# Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 18, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770 "2003-12-18T15:35:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/21 "2003-12-18T19:03:21Z")
As many above have written, ostensibly they are the same god, but I want to add another reason many Christians can’t accept this. Basically, any religion besides Christianity is seen as the work of the devil by distracting from The One True Way™. Judaism gets a bit of a break for being the precursor to Christianity, but even then many think they should have come around by now, so they must be following the devil, too. In extreme cases, this will even apply to different denominations of Christianity. Essentially, if they’re the type that thinks everyone who’s not Christian is damned, no, they probably don’t believe you’re worshipping the same god, or god at all, no matter how much you think they should be one and the same. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/22 "2003-12-18T19:06:26Z")
Hey, I’ll try one more time. G-d doesn’t change because religion assigns him certain characteristics. He doesn’t multiply because we have too many religions. Our religions are based on our interpretation of who he is. He stays the same. We all do worship the same G-d differently. This may never happen again, but Bush was correct.😉 ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/23 "2003-12-18T19:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > **Well do we?** Of course, you do. Incidentally, isn’t anyone tired of all this “Judeo-Christian” drivel? Jews kicked the Christians out of their Temples around 50 AD for blasphemy. Christians then viciously persecuted Jews for 1500+ years. Now suddenly everything is just peachy, everybody is sharing “values”! Isn’t that the pit of hypocrisy? Meanwhile, “God-killing” slander is still going around among Christians. Comparing with the treatment Jews received in Christian countries, Muslims were treating Jews like brothers, at least until XX century. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/24 "2003-12-18T19:21:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by athelas \* > Gotta love the people who are so afraid of the word “G-d” that they blank it out 😉 Thanks **athelas**. Your comment really tickled me. I asked **Kelly5078** yesterday why the Jewish faith spells G-d that way. He told me it was a sign of respect for G-d’s name, which is sacred. Now I’m not Jewish, but I need to remember the attitude of respect more. That may have been the first time I spelled G-d that way. People form opinions, judgements over the funniest things. Yah gotta love 'em.;j ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/25 "2003-12-18T19:26:40Z")
To answer Astro’s question… well, the whole trinity thing is a bit… off, you understand, compared to the concept judiasm has of a deity. Christians can say that it’s not polytheism, but, well, it smacks a bit of rationalization. IWLN: Why must we all be worshipping the same god? Maybe there _are_ multiple gods. I don’t know, I’ve never met 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/26 "2003-12-18T19:47:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IWLN \* > \*\*Hey, I’ll try one more time. G-d doesn’t change because religion assigns him certain characteristics. He doesn’t multiply because we have too many religions. Our religions are based on our interpretation of who he is. He stays the same. We all do worship the same G-d differently. This may never happen again, but Bush was correct.😉 \*\* Or God doesn’t exist at all and people imagine beings they call “gods” to worship…and they have different characteristics because the religion that worships them gives them those characteristics. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/27 "2003-12-18T19:52:23Z")
Muslims approach their god on their own. Allah apparently doesn’t require a middleman. Christians approach God through their intercessor, Jesus, because God requires a go-between (which is why Jesus came on the scene to begin with). Allah and God cannot be the same because they have different requirements for approaching them. If they were the same either both Christians and Muslims would approach their gods alone, or they would both approach their gods through a middleman. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/28 "2003-12-18T19:55:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by E-Sabbath \* > IWLN: Why must we all be worshipping the same god? Maybe there _are_ multiple gods. I don’t know, I’ve never met 'em. Well I’ve only met one. You have a point, that it’s a possibility, but somehow even less probable than the one who claimed to be all powerful, etc. How many omnipotents can you fit in one universe? I think it would be like everyone in different areas worshipping the sun and considering it their own private sun. Same sun, different frame of reference. There’s not really any _good_ reason to believe in a community of gods. ---
**Author:** ![YourOldBuddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bc79bd/32.png) [@YourOldBuddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourOldBuddy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/29 "2003-12-18T19:57:38Z")
I was of the impression that Muslims believed in Jesus, but that Muhammed was a greater prophet. If its not the same God, then they must be related. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/30 "2003-12-18T19:57:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > Allah and God cannot be the same because they have different requirements for approaching them. If they were the same either both Christians and Muslims would approach their gods alone, or they would both approach their gods through a middleman. Or somebody got their religion wrong. ---
**Author:** ![YourOldBuddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bc79bd/32.png) [@YourOldBuddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourOldBuddy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/31 "2003-12-18T19:58:50Z")
Ah does not matter. Thor will soon smite them all. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/32 "2003-12-18T19:59:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Or God doesn’t exist at all and people imagine beings they call “gods” to worship…and they have different characteristics because the religion that worships them gives them those characteristics. \*\* Possible, but not one of my favorite choices. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/33 "2003-12-18T20:02:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*Muslims approach their god on their own. Allah apparently doesn’t require a middleman. > > Christians approach God through their intercessor, Jesus, because God requires a go-between (which is why Jesus came on the scene to begin with). > > Allah and God cannot be the same because they have different requirements for approaching them. If they were the same either both Christians and Muslims would approach their gods alone, or they would both approach their gods through a middleman. \*\* I though Jesus _was_ God. How could God intercede with himself? Your assertion is theological hogwash, by the way. There is no Christian doctrine which forbids direct prayer to God (ever heard of the “Our Father?”). Muslims worship the same God of Abraham and Moses that Jews and Christians worship. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/34 "2003-12-18T20:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\* > Allah and God cannot be the same because they have different requirements for approaching them. If they were the same either both Christians and Muslims would approach their gods alone, or they would both approach their gods through a middleman. \*\* Right, but the Jewish God also doesn’t require a middleman, and Christians say that the Christian God and Jewish God are the same. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/35 "2003-12-18T20:18:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \* > \*\*Right, but the Jewish God also doesn’t require a middleman, and Christians say that the Christian God and Jewish God are the same. \*\* I was a Christian for decades and never required a “middleman”. I have always prayed directly to G-d. He wasn’t Jewish, but he has a partiality for them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/36 "2003-12-18T20:51:33Z")
The Jewish G-d and the Islamic Allah are one and the same. In fact, this has implications in Jewish law - for example, it is permitted for a Jew to say Jewish prayers in a mosque. The Christian diety, on the other hand is not considered by Jewish law to be identical to the one worshiped by Jews. Two main reasons: the trinity and the idea of him incarnating himself in human form. A Jew would not be permitted to say Jewish prayers in a church. ---
**Author:** ![labmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f19dbf/32.png) [@labmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/37 "2003-12-18T21:37:30Z")
I gotta agree with whoever said it was a semantic argument. If we’re talking historically, culturally then yes, they are all the same gawd, because every sect of the judeo-christian-mohammedean? religious tradition is merely a branch off an earlier one which, if traced back a couple thousand years, all began as Hebrew tribal code and religion. But in the mind of the belivers of said sects? Who knows. Take two people from the same mosque, temple or cathedral, and they will most likely tell God is many different things to each, ours is different, ours is the right one, ours is the same. Basically everybody’s Jewish, they just don’t know it, well except the jews. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/38 "2003-12-18T22:03:57Z")
What really bakes my noodle is that Jesus is supposed to be BOTH G-d AND the intermediary between Him and Mankind. Also, Jesus and the Paraclete/Holy Spirit are not the same, but both are G-d. Except in the beginning, when the Word was with G-d and the Word was G-d, which is to say, the Son and the creative aspect of the Spirit, both now being the same and begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. You following this? Seem a little schizo to you? Yeah, me too. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/39 "2003-12-18T22:10:22Z")
Yeah, I hate it that the tenets of my faith don’t make sense to my intellect. Must be something wrong with my intellect. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770/40 "2003-12-18T22:19:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by YourOldBuddy \* > \*\*I was of the impression that Muslims believed in Jesus, but that Muhammed was a greater prophet. If its not the same God, then they must be related. \*\* That is a wrong impression. Muslims don’t “believe” in Jesus. Christians do. Muslims see Jesus as a great prophet, like there were other prophets from which Muhammed is seen as the last that ever was send to humanity. This however doesn’t make Muhammed “greater” then Jesus or any other prophet. Salaam. A [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/219770.md?page=3)