{"id":7760,"date":"2016-01-18T08:10:33","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T00:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/?p=7760"},"modified":"2016-12-16T12:25:11","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T04:25:11","slug":"it-depends-how-you-define-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2016\/01\/18\/it-depends-how-you-define-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"Define “worship”, not “god”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"A<\/a>
Blanchard Hall in Wheaton College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Justin Taylor probably has the most helpful post I\u2019ve seen yet <\/a>about the Wheaton controversy and whether Christians and Muslims worship the same god. I think Justin\u2019s comments cut through a lot of the word smithing that goes on in this discussion.<\/p>\n

His post<\/a> is rather thorough so I\u2019ll highlight what I think is his core contribution.<\/p>\n

In short, it may be helpful to reframe the conversation around the meaning of \u201cworship\u201d, not the word \u201cgod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of this discussion has been in the language of philosophy rather than of exegetical theology.<\/p>\n

Here is my proposal: Can we agree that the answer to whether or not Christians and Muslims \u201cworship the same God\u201d has a yes-and-no answer, depending on the meaning, but that Jesus taught that the following is true of all people, whether professing Jews, Christians, or Muslims?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then draws from various biblical texts to make the following points.<\/p>\n

1. If professing\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0do not honor God the Son, then they\u00a0do not honor<\/strong> God the Father<\/em>. (John 5:23<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2. If\u00a0professing\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0do not receive God the Son, then they\u00a0do not have the love<\/strong> of God the Father within them<\/em>. (John 5:42-43<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3. If\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0do not know God the Son, then they\u00a0do not know<\/strong> God the Father<\/em>. (John 8:19<\/a>; cf. John 7:28<\/a>; 14:7<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4. If professing\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0deny God the Son, then they<\/em>\u00a0deny<\/strong> the God the Father<\/em>. (1 John 2:23<\/a>)<\/p>\n

5. If\u00a0professing\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0do not come to God the Son, then they\u00a0have not heard and learned<\/strong> from God the Fathe<\/em>r. (John 6:45<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6. If\u00a0professing\u00a0Jews, Christians, and Muslims\u00a0reject God the Son, then they\u00a0reject<\/strong> God the Father<\/em>. (Luke 10:16<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, if one\u2019s definition of \u201cworship\u201d includes denying and rejecting God as well as not honoring, loving, knowing, nor hearing God, then <\/em>perhaps someone might conclude that Christians and Muslims \u201cworship\u201d the same God.<\/p>\n

But then again, it\u2019s highly doubtful that anyone would actually\u00a0 agree that these things are a part of the meaning of \u201cworship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justin Taylor probably has the most helpful post I\u2019ve seen yet about the Wheaton controversy and whether Christians and Muslims worship the same god. I think Justin\u2019s comments cut through a lot of the word smithing that goes on in this discussion. His post is rather thorough so I\u2019ll highlight what I think is his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2368,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[285,2179,180,288],"class_list":["post-7760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-missiology","tag-islam","tag-larycia-hawkins","tag-one-god","tag-wheaton"],"yoast_head":"\nDefine "worship", not "god"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Justin Taylor probably has the most helpful post I've seen yet about the Wheaton controversy and whether Christians and Muslims worship the same god. 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