do we all worship the same god?

Been thinking about last night's Hebrews study and a few things won't get off my mind. Often when that's the case with a Bible study it's because I disagree with something that was said or implied. You know, being the argumentative type that I am...and such holds true here. At one point in the study I thought one of our chosen few was about to claim that Jews and Christians worship the same God. Thankfully said person stopped well short of that or I probably would have come down with a case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. But it got me thinking about one of those things I hear a lot that always irks me. Yet it seems so widely believed and parroted these days.

So why is it that so many people, plenty of Christians included, believe that Christians, Jews, and even Muslims worship the same God? Concerning Islam, it should be obvious that Allah cannot be the same as the God of the Bible since Islam bears little resemblance to Judaism or Christianity aside from what Mohammed borrowed in order to patch together his religion for the purpose of creating political unity. (As you probably know Islam is simply a combination of elements from contemporary religions of Mohammed's time, including Christianity and Judaism. He needed to unite some groups of people against a common enemy, and what better way to do that than create a religion for them all to believe in? And it worked--like him or not that Mohammed wasn't a dumb guy.) Equivocating two gods, and therefore two religions, whose teachings contradict each other shouldn't pass anyone's truth test. So Allah cannot be equal to the Lord of Judaism and Christianity. Easy enough.

That leaves, of course, Judaism and Christianity. This gets a bit trickier, as both have the Old Testament in common and OT believers were even a remnant of the Jewish population. So before the time of Christ all people of Israel paid homage to God, believers out of hope and reverence and unbelievers out of mere external obedience. If they worshipped the same God in those days then believers (Christians) and unbelievers (Jews) must worship the same God today, right?

Wrong. The biggest reason I see that this "same God" thing can't be true is that we as Christians worship a triune God. We worship not only the Father but the Son and Holy Spirit as well, and all as one God. Jews, on the other hand, only worship the father. So, tell me, can a person who does not acknowledge the diety of Christ or even the existence of the Holy Spirit truly worship the same God as a Christian? I think not. To separate the Trinity into three separate, unrelated beings is to destroy the very concept itself and thus it would be heretical to do so. So while both may call their god "Father," the Jew does not recognize him as having any other manifestations* but the Christian sees Him as inseparable from the other two members of the Trinity. So they are not actually worshipping the same "Father." To me this is obvious, something that should jump out at people, something that should settle the matter with no room for dispute.

There is, of course, also Scripture itself to refute the idea. Not as fast and easy for those of us without thorough knowledge of the Bible, but a much more powerful tool. And in the hands of someone with a trusty concordance it becomes much easier to apply to a given dilemma. Jesus Himself is all over this in John chapter 8; there are too many verses that speak to the issue so I won't quote any here. But His statement in John 10:30 is also handy: "I and the Father are one." Well, that pretty much sums it up now doesn't it? Belief in the Father must imply belief in the Son, and vice versa. You can't worship one without worshipping the other. So if someone claims to worship the same Father but doesn't worship Christ, they must be following a different father than the One spoken of by Christ. Different religions, different gods.

Yet these days it seems such a popular thing to say that Christians and Jews do indeed worship the same God. And not just in media and liberal circles--I've heard this a bit from Christians too. Among believers I think it's largely due to dispensationalism's hold in today's Church. You know, the idea that the Jews are still God's chosen people and have their own special plan in God's endgame. I have a few loaded words for this idea, none of which I'll repeat here, but suffice it to say that I disagree. Covenant theology shoots this theory down with ease but that's a whole different (and very long) discussion. But at least the majority, and probably the vast majority, of churchgoers this day and age seem to buy into dispensationalist ways. Or "comic book theology" as one author put it; I've always liked that and it's quite descriptive as well. Thus they would tend to see modern-day Judaism and Christianity linked by much more than just the sharing of the Old Testament.

Another cause of the "same God" bunk getting pushed so often is the idea among many (mostly liberals, of course, and especially mediacrats) that if all religions could just focus on their similarities and stop disagreeing so much with each other the world would be a better place. This is especially prevalent these days with our country's presence in the middle east. To these folks all religions are equal anyway, so why so much strife? But those talking in such terms are unbelievers so here's hoping they aren't having much impact on the real discussion at hand. After all they're just doing what the media loves to do: scream, yell, make a big mess, and accomplish nothing at all. But enough politics...for this post anyway.

So, despite what I think are very clear reasons we aren't all worshipping the same God this idea is floated with irritating regularity. And it never ceases to get on my nerves. One good approach is to question my own beliefs if an idea contrary to mine seems to be getting so much more play in Christian circles. But I think I have the angle on the truth here, especially given the underlying difference in theology discussed above. But, any other ideas, thoughts, rants, etc. are always welcome--however wrong they may be. :)

*I'm pretty sure on this but I admit my knowledge of Judaism may be lacking here. But you get the point.