Is Eru God?

[Angry Hill Troll]

I voted yes.

I'm a little bit surprised that nobody had yet posted this quote, which I've seen posted on many websites with essays on Tolkien and christianity:

God is the Lord, of angels, and of men-and of elves. Legend and History have met and fused.
--J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories," in The Tolkien Reader

It's getting a little bit late to completely explain my reasoning, but I'm convinced that for Tolkien, Eru=God.

Digressing a little bit, here's a philosophical question to ponder (I don't really have an answer for this one ): If two religions both believe in a single, omnipotent and omniscient God, do they necessarily believe in the same God (with differences of opinion of His characteristics, actions, and expectations of humans), or do they believe in different gods whose existences are mutully exclusive?

This doesn't strictly apply to the poll question, since worship of Eru and reverence for the Valar aren't (to my knowledge) religious practice in our world.

Cheers.