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 Jesus vs. Generic GodPreaching and teaching our particular God
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Shortly after September 11, a preacher told me about seeing a couple interviewed on TV. In great grief, they had just lost their beloved adult daughter on that terrible Tuesday. The reporter, perhaps trying to find a way to wrap up the conversation, said, "Well, er, I guess you'll be going to your place of worship this weekend to receive some consolation." The mother replied, "No. You see, our religion teaches that we ought to forgive our enemies. And we are just not ready for that right now." Now there was a woman who knew something of the perils of worshiping a God whose name is Trinity, who has come to us as a Jew from Nazareth named Jesus. When lecturing on preaching to fellow pastors, I have sometimes told them, "Some of your homiletical failures are not your fault. Many of your failed sermons are due to Jesus. You have some tough material with which to work!" In debates on campus, in order to put a point on this issue of divine particularity, I have said, "Christians don't believe in 'god.' We believe that Jesus Christ is God." That affirmation makes us—in a world of generic, fuzzy contemporary gods—peculiar. After the September 11 disaster, I heard a professor of Islamic studies say on TV, "Well, after all, Christians and Muslims both worship the same God." In a divided America, there are understandable political reasons for hoping that were the case. However, I've read a fair amount of the Qur'an, and I find vast amounts of material there that would not fit into the mouth of Jesus under any circumstances, no matter how much we need to get along with Muslims. Of course, Muhammad is not thought to be the only begotten Son of God (an idea abhorrent to Islam). But he is believed to be a perfect revelation of the true God. Muhammad was a righteous warrior. Jesus died without defending himself, died forgiving his enemies (us). Between these two definitions of "God" there is a great gulf that cannot be bridged by well-intentioned attempts to jettison all of those troubling peculiarities that make Muhammad almost nothing like Jesus. To do so would be unfair to Islam, to say nothing of what it would do to Christianity. Preaching a Particular GodWe cannot get around the central Christian claim that, when we look at the life and teachings of this Jew from Nazareth who was born of a woman, lived briefly, died violently, and rose unexpectedly, we have seen as much of God as we ever hope to see. The current age is a particular challenge for preaching a particular God who is manifest to us in Jesus the Christ. For some time now, we have been in the mire of something called "spirituality," which in my experience tends to be decidedly anti-traditionalist, anti-institutional, amorphous, vague and therefore undemanding. Spirituality is what I feel when I feel better than I did before I felt it. It is a big, accommodating basket into which I can put almost anything I want to feel about the "higher power," or "spiritual force," or "my own little voice," or whatever I call whatever it is that makes me feel better. |        
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Anon
You have become to worship the signpost rather than the direction to follow. God is the God of everyone and far from saying the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" ; This is what GOD is saying. The obverse would be that Abraham's Isaac's and Jacob's God would all be different, because this was BEFORE Jesus's time. Is it that Jesus's God only pertained to him and us? There is only one way to God and it was taught by Jesus. The difference of religions is man-made. Political Power Wealth and Control.
Michael Uebergang
The difference between the forgiveness Jesus gave is in a number of things: first that he was the sinless Son of God; second that he spoke with the authority of the divinity in his own nature; third that his forgiveness is granted at great personal cost, his own sinless sacrifice on behalf of all of humanity, including Muhammad, not that all accept or receive his forgiveness; fourth is that his words of forgiveness are performative, they actually bestow divine forgiveness due to all of the above. I am indebted to Jesus for the forgiveness of my sin(s) and cleansing of my sinful nature. From the start of his ministry, indeed his life, before he took to the pulpit or the mantle of prophet and teacher, and before he announced his sacrificial (self-denying, dying and undying, redemptive...) mission, Jesus was tested and tempted. From his beginings he proved himself to be one who taught with authority because he practised what he preached and displayed the unique attributes of divine power
Willliam Gomez
The word "God" is very adaptable to everyone's believings. It is not the same with Jesus. You are with him or against him. No middle points.
naeem aslam
I would like to emphasise that Prophet Muhammad was as forgiving as prophet Jesus. Just to quote one such instance----His entrance to Makkah and his forgiveness to all who had bestowed the most beastly acts on those who had accepted Islam as their religion. Wasn't that an act of supreme forgiveness. Then he never went to war. It was the Quraish of Makkah who thrice engaged him by attacking Medina where he had moved after the attrocities had become unbearable in Makkah.so he was not the aggressor but war was forced on him
Sandra Lee Blood
What a breath of fresh air and how timely (though written in 2002) in light of the recent evangelical response to the Muslim document, "A Common Word Between Us and You." I fear that in the name of being a spiritual witness and loving our neighbor, the 138 respected evangelical leaders who signed the response have lost sight of the foundational truths contained in this article. It should be must reading for every Christian in order to counter the generic God comments when they arise in their sphere of influence. If we all become more conscious of speaking the name Jesus when we think God, we can make a difference. Thank you, Will Willimon for an articulate article.
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