In a discussion on another board, I am being told that I hold heretical beliefs because I do not believe that Muslims pray to the True God.
He says he has quotes from the likes of St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, St. Clement of Alexandria, and St. Basil the Great to prove that my belief is heretical.
Obviously, if the Church teaches that Allah of the Muslims is the Triune God, I will bow to the Church. I somehow doubt this.
Any thoughts?
cizinec wrote:In a discussion on another board, I am being told that I hold heretical beliefs because I do not believe that Muslims pray to the True God.
He says he has quotes from the likes of St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, St. Clement of Alexandria, and St. Basil the Great to prove that my belief is heretical.
Obviously, if the Church teaches that Allah of the Muslims is the Triune God, I will bow to the Church. I somehow doubt this.
Any thoughts?
My friend,
One cannot use quotes from the aforementioned Holy Fathers, since they all wrote before the advent of Islam, and could not be speaking about a religion that didn't exist yet.
To begin with, one simply has to look to the writings of St. John of Damaskos, who wrote extensively against the Islamic Faith.
My advice is to not even waist your time in arguing with people who are not open to hearing what you have to say. You have very little chance of convincing them. It will only frustrate you further and purhaps make you upset. Preserve your peace, and let them call you whatever they please.
Ioannes
Well, Jesus said (to paraphrase and combine some verses) that if people didn't accept him, then they didn't know the Father, and wouldn't have the Holy Spirit. I don't think you can worship "in grace and truth" if you reject God the Son (and say blasphemous things about him), don't know God the Father, and don't experience God the Holy Spirit.
Prior to the advent of Islam, the Kaaba in Mecca was a pagan Arab shrine, and Allah was at the head of their pantheon. When Muhammad took Mecca, he destroyed all of the idols in it. However, I have been told by one of my Palestinian Orthodox sisters in Christ that Allah is the generic word for God in Arabic.
--Sean
Some people prefer cupcakes. I, for one, care less for them...
I'm more confused about the position of modern Judaism. It seems to me that there is a distinct line where Jews of the True Faith became Christian and those who worshipped traditionalism remained Jews. I know this is a terrible oversimplification.
Do we and modern Jews worship the same God?
I'm not asking this to be anti-semitic. I have a lot of Jewish friends and, when I was in college and searching, I went to some synagogues. It seems that, in my mind, the lines are easily blurred. Their synagogues have a similar layout and many of their prayers are oddly familiar. Right now I can go either way on this issue.
It's not an urgent matter and I know this is a good discussion to have with my priest, but my priest is out of town for three weeks and I hate to stop having these discussions just because he's out. 
I also know that having this discussion on other forums will bring some folks declaring every religion as worshipping the True God, only differing in the amount of "Truth" about God they have acquired. I'm not going to trust their judgement on this one.
Since this is the most conservative Orthodox board of which I am aware, I'm posing the question here and hoping to get some good reading advice.
Thanks!