To illustrate your point, wiccans today would refer to their deities as god or gods and goddesses, just as a Christian would refer to our deity as God. Common word entymology does not necessarily mean that the words are used in the same way, or have a common source of belief. What you actually frequently find is that the Hebrew usage of words, and the context for who God is, is often in stark contrast to the religious beliefs around them.It is generally accepted, I believe, that the name “Babylon”, in its original form in one of the languages of ancient Iraq, meant “gate of God” or “gate of the gods,” and that the “el” or “il” element in the name is ultimately the same word as Hebrew “El” and Arabic “Allah”. However, I don’t think this necessarily means that one religion is derived from the other. It could just be a linguistic connection, and no more than that.
Didn’t Abraham come from there? The ancients recognized that there is a higher power. That too shows God’s presence and providence. From Babylon, God chose Abraham and the Hebrews and revealed himself more fully.What are your thoughts on the theories of panbabylonism, or the theory that the EL and YHWH Old Testament traditions are later developments of sumerian/babilonian myths?