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Was Eru based off God? Yes. Do they have strong similarities? Certainly. But are they the same? I would have to say no. There are simply too many incongruencies. One of these, Esty has already explained beautifully. LMP, I understand what you are saying... to an extent. But even in Old Testament times God still did seek out relationships with his people. Abraham, Jacob, David... the list goes on. It was in a slightly different way, granted, but Eru does not even take this step. His contact with his creation is very limited. Eru's interest in Arda seems to be largely with concern to his creation as a whole rather than to the individuals in it.
Another issue I have wrestled around with is that one of the Christian beliefs is that God does not test us beyond our strength. Let's look at Frodo... his Quest was inherently beyond his strength. He was set with an impossible task, one he would be forced to fail at (if you can call it failing. But anyway...). And it's pretty explicit that Frodo was meant to bear the Ring, that it was appointed to him - the "by Eru" is implied. There's a reason God sent Jesus to the world rather than having a sinful being appointed to the (for them) impossible task of saving the world. This is not saying that I think Frodo should have been able to destroy the Ring, nor that there should have been a Christ-figure in LotR. I don't think that. But I do think that it is an indicator that Eru is not the same as the Christian God.
I think this may be one mistake I have made in the past, trying to equate Eru too much with God. It has been something of an assumed thing, but it makes more sense to analyse Eru as an independent being, the god of Arda and a representation, or a depiction, of God, but not God himself. Coming back to the translator conceit, I think a line does have to be drawn. The truth is that Middle-earth is fantasy. Even if it is read as a mythology for our world, that doesn't necessarily make Eru God any more than it makes the Greek Zeus God.
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