CHRISTIANS APOLOGETICS: Defending The Christian Faith By JOSHUA NAABU

IS ALLAH, THE GOD OF THE QURAN, THE SAME AS YAHWEH, THE GOD OF THE BIBLE?

This is the second most important topic in this book. Sadly enough it's the most avoided topic of all time. Our understanding of this shapes our view of God, our fellow man and the world. Our understanding of this motivates and shapes our actions.

To begin with, God is not a name, it is simply a general title given to any object of worship. That title of position is a "what" but the person who fills that position is a "who". It's like people running for the position of president. President is the title of a position but it is a unique person who fills that position. Also just because every country serves one president doesn't mean all countries serve the same president.

Similarly, Muslims and Christians believe in the same what? A God who is the creator of the universe, administers and judges the people of the universe. Muslims believe this God is Allah as is revealed in the Quran while Christians believe this God is Yahweh as revealed in the Bible. In order to know who Yahweh is or is not, we will have to look in the Bible. In the same vein, in order to know who Allah is or is not, we will have to look in the Quran. In the light of this let's delve into the Quran and the Bible.

A vital difference between the Islamic and Christian views of God is their concept of God. God is looked upon in the Bible as three persons who are one in essence and purpose, that is, God is a Trinity while Allah is looked upon in the Quran as being one person and alone in His being, not a Trinity. Wait a minute!, someone might say, "Maybe Allah is the same as God the Father." Let's look at the facts then to see if this is true,

1. In Surah 6:101, Allah clearly says that How can there be a son for Him, when He has no consort? And in Surah 19: 93 There is none in the heavens and the earth but cometh unto Allah as a slave. Also Surah 9:30 says Allah (himself) fighteth against Jews and Christians. How perverse are they! while Yusif Ali's Translation says Allah's curse be on Jews and Christians.

"Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know?" Proverbs 30:4

But the LORD God of the Bible says,

• In Exo 4:21-22 and Deut 32:6 that, Israel is His son. This God when speaking to Moses in the earlier chapter i.e. Exo 3:4-6, identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and God cannot lie. This God chose the nation Israel i.e. the Jews as His son.

• In Luke 3:38 Adam is the son of God because he was created without an earthly father.

• In Matt 3:16-17, during the baptism of Jesus, God said this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

• In Rom 8:14-16, Gal 4:4-6, John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1-2. Christians are sons of God by the Spirit of adoption

Hence we see here that from the creation of Adam till now, the Yahweh of the Bible had sons which included the Jews and Christians but in Surah 5:18, the Quran says The Jews and the Christians are not the sons of Allah but are human beings like many of His creation. The Allah of the Quran is a father to no one and says that, the Jews and Christians are not his sons neither does he have sons at all hence God, the Father isn't Allah according to the Bible and Quran. Furthermore, we read in 1 John 2:22-23, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." Thus, to the Christians Allah cannot be the biblical God since the inspired New Testament record teaches that anyone denying the Father and Son as God is Antichrist. It means the spirit that revealed the Quran to Mohammed is the spirit of the Antichrist according to the Bible.