Attributes of God
Senior 2 · Religion and Ethics
Attributes of God
Lesson 2 of 5
18 min
Stand on a hill in Rutsiro and look across Lake Kivu, or watch the sun rise over the volcanoes of Musanze. People have always asked: "Where did all this come from? Who was there before it?" Christianity and Islam give the same first answer: there is one God, who has always existed and who created everything.
In this lesson you will study three attributes: God is one, God is eternal, and God is the Creator.
In Christianity. The Bible repeats the central belief of the Jewish scriptures:
"Hear, Israel: The LORD is our God. The LORD is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4)
When Jesus was asked which commandment is the greatest, he answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Then he added: "This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37–38)
Christians believe that this one God is a Trinity: one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Christians stress that this is not three gods. Jesus told his followers to baptise people "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). The word is "name", not "names".
In Islam. The oneness of Allah is called Tawhid. It is the most important belief in Islam. A short surah (chapter) of the Qur'an sums it up:
"Say: He is Allah, the One! Allah, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him." (Qur'an 112:1–4)
Besought of all means the One to whom everyone turns in need. He begetteth not nor was begotten means Allah has no child and no parent. Muslims teach that to worship anything or anyone beside Allah, called shirk, is the most serious sin.
Both faiths reject the worship of many gods. They understand God's oneness differently, because Muslims do not accept the Trinity. You will study this difference with respect in Unit 2.
Eternal means having no beginning and no end. God was not made by anyone and will never stop existing.
"Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." (Psalm 90:2)
"He is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward; and He is Knower of all things." (Qur'an 57:3)
The Qur'an also calls Allah "the Alive, the Eternal", and adds: "Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him." (Qur'an 2:255). Slumber means light sleep, and overtaketh means "comes over".
The Bible opens with the words:
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)
The first words of the Qur'an revealed to the Prophet Muhammad also speak of God as Creator:
"Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth, Createth man from a clot." (Qur'an 96:1–2)
Both faiths teach that God created everything out of nothing, that creation is good, and that human beings are responsible for caring for it. For Rwandans, the old name Rurema ("the Creator") shows that this belief was already known here.
Question: Give one similarity and one difference between Christian and Islamic teaching about the oneness of God. (4 marks)
Model answer: Similarity: both Christians and Muslims believe there is only one God and reject the worship of many gods; Christians quote Deuteronomy 6:4 ("The LORD is one") and Muslims quote Qur'an 112 ("He is Allah, the One!") (2 marks). Difference: Christians believe the one God exists as three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity), while Muslims believe in Tawhid, the absolute oneness of Allah, who "begetteth not nor was begotten" (2 marks).
Tip
Memory hook. Two words start with T but mean different things. Tawhid is the Islamic belief in the absolute oneness of Allah. The Trinity is the Christian belief in one God in three persons. Both faiths agree on the most important point: there is only ONE God.
What does "eternal" mean when it is used of God?
Answer: God has no beginning and no end. God was not created and will never cease to exist.
Quote one verse from the Bible and one from the Qur'an that teach that God is the Creator.
Answer: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1); "Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth, Createth man from a clot." (Qur'an 96:1–2)
Explain the meaning of "He begetteth not nor was begotten" (Qur'an 112:3).
Answer: Allah has no child and no parent. Nothing comes before him and he does not produce offspring as creatures do.
What is shirk, and why do Muslims consider it serious?
Answer: shirk is associating partners with Allah, that is, worshipping anyone or anything beside him. It is the most serious sin because it denies Tawhid, the central belief of Islam.
A classmate says, "Christians believe in three gods." How would a Christian correct this?
Model answer: Christians believe in one God only (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Trinity means the one God exists as three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who share one being. Jesus spoke of baptising "in the name" (singular) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Remember
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