Hoover’s Discussion of Whether the Christians and the Muslims Believe in the Same God.
Both Christianity and Islam uphold the existence of only one God, and there are structural similarities in their doctrines. However, they significantly disagree over how precisely this God is one with the Muslims criticizing the Christians believe in the theory of Trinity. This paper discusses whether the Christians and the Muslims believe in the same God based on typical Muslim concerns of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
According to Jon Hoover, the Muslims’ criticism of the Trinity is based on Quran assertions that there is only one God and tawhid (monotheism) is primarily an Islam doctrine. They believe that Trinity is a threat to this concept and subjects God to tri-theism. That it is an unforgivable sin to associate God with other beings, and Christians wrongly give worship to Jesus Christ worship that is only due to God. The Muslims reject the triad apparently because it associates God to have a son, and this is an expression of unbelief and associationism.
Christian’s response to this allegation is that their understanding of the sonship is not carnal the way the Muslims do. They believe that God does not share his supremacy with other creatures, but He exists in three divine forms; God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Additionally, the Christians conjoin with the Muslim’s criticism of polytheism, and one should worship only one God. They allude that the Quran addresses some form of abnormal Christianity present in the Middle East at the time of the prophet Muhammad. This demonstrates the distinction between Quranic and Trinitarian teaching about God’s existence.
Some anti-Trinitarian Muslims also adduce historical corruption in Christianity as a reason for the existing differences between the two religions. They believe that since all God’s prophets conveyed the same message of His unity, Jesus was no exception. He was God’s prophet. They further argue that Jesus’ mission was an expression of monotheism and suffered corruption by Paul and the Council of Nicea. According to Abd al-Jabbar, Muslim theologian, Paul incorporated Roman religious practices into Christian faith. Constantine similarly adopted the Nicene Creed and killed the opponents.
As much as the doctrine of Islam distinguishes God’s attributes from God’s essence, so does the doctrine of Trinity. From the Islamic point of view, the nature of God is one, but His qualities are many while the Christian’s perspective is God’s persons are three while His essence is one. The three persons are equal but distinct in terms of their origins and identities. The Muslims do not speak of God’s attributes as being fully divine while the Christians do. When the two doctrines are set in parallel, both faiths can see that they share linguistic challenges in understanding how God is both one and many.
In conclusion, the Trinitarian doctrine focuses on how God appears to humanity. Muslims join with the Christians in affirming monotheism but differ on how it is practiced. The main point for disagreeing with the Muslims is on whether the one God is to be worshipped through Jesus Christ. Even if the Muslims refuse to accept Jesus’ worship, they may, to some extent, acknowledge how the doctrine of Trinity plays a vital role in Christian devotion to one God. The Muslims, however, hold to the fact that God, in his self, does not get into human history.