QUESTION: IS THE “ALLAH OF ISLAM” THE GOD OF BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY, AS MR. CAMPING HAS STATED?
At the beginning of the Open Forum program of August 9, 2007, Mr. Camping read aloud a letter from a listener in Nigeria, who posed the following question.
Question from Listener in Nigeria:
“Please, I want you to answer this question. Are Christians and Muslims serving the same God? I need concise facts to support your answer. I am a young convert from Islam to Christianity. I used to hear even men of God in Nigeria saying, ‘we are serving and worshipping the same God’”
Mr. Camping responded at great length, but I will only isolate and highlight the comments he made that I wish to address and respond to at this time.
Mr. Camping’s Answer:
“There is one God, and yet he reveals himself as three . . . the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. . . . . that is the God that we serve and that is also the God that the Muslims serve.”
It is in response to the aforementioned answer given that I was moved to write this letter. This is altogether unscriptural and heretical, and it is with this statement that I take exception. I have decided to publish my letter to Mr. Camping on a blog in order to give maximum visibility and exposure to this fallacious doctrine in the first instance to regular Family Radio listeners, who are not willing to “take his word for it”, but rather desire as Mr. Camping always exhorts his listeners to do, and as was said of the Bereans, search the scriptures to see whether these things are so!
Acts 17:11
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
For those who would desire as I do . . “to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” (Rev. 14:4), and who put their trust in God, and him alone, and not a mere man, “whose breath is in his nostrils” (Is. 2:22), it is to those who I desire to speak today.
I would ask the reader to prayerfully and thoughtfully consider my letter, and the articles attached in the light of Mr. Camping's “unbiblical teaching” on this matter.
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August 27, 2007
Mr. Camping . . . your current teaching as heard on the 'Open Forum' program is blurring the lines between Biblical Christianity & Islam. I most certainly agree that Muslims need to be evangelized . . they need Christ . . absolutely! ! !
However, your assertion that the "allah of Islam", is the God of Biblical Christianity is without any basis in TRUTH!
As a former Catholic, I was "without Christ . . and without God in the world", though I did not know it, because my "understanding was darkened". I had to be told the Truth and the indispensable convicting work of the Holy Spirit had to be done in my heart, but not apart from the Truth of God’s Word!
Ephesians 2:12
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world!
Ephesians 4:18
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Luke 24:45
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.
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Having myself had the "eyes of my understanding opened", I could never tell a Catholic who I was witnessing to and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with, that we worship the same God, because we quite simply and bluntly don't. The “true worshippers” of God worship God in spirit and in truth! ! ! (John 4:23)
I can relate very well to what was penned by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans:
Romans 10:1-4:
"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
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Here then is a clear statement of God, that we must submit ourselves to God, not the Pope of Rome, not Catholic Doctrine, not Catholic Tradition, not Allah, not Mohammed, not the Koran, not the Hadith, but to God's Truth as revealed in the Scriptures alone! ! ! The truth "as it is in Jesus" alone can set the sinner free!
All those who are yet "unregenerate" . . “reprobates”, as I was found in my unsaved condition, both on the basis of my sinful nature, and my Catholic idolatrous worship, need to hear a plain and concise presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, otherwise we remain . . we will perish in our sins, unreconciled to God, under his wrath, under his condemnation, subject to the second death and eternal damnation, and shut out from the presence of God in Heaven.
Revelation 22:15:
“For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
And as you would say Mr. Camping . . how awful . . how awful. . how awful!!!
Mr. Camping . . . if you desire to reach Catholics and Muslims with the Gospel, you have to tell them the Truth . . the whole Truth . . and nothing but the Truth!
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1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
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Just as I needed to be turned from my idolatry to serve the living God, so does the Muslim! Muslims also must hear a plain and concise presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and not a "user-friendly" version, that would cause them to be deceived . . deluded . . into believing that in their present state, they are already "serving the same God", and that in being submissive to the "allah of islam", they are somehow being submissive to the will of the "only true God and Jesus Christ, his Son", (John 17:3)
The will of the “allah of islam” is entirely different from the will of the Christian God.
These clear distinctions must be made, without equivocation, without dissembling, without accommodation, without compromise, and without apology! !
Your present flawed teaching is doing only harm, and can do no good!
I strongly commend to you the following articles written by Dr. Emir Caner, a convert from Islam to Biblical Christianity, who rightly asserts that the Truth must be declared plainly and faithfully, and not in ambiguous and confusing language, which I believe you are presently employing!
Hopefully you will be able to accept "CORRECTION" from a former Muslim converted to Christ, who is still in the church, but has spoken the “truth in love”! (Eph. 4:15)
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II Tim. 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
In Christ, A Concerned Christian
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FIRST-PERSON: Are God & Allah the same? Emir Caner
Posted on Apr 23, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--In some far-flung field around the world a Southern Baptist missionary enters a territory which has remained hostile to the Gospel for some time. Upon entering the mountainous village, he is able to speak to some of the villagers about eternal matters. They are uninhibited to speak about their faith, although reticent to accept any other opinion, and this missionary quickly gains a cursory understanding of their god. He is an all-powerful being who blesses both the just and the unjust. He reveals himself through miracles. Additionally, these villagers believe that there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. In fact, these villagers believe that their god has a son and that this son was once dead and now has come to life! Now, can this missionary then assume that the god the villagers are describing, due to so many similar characteristics, is the same God the Scripture reveals?
If your answer is yes, you have fallen prey to a tactic the devil has used since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. The devil, the best counterfeiter in history, plays upon the attributes of God and places them upon another, even himself. Ironically, the situation above is not foreign to the Scripture, for Elijah is that missionary who found himself in a strikingly similar situation in 1 Kings 18:20-40. The Jewish people had fallen into idolatry, specifically Baal worship. Although Baal worship differed regionally, Elijah came across the form of Baal worship which believed that Baal is the son of El, the most high god. Baal was once dead, but like the fall harvest, has come back to life. Baal required a blood sacrifice for appeasement to El, albeit the sacrifice is not of Baal himself but of a first-born son of each family. Baal was all-powerful and could be seen in miracles such as raining down fire. Yet, Baal was not mistaken as Jehovah. Elijah rhetorically asks the Israelites who are worshipping a false god, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow him; but if Baal, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).
Today, similar debate has revolved around the two largest faiths in the world, Islam and Christianity, and whether the god of the Koran is the God of the Bible. Simply put, the god of Muhammad is not the Father of Jesus. The subject in its essence is not a linguistic issue, but a theological matter with eternal ramifications. To say that since Allah is Arabic for God and YHWH is Hebrew for God, Christians and Muslims worship the same God is beyond naïve –- it is blasphemous.
When Elijah challenged his fellow Jews to follow the one true God, he did so without regard to linguistics. Indeed, the etymology of Baal is derived from the root word for Lord or Master. If the matter at hand were merely about words and similar nomenclature, Elijah's statement would make absolutely no sense. Would the Israelites not be worshipping the same god as their forefathers since they have a title similar to that of their forefathers? Would Elijah not owe an unqualified apology to the prophets of Baal for assuming their worship was a façade and their god nonexistent? How could there even be such a theological animal as a "false god" if the word "god" is used in conversation? And for those who argue linguistically, would they be comfortable praying to Baal today since it is only another word for Lord?
As someone who came out of a Sunni Muslim background, I can personally attest that I rejected God as Father (surah 5:18), Jesus Christ as the Son of God (surah 5:116; 19:88), and the very person of the Holy Spirit (surah 70:4). What part of the Triune God did I understand? I was an idolater, plain and simple, and the vacuity in my prayers only proved that point. Like the Israelites who worshipped Baal, I know too well the great pain of praying to a non-existent god. As 1 Kings 18:29 describes, "There was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention." To argue, then, that I was worshipping the true God, just inadequately or incompletely, would have been to place false light upon my total darkness. My Muslim mind would have interpreted such folly as insisting that Muhammad did receive at least some of his revelation from the one, true God -- that in some ways he was a true prophet.
This is not an argument which denies that God is sovereign over Muhammad and all followers of Islam. But as Timothy George noted in a recent Christianity Today article, "No devout Muslim can call the God of Muhammad 'Father,' for this, to their mind, would compromise divine transcendence. But no faithful Christian can refuse to confess, with joy and confidence, 'I believe in God the Father ... Almighty!' Apart from the Incarnation and the Trinity, it is possible to know that God is, but not who God is." Even modern Muslim apologists recognize the difficulty in arguing that Christians worship the same god as Muslims. In a recent editorial in the PakTribune (Pakistan News Service), Ahmer Muzammil asserted, "I believe that whoever believes in one Allah (God) without any partners, sons, daughters or incarnations, whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, or whoever they might be, they all believe in the same Allah (GOD) that we do and that Jesus, Moses, Adam, Noah, and Mohammad called masses to the same GOD."
The latter part of the quote, attributing Islamic devotion to Old Testament prophets, is key to understanding why the Koran states, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)" (surah 29:46). Muslims do not believe the God of the Old Testament, especially as seen in the Major and Minor Prophets, is their god since the Old Testament is a corrupted collection (surah 3:78) which fails to clarify that Abraham, Moses, and the other prophets were actually Muslims. Islam, in denying the revelation, denies the Revelator.
The Koran further substantiates the claim that Christians do not worship the same god as Muslims. Surah 5:72 denounces partnering "other gods with Allah," and warns those who do so, "Allah will forbid him the Garden, and the Fire will be his abode." Surah 112:3, perhaps the central passage in the entire discussion, explicitly divorces Allah from the Christian God, explaining, "He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him." Ultimately, Allah "forgives not (the sin of) joining other gods with Him" (4:116).
It is clear, then, that according to Islam Peter committed this heinous sin when he publicly proclaimed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). The church itself is built upon this confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, in the very character of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. To remove Him from the Godhead would be the death knell of the church, the end of Christianity. "There is no other foundation that anyone can lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).
Rejecting each person of the Trinity, the God of the Old Testament and New Testament is replaced by a figment of Muhammad's imagination, a god that beyond the somewhat similar characteristics of monotheism and transcendence resembles only remotely the God of the Scriptures.
It behooves us as Southern Baptists to stand unwaveringly against the ecumenists and syncretists who try to convince us that Muslims and Christians worship the same god. When Baptist scholars like Charles Kimball state, "The name for God in Islam, in Arabic, is Allah. This is not another god. This is the God. It's the same God that Jews and Christians are talking about," Southern Baptists must ardently stand against such theological heresy. For the sake of ensuring that the Gospel is preached faithfully and biblically, it is imperative that Southern Baptist leadership stand united on this crucial and non-negotiable issue. While Kimball and other prominent Baptists are creating confusion with a corrupt notion of the One True God, SBC leaders should draw a line of separation from them by boldly affirming that He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and rejecting the grave theological error that others are promoting.
Since an assent of the god of Islam is ultimately a rejection of the Triune God, any such person who holds to such aberrant views should have the integrity to resign from any position of leadership held within the Southern Baptist Convention. To equate the god of Islam with the God of the Bible is to reject the God described in the Baptist Faith and Message, the doctrinal statement which Southern Baptists have accepted for more than eight decades as a confessional statement ensuring theological accountability in our convention.
Evidence strongly suggests that the vast majority of Southern Baptists uphold the distinction between the god of Islam and the God of the Scripture. In a recent survey, it was stated that 79 percent of evangelicals do not believe Muslims and Christians worship the same god. If that is the case within evangelicalism, it is certain that the percentage of Southern Baptists, more conservative than evangelicals at large, reject this belief in even greater numbers.
Let's reassure Southern Baptists that what they believe is not in vain, that without Christ, religions and their gods are false. Our voices must be heard on the issue or else our zeal for the lost will diminish and the clarity of the Gospel will be muddled. I pray our response to the situation will be vastly different from that of the Israelites who, when confronted with this issue, "answered [Elijah] not a word" (1 Kings 18:21b). This hour must be one of courage and not cowardice, for if the doctrine of God is compromised, other crucial doctrines will soon fall to the ecumenists as well. Truth is immortal.
--30--Emir Caner is the dean of the College at Southwestern and Professor of History. He is the co-author of several books, including "Unveiling Islam." He has an article in the upcoming B&H Publishing Group book, "Contenting Earnestly for the Faith," edited by Paul Copan and William Lane Craig.
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Caner: God of Christianity not the same as Allah
Posted on Sep 23, 2005 by Lauri Arnold
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Christians should never attempt to witness to Muslims by saying the God of Christianity and Allah are one and the same, Emir Caner said in chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 20. Caner is dean of The College at Southwestern.
“I have heard over the years now that somehow and in some way, Allah and Jehovah are the same god. That, my friends, is heresy,” Caner said. “When I got saved I didn’t have a better picture of God. I went from worshipping a false god with a false hope, from a false prophet who gave a false word, to worshipping the one, true, living God whose name is Jesus Christ. It’s His name that is the name which is above every name, and at that name every knee shall bow and at that name every tongue shall confess.”
Born into a Muslim family and raised in Ohio in an observant household by a father who was mosque leader, Caner became a follower of Jesus Christ as a teenager through the witness of a Baptist youth group. His father then disowned him. Following Christ is costly, he said.
“It’s not your job to appease the will of man. It is your job to do the will of God.... It is not your job to have a minimalist Christianity. It is our job, wherever we go, whether in the United States or across the seas, to stand up for the name of Jesus Christ no matter the cost,” Caner said.
Caner challenged students, faculty and staff to take a direct and unapologetic approach when they witness to Muslims, rather than a subtle or nuanced approach. He disagreed with those who advocate exclusively “friendship evangelism” and condone allowing years to pass before sharing the Gospel.
“We are Americanizing missions,” Caner said. “The rest of the world has no problem speaking of religion. Only Americans have that problem.
”Caner outlined ways to be a distinctive Christian in a troublesome society, based on the account of Elijah’s challenge to the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:20-40. Caner said that Elijah’s method was unashamedly confrontational.
His methods were also unrelentingly confident, Caner said. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call on their god to light a fire on the altar. Elijah would then call on his God, and then they would know that the one who answered by fire was God.“
They were overly confident,” Caner said of the prophets of Baal. “They thought they had outnumbered Elijah 450 to one. Elijah knew he had outnumbered them, one God to zero.”
Not only did Elijah challenge the prophets of Baal, but he mocked them as well. “‘Shout louder!’” Elijah said. “‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’”
“Shouldn’t you be confident?” Caner asked. “The very fact of history rises or falls on the resurrection of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Caner said that Elijah eliminated potential objections by asking the prophets of Baal to pour three loads of water on the altar and sacrifice. He did this, Caner said, so that the prophets could not blame the fire on a trick.
“The difference between cockiness and confidence is very simple,” Caner said. “Cockiness points to you; confidence always points to the Lord.”
Elijah’s ministry was also unashamedly costly, Caner said, asking those in attendance if their faith is confident enough that they are willing to risk anything in order to share Jesus Christ.“
How much are you willing to risk to go to the Hindus, to the Buddhists, to the Secularists, to the Muslims? How much are you willing to risk? How much are you willing to emulate the life of the prophet Elijah?”
Caner related the story of a man he knows who grew up in a prominent Muslim family in Malaysia. When he was a boy, the man’s parents accepted Jesus Christ. He watched as his mother was persecuted for her faith and beaten to death. Later, as he and his father attempted to escape, he watched as his father was shot to death.
The boy grew up an orphan in exile. Years later, he returned to Malaysia to share Christ with the man who executed his father.
“Why would he do such a thing?” Caner asked his friend. “Answer: there’s only one true living God in this world and His name is Jesus Christ, and when we speak of the doctrine of God and the doctrine of missions they must be blended into a perfect theology in evangelism.”
Caner said God is not just the greatest, wisest or strongest but the One and Only.“
He’s the One that the apostle said that for you to come to Him you must believe that He is. He is what? He doesn’t need an object to His character. He just is,” Caner said.--30--
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
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