I have no problem with agreeing to disagree - however - I will not engage in 'NAME' calling ...

Submitted by Oliver (United States), Feb 25, 2008 at 22:11

You can assert the superiority of your own beliefs, but they are rooted simply in sanctimonious religious interpretations, not an impartial, scholarly, linguistic study; therefore, you and I will never come to an agreement.

I will not engage you in name calling – how much more impartial is the demand that generic words be translated as generic words?

Furthermore, Jews as monotheists, would have absolutely no problem with the concept of the Divine as a definite form. Jews do, however, do not accept the Christian notion of Trinity, and therefore share more with Muslims than with Christians.

We are not discussing the NATURE or SUBSTANCE of God – we are discussing the NAME of God and the use of that NAME.

You have repeatedly cited Malaysia as your example (where there are no Arab Christians!!), and in which country this issue was in fact resolved, it would seem to me that your argument is without basis. ONce again- have Arabic Chirstian in Arabc countries been banned from using "Allah"? Dhimmi claims it is used becuase of poltical correctness.

It doesn't matter if there are no Arab Christians in Malaysia what matters is the attitude of the Muslims concerning the USE of the NAME Allah in Arabic translations of Jewish and Christian Holy Writ. And I agree with Dhimmi-No-More that the USE of Allah by Arab(ic) speaking Jews and Christians is ‘PC' and I will go further to suggest that it originated in Dhimmitude (I was going to say Islamic – but – what other kind is there), developed (over the centuries) into habit and is now practiced in ignorance.

the Bible commands that no other names of God be used? Funny enough, there are many Jews and Christian in Iran and modern-day Azerbaijan who use the term "Khoda", meaning "God" in Persian, and have done so for centuries. In fact the Tati language was a form of middle Persian rendered in Hebrew Script by Jews in the region.

Tell me (as I don't speak or write anything but English) honestly; does ‘Khoda' mean ‘God' or ‘YHWH' – in English, of course? Or is it the NAME of a local god that is being applied to YHWH?

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Azerbaijan.html

I read this article, but couldn't find anything that referred to the USE of the NAME of ANY GOD.

Next, Elohim is not "generic" as you say. Elohim is the very first name for God in Genesis, and is specifically mentioned as the creator of the Universe. Is that usage of Elohim a reference to just any God?

The USE of elohim in Genesis 1 is NOT the NAME of the ALMIGHTY but the GENERIC REFERENCE to HIM. Elohim is NOT the NAME of the ALMIGHTY any more than the word God.

http://www.allaboutgod.com/names-of-god.htm

"Names of God: His Titles Revealed in Scripture" You see, what these ‘scholars' are telling us is that the ‘Titles' given to God are a means to Man to understand the ‘attributes' of God. In the SAME way the so-called ‘Names of God' in the Quran (excluding Allah, of course) are really just ‘Titles' that extol its ‘attribute' – they are not really NAMES.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html

More of the same – Title after Title after Title – Look, don't you think God knows His own NAME? HIS NAME IS YHWH (in English) – HE DECLARED IT IN EXODUS TO MOSES – HIS NAME APPEARS NEARLY 7,000 TIMES IN THE TANAKH AND IT IS THE ONLY ‘NAME OF GOD' THAT THE JEWS WILL NOT SPEAK – FOR FEAR OF MIS-USE.

Interestingly enough, compare the Hebrew El Alyon with the Arabic cognate Al 'Ali, or the Hebrew El Rachman with the Arabic cognate Al Rahman. El Shadai with al Shadid, Al CHai with Al Hayy... the list goes on and on. There is a lot more in common here but your preconceived sectarian biases, stemming from your sanctimonious worldview, prevent you from seeing them.

Titles – Titles – Titles – nothing but Titles. So Mohammad ascribed many and similar Titles to Allah as were ascribed to YHWH in the Tanakh – SO WHAT? That doesn't make YHWH = ALLAH. If YHWH = ALLAH, why didn't He tell Mohammad is ‘memorial NAME' His ‘NAME unto all generations' the ‘NAME that the Jews refuse to speak' – why would He allow the Arabs to call on Him by the NAME OF ANOTHER GOD??? Because YHWH never spoke to Mohammad – and Allah is NOT YHWH.

Here, let me ‘give' you a gift (of sorts) I will agree with this translation of Exodus 23:13:

Exo 23:13 "Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips." [English Standard Version]

Exo 23:13 "Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the name of Allah, nor let it be heard on your lips." [Oliver Slanted Version]

He He He

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".