Concept of god in major religions english zakir naik. Concept of god in islam islam is a semitic religion, which has over one billion adherents all over the world. A comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism and islam abid mushtaq wani abstract. Christianity originally developed as a part of judaism. Since god both created the world which is accessible to philosophy and. The concept of god in judaic, christian, and islamic traditions. This means that christians know nothing about god except through the life, teaching, death and the resurrection of jesus.
Pdf research exploring god representations has tended to assume that these. According to the tradition, the people think that god is both transcendent adroa and. Selected chapters from a history of christianity by kenneth scott latourette vol. All of chapter three in the gospel of john states the. As the logos, jesus christ is god in selfrevelation light. This term emphasizes the belief in one god, and the fact that following this god commits us to a number of specific ethical rules or principles. Within christianity, unitarianism is the view that god consists of only one person, the father.
This subject translated into 9 this page translated into 8. In saying my god is the only god, monotheists also say, your god isnt godunless its the same as my god. Zulfiqar ali shahs anthropomorphic depictions of god. Jesus christ pbuh never claimed divinity one may ask, if both muslims and christians love and respect jesus pbuh, where exactly is the parting of ways. The concept of god in islam and christianity reasonable. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence and omnipresence. The concept of a congregation as an important criterion although no court has specifically adopted the fourteen points test, many have used the criteria in rulings. In particular, the concept of god in islam and christianity is so different that both religions cannot be right. An essential characteristic of marriage is the biological fact that a man and a woman can join together as male and female in a union that is orientated to the generation of new life. Within the christian perception and experience of god, characteristic features stand out.
The significance of the image of god dedicated journal. Without hesitation, the apostles disobeyed and defied the sanhedrin. According to most monotheistic religions, god is the sole creator and sustainer of the universe. It has the longest river nile, the biggest desert sahara, and a vast wealth of natural resources. That idea was merged into christianity from greek philosophy. Islam and christianity have different doctrines or teachings about god that make them irreconcilable. The created substantial person comes about because the triune god intends to relate to a particular person as expressed in and actualized through the act of creation, specifically in gods making it possible for a particular sperm to merge with a particular ovum, through the conjugal act of a male and female joined in a marital covenant.
Many archeologists and other scientists argue that africa was the birthplace of mankind. The abrahamic god in this sense is the conception of god that remains a common attribute of all three traditions. The trinity is an expression used to articulate one of many attributes of one and only one god based on the various references found woven through all of scripture from genesis to revelation, which is. Fundamental concepts of christianity salvation is the saving of your spiritual life. The concept of and the term for god is derivedadapted from seth, part of a nonphysical unified thought form in the realm of knowledge. Cosmology and theology stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Nash judiciously evaluates competing conceptions of deity, and in the end recommends an understanding of god that is both theologically sound and philosophically acceptable. Book summary african religions and philosophy africa is unique among the continents.
Christian beliefs in god, jesus christ, the trinity, the bible. In john, denotes the essential word of god, jesus christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with god, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the worlds life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of mans salvation put on human nature in the. Proponents of abrahamic faiths believe that god is also transcendent, meaning that he is. Concept of god in christianity my religious basics. The major difference between islam and christianity is the christians insistence on the supposed divinity of. Christian ethics and spirituality in leading business organizations. In their mythology, the god osiris was killed but then raised back to life, whereupon he went to a distant heavenly realm. Some offer radically different concepts of god, exploring novel ideas of what god may be like. For christians, the ultimate concern is god revealed in jesus. Christianity christianity the relation of the early church to the career and intentions of jesus.
Judge, loving father and so on, at present christians say god is jesus. How is the concept of god different in christianity, islam. Christians believe god to be both transcendent wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe and immanent involved in the world. Abstract the concept of god in the traditional religion of akan and ewe ethnic groups compare to the bible by godwin kwame ofosuhene i am going to focus this writing, on how the akan and ewe ethnic groups of ghana, understood god in their traditional. The origin of the word, the concept for which it stands, and its specific expressions in various religious traditions are far more complex than is usually assumed.
Through craigs illinformed attack of the islamic concept of god, he has inadvertently disqualified his own deity. They challenge theism the god of judaism, christianity and islam with radically new kinds of gods. With characteristic clarity and forthrightness, dr. In christianity this is described as the trinity consisting of god the father, jesus christ and the holy spirit,three aspects of a single deity. Although the term logos or word is not retained as a title in johns gospel beyond the prologue, the whole gospel presses these basic claims. Introduction in any theistic religion, the concept of god rests at the core of its beliefs, tenets and practices, and it determines what its adherents regard as admissible or otherwise. God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. Bicog publication page 4 according to the same source, the trinity doctrine as we know it today owes more to the controversial needs of the fourth century and to the religious imagery accepted by christians and nonchristians alike at that time than to. The theme of this paper is to show that monotheism is at the core of both these great religions. Yahweh, the primary god of the ancient hebrews, spawned the christian, islamic, and judaic supreme beings.
Faith, in this sense, encompasses more than mere religious belief. The development of the concept of god through the ages. Christianity christianity characteristic features of the christian concept of god. For many african societies, god is both transcendent and immanent in nature. And in one lord jesus christ, the son of god, the onlybegotten begotten from the father, that is from the substance gr. An immediate question was how to combine the essential focus on jesus with the. Concept of god in christianity by dr naik islam 101. He collected over two thousand primary and attributive names of god, and concluded that all african people and language has one supreme being. Once the powers ascribed to god were debated, ken asks whether the good in the world is good in lieu of god liking it, or whether god likes it because there is some intrinsic goodness to it. A monistic concept of god will inevitably disregard sin and evil, affirming all natural desires, whereas the christian understanding of god views god alone as good, desiring to manifest his character of goodness in his creation in place of the fallen, natural, evil tendencies of mans desires. Having salvation means you will go to heaven and have eternal life and live with god forever. The kathopanishad has it that god is the root of this tree of world existence.
Part 1 is god, if there is a god, a personal, conscious, allpowerful supreme being. Throughout pauls epistles, we find many descriptive passages referring to the same concepts that we have been considering. Substantia of the father, god from god, light from light, true god from true. One criterion that consistently appears is the presence or absence of a regular congregation. For instance, the lugbara can be a good example to illustrate the concept of gods transcendence and immanence. The concept of god is an excellent treatment of an increasingly critical issue in philosophical theology. In this research paper we will discuss the concept of god in hinduism and islam, the two major world religions. Mbiti investigates the traditional african concepts of god and knowledge of god contained in proverbs, short statements, songs, prayers, names, myths, stories and religious ceremonies. The concept of god in hinduism by swami krishnananda. The sggsj says, you have thousands of eyes, and yet you have no eyes. Christianity vs sikhism difference and comparison diffen. This book is written primarily for openminded nonmuslims. There are also a number of noncanonical sources, notably the apocryphal gospels, which contain stories about jesus and sayings attributed to him. Conceptions of god in monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist religions or of the supreme.
In addition, ken, john, and richard discuss how a finite mind can try to understand an infinite concept like god. The major difference between islam and christianity is the christians insistence on the supposed divinity of christ pbuh. The pdf and prc files are sent as single zips and naturally dont have the file. A christian understanding of god christ in you ministries. Furthermore, the notion of a deity often plays a central role in these cosmological theories. Muslims accept the quran, as the word of god revealed to his last and final prophet, muhamm. Christian vs mormon practices christians believe that all people should strive to follow christs commands and example in their everyday actions. The analysis of the concept of god purported by the author. According to david barrett et al, editors of the world christian encyclopedia.
The concept of trinity is as enigmatic as the existence of god and it is obviously so, because ultimately we are discussing about the same god. In christianity, god is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. Christianity the relation of the early church to the. Sikhism teaches that god is both within the creation and separate from it at the same time. Philosophy and christian theology stanford encyclopedia of. The biblical god most certainly hates both sin and sinner and according to craigs yardstick, he becomes unworthy of recognition by believing men and women. You need to accept jesus as your lord and savior to go to heaven. For the worlds religions conceive of god or gods in so many different contradictory ways that they cannot all be true. Allah the concept of god in islama selection yasin t. Christianity is a theistic religion and belief in god is its important tenet but instead of saying that god, according to christianity is one, creator, sustainer. For example, christians believe that god is tripersonal, that there are in the one god three persons whom we call the father, son, and holy. We believe in one god the father all powerful, maker of all things both seen and unseen. Christian teachings of the immanence and involvement of god and his love for humanity exclude the belief that god is of the same substance as the created universe but.
One may ask, if both muslims and christians love and respect jesus pbuh, where exactly is the parting of ways. The ancient egyptians developed the concept of going to heaven. The concept of god in the traditional religion of the akan. All three religions, including christianity, have been called ethical monotheism. Most of the gods have evolved from a core group of deities. Monotheism, by contrast, at least the kind were familiar with, requires disbelief in the existence or divinity of other objects of worship. Catholic beliefs on that subject are held not only with the ordinary fervour that. The realisation of god is regarded as the supreme blessedness or shreyas, as apart from preyas or temporal experience of satisfaction. To deny or keep silent about the deity and messiahship of the living lord would have been disobedience to god, disloyalty to christ and to the cause of mans salvation. It is a way of life which entails beliefs and values related with an ultimate concern. The meaning of marriage m arriage is a unique relationship different from all others. A comparative study of the concept of god in hinduism and. But the last one hundred years have seen a different sort of cosmology. The prasna upanishad says that god is the supreme prajapati or creator, in whom are blended both the matter and energy of the universe.
The concept of heaven and hell in christianity vs sikhism. Christianity characteristic features of the christian. The word apostle is known mainly from the christian religion as a title of a religious leader, especially in early christianity. Islam and christianity have different doctrines or teachings concerning what god is like. It is a sikhs goal to end his own suffering, and join god. Learn about the history of christianity, its doctrines, and the major christian. Christianity and islam, as viewed through the texts of the hebrew. If being good meant simply joining the side you happened to fancy, for no real. Some early christian thinkers such as tertullian were of the view that any intrusion of. A comparative survey of churches and religions ad 30 to 2200, there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large faith groups, and many. Mormonism vs christianity difference and comparison diffen. The prime sources for knowledge of jesus of nazareth are the four canonical gospels in the new testament. To merge with and have the greatest relationship with god possible.