YHWH ALLAH

Well, I am not calling anyone an idolator because I tend not to use labels like that on people. The issue is not the god of the Jews but the god of Islam. I am merely answering the question: Is the god of Islam the God of the Bible?

I also don't think it has to do with giving anyone the benefit of the doubt because in this case, the god of Islam has been described and presented in very specific ways. If Mohammed was a false teacher, which I believe he was, then why is it surprising to believe that his god is not the true God?

I have already shown some evidence of who the god of Islam is; he is clearly not the God of the Bible. There is really very little that is even similar.

Islam is as much a false religion as any religion that rejects the Christ of the Bible (since they do talk about Jesus but as a prophet, not God's Son, and say he did not die on the cross).

 

Marcia, the point I was trying to make was that the Jews, too, reject the Christ of the Bible, yet we will bend over backwards to not have to say that Jews worship a false God, or that Judaism is a false religion. That being said, I'm hesitant to dish out the word "idolater" for the same reason as you.

But, that point is, as you said, different from Islam. That is why I referred to the way Paul handled the Athenians and their worship of "the unkown god". Paul never called them idolaters either. Paul recognized and praised them for their sincerety, and then proceeded to positively, lovingly, and scripturally clear up their ignorances in worship.

 

Thanks for the explanation, JohnV. But, as I said earlier, the issue was not what we are calling people but who is the god of Islam. That is what I was restricting my posts to.

As far as the unknown god in Acts 17 goes, we could start a whole thread on that.

First of all, the unknown god was -- well, unknown. But the God of Islam is described in the Koran and has specific traits which not only do not match the Biblical God but actually are contrary to the Biblical God in some cases. I cannot see the god of Islam as the unknown god. The Muslims are worshiping a specific god.

Also, there are many commentators who think that Paul in Acts 17 was being sarcastic, that he was not being gentle at all. First of all, it says in verse 16 that Paul's spirit was provoked at seeing the idols. Then in verse 29, he basically puts down their worship of idols and tells them they need to repent because they will come under God's judgment, and he referred to the resurrected Christ. This is not a soft approach. He used the unknown god as a springboard for discussion but he leapt right into the heat with his words. Some of the people there were quite miffed with Paul; some believed.

This is an interesting evaluation of the Acts 17 message. I have not read it all yet (it's long):
http://www.rctr.org/ap9.htm