WHAT IS WORSHIP? You cannot worship whom you do not know, because genuine worship always engages the mind. So genuine worship is always in response to some wonderful truth about God.
DID THE OT BELIEVERS WORSHIP GOD IN THE SAME KIND OF IGNORANCE AS MUSLIMS, SINCE THE OT BELIEVERS WERE LIVING IN THE PERIOD OF PROGRESSIVE REVELATION WHERE THE WRITTEN REVELATION OF GOD IS NOT YET COMPLETE?
OT believers do not worship Him in ignorance, because they have personally encountered the living God. Yes, they do not know ALL that could be known about who this God is, but nevertheless they worship the CLEARLY divine Being who ACTUALLY revealed Himself to them. In short, the difference between the OT believers and Muslims is:
SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS, HAS THE CRITERIA FOR GENUINE WORSHIP CHANGED? Yes. When Christ enters the world, NT believers then worship Him, because He is God and He ACTUALLY revealed Himself to them. And Jn 5:23 says that you CANNOT WORSHIP God unless you WORSHIP the Son (i.e. Jesus).
Muslims, on the other hand, CANNOT say that they worship the real God, because they do not WORSHIP the Son. WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT PAUL SAYS IN AC 17:23 THAT POLYTHEISTIC ATHENIANS WORSHIP GOD IN "IGNORANCE"? ACCORDING TO THE TEXT, THEY NEVERTHELESS WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD, DON'T THEY? Also in 1Co 10:20; Paul says that whatever Gentiles worship, they worship demons, not the true God. Paul DOES use the word "worship" in Ac 17:23. But being consistent with his theology in Ro 1:19 and the rest of his writings, he DOES NOT say that they offer to God any genuine worship (which is only possible through knowledge; Hos 6:6). Paul is pointing out that Athenians admit that they don't know all the gods that could be known. And Paul uses this as an evangelistic opportunity to tell them about the God of gods. To twist Paul's words into saying that Athenians are worshipping the same God as the OT believers were, is to completely miss the point of Paul's message.
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CategoriesAll Discourse Doctrines Gospel Humour NT Commentaries OT Commentaries Tactical Life Date
August 2023
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