Q: > I believe that the Palestinian Christians used the name Allah for God before the rise of Islam. I don't have reference for that, but I've heard it said. Can anyone confirm it.

A (from a wise friend): I'm not sure whether they did before Islam or not, there are virtually no records that are not reminiscences from Muslim sources decades or centuries after Muhammad. However Arabic speaking Christians generally use the word "Allah" to translate the Hebrew "Elohim" and the Greek "Theos".

It is not the word we use that counts, but our concept of this God. God to the Muslim has many characteristics in common with a Christian conception of God, and many Characteristics that are different. But even the average Aussie has a largely unbiblical concept of God. Surely our task is not to try to tell people they are all wrong, but to start with the common ground and, through relationship, reflection, fellowship and community, allow the Holy Spirit to continually hone our concept of God together.

I have found Christian Mahlouhi's book "Waging Peace on Islam" one of the best books to help us understand where people are coming from. She spends a lot of time examining St Francis' attitudes. It provides a very helpful antidote to works that, while each claim might be 'true', don't show the whole truth.