QUESTION: Is the one God that many faiths believe in the same?God has many different namesThe Rev. Brenda J. Hayes, pastor, First A.M.E. Church, Kansas City, Kan.: I'm not sure what people of other religions believe, but as Christians, we believe what is written in the Old Testament account that our God is one and that our God is the only God. God is, however, called by many names. These names express the attributes and activities of a personality of ultimate power or force beyond that of human beings, of which human beings benefit. Even within the Scriptures we see the expanding list of names used to refer to God in the original text that are translated "God," names like Jehovah, Elohiym, Allah, Theos.We worship that which is greater. We bow and submit to that which is more powerful. Whatever name we use only describes our limited understanding and perception of one who has created us, and all that we know, and holds the power of life and death and beyond.Our perception and understanding of authority includes the right to call us into action and command our loyalty and respect. Although many may fit this description, there is an ultimate or supreme authority. We call it GOD. And all others must also acknowledge and defer to that which we worship.The one we worship is creator, provider, savior, sustainer. If the God that other religions worship fits the description of ours, then it would be safe to assume that it is the same God.

Similarities of our searching unite usRabbi Mark H. Levin of Congregation Beth Torah, Overland Park, Kan.: Jewish tradition states that there are 70 faces of God, which is to say that the one God becomes known to human beings through God's many aspects. Sometimes God's merciful face reveals itself, sometimes it's God's vengeful face or the face of justice. As monotheists we don't claim that these many divine traits represent independent, separate powers.Certainly the Abrahamic faiths believe we worship the same God, even though some believers cannot bring themselves to the understanding that, like the blind men feeling the elephant, we all possess pieces of truth. But beyond that, the study of religions demonstrates that homo sapiens are also homo religiosus: religious beings. The search for God when humans approach the limits of our endurance of pain, the limits of our comprehension and the limits of our moral understanding testifies to the unity of the human soul. The universality of our search for meaning in the face of our mortality, and the cross-cultural similarities of methods to encounter God demonstrate the unity of the human spirit and the divinity that spirit intuits.The divine is so far beyond human comprehension that we cannot expect that we would articulate the experience of the divine in a single way. But the testimonies to that experience are sufficiently similar that I believe they reflect the existence of a single God manifest to all.Send your questions for one of our panels of religion columnists to Helen Gray at The Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108. Send e-mail to hgraykcstar.com or a fax to 816-234-4787.