God
The term god is applied to a deitic being that is worshiped as part of a theistic belief system. Monotheistic religions are the most common and include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahá'í.
Biblical God
God is the creator of the universe.[1] Christianity has understood that God is a trinity comprised of three distinct persons in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all with a single essence, namely God. His creation of man is described in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. It is written in the Bible that belief and trust in God, namely Jesus Christ, (as one's personal lord and savior) is a necessary condition to go to heaven (rather than hell) in the afterlife.
Attributes of God include Wisdom, Infinitude, Sovereignty, Holiness, Trinity, Omniscience, Faithfulness, Love, Omnipotence, Self-existence, Self-sufficiency, Justice, Immutability, Mercy, Eternal, Goodness, Gracious, Omnipresence[2]. The Bible makes mention that God eternally punishes the wicked in hell and eternally rewards the righteous in heaven.[3]
While the Bible does refer to other "gods" (lowercase g), it is in a condemning way. The Bible is written in such a way that it never asks the question (which god is correct?), because it assumes that there is One God. Some textual examples of this are the following:
- "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me," --Isaiah 46:9 (NASB)
Notes
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.[4] However, many are skeptical of this idea.[5]
Regardless of the lack of historical data regarding the origins of any of these three religions, the mythological links between them are clear. It is a tenet of the Jewish religion that all Jews descended from Abraham (indeed, in order to convert to Judaism one must complete a ritualized 'adoption' ritual into the house of Israel); as Jesus is regarded as Jewish, the growth of Christianity as an offshoot of the Jewish religion is clear. In a similar fashion, Muslims claim to be descended from Abraham by way of Ishmael.
References
- ↑ Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (NASB)
- ↑ This list obtained from Attributes of God on AllAboutGod.com
- ↑ http://etext.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html
- ↑ http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm
- ↑ http://www.letusreason.org/Islam6.htm
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)