Worldviews

Who Is God? How the World's Traditions Answer

Who or what is ultimate? The traditions answer in strikingly different ways: Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism confess one personal God; Hindu traditions range from an impersonal Absolute (Brahman) to a personal Lord; Taoism speaks of the impersonal Dao; Buddhism is largely non-theistic; atheism denies God altogether. Christianity confesses one God who is both infinite and deeply personal, and who, it claims, came among us in Jesus.

How the traditions answer

Judaism & Islam. Fierce monotheism: one personal God, the Creator, distinct from creation (the Shema; tawhid). Explore →
Hindu traditions. From the impersonal Absolute (Brahman) of Advaita to the supremely personal God of the devotional (bhakti) paths. Explore →
Sikhism. One Creator God (Ik Onkar), formless, without hatred or fear, known through the Name. Explore →
Taoism. The Dao, the impersonal, unnameable source and way of all things, rather than a personal deity. Explore →
Atheism. There is no God; the question is whether the arguments for and against God's existence favour belief. Explore →

The Christian answer

Christianity confesses one God, the Creator distinct from creation, who is at once infinite and personal, and whose very nature is love (1 John 4:8). On the oneness of God it stands close to Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism; it differs in confessing that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that this God came near, and made himself known, in the face of Jesus Christ.

Frequently asked questions

Do all religions believe in the same God?
No. They differ deeply: some confess one personal God, some an impersonal Absolute, some many deities, some no God at all. Christianity describes these differences honestly rather than claiming everyone means the same thing.
What do Christians believe about God?
One God, Creator, infinite yet personal, whose nature is love, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Trinity), and who made himself known in Jesus Christ.
Come and see: Is Jesus God? → The Trinity explained → Does God exist? →
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