Bishop Says Call God Allah
Uncategorized, Catholic, General August 16th, 2007Most of you probably thought this was an Episcopalian, huh? The conservative Anglicans among us can breathe a little easier. This utterly mistaken man who believes we can achieve better relations with Muslims by calling God “Allah” is actually a Catholic bishop in the Netherlands. His goal of achieving peace between religions is laudable, but I disagree with this method. His argument that Catholic liturgies regularly use “Allah” for God is also not convincing since in those places he lists, referring to God as “Allah” is culturally and linguistically proper. Calling God “Allah” in a Western country is totally foreign and has very non-Christian connotations. If we want to have dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, we can start by better understanding and engaging each other, not by changing our traditions to suit ecumenical pipe dreams.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I should think he be asked to recant his statements. Christianity is all about taking a stand and making disciples for Jesus, not “Allah”. Others become Christians, not the other way around. How can this Bishop possibly hope to guide his diocese into truth with attitudes like that? I’m a convert and I converted to the Catholic faith specifically because it was the Catholic faith and I hold it to be true. If I wanted to call God “Allah” I would have become a Muslim.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
If it’s ok for Christian to call God ALLAH, why isn’t it ok for Moslems to call God “YAHWEH” or “Christ”. The Bishop is off base on this issue and he doesn’t speak for us true Christians.