ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

248 A READER ASKS: IS IT STILL THE SAME GOD? 2014 Dr. Giuseppe Samir Eid, born in Egypt to parents of Syro-Lebanese origin, has worked for multinational companies also operating in Islamic countries; co-foun- der of CADR, Ambrosian Centre for Do- cumentation for Religions and author of numerous publications on the realities of Arab immigration in Italy and our pa- rishioner, has submitted to Don Walter some details on the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis "Evangelii gaudium" to which our parish priest gladly replied. We thank Dr. Eid for his challenge. Dr. Giuseppe Eid writes: Muslims "worship with us a single, merci- ful God" (n. 252) - I would take this phrase with caution because we have two quite different conceptions of divine uniqueness It is true that Muslims worship a single, merciful God but this phrase suggests that the two conceptions of God are equal. In- stead in Christianity God is Trinity in its es- sence, plurality united by love. It is a little more than just clemency and mercy. The Muslim one characterizes God as inac- cessible. The Christian vision of Trinitarian uniqueness emphasizes that God is Love that is communicated: Father-Son-Spirit, or Amante-Amato-Amore, as Saint Au- gustine suggested. Then, what does the mercy of the Islamic God mean? That He does mercy to those He wants and does not do it to those He does not want. "God makes those who He wants enter into His mercy". (Koran 48:25). These expressions are found al- most literally in the Old Testament (Exo- dus 33:19). But one never goes so far as to say that "God is Love" (1 John 4:16), as Saint John expresses it. Mercy in the case of Islam is that of the rich man who bends over the poor man and grants him something. But the Christian God is the one who descends towards the poor to raise them to their level. He does not show his wealth to be respected (or feared) by the poor: he gi- ves himself to make the poor live. These differences should not discourage people of good will from sharing precious resour- ces to build the global culture of Peace and Fraternity. Don Walter replies: 1. What you claim is true, but the cor- rectness of the statement that Muslims "worship with us a single, merciful God" is compensated by the fact that, for cor- rectness of reading, one does not stop or one should not stop at the statement of no. 252 of the "Evangelii gaudium", but should read it in its entirety, highlighting the intention that it is the rediscovery of a joyful proclamation of the Gospel of Je- sus Christ in the contemporary world. 2. Taking into account, for example, that in the previous number, 251, it is sta- ted that "in this dialogue, always affable and cordial, the essential link betwe- en dialogue and proclamation, which leads the Church to maintain and in- tensify relations with non-Christians, must never be overlooked. A concilia- tory syncretism would ultimately be a