Do Muslims And Christians Worship The Same God – Andy Bannister

In other words, says the Bible, if you want to understand why human beings are the way they are – personal, relational, creative, moral and so forth – you must look to the God whose image they bear. And if you want to understand what that image looks like in all its fullness, look to Jesus.

The Qur’an and what it means to be human When we turn to the Qur’an to explore its answer to the question of what it means to be human, we can note right at the start that, as we saw before, the Qur’an retells the story of the first humans, Adam and Eve. But rather than start where Genesis begins, with the actual creation of Adam and Eve, the Qur’an starts slightly further back, reflecting an ancient Jewish legend about an event that happened just before God made human beings.

According to this tradition, God first explained his intention to the angels, who promptly began to protest. The Qur’an’s version of the story is found in several places, including in sura 2: (Remember) when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Surely I am placing on the earth a ruler.’ They said, ‘Will You place on it someone who will foment corruption on it, and shed blood, while we glorify (You) with Your praise and call You holy?’

He said, ‘Surely I know what you do not know.’ Whenever the Qur’an retells biblical stories and traditions, it adjusts and adapts them, reshaping them to fit its own theology and agenda. We see this here in this verse where the biblical idea of image bearing has been quietly dropped and instead the Qur’an has focused on the idea of humanity’s status as a ruler over the rest of creation. That concept was certainly there in Genesis, but it was a preamble to the much bigger idea of image bearing – an idea that the Qur’an ignores entirely.

The word translated into English here as ‘ruler’ is the Arabic word khalīfa, and while it certainly contains the idea of authority and ruling over, 15 the root idea behind the term is also that of succeeding or following – an idea that possibly helps makes better sense of Q. 2:30. For a natural question that occurs when one reads this verse is why the angels were so negative. Did they have amazing powers of foresight?

‘There is something delightful about engaging with a sharp mind on his A- game, and that’s what we get with Andy Bannister in Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? Few topics are more important in today’s world, and few authors are more qualified to address it. Thank you, Andy, for giving us this excellent and important book!’

Bruxy Cavey, Pastor, The Meeting House, and author of The End of Religion ‘A nuanced and sensitive examination, from an overtly Christian perspective, of how to negotiate a truth that is no less self-evident for being one that many prefer to draw a veil across: Christianity and Islam are not remotely the same.’ Tom Holland, author of Dominion and In the Shadow of the Sword ‘Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

is a must-read in today’s culture of religious diversity. You will appreciate his deep understanding of both Islam and Christianity, as well as the British humour interjected into this crucial conversation. Muslims and Christians no longer live in separate communities but, rather, interact on a daily basis in schools and work settings. This book is a great resource to foster healthy dialogue and understanding.’ Fouad Masri, President/CEO, Crescent Project ‘We hear the question often: do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

Many in our pluralistic world want the answer to be a resounding “Yes”, but few are actually qualified to answer that question. We need thinkers who have studied both religions extensively. Andy Bannister is just such an expert and he helps us to wrestle with this important question with the depth and care it deserves.’ Randy Newman, Senior Fellow at The C. S. Lewis Institute and author of Questioning Evangelism ‘With warmth, wit and approachability, Dr Andy Bannister has drawn on his extensive knowledge of Islam and Christianity to bring us a book of real wisdom.

He gets right to the heart of the questions and offers the reader accessible evidence to consider the essential claims of two faiths. I highly recommend this readable yet thoroughly researched book as a must-read for the curious, whether you have faith already or not. Prepare to be entertained, edified and gripped – I found myself unable to put it down.’

Dr Amy Orr-Ewing, President, OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics ‘In his latest book, Andy Bannister tackles one of the most challenging questions of Christian–Muslim dialogue. His arguments are lucid and his conclusions compelling. At the same time, he writes with respect, grace and humour.

This book is a must-read for all interested in inter-religious issues, both believers and non-believers.’ Peter G.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 75a47db545888d1c
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 977,915 bytes (0.933 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 176
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 307.05 minutes
• Total Words: 61,409
• Total Characters: 352,700
• Average Words per Page: 348.91
• Average Characters per Page: 2003.98

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