The word Allah does not always refer to a false God
- Thread starter kentappel
- Start date
-
Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.
If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!
To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Thank you, now at least someone gets what I am saying and I am sure you would agree that the word in the Hindi language for God in the Hindi Holy Bible is not referring the false Gods of Hinduism just as the word Allah in the Arabic Bible is not referring to the false God of Islam. We are to reach the whole world with the gospel so we use what tools we have and translate it into existing languages to reach everyone.
Exaclty, so should be change the name of Jesus in our language because Mormons call their false Jesus by the name of Jesus? Of course not! The same thing, should Arab Christians change the name of God in their language, Allah, just because a false religion, Islam, calls their false God by the same word. Regading Mormons, I have heard them refer to who they call Heavenly Father by the word God but they are worshipping a false God and they don't have a corner on the market of the word God.
From what I have seen, Arab Christians have callled God Allah in their language long before Islam even existed and hijacked the word. Read Acts 2:1-11, focus on verse 2:11, Arabs were there at the Day of Pentecost and as I pointed out, they were among the first Chistians.
From what I have seen, Arab Christians have callled God Allah in their language long before Islam even existed and hijacked the word. Read Acts 2:1-11, focus on verse 2:11, Arabs were there at the Day of Pentecost and as I pointed out, they were among the first Chistians.
Don't just react to the word emotionly. Below is an objective descriiption of the word Allah from Wikipedia. Yes, Arabs Christians called God Allah, the word in their language, before Islam even existed and Arab Christians continue to use the word Allah for God today.
Allah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله Allāh, IPA: [ʔal
ˤˈlˤɑːh] (
listen)) is the Arabic word for God (al ilāh, iliterally "the God").[SUP][1][2][3][/SUP] The word has cognates in other Semitic languages, including Alah in Aramaic, ʾĒl in Canaanite and Elohim in Hebrew.[SUP][4][/SUP]
It is used mainly by Muslims to refer to God in Islam,[SUP][5][/SUP] but it has also been used by Arab Christians since pre-Islamic times.[SUP][[/SUP]
The Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is ʼĔlāhā, or Alaha. Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God".[SUP][4][/SUP] The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".
Allah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله Allāh, IPA: [ʔal
ˤˈlˤɑːh] (
It is used mainly by Muslims to refer to God in Islam,[SUP][5][/SUP] but it has also been used by Arab Christians since pre-Islamic times.[SUP][[/SUP]
The Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is ʼĔlāhā, or Alaha. Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God".[SUP][4][/SUP] The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".
Just like "god" is used to mean so many things in our language!
Though I must confess, I am taking your word for it now, mainly because it seems to be accurate AND because the counter-arguments seem to be missing the intent of your thread. They seem to be attacking the idea that another language can have titles of God "translated" another way than what they read in our "English" Bible(s). But the fact is that our English versions give examples of different translations for Jesus.
John 1:41He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
And more, I doubt that we say either of these words even close to the way that they were written in K Greek.
Though I must confess, I am taking your word for it now, mainly because it seems to be accurate AND because the counter-arguments seem to be missing the intent of your thread. They seem to be attacking the idea that another language can have titles of God "translated" another way than what they read in our "English" Bible(s). But the fact is that our English versions give examples of different translations for Jesus.
John 1:41He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
And more, I doubt that we say either of these words even close to the way that they were written in K Greek.
Why would it be any different than anyone else who may say they believe in God and we don't know if they believe in Christ if they don't say so? You do realize that there are Arab Christian who are minorities in their own countries who sometimes face persecution in their own countries for their faith who likely know what it means to take a stand for Christ than a lot of us will ever know?
Actually, I wouldn't pick on posthuman too much because he seems to understand what you are saying more than others
He just said to keep in mind that there is a good possibility that the Arab, you are speaking to, might not mean God when he says Allah. I think that this is a good point, though you are right, we often think that when someone says "God", they are talking about God in the same manner as we think of Him. I don't really think that Einstein believed in God, but he said "God" often. From listening to clips of Einstein, he seems to suggest some cosmic greatness, but it is unclear that he really meant God.
He just said to keep in mind that there is a good possibility that the Arab, you are speaking to, might not mean God when he says Allah. I think that this is a good point, though you are right, we often think that when someone says "God", they are talking about God in the same manner as we think of Him. I don't really think that Einstein believed in God, but he said "God" often. From listening to clips of Einstein, he seems to suggest some cosmic greatness, but it is unclear that he really meant God.
Actually, I wouldn't pick on posthuman too much because he seems to understand what you are saying more than others
He just said to keep in mind that there is a good possibility that the Arab, you are speaking to, might not mean God when he says Allah. I think that this is a good point, though you are right, we often think that when someone says "God", they are talking about God in the same manner as we think of Him. I don't really think that Einstein believed in God, but he said "God" often. From listening to clips of Einstein, he seems to suggest some cosmic greatness, but it is unclear that he really meant God.
He just said to keep in mind that there is a good possibility that the Arab, you are speaking to, might not mean God when he says Allah. I think that this is a good point, though you are right, we often think that when someone says "God", they are talking about God in the same manner as we think of Him. I don't really think that Einstein believed in God, but he said "God" often. From listening to clips of Einstein, he seems to suggest some cosmic greatness, but it is unclear that he really meant God.
Thank you for reponding logically instead of reactng emotionally. I think just listening to how Arab Chirstians describe God from the Bible in their language, that He is one God who is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and how the Son come to the world and died on the cross to take away the sins of the world and rose again on the third day is enough to avoid any confusion. Consider the following below from Wikipedia:
Allah (English pronunciation: /ˈælə/ or /ˈɑːlə/; Arabic: الله Allāh, IPA: [ʔalˤˈlˤɑːh] (
It is used mainly by Muslims to refer to God in Islam,[SUP][5][/SUP] but it has also been used by Arab Christians since pre-Islamic times.[SUP][[/SUP]
The Aramaic word for "God" in the language of Assyrian Christians is ʼĔlāhā, or Alaha. Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, use the word "Allah" to mean "God".[SUP][4][/SUP] The Christian Arabs of today have no other word for "God" than "Allah".[/SUP]
I agree and if the other people, besides yourself, myself, and maybe one other person, go back and read that I have said just that, that the God of the Arabic Bible is not the God of Islam, instead of just reacting emotinally, I think they could see more clearly what I am trying to present. I have said all along that the God of the Arabic Bible, the same Bible that all of the rest of us use but it just happens to be in this one language, does not describe the false God of Islam and I have never said that does so.
Unfortunately, Islam has co-opted the word "Allah" just as the homosexuals have co-opted the word "gay." One can no longer say that they are gay and mean they are merry. So, too, in our culture, one can no longer use the word "Allah" and mean the one true God. Christian Arabs may need to come up with an alternative (just as we Americans say "happy" or "merry" when we mean "gay"). Perhaps Yahweh?
Yes, but there seems to be an irmpression by some that Arabs are automatically Muslims when in fact there many non Arab Muslims world wide such as those from Indonesia and from some of the former Soviet republics who some people would never consider that they are Muslims.
Consider that cults such as Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses use the word God for their false Gods and they are not describing the God of the Bible. Does that mean we should stop using the word God in our language because some other groups use the same word their false Gods? Of course not! In the same way that just because people who believe in the false God of Islam use the same word, Allah, for their false God, that Arab Christians would use does not mean Arab Christians who believe in the true God should stop using the word for God in their language.
Consider that cults such as Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses use the word God for their false Gods and they are not describing the God of the Bible. Does that mean we should stop using the word God in our language because some other groups use the same word their false Gods? Of course not! In the same way that just because people who believe in the false God of Islam use the same word, Allah, for their false God, that Arab Christians would use does not mean Arab Christians who believe in the true God should stop using the word for God in their language.
But I used the word Allah, how it would have been used by Arabs on the Day of Pentecost, as a way to witness to an Arab Muslim one time about how the Arabic Bible does not describe the God of Islam. I read him the account from the Book of Acts about how Arabs were among the devout Jews who heard the gospel in their own language who would have called God by the word Allah. I also told him that there were Christian Arabs and even Jewish Arabs almost 600 years before Muhammad was even born and before the Muslim relgion even was founded. I was able to tie all of this in with the idea of forgiveness of sins that Jesus gave us by His death on the cross and the fact that He rose again on the third day and that all of this was in the Arabic Bible that says that God (Allah) does indeed have a Son. So by pointing out that the word Allah in Arabic doesn't automatically mean the God of Islam I was able to plant a valuable seed that could very well become faith in the true God at some point. What intrigued the man the most is the fact that the Bible is an older book that predates the Koran and he said that he had never considered that before. He said he would get a copy of an Arabic Bible and read it but if none were available because some in the Christian community don't like the word Allah would that mean a man would lose his chance to go to heaven?