The historically correct definition of the trinity is that god is three persons in one. Some are from privileged backgrounds but the majority started out as ordinary people just like you. Richard encourages ken and john to think about the old testament and the powerful and sometimes mean qualities attributed to god as metaphoric. Conceptions of god in monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist religions or of the supreme. Most of the gods have evolved from a core group of deities. Zulfiqar ali shahs anthropomorphic depictions of god. The student will develop two 2 concise conversational apologetic audio recordings 38 minutes demonstrating the use of. Let us begin determining what the concept of god is, by examining anthropomorphism.
Epicureanism, stoicismhad merged into a common worldview that was. Muslims deny the christian doctrine of the trinity and divinity of jesus. For the elimination of the supernatural in christianityso tremendously common todayreally makes christianity merely natural. However, the mormon concept of god has expanded since the faiths. In the 2nd century irenaeus addressed the issue and expounded on some attributes, e. Word of god reveals who we are and are not christian. Since we have insisted on beginning with who god is, we are obliged to commence by considering some of the attributes of gods being. The attributes of god are in detail in chapter six according to their beliefs and later that of foreigners. The biblical god most certainly hates both sin and sinner and according to craigs yardstick, he becomes unworthy of recognition by believing men and women. Such an understanding would make intelligible what it means to be god. If we allow the power of gods word to intervene in our life, we eventually come to know who we are and what we are not. In particular, the concept of god in islam and christianity is so different that both religions cannot be right.
Having salvation means you will go to heaven and have eternal life and live with god forever. His ideas were inspired by the individualist thought of aristotle and leibniz, the idea of vita nuova, or spiritual regeneration, from rosmini and dante, as well as the social activism of the protofabians. The concept of worship to god man is a worshipful being. Christian teachings of the immanence and involvement of god and his love for humanity exclude the belief that god is of the same substance as the created universe but. After our calling, we must seek god and his way, for our conduct is motivated by our concept of god. The unique usage of allah as a personal name of god is a reflection of islams emphasis on the purity of the belief in god which is the essence of the message of all god s messengers. Hence, it cannot be avoided in the interaction between christianity and. The development of the concept of god through the ages. Muslims agree with all these attributes or properties of god.
To explain that we must also understand the difference between the spiritual realm and the. Doctrine of god in christianity and islam theo6332phil6332. When the primitive man had not developed the skill of spoken or written words, god was recognized by the unvocal, the undefined and the unscripted silence, even creation of universe emanated from the womb of silence, as there was no speech or writing, to hear th. A graduate of the university of pittsburgh, he has worked as an healthcare advocate for the department of veteran affairs, director of psychological health for the air force, in patient counselor for inpatient adolescents, child and family therapist. They argue that before a debate about the existence of god can begin, one needs to understand what properties such a god would have to possess. Many religions of the world, particularly eastern sects, do not view their divine entities as the image of a man, but rather, as an ethereal force albeit with human qualities. The unique usage of allah as a personal name of god is a reflection of islams emphasis on the purity of the belief in god which is the essence of the message of all gods messengers. The student will develop two 2 concise conversational apologetic audio recordings 38 minutes demonstrating the use of aspects of the doctrine of god in muslim witness. Eternal life in the christian sense is thus not identical with immortality of the soul. These seeming opposites, unity and diversity, also complement each other in the first social institutionand they shall be one flesh gen 2. Part 1 is god, if there is a god, a personal, conscious, allpowerful supreme being. Islam and christianity have different doctrines or teachings concerning what god is like. One may ask, if both muslims and christians love and respect jesus pbuh, where exactly is the parting of ways. Buthe is everywhere as causing the existence of all places.
We have one god in three persons, but that is confusing unless we also understand that god is a spirit. Islam and christianity have different doctrines or teachings about god that make them irreconcilable. They do not agree with the chance perception of those whose worldview is materialistic nor do they agree with the bigbangtheory of the universe. The christian concept of holy war moved a culture formally dedicated to fulfilling the. This objective union of christs identification union or vicarious union with mankind is often referred to as the vital union of christ with man in an objectified positional union.
An essential characteristic of marriage is the biological fact that a man and a woman can join together as male and female in a union that is orientated to the generation of new life. Ultimately, god is the standard of what is good since it is his nature. But as such it is something entirely different from the old christianity that was based upon a direct revelation from god. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence and omnipresence.
The meaning of marriage m arriage is a unique relationship different from all others. Some offer radically different concepts of god, exploring novel ideas of what god may be like. When jesus says, i and the father are one in john, he is claiming that he is god. So lets look first at the christian concept of god and ask why muslims find it rationally objectionable. Christians believe that god is an allpowerful, allknowing, allholy, eternal, spiritual being who created the universe. For example, christians believe that god is tripersonal, that there are in the one god three persons whom we call the father, son, and holy. Philosophy of religion internet encyclopedia of philosophy. The second form of divine violence is seen in the punishments god wreaks. The concept of god in islam and christianity reasonable. Christianity christianity characteristic features of the christian concept of god.
And then we can make the necessary changes to enhance their life for the better. A christian understanding of god christ in you ministries. It is a consistent best seller in christian bookshops and has found markets all around the world. Godaboveculture 5 of them god is above culture and unconcerned about human beings deism, african religions ignore god while holding tightly to some of jesus teachings christians follow requirements of both christ and culture, but each in its own place thomas aquinas. The concept of god in islam and christianity reasonable faith. Because of this, islam considers associating any deity or personality with god as a deadly sin which god will never forgive, despite the fact he may forgive all. With characteristic clarity and forthrightness, dr. In the late 19th century, philosopher thomas davidson developed apeirotheism, or the theory of gods infinite in number. In its essence, however, it is life according to god s kind of eternityi. Christianity characteristic features of the christian. A comparative survey of churches and religions ad 30 to 2200, there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large faith groups, and many. Christianity is best by keith whitehead may 11, 2016 if the proverbial visitor from mars came to earth looking for god, who might have a personal interest in him, he would have an extremely wide range of choice, taking account of all the various religions there are in the world.
In christianity, god is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. And this, among otherthings, means that god cannot, strictly speaking, intervene in his created order. How can we combine justice and reconciliation toward a wrongdoer. Concept of god in christianity by dr naik islam 101. The question of origins is the question of where we came from. The story of the church is a story of people moved by god to achieve things for his glory. The abrahamic god in this sense is the conception of god that remains a common attribute of all three traditions. Christianity becomes a human product, a mere part of human culture. The western concept of personality was thus deepened through the christian. Characteristic features of the christian concept of god. For the worlds religions conceive of god or gods in so many different contradictory ways that they cannot all be true. The concept of god in the traditional religion of the akan. Some natural theologians argue that it is best to combine the various arguments in. Through the history of mankind, in every culture, whether in ignorance or knowledge, man has appealed to someone or something outside of himself for guidance and protection.
With the thomistic contingency argument, named after the medieval christian. The major difference between islam and christianity is the christians insistence on the supposed divinity of christ pbuh. Conflicts between african traditional religion and christianity in. For these christians, the new testament extended gods original covenant to cover nonjews. Tension between unity and diversity asserted itself in the fall, demonstrating mans desire to be like god, not different from him. The essential role of chi concept is seen in the igbo proverb, which. Yours is an age old question, which stems from a basic misunderstanding.
Ken and john begin this episode by establishing the motivation for a show dedicated to the concept of god. Lewis points out in several of his writings, there are only two basic philosophies in mans understanding of god, and they are best represented in christianity and hinduism. Jesus christ pbuh never claimed divinity one may ask, if both muslims and christians love and respect jesus pbuh, where exactly is the parting of ways. Islams most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism called taw. For the elimination of the supernatural in christianity so tremendously common todayreally makes christianity merely natural. Even those like hume and nietzsche, who criticized the concept of god, dealt with.
Christianity and islam, as viewed through the texts of the hebrew. Historically, god the father, jesus god the son, and the holy spirit are all considered the three persons of the trinity. Sometimes, to avoid conflict, many families now combine the tenets of the. Christians believe god to be both transcendent wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe and immanent involved in the world. These names were adopted by christians when translating the name of god into african languages. Murungu god is allpowerful mwene inya all present, and has entire attributes of god, as we will later. The concept of god in judaic, christian, and islamic traditions. God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. It is true to say that the full development of the biblical under standing of god is due to the prophetic realization that he is the lord of history, the controller of the rise and fall of nations and empires. John questions him as to how a philosopher can make sense of a person who is also allpowerful and all. Christianity and other religions documents christianitys relationship with other world religions.
Messianic jewswho generally seek to combine a jewish identity with the recognition of. The concept of god according to traditional judeochristianislamic theism minimally includes the following theses. God is the origin of life christian assemblies international. Christianity concepts of life after death britannica. Is the concept of god in christianity the trinity three gods or one. All of them begin with the concept of god and conclude that god must exist. The concept of god is an excellent treatment of an increasingly critical issue in philosophical theology. After discussing how god is conceptualized, the conversation focuses on the powers ascribed to god. In one sense, goodness is relative in that it is good to return a wallet, good to be honest. Reading and studying gods word gives us the choice to judge ourselves.
God is a multidimensional personality, a whole being whose wonderful, perfect attributes work togetherand whose traits we are to come to know and reflect. Gods relationship with material creation as impacted by the nature of god in the bible and the quran. May 11, 2000 70 great christians has become a publishing phenomenon. Christianity, major religion stemming from the life, teachings, and death of. The word of god judges the heart and soul of a person. The fact that god is at once the name of the god of christianity and of the general. Feb 28, 2014 yes, logos has many different meanings. The majority of organized christianity has a similar view of god. All of chapter three in the gospel of john states the. Joshua joshua hudson is a license clinical social worker with post graduate certificates in mental health. Judaism, christianity and hinduism have in their scriptures some description of a who will come to lead them to acquire desired will of god. The concept of god in christianity is deficient unveiling. Pagan idolatry is an example of that ignorant worship.
Accordingto classical theism, god is always everywhere, always present to creatures. In john, denotes the essential word of god, jesus christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with god, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the worlds life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of mans salvation put on human nature in the. While western philosophy has interfaced most obviously with christianity. Both roman catholic and protestant theologians proceed to explain the objective union of christians. Shopona the lord of the earth and orisha oko goddess of farm. Its adherents, known as christians, believe that jesus is the christ, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the hebrew bible, called the old testament in christianity, and chronicled in the new testament.
God actually became one of us in every respect except sin 2 corinthians 5. They challenge classical theism, the personal creator of judaism, christianity, and islam. The theological underpinnings of the attributes and nature of god have been discussed since the earliest days of christianity. The major difference between islam and christianity is the christians insistence on the supposed divinity of. His ideas were inspired by the individualist thought of aristotle and leibniz, the idea of vita nuova, or spiritual regeneration, from rosmini and dante, as well as the social activism of the protofabians davidson believed there was a primary or. The igbo, apart from their belief in the great god conceived as. Although the theology of the trinity is accepted in most christian churches, there. Our answers to this question determine our decisions about how we live and from where we draw our values and our sense of meaning and purpose in life. An immediate question was how to combine the essential focus on jesus with the. Within the christian perception and experience of god, characteristic features stand out. Compared to god, however, all of mans efforts are not good, and no one does good. We shall begin with some of the most difficult statements of who god is, and consider five 5 of these statements at this point in the study god is one god is being god is person god is spirit god is love. God, western concepts of internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Fundamental concepts of christianity salvation is the saving of your spiritual life.
Nash judiciously evaluates competing conceptions of deity, and in the end recommends an understanding of god that is both theologically sound and philosophically acceptable. Christianity christianity concepts of life after death. Concept of god in christianity my religious basics. No muslim is a muslim if he does not believe in jesus pbuh. His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things. They challenge theism the god of judaism, christianity and islam with radically new kinds of gods. According to david barrett et al, editors of the world christian encyclopedia.
1625 481 361 483 241 781 143 202 223 1195 117 711 733 774 436 1324 1235 753 30 1072 1200 807 778 793 1465 1106 802 569 1350 849