Different Religious Traditions View the Concept of God

Varying religions around the world have varying ideas about what it means to be divine and depict their gods in a wide variety of ways. The many different traditions have served as a major source of inspiration for great religious artwork, literature, and motion pictures, and their impact has permeated into people’s homes in the form of ritual objects that are hung on walls and set up on shelves. (ODonnell, 1983). The explanation of how Christianity and Islam view something greater than themselves will be a focus of this research. Considered to be one of the three Abrahamic faiths is Christianity. With an estimated two billion followers, it is the world’s biggest religious organization. (Ellis, 2014, p. 147). It originated from the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is believed to be a Jew born of a virgin mother, Mary. During its initial stages, it formed a small sect within the Roman Empire, but by the onset of the fourth century, it became the Empire’s official religion (Ellis, 2014, p. 147). Later on, the faith split like the Empire forming the Eastern Byzantine Churches had their headquarters in Constantinople and the Latin Western Churches whose center was in Rome. By the sixteenth century, the religion started spreading to other parts of the world where it was rolled out to Latin America by the Spanish. In the following times, it spread to Asia and Africa by the British (Ellis, 2014, p. 148).

Christianity places more emphasis on proper beliefs than most of the other religions. It employs a conservative approach meaning that the idea has to be in line with standards put up by the Christian fraternity. Being Christian means, one has to adhere to the critical beliefs of the religion and follow the teachings of Jesus (Ellis, 2014, p. 149).

At the center of Christianity is Jesus Christ who is treated differently within the faith. The most dominant view holds him as the son of God. The creed also believes that Christ reveals God’s word through flesh, and if God did not divulge, religion would have been impossible (Ellis, 2014, p. 155). Human beings had no chance of knowing God had He not shown Himself to them. Jesus takes the role of the son of God who did the work of revealing the father. Apart from the generalized concepts of God, Christianity has more specific views.

The Holy Trinity

The Trinity gives God a unitary aspect that possesses three persons: the Father, Son, as well as the Holy Ghost. It does not imply that there exist three gods in one or a single person who has three forms (ODonnell, 1983). The perspective is purely monotheistic, that is, an only supreme God. Believers hold that He has the qualities of a Person, but not in the ordinary logic of the word Personality. He is believed to have a conscious, will, and has an unadulterated spirit nature (ODonnell, 1983).

The monotheistic attribute of God states that there is only one God. The Trinity gives him the appearance of three persons in one. The three modes are not necessarily individuals but rather the forms in which the Supreme Deity exists (ODonnell, 1983). The doctrine of the account of the three descriptions given to God as Father, Son, and Spirit convey together a wholesome, complete dogma depicting the Godhead. The code of three should not be seen as a verbatim reality but as a paradigm that is parallel to the actual verity in the unseen life of God (ODonnell, 1983).

Christianity places a lot of emphasis on the divine quality of God, that is, his immense love and kindness (ODonnell, 1983). The element of the love of God as Christians view it is the basis that is used to distinguish Him and the Judaic God. He appears as love, that is, He the role of a loving father who is affectionate about his children without any terms, agreements or a sense of giving back (ODonnell, 1983). The aspect eliminates the feeling of unwanted fear of God. He bears total benevolence and kindness that makes him forgive the worst of sins if an individual sincerely repents of their wicked actions.

Trinity is not a word that one can directly cite in the Bible, but the holy book is hugely Trinitarian from its beginning to the end. It is imperative for a Christian to understand the biblical footing of the principle of three in one that lives within God. It provides a theological framework that provides for the understanding of the narrative of Jesus as that of God (ODonnell, 1983). It involves the exposition of the account of the Old Testament as a pronouncement of the oneness of God, and the New Testament acknowledgment of Christ as the Lord. The understanding of the two may not take place efficiently in the absence of the person of the Holy Spirit (ODonnell, 1983).

The association that subsists amongst the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost defines the foundation of the Holy Trinity. The Father and the Son have a relationship that is described as begotten whereas the Father and the Holy Spirit have a proceeding connection. It does not imply that there are two separate actualities (ODonnell, 1983). Identity relationships can exist regarding one thing. Begotten and proceeding connections do not allude to the existence of distinct gods. It refers to the different ways in which the existence of God implies, that is variations in personal roles (ODonnell, 1983).

The Father

He forms the first person of the holy three. The faith holds him as the cascade of the Godhead, the origin, the cause of code of origin behind the other two persons. He holds the unity of the three persons together in one. God is one because the Father is one, and it is from Him the order of the rule of the three, run it cause (ODonnell, 1983). The relationship that the other two persons have with the Father forms the basis of their definition. The Spirit ensues from the Father, and it is from Him the Son exists. However, the Latin West believe that the Ghost advances from both the Father and the Son (ODonnell, 1983).

Christianity believes in one God who is the maker of the universes and all its contents. The creed, however, sees God as a person but of somewhat different attributes than those of human beings. People have both the physical, and the spiritual traits whereas God are entirely unworldly (ODonnell, 1983). The implication of this is that His existence is in a realm that is entirely outside the normal physical cosmos. Christian conviction holds that human beings were created in the image and likeness of the Father (ODonnell, 1983). Discernibly, humanity is physical while God is not. Contextually, this means that humans share their lucid being with God, capable of developing reasonable decisions, and having relationships with each other and the creator (ODonnell, 1983). Nevertheless, the oneness of God does not exist in isolation as He can affect and be affected by others. Deity as the Father implicitly outlines this concept, an exceptional teaching of Jesus Christ. The persona of God led to the doctrine of the Trinity, a feature that is very distinctive in Christian communities, but others find to be controversial. Creation exists as a separate entity from the creator, but He cares and interacts with it. People owe their responsibility to their creator whereas He is responsible for the world and its history.

The Son

He is the second person in the rule of three, synonymous with the Son of God. Branding God as the Father and Son is an implication of passage of shared love (ODonnell, 1983). Going by the human nature, father and son are two separate entities who come into existence at different times. Nonetheless, this does not hold for God. The relationship between the two bodies is a segment of what God is. They are not detached people in the ordinary sense but are somewhat equal externally since they are indispensable to the being of God (ODonnell, 1983). The Father cannot be there without the Son. The word “Son” appropriately fitted the context of the Trinity’s Father and Son because it is a common analogy that defined the connection between human fathers and sons. The term Son should not be taken literally to mean that God reproduces similarly to humans (ODonnell, 1983). He is eternally begotten, saying that he is as much God as the Father and he is not born once as a human child. He comes from the Father in a continuous manner.

The Holy Spirit

Identifies the third person in the concept of three. He is perceived as the wind or breathes of God. From a Christian’s perspective, the Father refers to God beyond all, the Son denotes God with all, and the Spirit is God with people. The Holy Spirit exists naturally as God (ODonnell, 1983).

The Church

A Christian life is community-based. From the narrative of Jesus, He is the vine while his followers are the branches. Unity with Christ means solidarity with other members of the creed. Love powers Christianity, and an individual is only able to grow in it if they incorporate others. The Church defines the community of Christians (Ellis, 2014, p. 157).

Believers call the Church holy and Catholic. By Catholic, it implies that it is universal. With the notion that the body of Christ is the Church, there is eventually a unitary house of worship. It is holy and one (Ellis, 2014, p. 160).

Concept of God in Islam

Muslims refer to God as Allah. He is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Adam, Noah, and Muhammad (Ulla, 1985). The most significant teaching of the Islam religion is the oneness and the uniqueness of Allah (God). This principle of Allah is usually the initial segment of the first pillar of the Islamic faith and the leading article of faith that all Muslims must confess. The oneness of God in Islam goes beyond the definition of one in English. The word Allah has no plural or gender (Ulla, 1985).

Islam holds Allah as the invincible maker and supporter of the space, who has no similarity to anything, and nothing affords any comparison to Him. Contemporaries faced Prophet Muhammad and questioned him about Allah. From the description he gave, the responses originated straight from God in the form of a brief chapter within Qur’an (Ulla, 1985). The section is the basis of oneness or monotheism. It (chapter 112) states that Allah is full of mercy and compassion, He is one God who is the everlasting refuge, who has never subsisted as begotten, and nothing can be equivalent to him (Ulla, 1985). The argument raised by non-Muslim about the brutality of God in Islam holds no ground because all the chapters of Qur’an begin in the same manner whereby they strongly attribute God to immense mercy and empathy (Ulla, 1985). Prophet Muhammad referred to God as one who is more affectionate and benevolent than a mommy to her baby.

Islam views God to be justified. Sinners and wrongdoers must face punishment while the virtuous have the promise of favors and rewards of God. The concept of God’s mercy becomes fully portrayed in his doctrine of justice. Individuals who undergo challenging times in their lives for the sake of Allah should not correspondingly receive rewards as those who oppress and exploit others all along (Ulla, 1985).

The religion actively rejects any form of characterization of God as human or displaying him as supporting individuals or countries by riches, race or power. All humans are believed to be equally created by Him (Ulla, 1985). Nevertheless, people can still distinguish themselves and receive his favors via morality and piety.

The exceptional reference of Allah as a sole name of Supreme Deity is an indication of the stress placed on God’s purity to His word through his messengers by Islam (Chaudhri, 2010). On that basis, the faith believes that relating any personality or divinity with Allah is an unforgivable sin that does not deserve His mercy, regardless of his unlimited forgiving nature.

As the creator, he ought to have a separate form from His creation because possessing similar attributes may render him temporal implying that he should have a maker (Chaudhri, 2010). As a result, nothing is comparable to Him, and the fact that He is not impermanent entail that he is eternal. He is self-sufficient as nothing caused Him to exist, and nothing external influences his presence. Furthermore, he has no end because nothing creates his being. He lives as first and last. The fact that Allah (the creator) is eternal and everlasting, so are His traits (Chaudhri, 2010). He is not supposed to drop any of His attributes or attain new ones, that is, they are absolute.

For one to bear the title Muslim, or to cede themself to God, it is critical to have absolute belief in His oneness in a sense He the lone Maker, Protector, and Sustainer (Chaudhri, 2010). The idea, however, is not enough. One has to acknowledge that no other god deserves Allah’s worship, thus one has to stay away from worshiping any separate entity. Achieving this knowledge of the one and ever-living God, one is required to profess their faith in Him continuously, and should not cave into any form of inducement to refute the truth. Any individual who is viewed as ungrateful and denies this fact takes the terms ‘kafir’ (Chaudhri, 2010).

Faithfuls are required to demonstrate love and be grateful to God for the gifts He has given them. They also ought to be conscious of the fact that any of their right actions, be they psychological or physical, are way below the level of being able to commensurate with God’s favors (Chaudhri, 2010). They should remain anxious or lest God may decide to punish them. They are required to have fear for Him, submit themselves to Him, and be at His service with unbeatable humility. Islam observes that one may not be in a position to have the mindset of a true believer if they are not almost always mindful of the Creator. God strengthens faith, and His absence indicates that it will fizzle and go away (Chaudhri, 2010).

Smart’s Dimension of Religion

Smart (n.d.) is renowned for the dimensions that define a religion. It gave rise to the study scheme that provided an approach that serves to solve the mystery of establishing a religion. Whether a belief is theistic or not, they possess some recognizable components that can call for studies. The dimensions may vary in the level of significance, but they are ever-present. They include the following (Smart, n.d.).

Doctrinal Dimension

Every religion has its system of principles. They form part of the beliefs it embraces about the traits of Divinity or the final reality. They also expound on the relationship humans have with the religion or the last truth. For instance, Christians believe in a unitary God who has Trinity attributes (Smart, n.d.). The persons within the Trinity are not separate beings but instead are the modes in which God influences the lives of Christians. In Islam, God is one who bears the title Allah. He is incomparable to no other being, and his existence is eternal.

Ethical Dimension

All traditions have established a series of rules, behavioral dictums or precepts for demeanor. Based on these principles, a community can pass judgment on one’s action as being good or evil depending on the person’s conformity to the guidelines (Smart, n.d.). In Islam, an individual who fails to confess total belief in God and denies this truth becomes a kafir. In Christianity, a person has to live per the teachings of Jesus Christ, that is, the message of love and repentance, and believe in the Holy Trinity.

Social Dimension

Religious traditions have some form of social set-ups by which they disseminate themselves (Smart, n.d.). They can get exemplification from individuals who live outside of the society. Nevertheless, the actual teachings and traditions of any religion are reserved and shared via the social bodies such churches for Christians, mosques for Muslims, and temples for Hindus.

Experimental Dimension

It can be said to be one of the most striking facets of religion. It describes the capacity to conduct rituals, prayers, and worship to arouse the sense of security and relaxation. Feelings of admiration, incomprehensible presence, anonymity, and stupor can get induced (Smart, n.d.). Variation in religious practices is also similar to disparities that people claim to have. For instance, Prophet Muhammad talked about the revelatory encounters he had that formed the foundation for Islamic teachings. Some spiritual experiences shared by Christianity have been seen to be highly dramatic. For example, the way Saul got converted to Paul on the path to Damascus.

Mythical Dimension

Virtually all divinities have their narratives. The tales may talk about the acts of God, gods, or any other spiritual being (Smart, n.d.). They may also discuss a sacred teacher’s vocation, or about the experiences of religious organizations (Smart, n.d.). In Christianity, the stories are about how the world came into being, issuance of the Ten Commandments to Moses by God, and how God took out Israelite out of captivity and slavery in Egypt. Islamic accounts give a chronological series of events surrounding the life of Prophet Muhammad.

Worldviews

Worldviews refer to the base upon which the beliefs and deeds of an individual rest. They comprise a set of views and conclusions obtained from a series of organizations that are primarily considered to be unshakable (Jenkins, 2008).

Religious

Smart views this worldview, which may also be referred to as supernaturalist or theist, as one that is readymade for an individual who lacks the time and the energy to create theirs. It allows the utilization of deities and marvels to explain natural occurrences (Jenkins, 2008). Phenomena considered to have incidents that cannot be measured, unstable, and those that lack randomness is a humdrum for all supernatural divinities.

Smart argues that religious convictions are significantly behind the spread of philanthropy and community service. From the onset, it has been an inspiration to arts (Jenkins, 2008). Creation tales were sensibly the origin of science. Their fabrication formed the best practice scribes of the earlier days could use to give an account of the origin of the universe and how everything in it came into existence including human beings (Jenkins, 2008). Religion is also viewed to be the source of bias against infidels. It builds itself on the notion that creation came into being for the sake of man, judgment belongs to God to reward or punish people, and anything humans do to cut-short suffering or bring justice is useless in the long run.

Evolutionary

The primary doctrines of this worldview are that biological mechanisms adhere to physics and chemistry guidelines, and they all originated from the physicochemical schemes via natural selection (Jenkins, 2008). It also concludes that the diversification of life on earth is an independent process proof of influence by any form of external control. Humans are viewed to be a member species of the Earth’s biosphere, and not the pivot of creation, or its tenacity. Evolutionary worldview is however hotly contested by members of the atheistic group who believe that it dethrones God in its materialistic approach. They also disagree with its conclusion that the universe has a self-creating mechanism (Jenkins, 2008).

Personal Account

Religious diversification is a useful phenomenon in the world that in my opinion should be celebrated and protected. All religions should require an equal opportunity to exist and get exercised in a manner that they do not interfere with the practice of the others. I believe there is no higher religion than the other. Interreligious peace and tranquility can only see success if everybody learns to respect a religion that is not theirs irrespective of the fact that it is getting exercised in a manner that they do not support. I uphold the principle of personal responsibility for one’s actions. For instance, if a member of a particular religious organization commits a crime, they should face the full force of the law without balkanizing the entire divine group. I also believe that children should not be forced into religious outfits that parents view as best for them. They may be given a chance to discover others and make their choices.

References

Chaudhri, R. A. (2010). My book about God: (the concept of God in Islam). Tilford: Islam International Publications.

Ellis, F. (2014). The God of Christianity. God, Value, and Nature, 146-176.

Jenkins, W. (2008). Worldviews: global religions, culture, ecology. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.

ODonnell, J. J. (1983). Trinity and temporality: the Christian doctrine of God in the light of process theology and the theology of hope. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Smart, Roderick Ninian. (n.d.). Religion Past and Present. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

Ulla, M. Z. (1985). Islamic concept of God. London: KPI.