“It is only foolish liberals afflicted by cognitive dissonance who attempt to smooth the differences.”
No, reasonable conservative recognize that Arab Christians call the God of the Bible Allah because that is the Arab word for God. God divided the languages and left His title in Arabic which was probably the same title used all the way back to the forming of the church in Acts when Jews scattered various places heard the gospel in their own native dialect. Arabic was probably among them.
Just because people co-opt a word, does not automatically change the meaning, especially when there is no other word for God in Arabic.
It is beyond dispute that Allah was the name of God in Arabic before Islam and before the King James Bible was translated from the original languages into English. It is foolish for Western Christians to think Arabs must become English speakers in order to become Christian. English was not spoken at Pentecost, but Arabic might have been.
“The followers of Allah will be the first to admit the differences between their god and Yahweh.”
Misses the point. Muslims will tell you that Christians, Jews and Muslims worship the same One God but that Christians and Jews have a wrong understanding of who He is. The reverse is true. But insulting Allah is an insult to God to those who speak Arabic, including Arab Christians and Jews.
The Muslims are wrong that Allah is God’s name, but it is His title in Arabic.
Citing some Biblical passage about Baal to prop up support for an erroneous position is just reading ones own beliefs into the passage rather than reading it for what it says.
If Allah is NOT the Arabic title for God, then please tell me what is the Arabic word for God?