返回总目录
Adam, where are you?
Adam, where are you?
What is the fundamental difference between the nature or character of God
in the Bible and in the Qur'an?
In the Bible God "draws near", "comes down" and seeks after us in order
to enter into an intimate relationship with us. The whole Bible is the
story of God seeking man.
In the first chapters of the Bible about the creation and the fall of
mankind we read that after the first sin/disobedience of Adam and Eve
they are plagued by their conscience and try to hide from God. God comes
to them in the garden and calls out to them, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)
Man is on the run before God because he knows that he is guilty before
God. However, God comes and seeks us and wants to reestablish a
relationship of mutual love. It is God who takes all necessary steps
to make this possible again. That is the story of the Bible from the
first to the last book where we finally read about the new heaven and
the new earth: "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live
with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them
and be their God." (Revelation 21:3)
Finally the desire of God has been established. Read all of
Revelation 21,
it is a marvelous chapter.
Indeed God is a God who seeks after us, who comes down to be near us.
He reveals his character, his heart and his desire to establish a
loving relationship with his creation. Will you be part of his people
that are mentioned in Revelation 21:3? That is the topic of the Bible,
it reveals God to you so that you can respond to him and become part
of his people.
In contrast, the Qur'an portrays God as one who is "far", who is
transcendent only. As a Muslim theologian has said, "God reveals
only his will, not himself. He remains forever hidden". Even though
he is near as the jugular vein as the Qur'an states, but this is a
"technical" nearness, since just as we are not "aware" of our jugular
vein most of the time and don't have a personal relationship with it
this only conveys that God is "everywhere" (far and near) like the
air that is around us, but in the Bible God doesn't want to be with
us only on the basis of his omnipresence and omniscience because
being God he is "everywhere" anyway. No, he wants to be near to us
like someone we love.
Islam is about man trying to please God by obeying his will.
The Bible reveals God as taking the initiative and coming down to
seek after us. The movement is in the opposite direction.
More about this topic in
The Qur'an &
the Bible on God's Love, "The Love of God
in the Qur'an and in the Bible", and in Steven Masood's article
God so loved
the world ....
Answering Islam Home Page