Does The United Methodist Church believe that Allah and God are the same? The answer I would give, personally, is yes and no. Yes, there is a sense that we share a God with other people of the Abrahamic tradition (Jews and Muslims). No, because our understanding of God is Trinitarian and that belief is essential to us. The United Methodist Church has affirmed that "the God who has acted in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the whole world is also the Creator of all humankind, the One who is 'above all and through all and in all' (Ephesians 4:6)" (2004 Book of Discipline). To be obedient to our own call and witness is to be loving and neighborly to persons of other faith communities. The General Conference of the UMC encourages interfaith encounters because: "We seek to learn how the Holy Spirit works among all people of the world, especially among those in other religious traditions." (2004 Book of Resolutions, "Called to be Neighbors and Witnesses: Guidelines for Interreligious Relationship") The Book of Discipline continues, "As people bound together on one planet, we see the need for a self-critical view of our own tradition and accurate appreciation of other traditions. In these encounters, our aim is not to reduce doctrinal differences to some lowest common denominator of religious agreement, but to raise all such relationships to the highest possible level of human fellowship and understanding. We labor together with the help of God toward the salvation, health, and peace of all people." (From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church — 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.) The following statements from the 2004 Book of Resolutions relate to Muslims and other faith groups: Rev. Bruce Robbins
General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns
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