What is in a name? G-d

[Maryann_C]

I was just in another discussion that was closed as I had just completed my post and clicked reply but I really would like to discuss this ‘theory’ of mine it was in reply to someone elses comment “Allah merely means God.”

Perhaps this is exactly why our wise older brothers, G-ds chosen people ,revere His name so much they dare not use it…because it becomes commonplace , looses it’s reverence and then meaning. Holy Scripture and my little Jewish understanding is quite clear that to the Jewish ( and many other cultures) a persons name is more than just a few letters put together to make a sound. After all if that were so how could people cast out demons simply “in the name of Jesus” ?
Holy scripture is also very clear that the word god can mean many different spiritual beings and they can be demonic as well as holy which is why you can’t just talk about god as meaning the Christian God the creator of the Universe , Heavenly Father of the Trinity. Other wise why would THE one God the Father ,command us to have no other gods before him? This is probably why Jesus taught us to prayer thus “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name” rather than “Oh God”.

If this is not in the correct forum someone please move it.

 

[DavidFilmer]

revere His name so much they dare not use it…

You are right that they dare not use it, but it has NOTHING to do with reverence. It has ONLY to do with fear. Taking the Lord’s name in vain was a serious offense, and they (rather scrupulously) avoided that possibility by simply not saying God’s name at all. It’s a zero-tolerance policy (which makes about as much as most zero-tolerance policies).

It annoys me when Christians do this (no offense). We call God “Father” - a Jew would NEVER do that! We don’t have this idea of God as a vengeful and angry God, but a loving and compassionate one. Christians should shout his name from the rooftops! After all, if Christians (out of some false idea of reverence) don’t say the name of God, the only people who do will be those who profane His holy name.

 

[Maryann_C]

You are right that they dare not use it, but it has NOTHING to do with reverence. It has ONLY to do with fear. Taking the Lord’s name in vain was a serious offense, and they (rather scrupulously) avoided that possibility by simply not saying God’s name at all. It’s a zero-tolerance policy (which makes about as much as most zero-tolerance policies)." ( quote)

I have to say that taking the Lord’s name in vain is STILL a serious offense- the commandment did not change , last time I heard. The difference now is that we are numb to hearing “oh G-d” and knowing people are swearing rather than praising. I toured a Jewish Synagog on West Point with my daughter’s confirmation class and the Rabbi explained the use of the pointers for reading of the holy scripture and why G-d was not spelled out or pronounced. he said it was out of reverence.

My discussion topic came out of another discussion where people were claiming that the god of Islam is not our Holy Father God, even though they say the word Allah means god and it got me thinking…what god? hence What is in a name?

 

[Maryann_C]

It annoys me when Christians do this (no offense). We call God “Father” - a Jew would NEVER do that! We don’t have this idea of God as a vengeful and angry God, but a loving and compassionate one. Christians should shout his name from the rooftops! After all, if Christians (out of some false idea of reverence) don’t say the name of God, the only people who do will be those who profane His holy name.

To your second point David …no offense taken, you are right Jesus introduced the notion of G-d as the Father and that was radical indeed. I totally agree with you Deus Caritas Est that realization was a conversion point for me when i read the bible through once. Obviously I did not frame my OP right because i can see that you are not getting my point . I wish I could point back to the old thread.
Let me try again: A sun god worshiper worships the sun right? but he still calls it his god. In the commandments we read " I am the Lord your God , you shall have no other gods before me" why did G-d command this if there were not other entities that people were worshiping as a god?? we know that these entities are not the One Holy God the creator , the Father NO those other ‘gods’ were/are demonic. This is why I say- since we are in what the media is now calling the “post Christian era” - in other words we are slipping back into pagan times, we have to qualify who we Christians now actually are calling G-d.
Especially since a name has alot more power and meaning than I think the average western Christian realizes. After all if Peter could preform miracles “in the name of Jesus”, then clearly a name ‘evokes’ a person or entity and their power, right?

 

[Maryann_C]

I may have found the old thread that was closed it is called “A simple question about Islam” where they are talking about what the word god means in regards to Islam. This is where my thought came from.

 

[StrawberryJam]

While all of the Abrahamic faiths may differ on many things, this topic being one of them, I hope there is not a distinction being made over which God they all are worshipping.
All three worship the same God with different understandings about that God.
Jesus is the only difference, yet a large difference for the three.
I think I recall way back in time starting here, a passage in the CCC about this.
It happens to relate to the many different understandings of the same God you all worship according to the Catholic Church.
Maybe someone is old fashioned like myself and has a copy of the CCC around.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

My discussion topic came out of another discussion where people were claiming that the god of Islam is not our Holy Father God, even though they say the word Allah means god and it got me thinking…what god? hence What is in a name?

I don’t think they are quite the same god concept. So I can’t get as far as to ponder whether or not they are the same god. If the question were “do they have similar roots” then it would be a question for which we could more easily find a meaningful answer.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

I am the Lord your God , you shall have no other gods before me" why did G-d command this if there were not other entities that people were worshiping as a god??

Under one hypothesis “god” is not the name of an entity, but a descriptive title. Some of the people of the old testament were thought to be “monolatrist polytheist.” That is that they thought that there were more than one god, but they were dedicating themselves to one of them. They were making one god their “Elohim” or “main god.” Take note that under the old testament the title used would have been “el” which means the same thing as “god.” (in knowing that then it makes more sense why names like “Elijah”, Elisha, and Jo’el have meanings that have something to do with a god).

There’s more to the story than that, but I think that’s sufficient for addressing the question.

 

[Maryann_C]

While all of the Abrahamic faiths may differ on many things, this topic being one of them, I hope there is not a distinction being made over which God they all are worshipping.
All three worship the same God with different understandings about that God.
Jesus is the only difference, yet a large difference for the three.
I think I recall way back in time starting here, a passage in the CCC about this.
It happens to relate to the many different understandings of the same God you all worship according to the Catholic Church.
Maybe someone is old fashioned like myself and has a copy of the CCC around.

WHICH God the “Abrahamic” faiths worship is not the intent for my thread…please re read my OP and show me where I say that…that was in the old thread I mentioned that got me thinking about what does the word God mean.

 

[Maryann_C]

Under one hypothesis “god” is not the name of an entity, but a descriptive title. Some of the people of the old testament were thought to be “monolatrist polytheist.” That is that they thought that there were more than one god, but they were dedicating themselves to one of them. They were making one god their “Elohim” or “main god.” Take note that under the old testament the title used would have been “el” which means the same thing as “god.” (in knowing that then it makes more sense why names like “Elijah”, Elisha, and Jo’el have meanings that have something to do with a god).

There’s more to the story than that, but I think that’s sufficient for addressing the question.

Certainly not sufficient for addressing the question but now you ARE thinking along my thought lines Sapien. we Christians take for granted here in the west that the word god means the One true God , creator, Father , of the trinity and so on where as my point is that we can no longer assume this in our conversations with people since we are slipping back into what looks to me like more pagan times.

 

[StrawberryJam]

WHICH God the “Abrahamic” faiths worship is not the intent for my thread…please re read my OP and show me where I say that…that was in the old thread I mentioned that got me thinking about what does the word God mean.

I have read your first post here again, hoping I missed something in order to apologize to you.

Yet, I see nothing the your first post that even indicates you are speaking about any god other than the Abrahamic one. Maybe I missed the points that indicate otherwise.