Question: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
The short answer to this question is no.The Christian and Islamic faiths differ in radical ways, including their perceptions of God. A brief comparison of Yahweh of the Bible and Allah of Islam is below. Some have claimed that “Allah” is mentioned in the Bible, saying that certain Arabic translations use the term as the generic name for God. However, the claim that Allah is actually used in the Bible is completely false, and it certainly doesn’t follow that what Muslims mean by Allah is what Christians mean when they speak of God. For a better understanding of this matter, I recommend reading Andy Bannister’s analysis “Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?” (free PDF download from the C.S. Lewis institute).
Yahweh
Personal
Knowable
Loves sinners
Salvation by Christ
Allah
Impersonal
Unknowable
Hates sinners
Salvation by works
For Further Exploration:
- Understanding Islam teaching videos (especially see part 5)
- I’m Glad You Asked (book addressing 12 common questions, such as “Is Christ the Only Way to God?”)
- Cults, World Religions, and the Occult: What They Teach, How to Respond to Them
