This final episode reemphasizes what makes the God of Christianity unique, compared to the those of Judaism and Islam. The program unpacks the fork in the road, Christ Himself, based on Romans 10:9. Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate who rose from the dead. He was given all authority and dominion and made judge over all creation. He is the chief cornerstone upon which the Jewish Law and prophets are made complete. Jews are admonished by Peter to receive the Messiah or be "cut off." (Acts 3:23) True Jews are those who believe Jesus was the Messiah who rose from the dead, and Jews who don't have essentially forfeited their "jewishness." According to 1 John 2:22-23 rejection of the Son means one no longer has Yahweh as his God. Therefore unbelieving Jews do not believe in the same god, since they reject the Word of God who explained the Father. (John 1:14, 18) Since Muslims also reject the deity of Christ and the resurrection, they also do not believe in the same god. Critically the god of Islam is not remotely like the god of Judaism revealed in the Tanach (Old Testament). Allah is the author of evil, and has no knowable essence. He is so "wholly other" that a "relationship" with him is problematic if not impossible. "Relationships" are based on the free-will interactions between 2 beings. Since Allah wills everything, good and evil, belief and unbelief, "free will" between men and God doesn't exist. So "relationships" are precluded. In contrast with Islam, the god of Jews and Christians thrives off of relationships. The entire Bible presumes that God wants a relationship with humanity. And the logical outgrowth of this God is the incarnation of Christ. The Triune God, revealed only in Christianity, is therefore not the same as the god of Judaism and Islam.
Muhammed Sets the Worldly Example for Islam
The previous episode affirmed that the Muslim view of paradise is largely informed by the pleasures of this world, and this emphasis is understandable, given Allah's unknowable nature. Another bi-product of Islam's unknowable god is the exaltation of Mohammed himself. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, so Muslims gravitate to knowable figures in Islam, since the knowledge of Allah is lacking. This episode looks at Muhammed, the example for Muslims of submission to Allah. A cursory reading of the Quran and Hadiths conveys Mohammed as an astute warrior and politician who used worldly means to attain worldly ends. Murdering, lying, assassination and pillaging mark Muhammed's rise to power in the Arabian peninsula. Christians and Jews either converted or "felt themselves subdued" in the form of a tax. Jihad, or holy war, was the obligation of every Muslim in combatting active resistance to Islam. Islam is fundamentally a religion of this world, and Muslims are given divine sanction in the example of Muhammed to advance the religion using worldly means, even violating ethical norms. Given the unknowable nature of Allah, who is both the author of good and evil, moral ambivalence in Muhammed and those who follow his example should not be surprising. Submitting to Allah's will, not His nature (since it cannot be known) is the goal of Islam. Since Allah himself is not tethered to "the good," and Muhammed himself set the example of setting aside moral boundaries in the name of Allah, the average Muslim can justifiably do the same.
A Sensual Vision vs. The Beatific Vision
The sensual paradise portrayed in Islam is a logical outgrowth of the unknowability of Allah. Absent the knowledge of God, descriptions of the afterlife in the The Quran and Hadith (traditions of Mohammed)i naturally abound with the knowable pleasures of this life: endless sexual outlets for men (always with virgins whose "virginity" is somehow renewed), and bountiful sumptuous food and wine (with no negative aftereffects). This depiction differs markedly with the heaven of Christians, where the beatific vision is the highest reward and pleasure. "We will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." (1 John 3:2) "This hope fixed on Him" isn't just realized with the knowledge of God--it comes with "collateral blessing," the transformation of believers into the very likeness of God. The pursuit of God and His likeness highlights how different Christianity is with Islam--a religion whose vision of sensual paradise points to its true origin, the world. Christ, whose kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) seeks to satisfy mankind's "eternal itch," that of knowing God and looking like Him. "We all with unveiled face, are beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into that very same image, from glory to glory." (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Do You KNOW the God You Worship?
The ultimate goals of Christianity and Islam couldn't be more different. The goal of Islam is fundamentally submission to Allah: Islam means submission to God, and a Muslim is one who submits. While Christianity teaches that Christians should submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the ultimate aim of Christianity is the knowledge of God: "This is eternal life, that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3) Redemption, reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ, is the necessary stepping stone to attaining the knowledge of God. In fact, "mere forgiveness" without the knowledge of God corresponds to the stage of "a little child" (1 John 2:12-14) Sins are forgiven, but new converts are expected to grow into fathers, "who know Him who has been from the beginning." This intimate knowledge of God, grounded in the Truth, which is Christ Himself, leads to "sincere worship." (John 4:23-24) Christ presumed that true worship is based on genuine knowledge, for "we worship what we know." (John 4:22) False worship, by contrast, is adherence to beliefs and traditions not grounded in the Truth. In the case of Islam, "worship" is submission to an unknowable god called Allah. Indeed, the demand to submit to a god who cannot be known should alert Muslims to the nefarious presence informing Islam. Interestingly, Mohammed himself thought he was demon-possessed after his violent encounter with an "angel of light"-- Gabriel.
Worshipping in the Shadow of Allah’s Absolute Will
Given the philosophical agnosticism of Islam, how does the average Muslim approach Allah, who is unknowable? Really, the only thing that Muslims know for certain about Allah is that His will is absolute. He may or may not act according to the names that describe Him in the Quran, but everything that happens comes about because He wills it, hence the fatalistic outlook that colors much of Islam. Allah's will is absolute, and nothing, not even the "free choices" of men can alter it. Allah wills both good and evil, and every "choice" of man is willed and fated by Allah. According to one hadith (tradition of the Prophet), Adam tells Moses that his rebellion was God's will, and the "fall" wasn't his fault. A common interjection in everyday speech today in Saudi Arabia is "enshallah," meaning "if Allah wills." These examples underscore the fatalistic outlook of many Muslims who approach the unknowable Allah through the only sure thing to describe Him, His absolute will. So, what would be the Muslim take on Parmenides' assertion, "whatever is..is?" Probably something like, "Whatever Allah wills..will be."
Allah and Yahweh Don’t Will the Same
If none of Allah's attributes/actions point to His essence, what, if anything, describes Who He is? God's absolute will, one that wills everything in the universe, seems to be the unifying principle of this unknowable god. Both good and evil are directly willed by Allah. Surah 32:13 states that Allah could have willed salvation, but chose damnation for many. He wills belief and unbelief and creates the sin of the latter. The creeds of Islam portray the will of Allah as absolute--nothing in the universe can will contrary to his will. The Biblical description of Yahweh and Jesus Christ requires a distinction between God's perfect will and His permissive will. "God is not willing that any should perish but that all come into repentance" (2 Peter 3:9) communicates God's PERFECT will. While He only wills the good, He nevertheless PERMITS men and angels to will contrary to His own. Yahweh's will is not absolute in the above sense, for it allows choices contrary to His will. This permissive will underscores the essential goodness of the Christian God, One who would draw His creatures to freely choose Him out of genuine love for Him. He is not so insecure that He is threatened by any being in the universe that wills contrary to His will. The self-limiting permissive will of God, grounded in His loving essence (1 John 4:8) "risks" the rebellion of other wills, while He woos them with His essential goodness. Allah and Jesus Christ couldn't be more different. The episode also addresses common questions regarding God's sovereignty and God's "hardening of Pharaoh's heart."
Christianity and Islam: Starting Points and Goals
This episode contrasts Christianity with Islam in the themes of sin, salvation and ultimate goals. Muslims believe that all people are born without a propensity to sin (original sin) but are corrupted by the world when they engage in idolatry. Salvation then is renouncing idolatry by embracing Islam, the goal of which is submission to Allah. Christianity by contrast insists all mankind is born predisposed against God and the knowledge of God, and pursues a life of idolatry as a result of his rejection of the knowledge of God. (Romans 1:18-25) In salvation, the Christian repents of self-idolatry, putting his faith in Christ as the sin substitute who bore his sin and gave him His righteousness. He receives a new heart in regeneration, one that delights in the knowledge of God, as the Holy Spirit progressively conforms him into the image [knowledge] of Christ. Both Christianity and Islam renounce idolatry and promote total submission to God, but the starting points and end goals are very different, largely based on acceptance/rejection of original sin and the knowability of God Himself.
The Unknowable God of Islam
This episode unpacks the implications of Islamic agnosticism. Since Allah is wholly other, and even descriptions of His attributes in the Quran don't point to His essence (notwithstanding Sunni repackaging of Tahwid), Muslims are called to worship an unknowable god. Consequently the Quran is a guide for Muslims containing descriptions of what God does divorced from what He is. The 99 names of Allah, for instance, reveals sometimes contradictory attributes of God based on what He does, but this is not a problem since Allah's "wholly other" essence is not informed by His attributes. The episode also cites the Sufi mystical alternative, which seeks to get around the agnostic problem in Islam.
Islam on a Collision Course with Itself: the Quran
The God of Islam is so radically transcendent that nothing in the created order points to His essence. In the words of Surah 112, "there is none like unto Him," and this core doctrine of Tahwid insists on one eternal indivisible God who has no partners. This fundamental doctrine of Islam nevertheless contradicts the orthodox belief of Sunni Muslims, that the Quran itself is also eternal. If the speech of God in the Quran is also eternal and not created, then Tahwid is compromised and contradicted, the singular eternal indivisible God has a partner (shirk), His own eternal speech recorded in the Quran. Tawhid impales itself on an eternal Quran based on Allah's inflexible "oneness." Ironically, the answer to this intractable problem in Islam is the Christian God: God the Father and God the Son are both eternal. The Son is the eternal Word of God, the Logos who is one in essence with God the Father, yet a distinct person in the godhead. Orthodox Sunni Islam is self-contradictory: 1) The Quran is eternal, 2) Tahwid is true, and 3) Allah's attributes in the Quran describe His essence, contradicting Tahwid.
An Opening Primer on Allah
This and the next 10 episodes contrast the god of Islam with that of Christianity. The program begins with an excerpt from the popular biography of Mohammed by Ibn Ishaq, describing his initial encounter with the angel Gabriel. Mohammed purportedly received divine revelation that was later written in the Quran. Divided into 114 surahs, or chapters, the Quran presents a description of Allah (god) that differs significantly from the Christian God. Surah 112 captures the differences, affirming that Allah "begetteth not" and there is "none like unto him." The former description posits that no distinct persons exist in the "godhead," and even the word "godhead" is inappropriate. Christianity of course affirms the Trinity, and that Christ is a distinct person in the godhead. The second description, that there is "none like unto him" contends that Allah is so radically transcendent that nothing in the created order describes his essence. Christianity also affirms a transcendent God, but nevertheless insists that creation points to His essence, Romans 1:20 noting "for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.."