Recently, a controversy has erupted among Christians on YouTube and in the apologetics community, creating a sort of two-on-one situation; division has emerged between (otherwise broadly ecumenical) Christians, split between Orthodox and Reformed/Protesting on one side and Roman Catholics on the other. This controversy centres around Capturing Christianity’s attempt to defend the official Roman Catholic position that Muslims worship the One GOD alongside Christians. Naturally, those of us who are at the coalface of Islam daily and those who are victims of the fruit of Islam have taken issue with this statement. I will first discuss the wisdom of such a debate, then assess the importance of the belief, and afterward explain the position of Catholic apologists and how it has been beneficial. Finally, I will explore the Catholic position as it is understood and share my own responses and thoughts on its implications.
Cameron Bertuzzi started this controversy and propelled it forward for reasons known only to GOD and himself. I do not wish to cast aspersions on his motives; however, I question the wisdom of bringing this issue into the centre of public debate. When considering the significant missionary efforts carried out by Muslim communities across the West, the persecution of Christians, including the brutal slaughter of Christians of all denominations worldwide, and the obvious controversy this will provoke, especially at a time when unity is more needed than ever, one must ask: how wise is it to tell victims of Islamically inspired persecution that they worship the same GOD as their persecutors? How does this help to rally the Church against the challenge of Islam to claim we are believers in the same GOD? Wouldn’t this be seen as a sign of weakness by Islamists everywhere, encouraging them to press harder against Christians, particularly Catholics, who might misuse this information to share Dawa with Roman Catholics? It also distracts from the main task of responding to Islamic missionary efforts across the English-speaking world. It’s pointless to waste breath fighting over such an obviously contentious issue. Cameron, if you read this, if you don’t play chess, start; and if you do, think more tactically about how your actions impact the Church’s struggle with the Umma. I want you to know that focusing on this issue has caused me to distance myself from the Roman Catholic Church, which has started to resemble a pale shadow of Anglicanism since the reign of Pope Francis of blessed memory.
The question of whether Muslims and Christians worship the same GOD, if it is an error, would be a different character of error depending on what was implied by that statement. For instance, if by saying Christians and Muslims worship the same GOD in that Muslims were saved by their worship, or had no need to convert to the Christian faith, or that therefore Islam was equal to Christianity, or that Muhammad was a prophet; this would place such a belief into a the category of grievous and dangerous error; bordering on or extremely close to heresy. So close, in fact, all Christians everywhere, both within and without the Roman Catholic Church, would be right to rupture the unity of the Church to oppose it as strongly as they could. That is why I am greatly encouraged by what I have heard from Roman Catholic Apologists on this matter.
Leading Catholic Apologists like Trent Horn and Trent Dougherty have rightly observed that this question should not be seen as having soteriological implications. Further, it would seem from the general tone of their statement that Muslims are still in need of salvation. Whilst they have defended the contention that Muslims do worship the same GOD as themselves, the worship of Muslims is without merit, as it is heterodox. I think many Roman Catholics really needed to hear that. In light of the ambiguity of the Catechism’s statement, and poor formation by many priests, bishops and even Popes, I think a lot of Roman Catholics think Muslims have their own way to salvation and do not need the saving work of Christ or are saved by Christ through Islam; a position that was pushed back against by both apologists whilst defending this position. I think, therefore, some good has come of this poorly timed distraction, and I hope that a future Catechism of the Catholic Church removes and clarifies the ambiguities of the statement as currently found in line with this apologetical defense of the statement, which can be summarised as follows: Muslims worship the god of all, but their worship is worthless, they are not saved without Christ and should become Christians.
If this stance becomes the formal position of the Roman Catholic Church, then, frankly, the error, if it is one at all, is not of the most grievous kind, but a grade lower, one which could still be challenged in loving debate – whilst maintaining Christian unity, as the unity of the Church is a priority.
I want to state from the outset that the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches do have a biblical case; their position is not without merit or scriptural reflection. The evidence is super abundant within the fathers as to their position, and it is only with caution that we should set our face against such a weighty position, and therefore not make this a matter of rupture between the two camps on this question. I also want to admit, and agree with Catholic Apologists, that this is not about soteriology. No one here is saying Muslims are saved if they worship the same GOD of the Church. The catechism states:
“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place among whom are the Muslims: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day”[i]
- Lumen Gentium
“The Church, therefore, urges her sons to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture”[ii]
“The Church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth (Cf. St. Gregory VII, Letter III, 21 to Anazir [Al-Nasir], King of Mauretania PL, 148.451A.), who has spoken to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan, to whose faith Muslims eagerly link their own. Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, his Virgin Mother they also honor, and even at times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting.” And “Over the centuries many quarrels and dissensions have arisen between Christians and Muslims. The sacred Council now pleads with all to forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual understanding; for the benefit of all men, let them together preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values.”[iii]
- Nostra Aetate 3
It appears that Roman Catholics interpret these teachings as saying that Muslims acknowledge the creator, because they can, and can give a form of worship to him, of a different kind to that given by Christians; in the same way that Pagans can; they cite passages in scripture like Acts 17:23 which reads:
“For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”[iv]
Paul is referring to the objects of their worship – to say they are very religious; he is not saying they worship the unknown GOD, but that they presume to, in ignorance, and therefore, cannot do so!
It may be asked, why they had not implicit faith, worshipping the true, though unknown, God? 1st. because the worship of the true God can never exist with the worship of idols; 2nd. because an explicit faith in God is required of all; 3rd. because it is repugnant to implicit faith, to admit anything contrary to it, as comparing this unknown God with the pagan idols; for God to be at all, must be one. Lucan, towards the end of his 2nd book, hath these words: -Et dedita sacris Incerti Judæa Dei. What, therefore, you improperly worship, that I preach to you, and instruct you in the true worship, far different from what you pay to your strange gods.
- George Leo Haydock
So as to suggest that Paul; rather than just using a cultural segue; as a means to introduce his topic and begin to evangelise the lost; was actually affirming that they were worshippers of that GOD; as if every word of Paul must be taken at face value; rather than read as human speak; in other words, he was leading them on; drawing them in, lowering their resistance to his message by guile and flattery; he aimed to free them from the worship of demons, not by affirming their worship, but rather, using a niche, in their world view; to shine in the light of Gospel. He immediately goes on to undermine their very religiosity, which moments before he had complimented. This style of using the cultural tools around him to teach truth is something common to all good teachers, no less than the mighty Apostle and Evangelist Paul. One can see both the Catholic and my own line of argument in the words of Chrysostom:
On which was inscribed, To an Unknown God. The Athenians, namely, as on many occasions they had received gods from foreign parts also— for instance, the temple of Minerva, Pan, and others from different countries— being afraid that there might be some other god not yet known to them, but worshipped elsewhere, for more assurance, forsooth, erected an altar to that god also: and as the god was not known, it was inscribed, To an Unknown God. This God, then, he tells them, is Christ; or rather, the God of all. He declares unto you. Observe how he shows that they had already received Him, and it is nothing strange, says he, nothing new that I introduce to you. All along, this was what they had been saying: What is this new doctrine spoken of by you? For you bring certain strange matters to our ears. Immediately, therefore, he removes this surmise of theirs: and then says, God that made the world and all things therein, He being Lord of heaven and earth— for, that they may not imagine Him to be one of many, he presently sets them right on this point; adding, dwells not in temples made with hands.[v]
- John Chrysostom
Tertullian simply says this of the Athenians here: “Such folly as the Athenians did; for at Athens there was an altar with this inscription: ‘To The Unknown Gods.”[vi]
The point of the argument, from Paul; when read in his wider writings on these matters, is to show, that men know GOD in some way; and indeed; this is true; and cannot be contested; the scriptures clearly affirm that men can know of GOD through nature; which brings us to Romans 1: 20 – 21; which states that:
“For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.”[vii]
The Apostle is not suggesting that knowledge is equivalent to worship or that knowledge allows one to worship. On the contrary, he is saying the exact opposite: pagans can know God, but they do not worship Him—even at the altar of the unknown God, which was merely a prop for Paul’s evangelism. I want to be fair to Catholic apologists and say that Acts 17 could be open to their interpretation if read alone. However, the spirit of God clearly condemns pagan worship repeatedly as both demonic and empty. In 1 Corinthians 10:20, Paul states, ‘No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”[viii] Since anything short of acceptance and glorification of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is, as the Spirit expressly says, a departure from faith—”some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,’ 1 Timothy 4:1.[ix] It cannot be understood as worship of God. Instead, it is the knowledge of God corrupted into the worship of demons. In short, worship, if not properly formed, is not true worship—even if directed to God. To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand the nature and character of worship. It is true to say that all men, in their deepest hearts, know there is a Creator, regardless of how much they suppress that awareness. However, as this same passage states, they knew God, but they neither glorified nor worshipped him.” He who does not honor the Son simply does not honor the Father.
Paul here repeats the same thing in order to teach even more absolutely that, although the power and majesty of God cannot by themselves be seen by the eyes of the creature, they may be known by the work of the structure of the world. In this way, he indicts those who lived without law, whether natural or Mosaic. For by the habit of sinning, they broke the law of nature, wiping out any memory of him. But they did not want to accept the law, which had been given for their reformation, and thus were doubly condemned. His power and deity are eternal, so that they are without excuse. So that ungodliness might in no way be excused, Paul added that the power of God and his eternal divinity were known by men, who were prevented by some foolishness from honoring God, who they knew existed and provided for their welfare.
- Ambrosiaster
Notice that Paul does not call them ignorant of the truth but says that they held the truth in iniquity, and he does not fail to answer the obvious question: How could those to whom God had not given the law have a knowledge of the truth? For he says that through the visible things of the creation, they reached an understanding of the invisible things of the Creator.
- Augustine of Hippo
The same argument can be applied to when Christ said to the women; You worship what you do not know (a demon), and we worship what we do know (YHWH); for salvation comes from the Jews’ (messiah; implying not from Samaritan demon worship). (Bob’s message version). John 4: 22.
Ye worship what (Arabic, whom) ye know not, &c. Here Christ gives a direct answer to the woman, and decides the Jews to be in the right in the controversy concerning the worship of God, condemning the Samaritans as schismatics. He says, You, 0 ye Samaritans, worship ye know not what, because ye worship God together with your Assyrian idols; and associating God as it were with idols, ye worship a false or fictitious God. Again, the Samaritans had their own heresies and errors, which S. Epiphanius recapitulates. In the same manner the Turks and Jews worship a God whom they know not, because they deny Him to be in a Trinity of Persons.
- Cornelius of Lapide
The strongest biblical point, to the Catholic and Orthodox position and why their position should not be dismissed ignorantly is Cornelius in Acts 10, which is described thus:
Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort. 2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God regularly. 3 About three o’clock one afternoon he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.” 4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius replied, “What is it, Lord?” The angel said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have gone up as a memorial before God.”
This is an obvious echo of Sirach 11: 17, which reads: “1Error and darkness are created with sinners: and they that glory in evil things, grow old in evil. 17The gift of God abideth with the just, and his advancement shall have success forever. 18There is one that is enriched by living sparingly, and this is the portion of his reward.”
The centurion, a non-Jew and not a Christian, is clearly worshipping and offering up prayers that are indeed heard by GOD. This seems to settle the debate in favour of our Catholic and Orthodox brethren; however, I would contend not so. The Centurion is described as a God fearer; that is, a gentile who worshipped the GOD of Israel. His GOD is clearly not the GOD of the pagans, afore condemned in this article, or condemned so plainly by the Scriptures. He is in relation with GOD through his joining himself to Israel; he was being grafted on! (As an aside, once again we see the reliability of Scripture, as historical records show the Cohors II Italica was stationed in Syria from at least AD 88. We can safely presume an earlier presence, as Roman Legions would often stay in set locations for decades at a time.) Thus, this Roman Centurion had direct knowledge of the GOD of the Prophets directly from the scriptures, and seemingly in an unsullied way (like the Samaritans), and thus his worship was to that GOD.
The question seems to hang on the question of what worship is and what must be known, as to make worship the same GOD as ours. To wit, the Catholic answer is given by Bishop Schneider, who said: “When a person sincerely adores God the creator, as I assume the majority of simple Muslim people do, they adore God with a natural act of worship based on the natural knowledge of God, the creator.” It seems from the Catholic position that worshipping the ‘creator god’ in the singular is sufficient for worship of that GOD to be real and the same as ours. I contend, however, this is not sufficient; but one must expressly worship the GOD of Israel, like Cornelius; anything else is demon worship. I want to be clear; the Muslim tradition does not claim that they worship the GOD of Israel or of Abraham. They claim that Abraham and Israel worshipped the GOD of Muhammad! A full, academically correct understanding of the GOD of Israel is not required, but a heart turned to the GOD of Abraham, ISAAC, and JACOB is! Muslims presume to go to the GOD of Abraham, Ismael, and leaping millennia, Muhammad! It is not the same GOD in any way. At every point of comparison, the picture of their GOD is different from that known by the Prophets and Apostles; knowledge of the creator from creation does not permit one enough to worship Him; even if it might permit one to live an albeit righteous life, by the grace of GOD.
My defence that Muslims do not worship the same GOD as the Church is not the one articulated by Gavin Ortland, who said:
“There’s a difference between rejecting the Trinity after God has made it clear and revealed it more fully versus not knowing the Trinity fully before God has made it clear. Those are very different ignorance prior to Revelation rejection after Revelation, two different things.”
Accurate knowledge or understanding of the Trinity is not required at any level, but one should know that their creator is the GOD of Abraham, ISAAC, and JACOB, the GOD of Moses, which therefore explains how non-Trinitarians in Scripture can be heard. Those who worship another god and claim that god to be the said GOD of Israel, are worshipping an idol, whether that be the idol made by Muhammad, Joseph Smith, or Charles Taze Russel; it is an idol fashioned out of words, rather than out of wood or stone. One must have sincere contact with, and genuine engagement with, and broad acceptance of the historical faith of the Prophets and Apostles, without which, any knowledge of GOD is corrupted to worship of demons. Can the worship of Baal be joined to the worship of YHWH? According to St Paul, it is a clear no
“And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16, NET).[x]
If Christians cannot join worship with others in their temples, mosques, or meeting houses because it would be false worship, then it follows that Muslims cannot worship the GOD of the Church. Granted, the Catholic Church is currently, in part, abandoning this hard line, just as many Christians of other denominations are, as there is a general trend of universalist error spreading within the house of the Church. However, that does not mean they are correct to do so. Jews who have no real knowledge of the Christian faith can genuinely worship the GOD of Jesus if they are worshipping the GOD of Jacob, until such a time as they consciously reject the GOD of the Church. But they are the only exception, since salvation is from the Jews, and the Church is grafted onto Israel, representing a true and faithful Israel. This is where I would apply Gavin Ortland’s logic.
We should turn to the question of worship itself; worship is always sacrificial and a work of the Spirit of GOD. We worship GOD in ‘spirit and truth’; therefore, worship not connected to the truth is not worship. Hence, the importance of historical contingency. A person cannot worship GOD in ignorance – even ‘impenetrable ignorance.’ The spirit here is both that of our spiritual being and that of the Holy Spirit, in whom we worship.
- Philippians 3:3
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”[xi]
It is evident that those who are faithful are circumcised in their own hearts. By cutting away the cloud of error, they see and recognize the Lord of creation. This is what it means to “serve in the Spirit” and “glory in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
- Ambrosiaster
The nature of our worship makes a statement of our vision of GOD; the god of Islam is a fickle god, who desires our submission to His supreme sovereignty. The sacrificial worship of Christians is a testament to the holy, immortal, and loving GOD of the Church. We cannot separate this matter from the subject at hand. The truth we have defines the worship we give; and false worship is not worship, and as such, there is no natural worship of GOD possible; all worship is the work and gift of the Spirit to GOD as an end. Priestly worship is unknown to Islam; mocked and ridiculed by Muslims, but is the very heart of all Christians, who understand that we are a ‘nation of priests’ offering a ‘living sacrifice’ so that the ‘kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’. Muslims play no role in this whatsoever. Islam, by contrast, sets its face against this; completely and utterly; in denying the Trinity, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and thus this truly is the ‘doctrine of demons’ and therefore, worship offered in this lie cannot be of the Spirit.To worship in the Spirit is to worship in the truth. The Spirit drawing all people to the doxai of Christ the Son of the Father (see John), we must free ourselves from error, which your average Muslim will not do; nor can ever do, until they are evangelized, Your Grace and Bishop Schneider! Worship is a sacrifice made in truth to that GOD enabled by the Spirit, whether that be animal or Christ, or through the acts of a living sacrifice; it cannot be directed to another or confused with another GOD. The Muslims are more akin to the Samaritans, with a mixed pagan worship of the creator, than they are to the Roman Centurion of the Italian cohort. I will give an example of how they do not. It is oft said, and is clearly and correctly observed, that Christian Arabized peoples use the term Allah, but what is overlooked is that they are not using it as a name, but more like our generic term ‘god.’ Just like our term ‘god,’ this can and is used to refer to gods, both true and false. Muslims, however, use this as a proper name for GOD, as in the Arab pagan pantheon god Allah, who was properly called Allah, which Muhammad adopted as his sole god. Would the Church have argued that the pagan Egyptians under Akhenaten, who made the sun disc, the sole god and supreme creator (our solar sol, teaches us monotheism in nature), are worshipping the same GOD as ourselves? I would hope not, but if not, then it does not follow that to believe in one creator and supreme being means one is worshipping the same GOD as the Church, if that one god is ultimately of pagan origin. A hangover from paganism cannot be mixed with the GOD of Israel; though if filled with truth, a term like Allah can be used in the worship of the GOD of Isaac. The Spirit of GOD is intrinsically linked to worship, and the ability to worship, even to prepare to worship. Consider Exodus 35:21:
“And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments” (Exodus 35:21, ESV).[xii]
Stirred by who? The Spirit of GOD; man cannot worship GOD but by the Spirit; and only in truth; thus, as Catholics and Orthodox will readily admit to the doctrinal errors of Islam, then they cannot be worshipping the GOD of the Church. Awareness of GOD, say by a deist, who offers praise to god, is no praise at all, because it is not in truth, but in falsehood; his god is not the GOD of Israel, and so not the GOD of the covenant. Awareness of the creator does not enable or permit the worship of him; as it is only through Jesus Christ, our one intermediary, and from within the priesthood of Melchizedek, shared by all believers, can one rightly offer up any sacrifice; all our works without Christ are but filthy rags.
I want to conclude by saying that even if a Catholic or Orthodox believes they are worshipping the same god as Muhammad, they are not. The error is in their understanding of who the god of Muhammad is, not in understanding who their GOD is, and no one is saved on the issue of who they think Muhammad’s god is; though, a wrong answer here does open them to more spiritual danger. It no more invalidates their saving faith than it would to be a universalist. If Christians cannot join our worship with Muslims in the mosque, then it follows that Muslims are not worshipping the same GOD as the Christians, because how you worship tells you about the GOD you worship, and we Christians do not worship a fickle, non-trinitarian god, borrowed from ancient Arab paganism!
Endnotes:
[i] Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). (1997). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/INDEX.HTM.
[ii] Second Vatican Council. (1965). Declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions (Nostra aetate). https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_ council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html Paragraph 2.
[iii] Second Vatican Council. (1965). Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate). Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html.
[iv] Acts 17:23. New International Version. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2017%3A23&version=NIV.
[v] Haydock, G. L. (1859). Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary. Catena Bible. https://catenabible.com/com/5735e338ec4bd7c9723bfe2a.
[vi] Tertullian. (c. 197). Ad Nationes, Book II, Chapter 9. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.viii.ii.ix.html.
[vii] Romans 1:20-21. New International Version. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%201%3A20-21&version=NIV.
[viii] 1 Corinthians 10:20. New International Version. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010%3A20&version=NIV
[ix] 1 Timothy 4:1. New International Version. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%204%3A1&version=NIV.
[x] 2 Corinthians 6:16. New English Translation. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%206%3A16&version=NET.
[xi] Philippians 3:3. New International Version. Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Philippians%204%3A1&version=NIV.
[xii] Exodus 35:21. English Standard Version. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2035%3A21&version=ESV
