Do We All Worship The Same GOD??

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

I know it has been a long time since I took up my laptop to write something. I was under some trials and was not in a right set of mind to write anything. But I would like to thank you all for all the prayers which has kept me going and to stand firm in the faith. I know I have left one series incomplete, I will take that up as early as possible.

Today, the question that I will be asking you all is a question which would term me do we as a radical for my thoughts. Many people, which includes Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and all the other religions say that everyone points to the same Heavenly Father. To increase the interactions between inter-Christian and inter-denominational factions, we say the we all are brothers and sisters. So the question is do we really believe in the same Heavenly Father? And are we all brothers and sisters?

In a country like India, where there are different religions and we have many non-Christian friends, including myself, it is difficult to be staunch in one's own faith and proclaim the faith to others. Proclaiming the stand, even in a loving manner, sets one apart from others. Even so, I do not want to hide the truth of the faith and the exclusivity of my faith from my Christian brothers and sisters and more so from my non-Christian friends, encouraging them to investigate the matter and come back with satisfactory answers.

Although the statements 'we all believe in the same God' and 'we are all His children' appear to be self-proclaimed truths, for us Orthodox Christians, they are full of error, outrageous and totally unacceptable.

Why do we say that our God is the only God and above all Gods? Because the Bible tells us so through the blessed Prophet Isaiah, "Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no Savior” (Is. 43:10b-11). What does it mean to us when we recite these words from the Holy Bible? Also in our divine liturgy, we pray along with the celebrant “You are our God, beside You we know of no other[God]” and in the final benediction, “May Christ our true God… save us…”?

Is it just a matter of name that we give to our God? Is it okay to call our God with any other name? Is it okay to associate our God with names of other gods as Allah, Supreme Being, Buddha, the Power and so on? NO! Our God is Christ and outside Christ all other gods are idols. "This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:20-21).

Why do we say that Christ is the only God? Because Christ claimed absolute exclusivity. Jesus said, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through ME." (John 14:6). No other teachings has proclaimed such. Christianity is also unique in other ways. The views of gods of other religions are very different to Christianity. The philosophical Hindu is either a monist (believing that ultimate reality is a oneness beyond differentiation) or a pantheist (believing that everything is God). The popular sects of Hinduism are polytheistic (worshipers of many gods).

Buddhist sects may hold a variety of views on God, including polytheism, pantheism, or usually, atheism. Classical Islam endorses the killing of infidels, but Christianity teaches to love your enemies. Islam also teaches that there is one unpardonable sin—to accept that God has a Son. Christianity teaches that one must accept Jesus as the Son of God to get to heaven.

As far as all of humanity being called the children of God... We are all His creation, His most loved creation at that. But God has only one Son and that is Jesus Christ. However, we have the potentiality to become His children - by adoption: "To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Therefore, unless we belong to Christ’s family (cf. Heb. 3:6), the Church, we are not His children.

In the early Church the Lord’s Prayer was not revealed to the Catechumens until immediately before their baptism, because no one that was not baptized could presume to say, “our Father who art in heaven,” not having yet received the gift of adoption. The Lord’s Prayer is introduced in the Divine Liturgy with the words, “and make us worthy, Master, with boldness and without fear of condemnation, to dare call You, the heavenly God, Father, and to say, ‘Our Father…’” Only those who have been united with Christ, God’s only Son, can call God “Father.”

I am deeply sorry to have hurt anyone by my words, but yes this is what being a follower of Christ means. One is to be enemies with the ways of the world and be friends with Jesus Christ. With an earnest prayer to our Father in Heaven that He help us realize that He is jealous God and that He has sent His Son to this world to reach out to us and save us and help us to love Him more and more and there be a revival of the true Christian spirit across the world, I end my words.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

Source: http://www.orthodoxwitness.org/over-the-rooftops/do-all-religions-have-the-same-heavenly-father/

http://www.faithfacts.org/search-for-truth/questions-of-christians/arent-all-religions-the-same