My friend, Dave Williams, has written a post about whether Evangelicals and Catholics believe in the same God. You can read what he has written here.

One of the reasons why this question comes up is less to do with Evangelicals and Catholicism and more about the understanding of different monotheistic religions. In our discussions with Muslims, for example, the announcement is often made by our Muslims friends that we believe in the same God. This is immediately undercut whenever we ask in return if they believe Jesus is God. The moment they say ‘no’ gives the lie claim that we worship the same God at all.

Some feel it is a little more complicated when it comes to Judaism. If you ask a Christian whether they worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, you will almost certainly get a hearty ‘yes’. If you were to ask a Jewish believer the same question, they would affirm the same. The New Testament Apostles also insist it is so. But interestingly, that doesn’t complicate things so much because Muslims would also insist that is true for them too. But if you were to ask the modern day Jewish believer if Jesus is God, you would get the same answer as from a Muslim. Specifically, ‘no’. This gives the lie to the claim that we now worship the same God.

What complicates matters (in the minds of some) is that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses – in fact, any Jew before the coming of the Lord Jesus – would not have named Jesus Christ as God. How can we insist we worship the same God as them, who do not recognise Jesus as God, whilst insisting we worship a different God to modern day Jews, who similarly do not recognise Jesus as God? The answer lies, fundamentally, in responding to God as he reveals himself to us. Rather than reinvent the wheel, this is fleshed out (at least in part) here by Jared Wilson.

In John 8:56, Jesus insists that ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ There are various discussions to be had specifically over what and how Abraham saw Jesus’ day. But however we cut it, Jesus is clear that Abraham foresaw (in some sense) the Lord Jesus and rejoiced at his coming. By contrast, Jesus says to the Pharisees in that same passage that they reject him and in so doing reject God. They, much like Aaron and the golden calf episode, worship a false god. Not the God who revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and who fully and finally revealed himself in the person of Jesus.

What, then, of the God of the Roman Catholics? They do recognise Yahweh and they similarly acknowledge Jesus both as God and saviour. If we were to ask the Catholics ‘is Jesus God?’ they would affirm, along with Evangelicals, ‘yes, absolutely’. They affirm this formally, creedally and actually.

This is why I was a little surprised at what Dave Williams wrote here. I was most surprised he said that we don’t think of ‘Muslims as positing and [sic] alternative divine being in the way that we may say that Hindus do’. I find it surprising because I do think they present an alternative divine being. Not like the Hindus inasmuch as Muslims do not propose a multiplicity of false gods; but nevertheless a different unitarian god who is very much not the true and living triune God. Allah is necessarily a different god. This is an entirely different situation to Roman Catholics to acknowledge the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who has fully and finally revealed himself in the Lord Jesus. This is the very same God that Evangelicals worship and affirm.

Dave also looks to answer the question in a different way. He suggest – not unreasonably – ‘it is possible to think of and represent God in such a way that we lose, distort or add to his character.’ He goes on to argue that Roman Catholics do exactly this to God. In that sense, they worship a different God to Evangelicals. I understand what Dave is saying here. However, I am not convinced it is the most helpful way to say it nor really addressing what is being asked.

Those who insist that we have creedal affinity with Roman Catholics concerning God are right. We share creeds that affirm the selfsame God. We both believe in the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who fully revealed himself in the person of Jesus. We recognise Jesus as Lord and God. We affirm the same God.

Where our disagreement lies with Roman Catholicism is not in our different conceptions of God. We disagree with Roman Catholics over the nature of the gospel. We disagree over the kind of saviour that Jesus is. We disagree over both the scope of the atonement and the means by which it is appropriated. Now I accept – as I think Dave was trying to argue – our different gospels might lead us to think about God in different ways. Our different gospels might lead us to believe that the one true God that we both worship is fundamentally different in his character and disposition. I find it hard to conceptualise that as believing in two different gods rather than both believing in the same God and one of us misunderstanding what he is like and, therefore, what he demands.

The same discussion could be had between those convinced of Calvinistic soteriology and those who subscribe to Arminian soteriology. The difference between the Calvinists and the Remonstrants, for example, was not a belief in two different gods. Both affirmed the same triune God. In essence, they didn’t disagree over the essence of the gospel being salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. But they did disagree over their soteriology and, in so doing, came to quite different understandings of what God is really like and, therefore, what he demands. But almost nobody believes the difference between Calvinists and Arminians – even though they both have different understandings of God and his character – that they do, in fact, worship two different gods. This is quite clearly a case of the same God, the same fundamental gospel, but nevertheless differences in understanding what God is really like.

When it comes to Roman Catholicism then, yes, there is a different gospel here. And that different gospel leads Roman Catholics to misunderstand (as Evangelicals judge it) what God is really like. But that is no different to Calvinists and Arminians disagreeing over what God is really like because of their opposing soteriology. Dave speaks of distorting God’s character so that we lose what God is really like. But a Calvinist would say Arminians do exactly that; few would argue that they, therefore, worship two different gods. Not really. They worship the same God, but one of them misunderstands what he is like.

Dave is right that belief in God centres on Jesus who is God. But Roman Catholics, as much as Evangelicals, would affirm that too. I agree with Dave, their false gospel leads them to believe wrong things about God and, therefore, distort his character. But to misunderstand God’s character is not to misidentify God. It is to misunderstand what he is like. It isn’t the same thing.

Imagine me and a family friend, who both know my Dad, but have radically different conceptions of him. We belong to different families and therefore view my Dad quite differently. I am in the family and he is my Father. But the family friend knows who my Father is too, they’ve not mistaken his identity, they’ve just misunderstood what he is really like and – as much as they might admire him and wish to be part of our family – there are some other significant barriers that stop that from happening. The point is, correctly identifying who my Dad is doesn’t automatically lead to being part of the family.

That is the issue. If we are asking whether practicing Jews, Muslims and Christians worship the same God today; the answer is ‘no’. If we are asking whether Roman Catholics and Evangelicals worship the same God; I think the honest answer is ‘yes’. The issue between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics is not whether they worship the same God (they do); its whether they worship God as he intends and whether the gospel they believe is the one he revealed in the Lord Jesus. It’s not a matter of identification of God; it’s a matter of listening to what he says and responding to him in the way he tells us to respond to him. The issue isn’t different gods; it’s different gospels.