Post by Satori on Dec 31, 2004 3:37:11 GMT -5
bobarian said:
I would say that God is Allah, but that Muslims don't have the right conception of Allah.
I agree ... almost. It may not be that they have the wrong conception, it may just be that they have a different one.
Like, both you and me can know Bill. You may believe he has three heads and is a CIA operative. I don't. We believe different things about the same person, but I'm right and you're wrong (for the sake of the illustration, of course.)
True, but let's say Bill didn't have three heads or work for the CIA and we both knew him. You might like Bill and I might not - that doesn't mean that Bill is one thing or the other, just that we each have a different view of him.
I agree with Jared, though, that there is no difference between the OT and the NT God. I think people only make that claim who do not understand the depth of biblical theology.
Perhaps they understand it more deeply. Or maybe they just understand it differently.
On the surface they seem different, but taking the Bible as a whole there is a lot of unity. God is very warlike in the NT (Jesus turning over the tables in the temple?) and very peaceful in the OT ("You are my shepherd, I shall not want. You maketh me to lie down in green pastures, you restore my soul...") Same applies vice versa.
I must be missing something here, because I though that's what I said.
Anyway, nice talking to you, hope what I said makes sense, because to me it makes a lot of sense in a senseless world.
Ah but the world makes perfect sense to me Bob. Well, almost - I'm still too attached to the personal dramas we each invent and the intangible thought loops we like to call 'past' and 'future', but that's the way it is at the moment and that's fine.
Take care and have a happy new year.