The three Abrahamic religions all have similar concepts of God, yet each concept has its own particular qualities. All three consider themselves to be monotheistic. However, to Jews and Muslims, the Christian Trinity interferes with the concept of one God. Other religions may also consider Christianity to be tritheistic rather than monotheistic. Discovering the nature of God as seen through the eyes of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is an exercise in faith and reason.
The first Abrahamic religion was Judaism. Jews recognize that God does not have a gender; they refer to God in both father and mother roles. God is a father who supplies our needs and guides us in the right paths, as well as a mother who is gentle and nurturing. The God of the Hebrews is mysterious and unknowable. God’s divine love and mercy are unfathomable by humans, because we cannot be loving and merciful in the same way. Even so, God is a personal God who meets intimately with all Jewish people.
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"Concepts of God: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam".
Islam views God similar to Judaism in many ways. For example, God is one, and is unseen and unknowable. Human beings may have intimate relationships with God, but nevertheless, God remains a mystery. God is infinite and eternal, while humans are finite. Also, Muslims view God (Allah) as the same God who spoke to Abraham and to Jesus.
The Christian God is singular and plural at the same time. Christians believe that God is one and is composed of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the only religion that teaches three persons in one. They exist within God’s divine nature and relate to each other in love (Albl, 2009). The Catholic catechism teaches that the Father generates, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (Nicene Creed). Albl states “God is a unity already containing a kind of plurality.” This may sound like a paradox, but there are many paradoxes in the world of reality. Is light a wave or a particle? Undoubtedly it is both, depending upon how an observer chooses to look at it. Contrary to the supposed “conflict” between science and religion, we find that many concepts in modern science support the idea of the three in one, the monotheistic Trinity of Christianity.
- Albl, M. (2009). Reason, Faith, and Tradition: Explorations in Catholic Theology. Saint Mary’s Press.
