133).[17] At first, the fact that Muslims self-identify as worshipping the “God of your fathers” in the same way the early disciples of Jesus did, would seem to lend weight to Volf’s argument. Yet, on the contrary, this fact serves to highlight one of the distinct differences between the Muslim and Jewish viewpoints on this issue.
Figure 10.1 highlights how both the Christian and Muslim faiths build on the foundation of the religion that came before and both incorporate (and reinterpret) at least part of their texts and teachings. The checkmark denotes that they see the religion coming before them as worshipping the “God of our fathers.” The question mark in the diagram denotes the basic issue of the MJP: Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?
The Diachronic Perspective – Why the Muslim-Jewish Parallel Does Not Work
To see why the MJP does not work, the matter of chronology (which is often overlooked in this debate) must be explored. A new religion usually comes into existence because the believers feel they possess a greater revelation, a superior prophet, or a better understanding of some kind. While they build on the foundation of the former religion, they add to it and can dynamically change the core truths of the earlier one. Eventually over time it can become recognized as not just a sect but as a new religion altogether. The newer religion might feel that the older one foreshadowed it, or that it fulfills the earlier one. However, the former religion may not feel the same way.
This change over time will be referred to here as the diachronic process. In the eyes of the religion established first, looking at subsequent changes can be termed the Diachronic (D) perspective. For the religion(s) established or formed later, looking backward can be designated the reverse-Diachronic (rD) perspective (Figure 10.2).
Figure 1.2 shows that when a later religion looks backward (rD), it sees that which preceded it as laying the foundation for its belief system. Because of this continuity, their God would indeed seem to be the God of our fathers. But when an earlier religion looks forward (D), they may view that coming after them as very different from their own beliefs and may be justified in saying the latter worship another God. As shown above, this took place when Jewish leaders such as Maimonides labeled Christians Avoda Zara. Before applying this concept to the MJP, it will be helpful to expand this subject to include a religion that came after Islam, namely Baha’i. This will reveal a more legitimate parallel between these faiths.
The Diachronic Perspective in Regard to Islam and Baha’i
A relative newcomer on the world stage, the Baha’i religion initially formed as a Messianic movement out of Shi’ite Islam in the 1800s.[18] The followers of the Baha’i faith generally “see Islam as the parent religion of their Faith, in the same way Judaism gave birth to Christianity.”[19] To use the phrase noted earlier, they would consider the God of Islam as the God of their fathers. Despite this, Islamic leaders (looking from a D-perspective) usually do not have a favorable opinion of Baha’is and have deemed them heretics and apostates.[20] This has led to severe persecution and the pronouncement of numerous fatwas against them.[21] Clearly, while Baha’is accept Islam as the parent religion, Islam does not accept them as their children (see Figure 10.3).
Baha’is (rD-viewpoint) build on the foundation of Islam and, therefore, see continuity with the God of Islam. But Muslims (D-viewpoint) generally view Baha’is as heretics and apostates.[22]
Application to the MJP and Same God Question
When this concept is applied to the MJP one sees that the MJP ultimately fails as an adequate parallel since Islam comes after Christianity, while Judaism comes before. As Figure 10.4 shows, looking back in time (rD), each religion sees the one preceding it as worshiping the “God of their fathers.” Nevertheless, looking forward at the diachronic change (D), the earlier religion will often see discontinuity (due to a change in teachings, holy book, prophet, or understanding of God). The true key, therefore, does not consist in the issue of the Trinity as raised by Volf and the MJP, but rather in the chronological relationship one religion has with the other. The overall diachronic perspective impacts the same God view much more than does a similarity in one point of doctrine (in this case, the Trinity).
Figure 10.4 illustrates that just as many Orthodox Jews negatively view the diachronic change in regards to Christianity, and just as Muslims may negatively view the diachronic change in regards to the Baha’i faith, some Christians may legitimately see the diachronic change brought about by Islam as so great that the two religions cannot be worshipping the same God.
It should be noted this does not mean every person in the above religions would agree with this conclusion. Some liberal Muslims may see Baha’is as worshipping Allah; and some Jews may agree they worship the same God as Christians. That some may hold a different opinion does not disprove the fact observed earlier: many people (a prime example being Maimonides), in looking at how subsequent religions have deviated from core tenets or introduced change, may feel that they cannot say the new religion worships the same God.
Conclusion
The first implication from this study is that the Muslim-Jewish Parallel does not work because it fails to consider the impact of diachronic change. Christians may feel they worship the same God as Jews, though the latter deny the Trinity, because the Christian faith directly builds on the foundation of Judaism. In contrast, since Christianity does not build on the foundation of Islam, they may not see the object of worship as the same. A religious body’s understanding of sameness revolves around whether core elements of the faith (as they understand them) have undergone change, reinterpretation, or rejection. Obviously, coming before Christianity, Judaism did not change or repudiate key Christian doctrines, but Islam, being subsequent, has.
Second, even though both the early disciples and the Qur’an all claim the God of the Old Testament as the God of our fathers, it does not follow that the earlier religion should see it that way, or that such views must be reciprocated. The Jew, the Christian, and the Muslim remain entitled to their opinion that the religion coming after them, and changing their core beliefs, has deviated so much as to be worshipping another entity altogether.
Third, just as Christians cannot impose their belief on orthodox Jews who do not believe they worship the same God, so others should not impose their belief that Muslims and Christians worship one God. It remains natural and consistent for Jews and Christians to see diachronically subsequent religions as being so changed that they do not worship what they worship.
Fourth, statements that “anti-Muslim bigotry” and “enmity towards Muslims” (Volf 2015) are behind suggestions Muslims and Christians worship a different God are unhelpful. In a similar manner it would be unconstructive to charge Jews with anti-Christian bigotry or Muslims with anti-Baha’i bigotry. Based on the diachronic perspective of change, each religion has the right to claim the one coming after it does not worship the same God.
This study has attempted to show that although Muslims and Jews parallel one another in their denial of the Trinity – and Christians generally accept they worship the same God as Jews – this does not mean that Christians must agree they worship the same God as Muslims. Because of the reality of diachronic change, Christians are entitled to the belief that they worship a different God than Muslims. Once again, this study does not argue for an actual answer to the same God question. It may still be reasoned that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Rather, this study argues for the legitimacy of an earlier religious body to hold that a religion which comes after it has so radically changed their faith that they are validated in concluding they no longer worship the same God.
J. David Willoughby (MDiv, Tyndale Seminary) has worked full-time in missions since 2002, teaching in various theological institutions and serving the underground church. He presently lives and ministers in Asia.
EMQ, Volume 58, Issue 1. Copyright © 2022 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
[1] Miroslav Volf, “Wheaton Professor’s Suspension is About Anti-Muslim Bigotry, Not Theology,” Washington Post, accessed November 8, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com /news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/17/wheaton-professors-suspension-is-about-anti-muslim-bigotry-not-theology/.
[2] Francis J. Beckwith, “Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?,” accessed November 8, 2020, https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2015/12/17/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/.
[3] Some see this as his strongest argument. See, for example, the statements by Julie Roys, “Seeking Truth: Volf & Qureshi Debate – Do Muslims & Christians Worship the Same God?” The Roys Report, accessed January 20, 2021, https://julieroys.com/volf-qureshi-debate-do-muslims-christians-worship-the-same-god/. As well as by Derek Vreeland, “Muslims and Christians: Reframing the ‘Same God’ Debate,” Missio Alliance, accessed January 20, 2021, https://www.missioalliance.org/muslims-christians-reframing-god-debate/.
[4] Miroslav Volf, Allah: A Christian Response (New York: HarperOne, 2012), 144.
[5] Miroslav Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Dialogue (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), ix.
[6] G. J. MacDonald, “Two Faiths, One God?: Miroslav Volf Meets Evangelical Critics” The Christian Century 128, no. 24 (2011): 11–12.
[7] See also: Acts 7:32; where Stephen uses the phrase with reference to God revealing himself to Moses.
[8] Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?, ix.
[9] Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?, 153.
[10] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Avoda Zara, 9:4.
[11] Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?, 51.
[12] Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?, 53.
[13] Unless otherwise noted, all Qur’anic references are from the M.A.S. Abdel Haleem translation.
[14] Volf, Allah, 79.
[15] Volf, Do We Worship the Same God?, 88, 101.
[16] See also the helpful dialogue in Timothy Tennent, Christianity at the Religious Roundtable (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 154.
[17] Emphasis mine. See also Qur’an 3:84, 95. This statement is attributed to Jacob, but in context is affirmed as applying to all Muslims.
[18] O. Scharbrodt, Islam and the Baha’i Faith: A Comparative Study of Muhammad ‘Abduh and ‘Abdul-Baha ‘Abbas (New York: Routledge, 2008), 12.
[19] D. Langness, “Is the Baha’i Faith ‘Islam Lite?’” accessed August 24, 2020, https://bahaiteachings.org/is-the-bahai-faith-islam-lite/.
[20] A. Berry, “The Bahá’í Faith and Its Relationship to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism: A Brief History,” International Social Science Review 79, no. 3/4 (2004): 137–151.
[21] See: Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (2007); Islam Question and Answer (2020); Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah (2020); and Milani (2016, 140).
[22] It remains unclear whether Muslims view Baha’is as worshiping a different God, but as apostates they are generally considered worthy of death – the same punishment as if they had converted to another religion. See: Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah (2020).
