There is a fascinating discussion between the two theologians on twitter, sparked by Volf’s latest work, Allah: A Christian Response, in which he takes the position and Muslims and Christians worship the same God but have different understandings. Here are a few of the interchanges between the two of them on twitter (sparked by an initial tweet by Justin Taylor of McKnight’s comments):
.@scotmcknight on @MiroslavVolf‘s claim that Christians & Muslims worship the “same” God https://t.co/1m4vBgN1x9 pic.twitter.com/vVnenvx3nM
— BetweenTwoWorlds (@between2worlds) December 17, 2015
@between2worlds @scotmcknight The terrible price of this position is that Christians no longer worship the God of Israel.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf I’ve been trying to nuance this discussion … the word “same” means “identical” to most.
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Still “same” has a range of meanings. For me same God = not another, but differently (meaning: partly differently) understood.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf I know that, and I appreciate that, but most listeners, when they hear “same” they think “identical.”
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf That is, Jews, Christians, Muslims can operate on their own different bases for the same peace-making efforts. Agreed?
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight I am not designing faith to serve peace. For us, worshiping the God of Israel, the same God, is a matter of true convictions
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf Yes, agreed. I don’t think you are adjusting your faith, but seeking common theological ground with Musliims. Fair?
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Identifying common ground. I don’t think, strictly, we can create it. We must unearth it, discover, highlight.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Yes. But if there are no overlapping values, these efforts are partly undermined.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight I think it is a great problem theologically for us Christians if we cannot say that we worship the same God as the Jews.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight You are influential, and it is important that you state unequivocally that Christians worship the same God as the Jews.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf Don’t you think you and I, living love of neighbor, can work for peace? (I do.) Love of neighbor is Jewish and it is Muslim…
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf The God of Jesus is the God of Abraham and Israel. I have always taught that, but I’ve had Jewish scholars say Trinity …
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf … is not the same God as the God of the Jews.
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight No, that is not enough. As in John, Jews don’t think we worship the same God, but we do–Jesus did!
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Got to sign off. This is a very important discussion–too complicated for twitter. Should be continued.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf Yes, agreed… about to say the same. Online on my blog?
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Something more substantive? To say “We don’t worship the same God as the Jews” is a heresy, I think. It needs a serious study.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf If by “Jews” you mean today’s Jews, I won’t speak since I don’t know much about modern Judaism.
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf If you mean the God of Israel as found in the OT, yes. But I don’t like “same” — it gets the conversation riled always.
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight No, not just OT. Neither John nor Romans will let us do that. We Christians are grafted in and do not replace.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf OK, the God of Israel is fine with me if you mean by that the one Jesus and Paul taught — at their time.
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf Do you see any problem in the term “same”?
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@MiroslavVolf See this beautiful story today? https://t.co/xZaMg714vr
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
@scotmcknight Saw it yesterday. Wonderful. There are such examples on both sides. they need highlighting.
— Miroslav Volf (@MiroslavVolf) December 22, 2015
Carl Medearis also threw in a comment/question during the conversation, to which McKnight responded:
@scotmcknight @MiroslavVolf can we not simply say that the Big 3 all believe in the same deity but believe in him differently?
— Carl Medearis (@carlmedearis) December 22, 2015
@carlmedearis All three are theistic, one God faiths starting with the God of Abraham (and before).
— scotmcknight (@scotmcknight) December 22, 2015
Resources Related To This Post
