I agree with venividivici, although for somewhat different reasons.
Prof. Mansur says: we are in the presence of the Infinite, only limited by our capacity to comprehend this presence which surrounds, penetrates and sustains us as fragments of the totality of creation.
But the G-d of the Jews and the Christians, is not universal, he is specific.
Putting aside the important question of whether, and the extent to which, the G-d of the Jews is identical to the G-d of the Christians, both deities are rooted in a particular history, and defined by the characteristics expressed in that ongoing relationship.
For Jews, that is the relationship established in the covenant Hashem made with Abraham, and ratified in Torah, a relationship embodied in the life of a particular people.
For Christians, deity is the Father of Jesus Christ (whom Christians claim is the same deity revealed to the Jews). This “Father of Jesus Christ” is revealed in the life, death, and purported resurrection of J.C. That is his character, his identity.
Neither deity is a “god-in-general.” Too be sure, both religions affirm that their deity is the “only true god,” but that is not the same thing.
In contrast, as eloquently illustrated by Prof. Mansur, Allah is (assuming the accuracy of his description) simply Infinitude rendered in the concrete words of the Koran.
The critique of Islam by Franz Rosenzweig in The Star of Redemption applies: Islam is simply a monistic paganism. All the attributes of deity are collected in and ascribed to a single, universal deity.
Paganism discovers deity in the direct deliverances of nature, of life as it is.
Jewish and Christian revelation discovers deity in particular acts in space and time (Exodus and resurrection, respectively), and defines deity by those actions.
Paganism knows only life as it is, the natural ebb and flow; Judaism and Christianity knows the new, the unexpected, the supernatural. G-d speaks and acts, and something new comes into the world.
The question for Prof. Mansur is: with the Koran, what new thing came into the world? What do we know about the deity, that we would not otherwise know?
