In his column of Oct. 13, Cal Thomas upbraided President Bush for recently stating that Muslims and Christians pray to the same God – a belief espoused by the late Pope John Paul II himself, who declared in Morocco in August 1985: “Christians and Muslims, we believe in the same God, the only God, the living God.”

Thomas, an evangelical, points out that the Christian God, unlike the God of Islam, is a unity of three persons in one Godhead. And he believes this triune God to be the true God because the Bible, and the Bible alone, tells him so. To quote Thomas: “God calls himself ‘I Am’ and says he is one, but with three personalities.”

One with three personalities? Those words are creedal in character, not biblical, and creeds presuppose churches. Obviously, Thomas doesn’t mean to suggest that those exact words are found in the Bible; but he’s certainly suggesting that Trinitarianism is part of its plain, incontrovertible sense – no teaching church required.

Well, ancient Christian history proves him wrong, as does the existence of Bible-believing, non-trinitarian Christians, whom he undoubtedly considers heretics.

Thomas asserts that “the central doctrine” of the Christian faith, in part, is that “one is saved and guaranteed a home in Heaven” by one-time repentance from sin and acceptance of Christ as Savior. Correction: the doctrine of eternal security is professed by much or most of Protestant Christianity.

The Orthodox and Catholic churches teach far otherwise.

William LaRochelle, Lewiston