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] His creation of man is described in the Book of Genesis in the Bible.
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 exercises eternal and righteous judgment of the wicked in hell, because of an inherent problem in the human heart, namely Sin.[Citation Needed] According to the Bible, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary and then resurrection, is God's merciful and gracious response to the problem of the human heart.[Citation Needed]
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)
- "Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." --Psalm 90:2 (NASB)
- "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another." --Isaiah 48:11 (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.[3] However, many are skeptical of this idea.[4]
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://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)