Mary Mostert
A new crusade over Bush saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God?
By Mary Mostert
Recently a reporter asked President Bush in London "Mr. President, when you talk about peace in the Middle East, you've often said that freedom is granted by the Almighty," the reporter asked. "Some people who share your beliefs don't believe that Muslims worship the same Almighty. I wonder about your views on that and Mr. Prime Minister's, as a man also of faith, I'd like to get your reaction to that."
To the horror of some folks, the President responded, "I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person," Bush answered. "I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to the world. It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same God."
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission, says the President is wrong and that we should remember that he is the "Commander-in-Chief, not theologian-in-chief. And when he says that he believes that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, he is simply mistaken."
Of course, Richard Land also isn't the theologian-in-chief and HE'S wrong. The one true God of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Torah and the Koran is the God of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the Koran there are 21 Old Testament Prophets of that One God listed and honored. The problem, of course, is that somewhere along the line all three faiths have had this uncontrollable urge to define the God of the Bible, the Torah and the Koran in ways that have created a whole lot of contention and wars.
Currently we have people interpreting the Koran to mean they have not only a right, but a duty to blow themselves up to kill Americans. That is nowhere to be found in the Koran.
When the Southern Baptist Convention revised their statement of beliefs in 2000, Land explained: 'We all believe in Jesus Christ, but the only Jesus Christ we can know is revealed in Scripture.' Not all Christians in America agree with that statement voted on by 11,000 Baptists. Some Christians believe changes in doctrine should come about only through revelation. Others would say the only way you can know Jesus Christ is through following His commandments and having the Holy Ghost witness it to you, which was how the Apostle Peter knew Jesus was the Christ. Others actually have never given the issue a whole lot of thought, but believe they are "Christians" anyway.
Many people, apparently including Richard Land, believe in the definition of God that was voted on in Council of Nicea in 323 A.D. at the insistence of the Emperor Constantine. Constantine was getting sick and tired of the arguments about the identity of Jesus Christ among the bishops of the Church. So, he called a conference of Bishops to settle the matter once and for all.
Some, such as Arius, taught that, if Jesus Christ was "the only begotten" son of the Father, there must have been a time when he did not exist. Alexander disagreed with that point of view and declared he ALWAYS existed. At the suggestion of the Emperor, the council rejected Arius' view and voted to adopt as part of the Nicene Creed that the faithful Christian should believe "in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, ….…begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father."
This introduced the notion that Jesus Christ and God the father were the same "substance." The concept of the Trinity, a word not found anywhere in the Bible, was codified in part by 500 A.D. and somewhere between 500 and 700 AD the Athanasian Creed was written which states, "We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, without mixing the persons or dividing the divine being. For each person — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — is distinct, but the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory and coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit."
Of course, most people had no idea what in the world either of those creeds meant, but it didn't matter very much since few of the members of the church could read it anyway, and if they did read, they didn't read Latin, which was what they were written in.
However, in 570 A.D., the midst of all these conferences called to define God, Mohammed, was born in the City of Mecca. Mohammed believed his mission was to "restore the worship of the one true God." That God, according to Mohammed, was the God of Abraham and 21 other prophets of the Old Testament plus Jesus in the New Testament that are listed and honored in the Koran. Muslims believe Jesus will return, as he said he would, and when he returns the Judgment will take place.
Since Mohammed believed his mission was to teach the idolatrous Arab people to believe in one God, he rejected the Nicene and the Athanasian creeds as blasphemy. This did not make the Christians at all happy. The crusades were largely fought over the very issue President Bush was asked about — the correct definition of God.
What answer would have made the "Anybody But Bush" crowd happy? Should Bush have said that Muslims, who are not worshipping the triune God of the Nicene and Athanasian Creed, are not supposed to have freedom? Is Constantine's compromise definition of God so important today that we need to fight about it? I think not. The Crusades lasted almost 100 years and obviously didn't settle the matter.
Perhaps we could just follow the advice given by Jesus: "by their fruits ye shall know them" and look for where we can agree, rather than fight about our faiths.
© Mary Mostert
Recently a reporter asked President Bush in London "Mr. President, when you talk about peace in the Middle East, you've often said that freedom is granted by the Almighty," the reporter asked. "Some people who share your beliefs don't believe that Muslims worship the same Almighty. I wonder about your views on that and Mr. Prime Minister's, as a man also of faith, I'd like to get your reaction to that."
To the horror of some folks, the President responded, "I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person," Bush answered. "I also condition it by saying freedom is not America's gift to the world. It's much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same God."
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission, says the President is wrong and that we should remember that he is the "Commander-in-Chief, not theologian-in-chief. And when he says that he believes that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, he is simply mistaken."
Of course, Richard Land also isn't the theologian-in-chief and HE'S wrong. The one true God of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Torah and the Koran is the God of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the Koran there are 21 Old Testament Prophets of that One God listed and honored. The problem, of course, is that somewhere along the line all three faiths have had this uncontrollable urge to define the God of the Bible, the Torah and the Koran in ways that have created a whole lot of contention and wars.
Currently we have people interpreting the Koran to mean they have not only a right, but a duty to blow themselves up to kill Americans. That is nowhere to be found in the Koran.
When the Southern Baptist Convention revised their statement of beliefs in 2000, Land explained: 'We all believe in Jesus Christ, but the only Jesus Christ we can know is revealed in Scripture.' Not all Christians in America agree with that statement voted on by 11,000 Baptists. Some Christians believe changes in doctrine should come about only through revelation. Others would say the only way you can know Jesus Christ is through following His commandments and having the Holy Ghost witness it to you, which was how the Apostle Peter knew Jesus was the Christ. Others actually have never given the issue a whole lot of thought, but believe they are "Christians" anyway.
Many people, apparently including Richard Land, believe in the definition of God that was voted on in Council of Nicea in 323 A.D. at the insistence of the Emperor Constantine. Constantine was getting sick and tired of the arguments about the identity of Jesus Christ among the bishops of the Church. So, he called a conference of Bishops to settle the matter once and for all.
Some, such as Arius, taught that, if Jesus Christ was "the only begotten" son of the Father, there must have been a time when he did not exist. Alexander disagreed with that point of view and declared he ALWAYS existed. At the suggestion of the Emperor, the council rejected Arius' view and voted to adopt as part of the Nicene Creed that the faithful Christian should believe "in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, ….…begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father."
This introduced the notion that Jesus Christ and God the father were the same "substance." The concept of the Trinity, a word not found anywhere in the Bible, was codified in part by 500 A.D. and somewhere between 500 and 700 AD the Athanasian Creed was written which states, "We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, without mixing the persons or dividing the divine being. For each person — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — is distinct, but the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory and coeternal in majesty. What the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit."
Of course, most people had no idea what in the world either of those creeds meant, but it didn't matter very much since few of the members of the church could read it anyway, and if they did read, they didn't read Latin, which was what they were written in.
However, in 570 A.D., the midst of all these conferences called to define God, Mohammed, was born in the City of Mecca. Mohammed believed his mission was to "restore the worship of the one true God." That God, according to Mohammed, was the God of Abraham and 21 other prophets of the Old Testament plus Jesus in the New Testament that are listed and honored in the Koran. Muslims believe Jesus will return, as he said he would, and when he returns the Judgment will take place.
Since Mohammed believed his mission was to teach the idolatrous Arab people to believe in one God, he rejected the Nicene and the Athanasian creeds as blasphemy. This did not make the Christians at all happy. The crusades were largely fought over the very issue President Bush was asked about — the correct definition of God.
What answer would have made the "Anybody But Bush" crowd happy? Should Bush have said that Muslims, who are not worshipping the triune God of the Nicene and Athanasian Creed, are not supposed to have freedom? Is Constantine's compromise definition of God so important today that we need to fight about it? I think not. The Crusades lasted almost 100 years and obviously didn't settle the matter.
Perhaps we could just follow the advice given by Jesus: "by their fruits ye shall know them" and look for where we can agree, rather than fight about our faiths.
© Mary Mostert
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