Do Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God?

Christians have differing opinions about whether or not Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God.

I don’t want to get into a subject that is extremely complex and in doing so, stir up animosity. However, this is something that I think all of us wonder about.

I have heard it argued from several different points of view. However, I agree with the Catholic Church that the answer is “yes”.  All 3 do indeed worship the same God. Here is some evidence to support that belief.

1. There are striking similarities in worship between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Songs, hymns, prayers, laws, and preaching are all part of each religion.

2. All 3 claim Abraham as our father. All 3 claim to be worshipping the God of Abraham.

3. All 3 claim the Bible or parts of it as God’s Word in some way.

4. All 3 are monotheistic.

5. All 3 have similar foundational beliefs. I know little about Islam.  I know a lot about Christianity. I know something about Judaism.  Those who do know Islam tell me that there are striking similarities in matters of faith and practice.

6. Christianity began as a Jewish sect. Islam began, many argue, as a Christian heresy. Therefore we all 3 have a similar history, beginning with Abraham to the present day, really.

What is the belief that all 3 worship the same God not saying?

1. Saying that all 3 religions direct their worship towards the same God isn’t saying that they are the same religion. They are not all the same religion.

2. Saying that all 3 religions worship the same God is not the same as saying that as Christians, we do not think Muslims need to come to Christ as Savior - or Jews, for that matter. We believe in going into all the world and preaching the Gospel.

3. We believe that the God we worship loves all mankind. Therefore the fact that Christ died for the sins of the world extends to the Muslim world.

4. Our Christian understanding of God’s being is not the same at all of either Judaism or Islam. There is nothing like the Trinity or even the Incarnation in either religion - only in Christianity.


Now, having said all that, it must be made clear that the Catholic Church - and all of Christianity - has real differences with Islam.


St. Thomas Aquinas wrote extensively about the religion of Islam, showing its errors.