I’m sure there are valid reasons why Christians all and sundry, even last one of those blessed souls, think that the God of Jeremiah or Jonah is the God as taught by Jesus Christ.
That is not the issue under contention.
It is the twin sibling of the issue under contention.
That issue - you still have not addressed - stubbornly clinging to your misguided belief that the islamic Allah is the God as taught by Jesus Christ - despite the evidence shown to you.
What evidence?
The Catholic Catechism says Allah is the God of Abraham. John Paul II kissed the Quran and quoted that section of the Catechism as something right and worthy. Benedict has prayed with Muslims.
Your own hierarchy has forsaken the xenophobia you still cling to. Why is it so hard for you to admit that other faiths might worship the same God you do, approaching the throne of the Lord with a sincere desire to love and serve him?
Do you believe Protestants worship the same deity you do? If so, what’s your problem with Muslims?
I wonder if the God of Jeremiah told the Jews to persecute Christians like the Islamic Allah told the Muslims. No? Why not?
Jeremiah was around well before the Christ, that’d be why. One should note that the Old Testament God did tell the Jews to persecute and slaughter anybody who was in the way, but that’s another discussion.
It all boils down to the fact that you just want to believe that a man who killed, raped, stole, raided caravans, plundered villages, enslaved little children would have the slightest credibility to speak on behalf of God.
And you take the word of zealots, of bandits, of men who cheat their own brothers, of kings and paupers and prophets and con-men who until a ‘conversion experience’ were happily persecuting you. Don’t talk to me about ‘credibility’.
If there are two cyclists - both wearing blue shirts - one of whom is a man and the other is a woman.
Now - would you say they are the same person just because they both wore blue shirts?
That is not the question I asked and has nothing to do with what I presented. You yourself said that the Muslim God is not the Christian God because, and I quote, ‘Their characteristics are so different’. It is a question of differing characteristics viewed on one person, not one of similar characteristics on different persons. Don’t try to dodge.
Caesar:
Quick clarification- the 1984 Catechism is not a binding document or infallible statement- it is a teaching tool. One must go further then the Catechism to get at the heart of what it is saying (or should be saying, in some cases).
Is it not safe to assume that one had better have a
very good reason to outright contradict the Catechism without falling into error? What reason have those people who deny that Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike worship the God of Abraham to go against this
teaching document intended to
instruct the faithful?