Do Muslims, Christians, And Jews Worship The Same God? (Part 2)

Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe in the same God. All three religions have basically the same moral message, claims Professor Christer Hedin. But there are also significant differences, and the relationship between them has oscillated between hostility and peaceful coexistence throughout history. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are what one might call sibling religions. Christianity is the largest of the three, with between 1.7 and two billion professors in the world. Muslims are just over one billion, and the Jews about 18 million. However, they have common roots, meaning there are remarkable similarities between the three religions and important differences. Let’s check all about it in this article! If you haven’t yet read the first part of this article, do it now!

One problem that all three religions grapple with today is homosexuality. There is no doubt that LGTBQ+ acts have occurred and been condemned in ancient times. Whether there is any equivalent in the texts to what is now considered LGTBQ+ orientation is doubtful. Can you then start from the readers when taking a stand? The Qur’an only says that people should not live “as in Lot’s time”. It can mean a lot but is interpreted with the help of the hadiths as a ban on homosexuality.

The sacred texts contain creation stories. Jews and Christians have the same text but interpret it differently. According to the Bible, a serpent would have deceived Eve into tempting her husband so that they both ate the forbidden fruit. Does this mean that man thereby becomes evil? That’s how Christians have interpreted the text and call the event a “fall”. This is natural because they read the story from the New Testament, and there the apostle Paul says that man is a prisoner of evil. In the seventh chapter of Romans, he writes that “if I do what I do not want, then it is no longer I who act, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:20) According to Judaism, man is not evil. Jews have a much brighter view of man. They never talk about a fall but human disobedience. It may be fatal, but the sinner today can never blame Adam or his wicked nature.

According to the Qur’an, Satan tempted Adam and his wife to eat from the tree they were not allowed to touch. God drove ” Man shares a quality with his Creator – the ability to distinguish between good and evil from the Garden of Eden as punishment, but they had not fallen into sin or been corrupted. According to Muslims, no original sin exists. Their view of man is as bright as that of the Jews, perhaps brighter. Jews can say that man tends to sin even if he does not have an evil or corrupt nature. Muslims see man as good by nature, but he can be misled and deceived into doing evil. In this way, the three religions differ from each other in the view of man. Islam has the brightest view of man, then comes Judaism. Christianity is divided. In the western church, the view has been darkest. There, the doctrine of original sin has dominated. In the Orthodox and Oriental churches, there has been less talk of original sin. The Assyrian church has hardly occurred, and it shows that it is not a necessary part of the Christian message.

God is omnipotent, but none of the three religions teaches that God has decided what will happen so that it does not matter how we act. Nor is it the case that God has decided who will go to heaven and hell after death. Muslims and Christians agree that man has the freedom to influence his life and his future destiny. It may still be the case that God gives us the power to choose the right, and therefore one can imagine thanking God if one succeeds. Paul has expressed the idea that unites religions with the following words: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” (Philippians 2:12)

Want to know what more differences and similarities? Stay tuned for the next part of this blog!