Who is God?
We started to explore this question last week, as we looked at monotheism, polytheism, and non-theism. Let's take our discussion one step further this week and discover what three specific religions believe about God.
For the purposes of this article, I will describe the views of the three largest religious groups in Canada, based on the latest national survey (2001): Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
As with the earlier article about sacred scriptures, I will present the religions in chronological order:
JUDAISM
Although most religions have specific beliefs about the creation of the world, and their sacred scriptures include descriptions of the beginning of time, most can also point to a specific date and person as the "start" of the religion. In the case of Judaism, the founder was Abraham.
Not surprisingly, the sacred texts that contain the story of Abraham also contain some of the clearest descriptions of who God is, in Jewish belief and practice. Judaism is a monotheistic religion (remember last week's article), and the Torah describes God as Creator, Provider, Protector, Lord, and many other names.
The two core Jewish statements about God come from the Ten Commandments - "there are no other gods besides me" and the Shema - "The Lord our God, the Lord is One."
CHRISTIANITY
Initiated by Jesus, Christianity is founded upon Judaism, and is deeply monotheistic. The various descriptions of God in the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible), are descriptions of God in Christianity as well.
Where Christianity differs from its Jewish roots, however, is in the concept of the Trinity, especially as described in the New Testament. In Christianity, there is one God (i.e., mono-theism), and he is Trinitarian in nature.
In other words, the one God is also three persons at the same time. For example, Jesus was God in human form. A helpful (but imperfect) analogy is that of H20 - one molecule, but three different forms of solid, liquid and gas. All three are different, but all are H20.
It is the same with the Trinity - there is one God, but three persons of the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit.
ISLAM
Founded by Muhammad, Islam is also a monotheistic religion. The most common chant that a Muslim recites is that "There is no god but God ...", and the Qur'an (Islam's sacred scripture) states that, "Your God is one God, there is no God but He."
In Islam, God has ninety-nine names, such as The Most High, and The Watchful, but the most common designation by far is simply Allah.
Whereas in Judaism God occasionally appeared on Earth as the "Angel of the Lord," and in Christianity God himself became human as the person of Jesus, in Islam God is utterly distinct from humanity.
Three different religions, three different understandings of God. What is your picture of God? Is your understanding of God the same as what it was when you were young? Perhaps this summer is a good time for you to search for who God is, and not just who you'd like God to be.
Questions or Comments? Each week, this column will explore issues and questions about religion and spirituality in Prince George and around the world.
Please email your questions and comments about this article, or ideas and questions for future articles to pgspirituality@wessner.ca.
Mark Wessner, PhD
Lead Pastor at Westwood Church
Continuing Studies Instructor at UNBC
