why write God as G_d

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U

Ugly

Guest
#2
I believe the Jews first did this. They believed Gods name was too holy to be written. So they substitute the o with a -

So some Christian's carry that practice on for the same reason. Personally I find it unnecessary but if that's what someone's conviction is I'm not going to bash them either.
 

DustyRhodes

Senior Member
Dec 30, 2016
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#3
that is what i thought...but that is what substitutes "respect" for love...there is a difference you can respect a person's status without loving them...on the other hand if you love a person by extension you respect them so it's a big difference so i believe "respect" parts us from God while love brings us closer to Him.
 
Apr 15, 2017
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#4
What is the point of this, it makes no sense.
I hate to be a nitpicker, and petty, but they do not write G_d, but G-d,lol.

The word God is not a name, like Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is not a name, but they are titles for the higher power of Israel, and of the world.

God is only a title that represents the higher power that created all things, for it means supreme being, which there can only be one supreme being.

Jesus is a name, Jehovah is a name, which Jehovah means physical deliverance, and Jesus means spiritual deliverance, and these names were only given to people to represent God's character in how He benefits people, and do not describe God in all His fullness.

Jesus is the name that is above all names, not only in this world, but in the world to come, and is above the name Jehovah, although it includes the name Jehovah.

If we cannot wear out the name Jesus by repeating it, and do not have to write, J-s, to shorten the name to not disrespect Jesus, then why would we do that with the title God.

We are a human, but that is not our name, and the higher power that created all things is God, but that is not His name.

So why write G-d so that you do not disrespect Him when it is not His name, but states that He is supreme being.

It appears as if it is a Jewish custom and not coming from God, and does the original language actually have it G-d, and if not then why write it that way.

But whether a person writes G-d, or God, what does it matter, for if they write G-d they still mean God, like a person can say, I did not swear by saying fudge instead of fu$%, but it is the intention that counts so fudge is still swearing, like writing G-d still means God.

Like saying hey you knucklehead, but I did not cut you down for I did not say hey you idiot.

You cannot replace a word with another word, or form of it, and say it is different, if you mean the same thing, for the intention is the same.

If you write G-d, in your heart you know you mean God, so why write G-d when you mean God anyway.

God is not a name, and will you stop writing human, human, out of respect for the person, and write h-n, for you do not want to use the title, not a name, too much, when if you write h-n, you mean human, so what does writing h-n mean to lessen repeating the title so you do not disrespect the person.

Writing G-d means nothing in the way of not wanting to repeat writing God for you think it lessens the impact of the title concerning God, if you mean God when you write G-d.

If you keep repeating God a lot does God lose power, or wisdom, or character, and become less than He is because you keep writing God, and what do you do if you have to say verbally God, do you say G-d, but you do not but you say God.

You will say God all day long, for you know you will, but then write G-d.

Should we shorten Father to F-r, and Son to S-n, and Holy Ghost, to H-t, for how come they are not worried about that.

If you mean God when you write G-d then it makes no difference if you write God, for when you write G-d you mean God.

I would think God would rather you write God then G-d, for He is not G-d, but He is God.

Is the title God in the original language G-d, and if not why write it that way.

God is not a name but represents Him that He is supreme being, like human is not a name but represents them as a created species of God, like gorilla is not a name, and giraffe is not a name, but represents them for their essential being.

I do not understand either what it means to write G-d for it does not make sense, for if you mean God in your heart when you write G-d then what purpose is there for writing G-d if you mean God.

Writing G-d does not differ in any meaning, or intention, if you mean God when you write G-d, and then we could lessen the impact of sin in our life, and not be viewed as a sinner needing a Savior if we write s-r, for I am not a sinner, but s-r so I am not bad when I s-n, for now sin does not apply in my life because I have the - thing going on.
 

tanakh

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2015
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#6
This started as a Jewish practice. One of the ten commandments is not to take the Lords name in vain as the KJB translation puts it.
The Pharisees extended this by not using his name at all. This is one of the many laws and traditions added to scripture which Jesus
condemned. There is no justification for using G-d. God isn't even his personal name. The people who mainly use this are those who
try to emulate Judaism.
 

glf1

Active member
Jun 10, 2018
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#7
Ps 138:2 "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
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#8
And then there are people, even in this forum who are Jewish, and Jesus saved them.

Are they just supposed to become Gentiles, uncircumcised themselves, and change the way they write God?

I know now there are Hebrew Roots people who use G-D. But I am talking about people who were Jewish in ethnicity, and brought up Jewish.

Hebrew does not have vowels when translitereated from Hebrew to English partly from respect, and partly because ancient Hebrew has no vowels. The Masoretes codified the dots and dashes which are vowels, and then were added to the existing consonants, without disturbing their placement around the letters. The Masoretes did that in the 8th century AD. So a very long history of the Hebrew language not using vowels.
 

jb

Senior Member
Feb 27, 2010
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#9
Exodus 3v14,15 (with Exodus 6v1-4) states:

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."

Yahweh made known His covenant Name to Moses so that ALL generations could use ALL His covenant Names to defeat their enemies, even as David did. David proved that the Divine Name could be invoked at all times and in all situations; this was the reason for his victories. We see from 2Sam 22v1-3, 14v22 and Psalm 18, that David took God at His Word and called upon, and proved, the Divine Name in defence and deliverance.

The Jews in later generations, in their hypocrisy and "holier than thou" attitude hid it away and ended up with only a "form of godliness." Matt 23 (all), Rom 2v20, 2Tim 3v5.
 

Adstar

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2016
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#10
What is the point of this, it makes no sense.
You're correct it makes no Biblical sense .. But it is a tradition of men that was first introduced by Jews who started a tradition that you could not speak the name of God because the name was supposedly too Holy for dirty sinning humans to say..

So now some Christians have created their own version of this un-Biblical tradition of man by writing G-d with the same wonky mindset..

It's even more ridiculous when you realize that God is not the name of God but a description of What He is... God..
 

tanakh

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2015
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#11
And then there are people, even in this forum who are Jewish, and Jesus saved them.

Are they just supposed to become Gentiles, uncircumcised themselves, and change the way they write God?

I know now there are Hebrew Roots people who use G-D. But I am talking about people who were Jewish in ethnicity, and brought up Jewish.

Hebrew does not have vowels when translitereated from Hebrew to English partly from respect, and partly because ancient Hebrew has no vowels. The Masoretes codified the dots and dashes which are vowels, and then were added to the existing consonants, without disturbing their placement around the letters. The Masoretes did that in the 8th century AD. So a very long history of the Hebrew language not using vowels.
I understand where you are coming from but not having vowels in Hebrew seems to me to be a weak argument. Do Jewish converts
leave vowels out of all translated Hebrew words? What do they do about references to Pagan Gods do they do the same thing? the word God is not a personal name any more than the word Man or Woman is a personal name of someone.
 
L

LPT

Guest
#12
Bunch of quarkieness, quite stupid IMO.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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#14
And then there are people, even in this forum who are Jewish, and Jesus saved them.
Alfred Edersheim was a well-know Hebrew Christian who wrote The Life and Times of Jesus th Messiah, but he never resorted to this nonsense.

And YHWH as made into Adonai (Lord) by the Jews to avoid pronouncing the personal name of God. Therefore the KJB has LORD (small capitals) for YHWH.
 
Sep 4, 2012
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#16
Hebrew does not have vowels when translitereated from Hebrew to English partly from respect, and partly because ancient Hebrew has no vowels. The Masoretes codified the dots and dashes which are vowels, and then were added to the existing consonants, without disturbing their placement around the letters. The Masoretes did that in the 8th century AD. So a very long history of the Hebrew language not using vowels.
Both modern and ancient Hebrew is/were written without vowels. The Masoretes added vowels in scripture to establish their tradition. In some cases they altered word meanings to match their traditions by redacting words with wrong pronunciations that altered word meanings. Zechariah 14:5 is one example.
 
Feb 28, 2016
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#17
God/Jesus have many names in our Bibles -

acknowledging 'The One True God' in our hearts should always come first -
how one chooses to write down what makes them feel comfortable
and close and included to their Creator is a personal matter,
not for others to take offence to...

I can't even 'imagine' taking any kind of offence towards someone
just because of the way they choose to write down God's Name
in a certain way, I'm quite sure that He doesn't mind a bit,
as long as their Love for Him is true and faithful...
 
T

theanointedsinner

Guest
#18
G-d
I think it's probably "alpha" and "omega"
beginning and the end
 

Redeemed2015

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2014
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#19
What is the point of this, it makes no sense.
It requires understanding that the language in which we get the names for "God", which is Hebrew, there are no vowel marks. Some say it is "Jewish tradition" but such is simply not true. As the Hebrew language isn't exclusive to the Jews, those of the tribe of Judah, but was used by all 12 Tribes of Israel.

Specifically speaking there is the case for the Tetragrammaton, that is the personal name of G-D used 6,828 times in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings of the Tenach(Old Testament). Which at no point had vowel markers to indicate the proper pronunciation, and in fact was traditionally only spoken by the High Priest(a Levite) in the Holy of Holies inside of the Temple. And when it came to reading aloud the name from the Torah scroll instead the name Adonai was used so as to retain a certain level of respect and reverence for the name considered by all believers to be the most holy, as it was the name above all names.

Eventually, even after the introduction of vowel points into the revived Hebrew language we do not know to this day how the Tetragrammaton is to be properly pronounced, that is, the name some have draw to be "Jehovah", "Yehovah," "Yaweh", "YHWH", or "JHWH"

Among some believers they choose to show honor G-D this way, just as HE has been honored by millions before us. By setting apart HIS name from others and in reverent remembrance of the name given in scripture.