In his weekly general audience in late May of 1999, Pope John Paul II addressed Muslims in a series discussing “interreligious dialog.” He quotes from the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 841 which states, “… together with us they (Muslims) adore the one, merciful, God.”
The pope and many other religious leaders today, who are being wooed into the ecumenical movement, are accepting the idea that the god of the Koran and the God of the Bible are one and the same. However, they have failed to look closely at the nature of the two deities. If they would do so, they would quickly discover major contradictions between the two.
Islam
Unknowable: Allah is so transcendent, so exalted, that no man can ever personally know Allah.
Christianity
Knowable: Jesus Christ came into the world so we could know God personally (John 17:3).
Islam
Nonpersonal: Allah is not to be understood as a person. This would lower him to the level of man.
Christianity
Personal: The God of the Bible is spoken of as a person with intellect, emotion, and a will.
Islam
Nonspirit: The idea that Allah is a person or a spirit is considered blasphemous and demeans the exalted One.
Christianity
Spirit: That God is a spirit was taught by Jesus Christ himself in John 4:24.
Islam
Unitarian: The Koran specifically denies that Allah is a father, that Jesus is the Son of God and the Holy Spirit is God.
Christianity
Trinitarian: The Bible reveals God as One in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All share equally the divine nature.
Islam
Unlimited: The Koran describes Allah as able to do anything, anytime, anyplace, anywhere. He is not even limited by his own nature.
Christianity
Limited: The biblical God is limited by His own nature. He cannot lie or contradict Himself.
Islam
Capricious: Allah in the Koran is totally capricious and untrustworthy. He is not bound by his nature or his word.
Christianity
Trustworthy: Because God is always true to His nature, he is completely trustworthy and consistent.
Islam
No Love: The concept of Allah having feelings toward man is foreign to Islamic teaching. That would reduce Allah to a mere man and is blasphemous to a Muslim.
Christianity
Love: The biblical God’s chief attribute is love as shown in such places as John 3:16. He has feelings for his creatures, especially man.
Islam
Passive in history: Allah does not personally enter into human history. He deals with the world through his word, prophets, and angels. He does not personally deal with man.
Christianity
Active in history: In the incarnation, God himself enters history and acts to bring about man’s salvation.
Islam
No attributes: The so-called 99 attributes of Allah are all negative, what he is not like. No positive attributes are listed.
Christianity
Attributes: The Bible gives us both positive and negative attributes.
Islam
Works: There is no savior or intercessor or concept of grace in the Koran.
Christianity
Grace: The God of the Bible provides a free salvation for man through a Savior who acts as an intercessor between God and Man (1 Timothy 2:5).
It is obvious from these few comparisons that these two deities are not the same. Yet many religious leaders today, including the pope, claim that the god of Islam is the God of the Bible. Once this idea is accepted, witnessing to Muslims becomes very difficult. How do you explain to a Muslim that his God loved him so much that He sent His divine, sinless Son to die on a cross for his sins, when the Koran does not support these doctrines, in fact, contradicts them in many ways.
The Koran teaches that Allah had no son, so explaining the divinity of Jesus and his death for our sins can only lead to confusion in the witnessing discussion.