God, the Great Chasm, and the Building of Bridges - Assignment Example

Full The Love that Binds Enemies In his attempt to look at Christianity and Islam objectively, Volf describes the essential difference between the two religions using Benedict XVI’s Resenberg statement and an open letter, weighing the arguments through logical approach. It has been the claim of the former pope that the Gods of Islam and Christianity are completely different as opposed to the argument of Muslims that the two religions are serving the same God. Volf does not simply agree or disagree with the statement but he digs deeper into the faith of the two religions to examine the differences or similarities.

Mentioning that the Muslims are serving a violent God because of their vicious approach towards other religions which is said to be a result of the violent nature of their God, the open letter counters that their God is also known as the Merciful, Just, Seeing, Loving and Gentle. This statement implies that the Pope should look at the Muslim God in the entirety of His character and not concentrate on just one aspect.Volf thinks that the open letter expressed a revolutionary idea when it mentioned loving God and loving your neighbors because Muslims were commonly viewed as hostile.

In trying to identify with the Christian doctrine of loving God and loving one’s neighbor, the authors of the open letter who are Muslims, are saying that instead of finding the differences between the two religions, they should strengthen their similarities to bond themselves instead.In Pope Benedict’s subsequent comment about Islam, he backpedaled a bit from the position he took at Resensburg when he claimed that Christiand and Muslims alike are serving the same God. However, he also made clear his statements by reiterating the importance of loving God and loving one’s neighbor instead of resorting to violence.