God
Christians believe that God (variously named Elohim, Yahweh - originally simply Israel's tribal god - and, in variant form, Jehovah) is the creator of the universe, and have asserted since about the fourth century that He is a trinity comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. His creation of man is described in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Belief in God (specifically, belief in Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior) is said to be a necessary condition to go to heaven (rather than hell) in the afterlife.
It is claimed that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism worship the same God in different ways. This claim is regarded by some as a way to convert Jews and Christians to Islam, since it supports the idea that Abrahamic religion has "grown" from Judaism to Christianity to Islam.[1] However, many are skeptical of this idea.[2] Common powers attributed to God include omnipotence (the ability to do anything), omniscience (the ability to know anything), and omnipresence (the ability to be everywhere at once) although even that level of detail is not common throughout all monotheists[Citation Needed]. However, as omnipotence is attributed to God, he is therefore inherently responsible for every evil ever to occur. Many believers in God also believe that he eternally punishes the wicked in hell and eternally rewards the righteous in heaven and variants of this theme are found in all the Abrahamic faiths. The belief in a kind and loving God in conjunction with the belief of damnation is extremely ironic. While He is said to be unique, the Old Testament in fact mentions 'other gods' constantly.
References
Sources
- Cruden, A., Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments (Lutterworth, 1930)
- The Holy Bible (King James Version)
- The New English Bible (Oxford & Cambridge University Presses, 1970)
- The New Jerusalem Bible (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1990)
- Peake, A.S., Commentary on the Bible (Nelson, 1962)
- Young, R., Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible (Lutterworth, 1939)