PR wrote:Paidion, I don't know how familiar you are with the Koran. I read it through twice a few years ago and my first impression was that it contained several stories also found in the Bible, but poorly written and filled with obvious inaccuracies. On that basis alone, I don't see how it could be considered on par with the Bible, or talking about the same God.
It reminded me of Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon, they seem to me to have been making their religions up as they went along if you know what I mean.
And what about the Muslim's profound difference with Christians in their belief about Jesus? Where is the grace in Islam? What happened on the cross? The Koran infers that it was Judas or somebody else, but not Jesus, on the cross. How can this be from the same God? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
The Muslims are monotheists. They believe there is one God only. They also believe that God is the Creator of the Universe.
Paul, who wrote part of the Bible also taught that that God is One (1 Cor 8:6, Eph 4:6, 1 Tim 2:5)
Moses, author of Genesis also stated that God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)
Clearly, Mohammed, Paul, and Moses all believed in the same God.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the only monotheistic religions on earth. All other religions either believe in several or many gods or in no gods at all.
I agree that there are stories in the Koran which are false and are not consistent with the Biblical writings. I also agree that the Quran denies that Jesus is the Son of God and that He was crucified. But all of that is irrelevant to the question of whether or not they believe in the same God.
Again, consider Christian denominations.
Trinitarians (Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists) believe that the one God is compound, made up of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 3 distinct divine Individuals.
Modalists, (United Pentecostal Church, various forms of the Apostolic Church) believe God is a single divine Individual who expresses Himself in three modes, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They compare it to an actor of long ago, who presented himself as several different individuals by wearing a variety of masks.
Unitarians, (The Unitarian-Universalist Church, The Christadelphian Church) believe that God is a single divine Individual, and that Jesus is not divine in the same sense)
Does each of these three, in your opinion, believe in three different Gods?