The central doctrine of the Christian faith is that God sent His Son, Jesus
Christ, to die for sinners and by repenting of sin and accepting Christ as
Savior, one is "saved" and is guaranteed a home in Heaven. Muslims do not
believe God had a son and, therefore, no atonement for sin is necessary.
Muslims believe simply telling God one is sorry and repenting of sin is
enough, if one also lives up to the five "pillars" of Islam. Furthermore,
according to Muslims, Jesus did not die on a cross (as Christians believe);
instead, God allowed Judas to look like Jesus and it was Judas who was
crucified.
Evangelical Christians believe the Bible is God's Word and is without error
in the original manuscripts. Muslims respect the word of the prophets, but
claim the Bible has been corrupted (mostly by Jews) and is only correct
insofar as it agrees with the Koran.
God calls himself "I Am" and says He is one, but with three personalities.
Muslims believe God's name is Allah and reject the Trinity.
How can the president say that we all worship the same God when Muslims deny
the divinity of Jesus, whom the president accepts as the One through whom
all must pass for salvation? Do both political parties have the same
beliefs? Are all baseball teams equal (clearly not, because only two will go
to the World Series)?
The president can be commended for sincerely reaching out to Muslims, but he
should not be commended for watering down his beliefs and the doctrines of
his professed faith in order to do so. That's universalism. There are
"churches" that believe in universalism, his Methodist church does not. No
Christian who believes the Bible believes in universalism. And No Muslim who
believes the Koran does either.
President Bush is wrong - dangerously wrong - in proclaiming that all
religions worship the same God.