Do We Worship the Same God?

Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike affirm that Abraham/Ibrahim is a spiritual forebear both in genetic and exemplarist faith lineage. Do these self-proclaimed children of Abraham, however, worship the same God? There are those within each of these faith traditions who would assert this proposition but many others who would disallow the idea. There is moreover a related question: does our ability to live together in peace require us to affirm each other as essentially fellow believers? Granted that each faith community might understand God’s nature differently and worship differently; do we need to find sufficient common ground to overcome any deep-seated ill feeling? The three “Abrahamic” Faiths claim to be monotheist and assert common roots in this historical figure but the great majority of Christians define God in terms of the Trinity, a position that seems at variance with the more stringent monotheism of Judaism and Islam. Even then Jewish and Muslim traditions diverge. The positive perspective is that since the mid-20th century in particular there have been growing conversations both at academic and more general levels between adherents of the three faiths.