Posted on 10/10/2007 6:22:49 AM PDT by Finally Awake
Whatever else his critics say of him, no one can fault President Bush for failing to go the extra mile in his efforts to show that neither he, nor the United States, is opposed to the Islamic faith, or to Muslim nations.
Last week, the president and Mrs. Bush hosted their seventh Iftaar Dinner, the celebration that breaks the Muslim fast during Ramadan. Immediately after 9/11, the president visited a Washington, D.C., mosque and proclaimed Islam a “religion of peace.” He has frequently said that terrorists are not real Muslims, anymore than people who proclaim to be Christian and engage in violence are genuine Christians.
The president is the most openly evangelical Christian and faithful churchgoer since Jimmy Carter. And the evangelical community has mostly embraced him and twice voted for him in overwhelming numbers. But that constituency is likely to be troubled over something the president said in an interview with Al Arabiya television. In an official transcript released by the White House, the president said, “…I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God.” Later in the interview, the president repeated his statement: “I believe there is a universal God. I believe the God that the Muslim prays to is the same God that I pray to. After all, we all came from Abraham. I believe in that universality.”Continued
To paraphrase a remark often attributed to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, everyone is entitled to his or her own faith, but everyone is not entitled to define the central doctrines of that faith. The doctrines of what is called Christianity not only stand in stark contrast to Islam, they also teach something contrary to what the president says he believes.
It is one thing to try to reach out to moderate and sincerely peaceful Muslims. It is quite another to say the claims of your own faith are of no greater importance than the often contradictory claims of another faith. If we all worship the same God, the president should answer the call of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden, convert to Islam and no longer be a target of their wrath. What difference would it make if we all worship the same God?
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (carm.org) has created a useful chart that shows the conflicting claims of classic Christian belief and Muslim doctrines. It is worth studying whatever one’s faith.
The central doctrine of the Christian faith is that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for sinners and by repenting of sin and accepting Christ as Savior, one is “saved” and is guaranteed a home in Heaven. Muslims do not believe God had a son and, therefore, no atonement for sin is necessary. Muslims believe simply telling God one is sorry and repenting of sin is enough, if one also lives up to the five “pillars” of Islam. Furthermore, according to Muslims, Jesus did not die on a cross (as Christians believe); instead, God allowed Judas to look like Jesus and it was Judas who was crucified.
Evangelical Christians believe the Bible is God’s Word and is without error in the original manuscripts. Muslims respect the word of the prophets, but claim the Bible has been corrupted (mostly by Jews) and is only correct insofar as it agrees with the Koran.
God calls himself “I Am” and says He is one, but with three personalities. Muslims believe God’s name is Allah and reject the Trinity.
How can the president say that we all worship the same God when Muslims deny the divinity of Jesus, whom the president accepts as the One through whom all must pass for salvation? Do both political parties have the same beliefs? Are all baseball teams equal (clearly not, because only two will go to the World Series)?
The president can be commended for sincerely reaching out to Muslims, but he should not be commended for watering down his beliefs and the doctrines of his professed faith in order to do so. That’s universalism. There are “churches” that believe in universalism, his Methodist church does not. No Christian who believes the Bible believes in universalism. And No Muslim who believes the Koran does either.
President Bush is wrong -- dangerously wrong -- in proclaiming that all religions worship the same God.
This is stupid. Arabic-speaking Christians pray to “Allah” which means God in Arabic. Muslims are mistaken about certain attributes of God, but correct about others; when they pray to the Creator of the Universe under the name of “Allah”, He doesn’t fail to notice.
Jews don’t believe Jesus was God either. Is the author saying Jews don’t worship the same God Christians do, because they don’t have a perfect set of theological doctrines?
What about those Christians who fail to agree with him on every point of theology? Does he worship the same God they do?
Yes, Islam is radically different from Christianity; but a failure to understand God pefectly is not the same thing as a failure to IDENTIFY him. They address the same Person Abraham addressed; He may well regard their worship as misguided, imperfect, or degraded, but it’s not like they’re worshipping Baal or Satan!
Well Bush is WRONG. Terrorists are very devout Muslims. Bush just can't seen to understand that, because he has never studied what Islam is, and what it teaches.
"I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God.”
It may be what you believe, Bush, but again you are WRONG. "allah" the name of the Islamic god (ilah) is the exact opposite of the Christian God, Yahweh, who is a loving God.
Allah hates, and especially hates God's chosen people. Muslims believe it's Allah's command that they kill them wherever they find them.
Allah is Satan. Only Satan would want to destroy God's children.
Agree 100%.
Allah does not mean “God” in Arabic.
the arabic word for “God” is lah.
The koran tells you 52 times that Allah is his name, not that Allah means “God”.
Allah does not mean “God” in Arabic.
the arabic word for “God” is ilah.
The koran tells you 52 times that Allah is his name, not that Allah means “God”.
Spot on article - President Bush is treading on dangerous ground here and needs to be firmly rebuked by Christians in this matter.
HE may pray to the same god of the muzzies, but I certainly don’t.
Muslims worship a false god they call "allah" (it does not transliterate into a generic term meaning "god).
Jews do not worship the same god because their god has no incarnate son.
The rest of your questions are strawmen.
Even satan believes in in the same God. While I agree with you, it sounds like the author subscribes to the belief that islam is derived from the moon-god cult of the middle east.
Great post...
I agree completely ...
The Qur’an, Traditions [hadiths] and Islamic law prove that ALLAH ‘THE GOD’ is NOT the ultimate, almighty GOD ‘YAHWEH, JEHOVAH, THE LORD’ as meant in the Bible. The word “ALLAH” THE GOD is a contraction of “Al-ilah,” ‘al’ meaning “the” and “ilah” meaning ‘god.’
GOD in the ultimate sense in Arabic is ILAH.
The first pillar of faith in Islam contradicts this claim when it says: “There is no ILAH but ALLAH.” [Arabic: la ilaha illa-la] If “Allah” were the Arabic word for God it would be: “There is no ALLAH but ALLAH.” Allah is exclusively an Arabic term, and it can only be translated as ‘THE GOD’.
2:163 And your ILAH [GOD] is One ILAH [GOD].
3:62 There is no ILAH [GOD] except ALLAH.
5:73 But there is no ILAH [GOD] but One ILAH [GOD].
9:31 ‘The Jews and Christians were commanded in the Tawrat [Torah] and the Injeel [Gospel] to worship none but One ILAH [GOD] LA ILAHA ILLA HUWA [none has the right to be worshipped but He].
20:8 ALLAH! There is no ILAH [GOD] save Him.
20:14 Verily, I am ALLAH. No ILAH [GOD] may be worshiped but I.
20:97 Your ILAH [GOD] is ALLAH: there is no ILAH [GOD] but He.
52:43 Have they an ILAH [GOD] other than ALLAH?
59:22 ALLAH is He, no other ILAH [GOD] may be worshiped.
2:132 The Qur’an uses ‘ILAH’ when Allah claims to be the God of Abraham.
With his dying breath, Muhammad cursed the Jews and Christians, and warned the Muslims to beware of the curses of the oppressed People of the Book.
The Jews and Christians are banished from Arabia, to this day.
“When Allah’s Apostle became seriously sick, he started covering his face with a woolen sheet. When he felt short of breath, he removed it, and said, ‘That is so! Allah’s curse be on Jews and Christians!’”
Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 59, Number 727
So the very Koran proves that allah is not ilah.
That makes no sense whatsoever.
Muslims are mistaken about certain attributes of God, but correct about others; when they pray to the Creator of the Universe under the name of “Allah”,
even a broken clock is right twice a day.
lot's of "god's" worshipped by other cults/religions are creators of the universe.
Islam is nothing but the delusions of a sadistic, mass murdering pedophile and bandit named Mohammad, who incorporated a lot of Jewish and christian fables he knew at the time into his religion in order to make it sound legit.
Most of Islam however is the same rock idol worship of pagan arabs before Mohammad came on the scene. In fact many of the Islamic rituals remain unchanged from Mohammads rock worshipping days.
The true creator of Islam was actually Mohammads great grandfather, who brought "allah" (a black hunk of meteor) home from one of his journys to egypt and added the allah rock to the other rock idols in the Ka'aba. The Ka'ba itself was nothing but a pile of rocks around a watering hole, which he purchaced from another tribe for a lute of wine and a whistle.
So you don't worship or pray to the G-d of Abraham?
so who's your choice?
Vishnu?
Thor?
Xenu?
Flying Spaghetti Monster?
Baal?
My God can kick Allah’s butt.
it is.
The whole Islam cult is from the pagan rock idol cult which Mohammad himself and his tribe belonged.
In fact, when Mohammad recieved his first torturous visit from Satan (disguised as an angel of light) he was preforming his rock idol worshiping rituals in his favorite cave for doing just that.
Mohammad had the right idea at first. He thought he had become possesed by satan, and tried to commit suicide. Too bad he didn't.
I am not associated with the site in any way, but I have often found this to be a somewhat useful reference and I am just passing that information along.
Sorry, but you're dead wrong. Jesus is the son of God, whether Jews want to believe it or not. Jesus is the anointed one sent as promised to complete the covenant which was began at Mt. Sinai. Christians are really just Jews who accepted this fact and through baptism in the blood of the Lamb mark the flesh in his name and are "born again" accepting the new Covenant of Christ which releases us from the old law, which traps everyone in sin.
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