Do Christians Worship Different Gods?

Hi jar,I agree, but I suspect that GDR will feel differently about it. I think that this question might prove a useful exercise though. If the three faiths don't worship the same God, I can't see how the disparate Christian faiths can be said to worship the same God.Mutate and Survive

I'm sovereign, I'm demonstrably capable of delivering on my promise, I direct you in the way you should go or else. I'm pointing an AK47 at you and not giving you any reason to suppose that I am anything but serious.Wouldn't it be odd to work on the premise that I wouldn't keep my promise? Edited by iano, : No reason given.Edited by AdminPD, : No reason given.

And if you're not a moral agent (the God I'm marketing isn't) then what? Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

Then Genocide is still always wrong. Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

I don't know. Bear in mind that the answer "No then" was an answer to your complete question:

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So, let's see if I've got this right. If I attempt to commit some abominable crime, and I succeed, then I was doing God's will?

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No then. You are not right in concluding you are doing God's will when you commit some abominable crime. You might be, you might not be.Edited by iano, : No reason given.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

In what way if not morally so?Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

Imagine an armed robber pointing an AK47 at you and not giving you any reason to suppose that he is anything but serious.
If he promised that he would not kill you as long as you give him the combination to the safe - do you think he will keep his promise?
He is demonstrably capable of delivering on his promise, but do you think he actually will?Why do you think god would keep his promises?Edited by Panda, : No reason given.Edited by Panda, : No reason given.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

Morally.If the God you market is amoral, that still does not effect my judgement of that God.It is possible that the God you market might be judged to just be psychotic; just another psychopath. Then I would favor giving it help, but as long as it behaves immorally it should be kept away from decent folk.The God you market has been weighed and found wanting. Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

As long as he his not giving me any reason to suppose he is not serious about letting me live if I obey then I'd have reason to think he would keep his promise.He'd also want to be wearing a balaclava or some other way in which I wouldn't be able to recognise himEdited by AdminPD, : Warning

So genocide is "always immoral" because jar says so.More simplistic than simple that.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

The man has become like one of us, to know good and evil.I know good and evil.It's not simplistic.Any God that is so limited that it must resort to Genocide is simply not worthy of my respect or worship and is one that I must oppose.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

Well, that would be very naive.
A person willing to point a gun at you is likely to do whatever he wants regardless of any promises he made.
You don't know what his goals are - your death might suit his needs.
You don't know his motivations - maybe he enjoys killing people.The same issues apply to god.Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

No...genocide is bad because taking the lives of others is bad, mmkay? See, rational people have their own moral compass, usually derived from societal standards. Rational people don't derive their morals from deranged lunatics that use murder and mayhem as a means to get a point across. (the god you are marketing). Basically (as a social animal/species) standards that help bolster the numbers. The more members of a society (to a degree), the better.The fact that you seem to think this sort of character is not only acceptable, but something to be sought after, worshipped and bowed down to, something you want to spend eternity with....says something about yourself. Edited by AdminPD, : Warning

Great question. It goes back to the question of whether we worship the same God but describe different attributes to Him.
As jar said all three worship the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.So essentially my answer is yes.Christianity is different because of the fact that Jesus is understood as being God incarnate and the Jewish Messiah, but that doesn't have to be barrier to recognizing the one creator God that the three Abrahamic faiths have in common.However the question of God and what he wants of us is consistent, depending how we read the Holy texts. For example my view is quite different than iano's view just as the militant jihadist's view is different than the moderate Muslim, so it depend on who you talk to.This is my take on it.The verse in Micah (6:8), which is in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, that I believe constitutes the essential truth of what God wants of all His created beings is that we humbly love kindness and act justly.This is from the Qur'an. Surah 3: 133-134

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And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous Who spend [in the cause of Allah ] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good

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So if we concentrate on the parts that are consistent within the texts of all 3 faiths we should all be good buds. If we could just focus on the message of love and peace and then have a friendly discussion of our theological positions I believe God would be thrilled. There is no logical reason that this couldn't happen but logic more often than not seems to go out the window.

Then I think you have your answer. If we regard the three Abrahamic faiths (or as a neo-pagan friend of mine calls them the "Three poison shoots from one poison root") as worshipping the same God, then all Christians worship the same God. If we were to say that the three worship different gods, then I think that we would be forced to conclude that the various Christian sects also worship different gods.Of course, as an atheist, I still maintain that each individual worshipper has their own personal god concept. Yeah, it would seem that way. Or at least, I agree that it should seem that way. In practice though, it doesn't work. There are plenty of nasty bits that are common to all three faiths, mostly (as IamJoseph never tires of pointing out) because the Christian and Muslim faiths are so heavily cribbed from Judaism. The misogyny is there in all three. The tolerance of slavery is there in all three. So is the threat of divine wrath. I think that if you look, you'll find that there are many abhorrent tales and attitudes that are common to all three faiths.I agree that your method seems reasonable, but in practice I think that it fails badly.Mutate and Survive