On Worshipping the Same God
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69574/aejpr.v1i1.22900Keywords:
God, Worship, monotheism, reference, pluralismAbstract
In this paper, I argue that if any one of Judaism, Christianity or Islam is true, then the adherents of each worship the same God as one another. The issue is primarily one of reference and on any plausible account of how “God” and what I call “cognate names” of God work, all refer to God if any refers to God. Thus, anyone who directs worship to what they suppose they refer with these names directs worship to God if there is a God. There is (perhaps surprising) scope for those with radically misguided views of the nature of God to nevertheless refer to Him and to worship Him should He exist.
References
Bogardus, T. & M. Urban. (2017). How to tell whether Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God. Faith and Philosophy, 34(2), pp. 176–200. https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil201741178 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil201741178
Craig, W.L. (2016). Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? Available at https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2016/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god.
D’Costa, G. (2014). Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199659272.001.0001
de Ridder, J. & R. van Woudenberg. (2014). Referring to, Believing in, and Worshipping the Same God: A Reformed View. Faith and Philosophy, 31(1), pp. 46–69. https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil20141104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil20141104
Evans, G. (1973). The Causal Theory of Names. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume, 47, pp. 187–208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aristoteliansupp/47.1.187
Evans, G. (1982). The Varieties of Reference. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gellman, J.I. (1995). The name of God. Noûs, 29(4), pp. 536–543. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2216286
“God – For and Against” (1993). URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aivRDaTnx8M
Hughes, C. (2004). Kripke: Names, Necessity, and Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198241072.001.0001
Pope Paul VI (1965). Nostra Aetate – Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Available at https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html.
Qur’an.
Russell, B. (1905). On Denoting. Mind, 14(4), pp. 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/XIV.4.479 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/XIV.4.479
Swinburne, R. (2016). The Coherence of Theism. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198779698.001.0001
Volf, M. (Ed). (2012). Do We Worship the Same God? Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Vroom, H.M. (1990). Do All Religious Traditions Worship the Same God?. Religious Studies, 26(1), pp. 73–80. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500020217 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500020217
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Tim Mawson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors of content published in the AGATHEOS retain the copyright to their works.
Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, which permits use, downloading, distribution, linking to and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
