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Referring To, Believing In, and Worshipping the Same God

2014; Society of Christian Philosophers; Volume: 31; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5840/faithphil20141104

2153-3393

Jeroen de Ridder, R. van Woudenberg,

Theology and Philosophy of Evil

We present a Reformed view on the relation between Christianity and non-Christian religions.We then explore what this view entails for the question whether Christians and non-Christian religious believers refer to, believe in, and worship the same God.We first analyze the concepts of worship, beliefin, and reference, as well as their interrelations.We then argue that adherents of the Abrahamic religions plausibly refer to the same God, whereas adherents of non-Abrahamic religions do not refer to this God.Nonetheless, it would be wrong to say that adherents of all Abrahamic religions believe in and worship the same God.This paper addresses the question what a Reformed account of the relation between Christian and non-Christian religions entails for the question whether Christians and non-Christian believers refer to, believe in, and worship the same God.The Reformed account in question can be found in the writings of the Dutch theologians Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Johan Herman Bavinck, and Johannes Verkuyl, all of whom were inspired by John Calvin. 1 A Reformed View on the Relation between Christianity and Non-Christian ReligionsIn this section we present the Reformed view of the relation between Christianity and non-Christian religions in the form of several theses and provide explanatory commentary.We don't provide anything like a fullblown justification or defense of any of these theses.