Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims Worship the Same God?

The White Horse Inn Blog is a great resource. It is maintained by a number of Reformed Christians, including Michael Horton, Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend that you do so.

The most current post, written by Horton, addresses several issues concerning Christian-Muslim relations. At one point, Horton asks whether Christians and Muslims both worship the same God, i.e., Yahweh. I have thought about this question from time to time, and I believe that the answer is yes, they do both worship the same God. Being overly caffeinated when I read the post this afternoon, and having had some free time, I quickly banged out a long reply to the post defending this answer. My reply was rushed, and it omits many important details, but it does present a faithful summary of my current thinking about the question. I suspect that my reply may be deleted for excessive length, and so I thought that I would copy it here. I must stress that my reply was rushed. Also, since the White Horse Inn Blog is semi-academic, my writing was even more crabbed than usual. At any rate, here is the text of my reply:

It is very difficult to state exhaustive conditions under which two people believe in and/or worship the same god(s). Did Romans who worshipped Jupiter worship the same god as Greeks who worshipped Zeus? I have no idea. And the question cannot be answered in the negative simply by pointing out that Zeus and Jupiter were fictional gods, though I don’t have the space to explain why here. (But quickly – there does seem to be a sense of “same gods” on which it is true to say that the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” are about some of the same gods, but on which it is false to say that the “Iliad” and the “Bhagavad Gita” are about some of the same gods. There is a long, complicated philosophical literature on this issue.) Let me simply reiterate that it is difficult to state exhaustive conditions under which two people believe in and/or worship the same god(s).

Nonetheless, I think that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all clearly worship the same God, though they greatly disagree about His nature. First, they all intend to acknowledge and worship the God of Abraham. Second, they agree on enough of the characteristics of the God of Abraham to count as believing in the same God. I believe that these two conditions are jointly sufficient to establish the claim that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God, though the second condition is rather vague.

The first condition is not sufficient for worshipping the same God. If I were to say that I believe in the God of Abraham and that that God is really a tomato in my kitchen, or my dentist, I don’t think that I should be judged a follower of Yahweh. I think that this bit of reasoning is sound, and I think that it shows that the mere intention to acknowledge and worship Yahweh is not sufficient for success – there are beliefs about Yahweh that one must also hold in order to count as a follower of Yahweh. And I expect that the point will generalize to other gods as well, though there is no true god but Yahweh. So, what are those beliefs when it comes to Yahweh? That is a very difficult question. However, I am inclined to think that they include the following: Yahweh is eternal; Yahweh is a spirit; and, Yahweh is perfectly holy, good, just, etc., and so He is intelligent, a person, etc. If you don’t hold these beliefs about Yahweh, then I don’t think that you qualify as a follower of Yahweh. The reason why I wouldn't count as a follower of Yahweh if I believed that Yahweh were a tomato, or my dentist, is because I would deny these claims about Yahweh. I think that nearly everyone will agree with my claim that I wouldn't count as a follower of Yahweh if I said that I believed in Yahweh and that Yahweh is a tomato, or my dentist. But why would I fail to count as a follower of Yahweh in these cases? This question deserves an answer, and I think that there is only one obvious, reasonable answer - namely, that I would deny the aforementioned claims about Yahweh. This last statement raises a further question: does one need to hold all of these beliefs about Yahweh, or only some of them, to count as a follower of Yahweh? I am inclined to think that one must hold all of them, though some may want to disagree. At any rate, I think that holding all of these beliefs about Yahweh is sufficient for believing in Yahweh, even if some of the beliefs are not necessary, provided that one also intends to worship the God of Abraham. But why should we believe this last claim? I have argued that holding at least some of the aforementioned beliefs is necessary for believing in Yahweh - but why should we think that holding all of them is sufficient for doing so? It is to this issue that I now turn.

Faithful Jews who lived during the OT period certainly followed Yahweh, though they were not Trinitarians; and, I don’t see why we should say that faithful Jews living in the NT period aren’t followers of Yahweh. It would seem to me very strange to say that a Jew who lived during the time of Jesus would count as a follower of Yahweh before hearing the Gospel, but that he would count as continuing to follow Yahweh after hearing the Gospel only if he accepted the Gospel. Suppose the Jew in question rejected the Gospel. Should we say that he no longer prays to Yahweh or believes in Yahweh? That seems absurd. Much more could be said, but I believe that if we think about things for a moment, none of us would say that Jews today don’t believe in Yahweh. Indeed, the position seems plainly false.

It is worth mentioning here that many early Christians were not Trinitarians. Let me be clear – I think that these anti-Trinitarians were seriously wrong. But should we say that they didn’t believe in Yahweh? That seems plainly false to me. These anti-Trinitarians were claiming something about the nature of Yahweh – not a fictional god of their own imaging. And they worshipped this same God, i.e., Yahweh. They made false claims about a real God, not false claims about a fictional god. They disagreed with Trinitarians not about which god was the real God, but about the nature of the one, real God. Again, I could say more, but I won’t.

If you agree with everything I have said so far, then you agree that belief in Yahweh requires one to have some particular beliefs about Yahweh, but that these beliefs do not include belief in the Trinity. But, if this is right, what grounds would we have for saying that Muslims don’t believe in Yahweh? None as far as I can see. And, if Jews believe in Yahweh, I think we must admit that Muslims do too. For Muslims intend to acknowledge and worship the God of Abraham, and they also agree with Jews about the nature of God. Sure, different Jewish theologians hold different views about God, and so do different Muslim theologians, so that in some sense we can’t speak of “the Jewish” or “the Muslim” conception of God, just as we can't speak of "the Christian" conception of God. But orthodox Jews and orthodox Muslims adhere to a common body of doctrines about Yahweh, which include the following claims – Yahweh is eternal, a spirit, a person, intelligent, all powerful, all good, etc. It is very hard to see how Jews but not Muslims might count as believing in Yahweh.

Some dots still need to be connected. I will try to connect them quickly. To reiterate, if we accept that Jews believe in Yahweh, then we should also accept that Muslims believe in Yahweh, for it is very hard to see what might distinguish the two. Furthermore, if we believe that Jews and Muslims believe in Yahweh, then we should ask why they count as believing in Yahweh; and, if we ask this question, then there is only one obvious, reasonable answer - namely, that they intend to acknowledge and worship the God of Abraham, and because they believe enough of the right claims about Yahweh, such as the claims that Yahweh is eternal, that He is a spirit, etc. It is very hard to see what else might explain this.

I submit that the two criteria that I stated above are jointly sufficient for worshipping the same God, at least where Yahweh is concerned, and that the second condition can be filled out by citing the beliefs about Yahweh mentioned in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph – Yahweh is eternal, a spirit, a person, intelligent, all powerful, all good, etc., to which we might want to add something about the history of Yahweh’s revelations to the prophets of ancient Israel. If this is right, then Jews, Christians, and Muslims acknowledge and worship the same God, i.e., Yahweh, the God of Abraham. But we greatly disagree about His nature, and those disagreements are important.

[Added later: on March 6, I edited my original post. However, the substance of my original post remains, as do many of the details. The argument of the last few paragraphs is circuitous and quick, but I have no desire to improve it as this time.]

[Added even later (on March 6): I now realize that there is a problem with the argument that I made above. I argued that it is necessary and sufficient to acknowledge and worship Yahweh that one both (i) intend to acknowledge and worship the God of Abraham, i.e., Yahweh, and that (ii) one hold enough of the right beliefs about Yahweh, including the beliefs that He is eternal, a spirit, etc. It is clear that (ii) is necessary at least in the sense that one most hold at least some of the right beliefs about Yahweh to count as acknowledging and worshiping Him. (Recall the case of the person who believes that Yahweh is a tomato or a dentist.) But do we really need (i) once we have (ii)? Is it possible for someone to hold enough of the right beliefs about Yahweh without also intending to believe in Yahweh? In one sense, the answer may be yes - I could accept that God is eternal, a spirit, etc., while also believing that Odin is the true god. More on this below. In another sense, the answer is no - just as there is a clear sense of 'believe' on which I cannot believe that my wife's name is Jill without believing of her - my wife - that her name is Jill, there is a clear sense of 'believe' on which I cannot have the relevant beliefs about Yahweh without believing them of Yahweh and so without believing that Yahweh exists. (There are some remaining philosophical questions about whether the belief in Yahweh must be intended, but I'll pass over these now.)

Is condition (i) redundant then? Yes. We have reintroduced the problem of stating the conditions under which one believes anything of Yahweh. If we can state conditions for believing that Yahweh is eternal, a spirit, etc., then we can use those conditions to help explicate (ii), and (ii) would then be necessary and sufficient for believing in Yahweh. If we like, we can view these additional conditions as part of the analysis of what is required for acknowledging and worshiping Yahweh, though they are really part of the analysis of that analysis. When I wrote my original post, I am sure that I viewed these additional conditions as giving the content of (i). But the fact is that I never clearly addressed the problem of stating these conditions, and so my original post was flawed. The problem can be seen by considering the following question: is it sufficient to believe in Yahweh that one believe that there is one God and that this God is eternal, a spirit, etc.? Some may want to answer yes, and if this is the correct answer, then (ii) is necessary and sufficient for believing in Yahweh just as I stated it in my original post, and no more fussing is required. But suppose that we answer no to this question, as I am inclined to answer. For example, suppose that I believe that there is only one God and that He is eternal, a spirit, etc., but that I also believe that the one true God is really Odin, so that 'Odin' is one of the true names of Yahweh. To flesh the story out a bit more, suppose that I believe that Odin has a great love for all things Nordic, including cold weather, seafaring, and ancient Nordic languages. I might also believe that Yahweh, i.e., Odin, was especially pleased by old Norse forms of worship, whatever those might have been. Some might want to say that in this case I would still count as believing in Yahweh. I am inclined to think otherwise, but it is difficult to say exactly why. In fact, I am pretty sure that I would say that I don't believe in Yahweh in the imagined scenario, but I have no idea how to defend this judgment. Thus, I haven't actually provided an analysis of the necessary and sufficient conditions for believing in Yahweh. I may have correctly noted some necessary conditions for believing in Yahweh, but if I can't state the conditions that would rule out the Odin case, then I haven't provided a full analysis. Quickly, I don't think that it would be correct to say that I don't count as believing in Yahweh in the Odin case because some of my beliefs about Yahweh are unbiblical in that case, or that they might not be historically connected in the right way with the Abrahamic faiths. First, it is far too strong to say that one believes in Yahweh only if all one's beliefs about Yahweh comply with the Bible, or (which would be even stronger) that one must believe all that the Bible teaches about Yahweh. Such a condition is much too strong. Even the weaker version would probably rule out everyone as a believer in Yahweh. And, as regards the second condition, although I am inclined to believe that I wouldn't count as a follower of Yahweh in the Odin case, I'm not sure that I think that a person must have any historical connection at all with the Abrahamic religions in order to count as a believer in Yahweh. Suppose that I grew up alone on a deserted island, without any books or education, and that I have never heard of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, or the Bible. Furthermore, suppose that I nonetheless believe that there is one God, and that He is eternal, a spirit, etc. I think it is possible in this case that I might count as believing in Yahweh. I could go on, but I won't.

At present, I cannot state necessary and sufficient conditions for believing in Yahweh. Does this mean that I haven't shown that Muslims believe in Yahweh? No, I have shown that, for that doesn't require a full analysis of the conditions under which one believes in Yahweh, and I believe that the argument that I stated in my original post was sufficient to establish the conclusion. Briefly, it is easy to argue that Jews believe in Yahweh, and from there it is a short step to establish that Muslims believe in Yahweh too, for what could distinguish them? Finally, for what it is worth, I think that I can establish that it is sufficient to believe in Yahweh that (i) one have the kind of historical connection with the Abrahamic religions that Jews, Christians, and Muslims normally have, that (ii) one believe that there is one God who is the God of these religions, and that (iii) one believe that this God is eternal, a spirit etc. Thus, I believe that I have stated sufficient conditions for believing in Yahweh, but I think that these conditions are not minimally sufficient - i.e., I believe that there is a weaker set of conditions which is both necessary and sufficient for believing in Yahweh. The results are significant, and they suffice to settle the question whether Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God (they do); but, much more work needs to be done to arrive at a proper analysis.

The presentation of this material is quite rough, and I was somewhat inclined to delete the entire post. However, I have decided to keep the post, with the edits, so that I might return to the subject in the future.]