Additions to John Gulick's Comments

Submitted by Roy Abshire (United States), Jun 29, 2005 at 18:01

John Gulick's response to Daniel Pipes' discussion of the issue certainly make things "clear enough" from a biblical perspective. Unfortunately, Daniel Pipes seems to be more interested in an argument for "interfaith comity" than he is in hitting the core of the issue of the debate over whether the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is the same as Allah. Since Daniel Pipes ignores the distinctions so clearly made by Gulick, perhaps a more simple and highly secular explanation will assist readers in truly comprehending the issue.

Many languages, developed through history and oral and written use, use some form of the words "car" or "auto" to indicate a powered four wheeled vehicle. A step further into the analogy reveals that in English we use "car" to indicate both a Tonka Toy and a fully loaded, gasoline powered Humvee. While the word is the same and creates similar images, they are anything but the same when it comes to getting one from here to there.

Virtually all religions profess belief in a god or gods. On that level, Pipes is correct; the linguistic, historical and scriptural assignation of the word allah, or any form thereof, corroborates that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all refer to the god in their respective perspective with arguably similar terms. However, until the character and traits of the object of faith and belief enter the equation the consequential distinctions are indistinguishable. The closest connection Pipes makes to this is his reference to the fact that the three faiths share roots in Abraham from a historical perespective. Nonetheless, any close examination of the historical text reveals a significant parting in belief and in the perspective of the traits and character of the "god" worshipped. It is in these distinctions that the secular explanation is found. The "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is clearly not the Allah of Islam.

This said, I'll choose the "Car" that can genuinely get me from here to there! And, regarding Pipes' apparent desire for "interfaith comity", my God made this clear: (John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." "Clear enough?"

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