Back in December of 2015 a Wheaton College professor caused no small stir for declaring that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. At the time, Larycia Hawkins was tenured by the college as an associate professor of political science.
According to Wiki, Hawkins posted the following on her personal Facebook page:
I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God. … As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church. (Emphasis mine)
The Wiki article again cites Hawkins:
“I have sought the advice and blessing of one of the preeminent Muslim organizations in the United States, the Council on American Islamic Relations, #CAIR, where I have a friend and Board colleague on staff.”
The inclusion of CAIR into this drama is troubling enough, but it’s not the focus of this article. Obviously the concern is the assertion that Yahweh and Allah are one and the same God. You may also recall that several Christian theologians supported Hawkins’ statement. One was Miroslav Volf. Another was Gary Burge. The latter, who was also at Wheaton at the time, affirmed that:
“I have seen no theological argument from the college that would deem her commitments unacceptable… [Hers] is a clear, compelling affirmation of what we believe in Wheaton’s Statement of Faith.”
For the record, Wheaton’s Statement of Faith includes the following:
WE BELIEVE in one sovereign God, eternally existing in three persons: the everlasting Father, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life; and we believe that God created the Heavens and the earth out of nothing by His spoken word, and for His own glory.
WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, triumphing over all evil; and that all who believe in Him are justified by His shed blood and forgiven of all their sins.
One might conceivably excuse a political science professor at a Christian college for getting her theology dreadfully wrong. This should also highlight the concern of Christian colleges hiring people who don’t adhere to college statements of faith.
But the concern is the Reformed theologian who agrees with Hawkins and, by extension, Pope Francis. How do they reconcile supporting Hawkins with Wheaton’s statement of faith, when Islam denies the Trinity, Christ’s divinity and His resurrection? It subsequently denies the reformed teachings on salvation. See Mark Durie’s article for further information.
I’ll never waste an opportunity to point out the irony that Gary Burge supported Hawkins. Burge is someone who continually attacks Israel for denying Christ. He’s tried to use the Old Testament as a club to beat Israel with by asserting that it is out of covenant favor with God due to disobedience.
We might ask if the predominantly Muslim Palestinians are obeying Yahweh. Do we stop evangelizing Muslims if they allegedly worship the same God? For more on this topic see Barry Horner’s article Territorial Supercessionism: A Response to Gary Burge
Why bring all this up now, three years after the fact? Well, if you haven’t already been made aware, the debacle has now been dramatized into a film titled….Same God. Judging by the trailer and the blurbs, the film isn’t a theological treatise. See also this Relevant Mag Article. From the Same God website we read the following intro:
In 2015, a black, female professor at a prominent Christian college wore a hijab and said that Christians and Muslims worship the Same God. The firestorm that followed exposed the rifts among evangelicals over race, Islam. religious freedom…and Donald Trump (Emphasis mine)
That short blurb drips with assumptions, U.S. politics, identity politics and virtue signaling. This seems to be about victims – Hawkins and Muslims. While I’m tempted to say more, my concern remains with the film’s presumptuous message that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.
What does the Bible say about dishonoring Christ?
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33 (read the next few verses as well)
I’m immediately reminded of Nabeel Qureshi who converted from Islam to Christianity. Qureshi devoted a large chunk of his post-conversion life to bringing the gospel to Muslims. He didn’t believe Muslims worshiped the same God. He further affirmed this truth in his book No God But One – Allah or Jesus?
What a tragedy and shame that a movie titled Same God serves the world and its creators rather than the God Christians should worship! There is only One God, and He is not Allah:
O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His loving-kindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.
Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy
Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity. Psalm 98:1-9
Lord, come quickly!
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