oh dear. It seems that Tony Blair is now looking for something to do in the Middle East apart from bomb it. Sound basis there in.

Fundamentally, the "Abrahamic" religions are not the same at all. "Allah" is not the same god as "Jehovah" (Lord God Almighty - the God of the Jews and Christians. If Tony Blair cannot understand this then he has little chance of succeeding.

Matt, Ruthin,

Mr Blair would do well to study Christianity first, particularly the character of Jesus, and the teaching on war - that is pacifism or the Just War Tradition.

Jesus (and his disciples) were prepared to suffer and die for thier beliefs - but not to kill.

The church was almost entirely pacifist until the 4th century, when the emperor Constantine had some form of religious conversion, and coopted the church, and went out conquering in the name of God.

The crusades, spanish inquisition etc similarly were mistaken understandings of the scriptures.

For Iraq, just about every major christian leader said that it didnt meet the just war criteria - yet Mr. Blair ignored that, and went ahead, on very dubious evidence, backed by spin.

To Christians, truth matters. Mr. Blair doesnt have much connection to truth.

I wish him well in this venture - but to succeed, it will require him to acknowledge his faults, and have a change of heart - i.e. confession and repentance.

David Cockburn, woking, UK

There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. Peace be upon all prophets of Islam.

kayhan, Fremont, Ca

A very worthwhile endeavor! None greater than to promote peace and understanding.

There is only One God and one Truth. Although divine instruction is progressive, nevertheless, all religions are from God. And there is a unity of all the religious teachings. For those who are genuinely interested in learning all about the world religions, you might want to visit http://secrets-of-the-kingdom.blogspot.com/2006/11/world-religions.html.

Angel Luz, Quezon City, Philippines

Jesus was the last prophet. All who follow after him are therefore false prophets preaching another gospel. Sincerity of belief cannot change the facts or the ultimate truth that the Son of God will soon return, won't that be a shock for many!

B Pennington, Launceston, Tasmania

and the difference between faith and superstition is....?

s harwood, Southend, UK

I suggest that Blair be offered the Chair of Peace Studies at the University of Baghdad.

Ian Burgess, Bristol,

I think other religions Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Baha'i Faith should also receive Mr Blair's attention.

Marco Oliveira, Lisbon, Portugal

I am with Frank!

morgan lamberth, augusta, GA

I do indeed hope he can get people to be more tolerant of each other. I do wish he would study atheism/naturalism .Naturalism is the ism for all.

morgan lamberth, augusta, GA

a brilliant way to turn us against religion!

john, london, england

I did not like Tony Blair when I first came here in 1999. However, over the last couple of years, Tony has brought out a few fundemental issues which are so basic and most of us ignore:

RESPECT
FAMILY VALUE
SUPER NANNY

Perhaps he may not have the best facilities/vehicles to implement these ideas into full reality, that is not entirely his fault.

When we love and respect our children at home, they will behave the same in the outside world, respecting each others religion will come naturally.

Go for it Tony!

Magdalene Mei Halkes, Canterbury, England

So no chance of this Blair person just quietly disappearing? Such an expert on every subject.....
.
I don't believe I can stand much more of his ego.

Michael, London, UK

This is an excellent idea. We need to build more and better bridges between the faiths. And also - it will ease his departure from UK politics and give him a new start!

Barry Massey, Ipswich, UK

Interfaith dialogue is not the panacea it is hoped to be. The extremes of each faith are the ones responsible for the bloodshed and violence, not the vast majority of of peaceful men and women of faith.
It is impossible to get Wahabists and ultra-orthodox Jews to sit round the same table. Meanwhile, Christianity has no chance either as it advocates equality between the sexes. There are too many bipolar points of belief to overcome before these groups could agree. Besides, whatever happened to the idea that we don't negotiate with terrorists?

Vin, lancaster, UK

In theory any attempt to broker peace and promote understanding is an idea that cannot be ignored. However what concerns me is this too little, too late for him to be leading such a project. it is never too late for one to promote positive brokerage of understanding of other faiths. However being a Sikh and non connected to the faiths in question, looking from the outside in I cannot accept the actions of Tony Blair in the latest Iraq conflict. There was no case for war and the extreme loss of innocent life is more than regretable, it is deplorable. I therefore feel that this role is best suited for a high profile individual who has not made such catastrophic decisions. President Clinton would spring to mind, he carries both the clout and respect. Neither did he make knee jerk reactions as the current Britsh and Amercian administrations have. Whilst i applaud Tony Blair for a number of positive initiatives, his legacy is and will forever remain scarred by his decisions on Iraq.

Sukhi Ghuman, Nottingham, UK

Mr Blair should firstly learn something of Christianity of which he clearly has no clue! Then he would find he would have his answers regarding Islam and save himslef from this charade.
But it is the end-times we are living in and the back of the book says it all !!

Alastair, Perth, Australia

Good for him - Islam needs someone to drag it into some semblance of modernity (which is what this is all about). If they cant do it then I guess a Westerner will have to do it for them, poor dears.

Alison, London,

I'm a Methodist lay preacher, and I've been married to a devout Muslim for twelve years. For once I find myself in agreement witn Blair; once you get down to fundamentals, there's really not a lot dividing Christianity and Islam. The real problems are due to matters of culture and history, and here progress can be made by people sitting down together and getting to know each other. Good luck to him, but he's going to need it after Iraq.

Robert, Birmingham,

Before Tony Blair quits No.10, and to go to a higher calling, it would be productive for him to list publicly the cover-ups that he will be leaving place for his successor to shoulder.
Maybe if Gordon Brown for one could be told of these now, then he might have second thoughts about wanting to rush into No.10.
For starters most people would still like to know what a 45-minute WMD was supposed to look like, and where they are now??
Maybe Tony Blair still does not know??

Michael Blatchford, Bath, UK

Although Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe in God, the problem is that whilst Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, Muslims believe He was a prophet. Muslims believe that Mohammed was a prophet , I cannot believe that a loving God would have given him some of the instructions as written in the koran such as slaying "unbelievers" and other numerous war verses. Also, Mohammeds life was not one of peace, he and his followers spread their word by violent aggression. Mr. Blair will do well to help Christians, Jews and Muslims to look to the future seeking peace and to encourage the leaders of all faiths to influence all people in co-existing in harmony, but it is difficult to overcome the basic differences in each religion.

Michael Neve, Orpington, Kent,

He couldn't do it while in power and in Bush's trouser pocket,

In fact he did exactly the opposite.

Fostered hatred. kept deliberately quiet and allowed those who wanted to bomb to do so, for example Israel in Lebanon.

He cannot make amends just because it suits him.
This is the chameleon in Blair.

The man has unleashed torrents of blood, and denigrated one of the worlds great religions.

K. Urban, London, UK - Longing for Blair to go into silent exile

Finding common purpose amongst religious fantasists of various persuasions who revere selected ancient texts of uncertain provenance and dubious historical value ?

Should be easy really since all such documents regularily invoke violent solutions to eradicate unbelievers and force their views on others.

In fact it sounds like a very dangerous objective if he really values freedom of speech , of thought , of democracy and a pursuit of the truth.

But then , judging by the WMD dossier etc , he doesn't does he?

Rob Green, Braintree, England

Mr Blair needs not to spend his time peddling such consolidated nonsense; he should go and get an education in science and philosophy - without which he made many mistakes in government - and get a different and more rational life.

If, however, he is bent on promoting understanding between faiths, he should take a look at the promise of athiesm. It really is a better starting position.

clerkenwellman, Lonond, UK

"“Most Christians are hugely surprised to be told that the Koran reveres Jesus as a prophet."

They would be stunned to learn that Blair does not understand why that offends Christians, but then again facile superficiality is his hallmark. He probably does not know the New Testament sufficiently well to comprehend

Voyager, Oxford, England

The religions have settled differences. The problems arise when some enter into fanaticism, or a belief that theirs is the only possible religion and that all others are contradictory and therefore to be challenged.

Mr Blair will not alter this culture and with his history any attempt will probably only inflame the fanatics. He should remember what happened when earlier Brits spent time on missionary zeal.

Alan, Llanerchymedd, Wales

Any possibility of Mr. Blair including agnosticism and atheism in his global foundation of 'greater understanding...'?

Frank Columb, Dublin , Ireland