Can two people be worshipping the same God with different names?

Question

Could it be that Gandhi, a Hindu, and Mother Theresa, a Catholic, were worshiping the same God of love and compassion?

Could it be that Fred Phelps, a Christian, and Osama Bin Laden, a Muslim, are worshiping the same God of hate and intolerance?

and the sister question;

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AucCjF6ADZUKt_E5fo9C_crsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071230102330AAsOpyL

Good answers so far, and here's the follow to both questions;

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071230103059AAA10xk&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwLbNmF.M_RAZFdzyullSC5sVEHRY7lEjTrQ--&paid=asked&msgr_status=

Answer 1

Interesting concept. Beyond just me worshipping Tahuti and you Odin, and we both worshipping the god of writting, but the specifics of the god Jesus the Prophet became when people started worshipping him, along with the God of Muhamed. Interesting. They are quite similar in many ways.

Answer 2

That was a trick that Christianity employed when converting pagans - turning the old gods into angels/demons or saying that Odin was actually God.

Pagans also did the same thing but not to convert others but to understand and adapt other pantheons into their own. Greek to Roman, for example. The Romans compared their gods to the Nordic and struggled to make them fit together.

Do I believe that everyone is worshiping the same cosmic deity - no. I think the deities are separate and distinct. I think the thought may give comfort to some though as a way of trying for tolerance among religions.

Answer 3

There is a difference between worshipping God by serving mankind and using other people's belief in God to justify your own need for power and to spread hatred and intolerance.

Fred Phelps is not a Christian anymore than Osama Bin Laden is a Muslim.
I could call myself a supermodel, but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly Kate Moss.

Answer 4

If you ask the Evangelicals then they will fall out of the chair before they even answer. Historically speaking, absolutely. There is a huge amount of historical information to pretty much prove just that. That most religions today evolved from an Egyptian Sun God faith. Sadly we have been fighting and killing forever for all human greed, that's the reason.

Answer 5

In answer to ALL your questions it comes down to this: Understanding WHO God REALLY is and His Personality. Aswell as WHO WORKS for God.

God is unlimited and therefore known by various names according to Gods qualities, abilities and human understanding He is so named. God is all powerful and we are minute in quantity and qualities of Him. He is the SUPREME person and the powerhouse of all creation.

The Supreme being creates the creator of the universe and imparts the relevant knowledge unto this being for creation to begin. Creation is continuous and there are phases of the material creation. Our identites are not with the body that changes until it dies, but the soul that is immortal, around which the body is changing. The soul has a journey to fulfill, and that is to qualify itself to reach the spiritual abode of the supreme being. In order for us to know about God, Prophets descend on earth to teach people. Many times this has happened and therefore Religions spring forth. In very tedious times on earth where there is major need for righteousness, God Himself descends and destroys all evil.

In Hinduism there are millions of "Gods" but they are DEMI-GODS with various roles to perform, they are not the supreme personality. The original name for the original person is Krsna which means reservoir of pleasure or all attractive, Because inevitably God is the supreme enjoyer. When Krsna creates the universes He becomes Vishnu. (eg. if you are a teacher, when you are at work you are called Mam or sir but at home you are yourself.) When God is creating the universe He changes accordingly and when He is Himself He is then Krsna. With us it is not possible to be everywhere at the same time, But with God it is and more, He can be everywhere but still be a whole person simultaneously. (eg. there are many droplets of water with the same qualities as the ocean, that are everywhere, but the ocean is still remains the same.
Another example is electricity, in the same way electricity spreads everywhere and illuminates things, yet the powerhouse remains the source.) Similarly God is a person and He is present everywhere.
Omnipresent: present everywhere.
Omnipotent: possesses all the potencies in full
Omniscient: has all the knowledge.
SO if people call God by different names, they're still referring to the same God (eg. If you are the president and I refer to you as: the president or call you by your personal name, you're still the same person. If you are calling God using names of the Demi Gods, the demigods have to still acquire permission from the supreme being. So either way the original supreme being answers.

Answer 6

Of course we were- if you believe in one God, an almighty GOd- you worship the same God as Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Answer 7

Yes.

I believe that All are One.

I believe that the Divine energy that I acknowledge is the same that all other religions/spiritual paths worship.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

yes- it's not the name it's the teaching that you should worry about.

Answer 10

as god doesn't exist, what you call NOTHING when you worship it seems rather irrelevant