Do we worship the same God as Jews?
By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10
The simple and direct answer from the perspective of Coptic Orthodox theology is no. We do not worship the same God as the Jews.
While it is true that Christians and Jews both claim the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the nature and identity of the God we worship are fundamentally different. To worship God correctly, one must worship Him as He has revealed Himself.
1. The Holy Trinity vs. Unitarianism
The most fundamental difference is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. In the Coptic Orthodox faith, we worship one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Judaism explicitly rejects the Trinity and views the belief in the Divinity of Christ as idolatry or "shirk." Since we believe that God is eternally Triune, anyone who denies the Son and the Holy Spirit is not worshipping the True God. As John the Apostle teaches: "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23).
2. The Incarnation
We worship God who became man. The central point of our faith is the Word becoming flesh. St. Athanasius the Apostolic argued in On the Incarnation that you cannot know God truly if you do not know Him through the Incarnate Son.
Jews worship a God who did not become man, who did not die on the Cross, and who did not rise from the dead. Therefore, the "God" they describe is a different being from the Trinity we adore in the Divine Liturgy.
3. "No One Comes to the Father Except Through Me"
Our Lord Jesus Christ was very clear: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
If the Jews have rejected the only "Way" to the Father, they cannot be said to be in communion with or worshipping the same Father. By rejecting the Image of the Father (the Son), they have lost the true knowledge of God. As the Church Fathers taught, the "God" of the Jews after the coming of Christ is a theological construct that ignores the fullness of God's revelation.
4. The New Covenant vs. the Old
The Jews continue to follow a "god" of a covenant that has been fulfilled and abolished. The Coptic Church teaches that the Old Covenant was a shadow. Worshipping the "shadow" while rejecting the "Sun" (Christ) means they are engaging in worship that is no longer recognized by Heaven.
In our Sunday Theotokia, we praise the Virgin Mary as the one who brought the True God into the world. If the Jews reject the Mother of God and her Son, they are rejecting the very God who spoke to Moses in the burning bush.
5. Contrast with Heretical and Protestant Views
Many modern Protestants and "politically correct" theologians try to claim that all "Abrahamic faiths" worship the same God. We reject this. This is a compromise of the Truth. There is no "God" outside of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you do not worship Jesus as Lord, you are not worshipping the God of the Orthodox.
Conclusion
While the Jews use the same name—Yahweh—for God, their understanding of who He is is a rejection of the Truth. Because they deny the Son, they do not have the Father. Therefore, we do not worship the same God. Our God is the Holy Trinity; their god is a unitarian deity that they have maintained in opposition to the Gospel of Christ.