tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post5788964392963453678..comments2024-03-27T17:15:37.606-04:00Comments on Triablogue: God is what God doesRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17809283662428917799noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-35759105867457925012015-12-21T19:34:52.496-05:002015-12-21T19:34:52.496-05:00What you're not getting, Dale, is that my post...What you're not getting, Dale, is that my post wasn't about the question of whether Muslims and Christians worship/believe in the same God. I explained at the outset that I was bracketing that question. Rather, the point of the post was to illustrate the fact that the difference between Muslim and Christian theism isn't confined to divine attributes. stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16547070544928321788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-76076622707227986952015-12-21T19:08:54.596-05:002015-12-21T19:08:54.596-05:00It's very clear from non-theological examples ...It's very clear from non-theological examples that people can be talking about and disagreeing about one and the same being, even while disagreeing about its essential attributes. Another post tomorrow (Tues) which addresses that point, and some others. <br /><br />Part of what you're not getting, Steve, is how little this is conceding, that Muslims are referring to God in what they say. This need be no set up for some theory of religious pluralism. More on that also tomorrow.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04601885187182140821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-43027272646915250752015-12-21T18:05:57.714-05:002015-12-21T18:05:57.714-05:00This is from Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazal...This is from Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali: "God does indeed love them [people], but in reality He loves nothing other than Himself, in the sense that He is the totality [of being], and there is nothing in being apart from Him."rockingwithhawkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10550503108269371174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6789188.post-32924008307530986432015-12-21T18:05:44.041-05:002015-12-21T18:05:44.041-05:00This is from Michael Reeves in his book Delighting...This is from Michael Reeves in his book <i>Delighting in the Trinity</i>:<br /><br />Traditionally, Allah is said to have ninety-nine names, titles which describe him as he is in himself in eternity. One of them is “The Loving.” But how could Allah be loving in eternity? Before he created there was nothing else in existence that he could love (and the title does not refer to self-centered love but love for others). <br /><br />The only option is that Allah eternally loves his creation. But that in itself raises an enormous problem: if Allah needs his creation to be who he is in himself (“loving”), then Allah is dependent on his own creation, and one of the cardinal beliefs of Islam is that Allah is dependent on nothing. <br /><br />Therein lies the problem: how can a solitary God be eternally and essentially loving when love involves loving another?rockingwithhawkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10550503108269371174noreply@blogger.com