Dutch Bishop Martinus Muskens has suggested that all Christians should refer to God as Allah,?

The Christian God is the same God of Abraham as the Islamic God. Allah is one of the many names ascribed to God.

It is always good to find common ground where it exists, but I am afraid that in this case there is none. From all that I have read, it looks very doubtfull if Christians and Jews do in fact worship the same God as the Muslims. It seems likely to me that Allah was some regional deity that Mohammed proclaimed to be the great. It might be that Allah was some form of Spirit being, or he may have been invented by Mohammed, but he had nothing to do with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I could of course be wrong, but that is how it looks to me.

I would not, because they are not the same.

People often want to believe that because these religions are monotheistic and claim Abraham as a patriarch, that they worship the same God. This myth is perpetuated by the Muslims, who want to draw people to them by claiming that Islam is the final of three ways God reached out to mankind. This belief is in error.

These remote similarities between Islam and Christianity are at best superficial. The differences outweigh the similarities.

An example:

In Islam, the Qur'an states rather clearly, "Proclaim: Allah is One. Allah is Eternal. He neither begets nor was begotten." (Surah 112:1-4)

In Christianity, we believe that Jesus was begotten. (John 1:14) Jesus clearly states that He is God: "Truly, truly I tell you, before there was an Abraham, I am!" (John 8:58) Naturally, there are many other examples I could use, but it wouldn't really help.

Now, we have a conundrum. Either Islam is right, and Jesus is not God, nor begotten; or Christianity is right, and Jesus is God, and is begotten. We can't have it both ways. Islam will never hold to a belief that Jesus is God. And Christians will not accept that Jesus is not God, and is not begotten. Therefore, they do not worship the same God.

Sure, why not.

Something referred to as a "Mexican Standoff" is when two people are standing face to face each in a position to affect the other (i.e. both armed and pointing a loaded gun at each other.) Neither will move because of the potential for being harmed by the other.

This tense situation lingers until one person is willing to take a chance and relax their stance, which usually results in both parties backing down.

Christians SHOULD be the first ones to flinch and relax their proverbial grip... aren't we taught to "love thy neighbor." If we can put an end to the tensions between the Muslim world simply by calling our God "Allah" what a small gesture for peace.

Here are some instances where God is called many, many names: (I looked them up... I'm not that religious myself.)

Holy One, known by many names -- Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer (http://www.uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/medita...

Source of Life who is known by many names (http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/departments/peace_...

We have also learned that God has many names. (http://www.watchmanministries.org/war_college/corp...

The Many Names of God (http://vpopmail.pointlessmedia.org/~alcog/LordofHo...

(http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/stories/how...

Its a GREAT idea. Then all we have to do is find some middle ground on that whole "N" word/Homie thing and we will be set.

g-day!

No! By calling God 'Allah' I would be acknowleding that the God of the Qu'aran is the same as the God of the Bible. And thats just not true. The character traits given to God are completely different. While the God of the Bible is merciful, the God of the Qu'aran seems vengeful.

My God's name is Yahweh..not Allah.

God bless

I would never call my Father in Heaven Allah. This name cannot be found anywhere in the Hebrew bible. This name does not exist in the Hebrew language for addressing the One True and Living God, Elyon. Never in a million years would I insult my Father by calling Him so horribly out of His name.

When we lived in Malaysia we used Allah as the name for God. It would likely be misunderstood here so, no. Why use Arabic in preference to any other language?

Allah is only another word for God

Relieving world tensions would take more than that!

Ok as long as Jesus remains Jesus and I guess it would

The Jews referred to God as Lord

No problem

NON, NOPE, NEIN, NYET, NUNCA.

That is as many languages as I know the word NO in.

Allah is the word a pagan terrorist used for his god. None of the believers of that sect acknowledge that the God of this universe was willing to pay for our misdeeds, that He made the final sacrifice. The worshippers of Allah still sacrifice animals. YECCCHHH!

Are you %^$#ing kidding me? There is no way that I would refer to my God as allah. That name- allah- means nothing to me. It appears that we are getting closer to Armageddon than I thought. Thank the Lord!

Absolutely NOT!

Anyone who has done a study of Christianity and Islam knows that Allah has nothing to do with the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus.

If not believeing in Allah's message to Muhammad will land me in Hell, then I will gladly accept eternal damnation rather than spend a moment in the presence of such a demented, insane imbecile. Fortunately, I don't have to worry, because such a schizophrenic, inconsistent caricature of a deity could not possibly be the Author of the Universe.