Does God mind what He's called?

A bishop in the Netherlands says the name Allah should be used by people of all faiths when referring to God. He says the country, made up of over 1 million Muslims, should follow the lead of Indonesia where the practice already takes place.

Muslim and Christian Arabs today have no other word for God but Allah and some Islamic scholars believe it should not be translated. But it can be broken down to mean 'the sole deity.'

In the Bible there are many names for God, so is he onto something? Does it matter what we call God?

In Islamic tradition there are 99 names for Allah and here's what the Catholic Encylopedia says about the name.

By Joanna Sugden

Comments

[Dr gary Bonsall]

God indeed has 99 names or attributes - which we can and should try to mirrror in our own lives, thus geting closer to God and becoming more content and happy. We can also be generous, forgiving, compassionate, loving, patient and kind. Why not. All these 99 divine attributes are to be summed up at "the end of time" - when the next epoch starts, when a new day dawns. The Bahai religion teaches that all these attributes are now summarised in the word "Glory". Baha' u' llah (1817-1892) the Messenger of God for our time, means "Glory of God". With the advent of Bahaullah, the One whose coming was promised by Islam, Judaism and Jesus Christ, the "Seventh Day" of creation has now dawned, the Day upon which Gods promises and the prophesies of the Old Testament prophets are being fulfilled. See www.Bahai.org

[Observer]

I think ecumenism has just been dealt a death blow (along with the absurd slur of "islamophobia":

Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdogan, 21 August, 2007, commenting on the term "moderate Islam" on Kanal D TV's Arena program:

"There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that's it."

[Bookworm]

To Malcolm+

Indeed, there is nothing at all, either in the words, deeds or life of Our Lord, Our God and Our Saviour Jesus Christ which demands that you treat people of other ideologies or viewpoints with contempt, hatred or violence. There is, however, in Islam and in the example of Muhammad, quite the opposite.

If you are unfamiliar with the doctrines of Islam, the koran, the life of Muhammad or the ahadith (which detail his life, words, deeds and his 'silences') or with the concept of Sharia law, you might be interested to read either SWORD OF THE PROPHET (Serge Trifkovic), THE TRUTH ABOUT MUHAMMAD (Robert Spencer) or visit such sites as:

www.jihadwatch.org
www.dhimmiwatch.org
www.memri.org

Robert Spencer is presently discussing the koran through each sura (chapter). He provides links to three translations of the koran (Yusufali, Pickthal, Shakir) and also links to alternative interpretations from his own of the koran and he also answers questions put to him by internet readers:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/articles/bloggingtheq.php

[Malcolm+]

On the original point, the proposal is silly because the lingua franca in England is English, in France is French, in Germany is German and cetera.

The reason Christians in Arabic speaking countries call God "Allah" is because "Allah" in the Arabic word for God. It makes no more sense for English Christians to call God "Allah" than to call God "Dieu" or "Gott."

But what really moves me to post here is to read the sad string of frankly bigotted comments about Islam. Nothing in Christ demands me to treat people of other religions with such contempt.

[Belisarius]

"Allah" is the name for the old pagan moon god that Mahomet's tribe worshipped; the rituals Moslems do in Mecca nowadays are exactly the same as those done in pre-islamic times in worship to what was then the most popular god among the Arabic tribes:

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/moongod.htm

You'll note that all these attempts at what is absurdly termed 'inter-faith dialogue' or 'ecumenism' are one-way endeavours; Moslems regularly persecute, kill and destroy people and places of worship which are not Moslem throughout the entire world. Instead of suggesting that Christians call God by a false name, it would be preferable if the Christian clergy, en masse, learned to call Evil by its true name.

[Oliver Nicholson]

Tash, for what it is worth, is the Turkish for 'stone' (just as Aslan is ;lion' in Turkish - and of course a number of other languages).
Surely the Syriac for God is Allaha (though the Church of the East and the Jacobites are as aware of the differences between the Islamic notion of God and the doctrine of the Trinity as John of Damascus was when he wrote On the Orthodox Faith when living in Ummayad Syria).

[Lindi]

why ?

[Raymond Joseph Douglas]

In the last battle,written by C.S Lewis,the question is put to Aslan"are you and tash one and the same?Aslan makes it very clear to the Calormene soldier that is not the case!i am with Lewis on this one.To make it clear,Aslan is the Jesus figure in Narnia,and Tash is the Allah character

[Tim]

A Bishop tries to ingratiate himself to Muslims by such a ludicrous suggestion. Would a Muslim Imam suggest that all Muslims refer to God as YHWH, Jehovah or God the Father? Of course not - what is the problem with accepting that we have different perceptions of God and we label God accordingly? What is the problem with "agreeing to disagree"? And what is the problem with this Bishop? Now there is a question!

[Drown Pharoah]

I actually refer to him as Big Merciful Transcendent Dude.

[David Palmer]

One thing is for sure, the Dutch Bishop is well on the way to being a dhimmi.

Christians worship the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". As several have already pointed out, the Bishop confuses too entirely different conceptions of God (As a Christian I make a concession with my use of "conception").

The Muslim allah is a pale but terrible imitation of the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

[John Gregory Flinn]

Before the question posed could be answered one would have to know what language He understood.
It might be Latin, or even the music of Beethoven and Vivaldi.
Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic which is a semitic language but I do not know what is the Aramaic word for God.
I doubt if it would imply a 'sole deity' that this Dutch Bishop intones, because that would exclude God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

[Neal Terry]

The question is not whether God minds or not, we cannot know the answer to that. Rather we should ask how many wars do want to have over the question.

[Rabbi Pete Tobias]

The ancient Israelite formulation of one invisible deity was the unpronounceable name that we transcribe (inaccurately) as YHWH and which is sometimes rendered(even more inaccurately) as Jehovah.
According to tradition, the name was only ever uttered by the High priest on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It is not really a name, more a description of something intangible. The name YHWH actually contains elements of the past, present and future forms of the Hebrew verb 'to be'. Using the same letters that represent the Hebrew name for this deity YHWH as reference, the Hebrew word for 'was' comes out as HYH, 'is' = HWH and 'will be' = YHYH. So this unpronounceable name of God (translated in current Liberal tradition - among others - as 'the Eternal One') is a combination of everything that was, is, and will be. Which I think is a pretty good way of describing God.

[Marco Oliveira]

Only 99 names/attributes for God?
That is a limitation!
If He is God, His Names and Attributes are countless.

[David Keen]

Orwell's 1984 has the powerful insight that if you can control language you can control what people think. If you delete all other ways of talking about God apart from Mohammeds, then it's not hard to work out what will happen next.

Only a Western Christian could have come out with statement as dumb as this. In the many non-Arab countries and regions where Christians are under pressure to convert to Islam, this is another propaganda coup for people who will try to undermine the Christian faith.

We also have to rewrite the book of Exodus "sorry Moses, when I said I was called YHWH I was only joking." He's going to have trouble getting the Jews onside with this one.

[Matt]

Need to watch references to "The Catholic Encyclopaedia" Ruth - you can end up looking foolish.

Newadvent is the 1910 version, which is the latest out of copyright one.

Richard Dawkins has made himself look a pratt by quoting it in "The God Delusion" as a source on Roman Catholicism.

Things have changed a bit since 1910 in many areas.

(thanks Matt I'll bear that in mind, although I actually didn't post this particular column myself... rg)

[Robert Ian Williams]

David Smith only presents a distorted pictre of Assisi. All religions prayed separately and the Pope introduced the occasion by denouncing syncretism.

St Paul acknowledged that there were people in other religions searching after the unknown God.

However whilst the Catholic Church acknowledges fragmnents of truth found in other religions, it also asserts that they contain many serious errors.

There were abuses at Assisi in the side events and they were apologised for after.

Furthermore the present Pope will not attend any follow up, for fear of misnterpretation.

As for the Dutch bishop, he is a maverick, out of line with the magisterium in severla key areas and the Pope has accepted his resiganation without asking him to stay on.

[Robert Ian Williams]

This bishop is out of touch with the magisterium of the Catholic Church in several key areas and is on the way out. Note how the Pope has not asked him to stay on.

[Francis]

Does God mind what He's called?

Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.(KJV)

Case closed.

[Hugh Manitas]

What a nightmare of personal interpretation surrounding the multiplicity of world religions, their adjuncts, alternatives and the numerous names of the various gods associated with them. The most salient point here is that since no gods have yet been discovered, they might accurately be referred to as 'missing'. But even as there is no evidence of gods, or any sensible connection between the thin air that remains and collapsed churches, wild fires or inclement weather, there appears to exist, in indignant perpetuity, various disparate ideologies prepared to state categorically that there are gods with celestial motives for causing suffering. Therein lies the danger to peace, progress and sanity in the world.

[heredal]

" in the context of the recent and on-going severe weather here in England, and of the debate as to whether God is trying to say something through these (to some) merely 'natural phenomena', that Church was soon after severely damaged in an earthquake"

Oh, right. Has anyone got the phone number for Bishop Dow in Carlisle? We ought to ask him what his God is punishing the poor people of Peru for, now that he's done with the flood victims in Blighty. Peruvians are mostly RC and very conservative, so it can't be for allowing gay marriage this time. See :

http://www.omct.org/index.php?id=EQL&lang=eng&articleSet=Appeal&articleId=6817

[Geoffrey Smith]

According to a survey in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, 92% of the 4000 people polled disagreed with the bishop's suggestion. Some even ridiculed it by saying that he would require them to pray five times a day, and refer to their local church as the 'parish mosque'.
A bad idea, all round.

[Dr. Irene Lancaster FRSA]

Thanks for the post about the correct etymological origin of the word 'Allah'. I was of course referring simply to the similarity to the word 'aliyah', which means immigration to Israel.

I made that clear on my own blog, linked to my earlier posting.

I also suggested that whatever s/he is called, s/he appears to have a sense of humour

either a Jew or an Anglican then, probably.

[Nick Finke]

In the call to prayer chanted five times a day the muezzin announces, among other things, "lā ilāha illā-llāh" which means "there is no deity (i.e. 'ilaha') except Allah." This phrase is an essential part of the Muslim creed or Shahadah, the mere recitation of which is what makes one a Muslim.

I do not claim to be an expert, but it is my understanding that etymologically "Allah" is thought to come from "al-ilaha" which would mean "the God." The word is used in contemporary Arabic as the personal name for the one God. As others have mentioned, many Christian Arabic speakers use this name for God without any hint that this would make them Muslims.

I would hazard a guess that the closest thing in English to the way this name is used in Arabic would be the way that believers refer not to "god" but to "God."

[Martin]

I rarely criticise popes, but the conduct of John Paul II at Assisi was severely misguided, naive, and gullible.

His present Holiness is reported to have been incandescent over it at the time.

[David Smith]

Martin:
'[Allah] is a foreign word which refers to a heathen deity, who is not the Christian God.'

Absolutely right, Martin.

Your exact question, Joanna, was:
'In the Bible there are many names for God, so is he onto something? Does it matter what we call God?'

The many names for God in the Bible are all specifically names of one God - the Father of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Christianity holds, and I believe, that there is only one God, and that He is the one who in the words of its founder on earth, Jesus, 'no one can come to.. but via me'. (John 14:6)

The Book of Revelation tells us that, towards the end of the existence of this earth as we now know it, one religious organisation will build a false one-world religion that somehow unites all the religious (other than true Christians) under one banner. The idea that will enable this will be that all the religious are basically worshipping the same God. My money is on that organisation being the Vatican.

In 1986 Pope John Paul gathered 130 leaders of the world's twelve major religions at Assisi to pray. Praying together were snake worshippers, fire worshippers, spiritists, animists, North American witch doctors, Buddists, Muslims, Hindus, as well as all major denominations of Christians. John Paul declared that all were 'praying to the same God'!!!!! (Pope Benedict said much the same to Muslim leaders when he summoned them in September 2006 to calm Muslims down after he had upset them in a speech in Germany: 'They [Muslims] worship the one God.. ')

On that occasion John Paul allowed his good friend the Dalai Lama to replace the cross with Buddha on the altar of St Peter's Church in Assisi, and for him and his monks to perform their Buddhist worship there.

Most interestingly, in the context of the recent and on-going severe weather here in England, and of the debate raging on this blog and elsewhere as to whether God is trying to say something through these (to some) merely 'natural phenomena', that Church was soon after severely damaged in an earthquake.

Though it doesn't to those who are being used to build a false one-world religion, it seems that it does matter to the true Christian God what we call Him.

[The Omniscient Mussel]

Just got off the phone with God. He says he doesn't care about the name but was wondering if Denise in Stoke would stop being rude to the homeless man outside her work.

[Niki]

Christian Arabs are fully aware that the concept of the islamic deity, 'allah', has nothing to do with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and their pronunciation of the word varies slightly to reflect that. There are two, not three, genuinely Abrahamic faiths; Mohamed merely took from Judaism and Christianity certain names, words and concepts which he then either confused, denied or perverted into a political ideology which, after ten years as a warlord, had made him ruler of Arabia. The bald fact that Mohamed's conduct and words are never mentioned, analysed or criticised in msm is a hint of how far removed this man's life was from any Judaeo-Christian perception of prophethood.

No knowledgable Christian can mistake the 'allah' of the koran because the koran in Sura 3 (which is concerned with the dialogue between Mohamed and Christians) denies the Divinity of Jesus, denies that the Crucifixion took place (saying, instead, that 'allah', the Great Deceiver, "allah amkaru al makireen," substituted a man who bore a physical resemblance to Jesus as the one to be crucified) and, therefore, denies the Resurrection which is the keystone of Christian belief. The Koran also states that the 'Jesus' ('Isa') of the Koran is a Moslem (as it says also of Abraham), that this 'Isa' will come again, that he will deny the cross and that this will be a sign that the jizya (the protective tax paid by Jews and Christians to their Moslem overlords) is to be abolished and this will lead to the slaughter of the Jews and Christians.

There are numerous verses throughout the Koran which sharply contrast the teachings of islam with the message of love, repentance and forgiveness of all humanity of Jesus, but this Sura alone damns the notion of using 'allah' to refer to the True God.

For the benefit of all those atheists, pagans and secularists who don't really care about this issue: Islam regards all such people as the lowest of all, even beneath the Jews and Christians. Beyond all the theological and etymological discussions lies the issue of human freedom and it will be a cold day in hell (islamic hell, that is, wherein the majority of its dwellers are imprisoned for the 'sin' of opposition to Mohamed) before your views on that or any subject will count with the adherents of this ideology, other than as 'useful idiots' along with the Bishop of Breda.

[heredal]

"I suspect, however, that `the sole diety` is rather more concerned with our adherence to his revealed ethical and moral values, than a common pronounciation of his name."

Which set of "revealed ethical and moral values" would that be? The alleged sole deity seems to have revealed several such sets over time, seemingly quite contradictory one to the other, and indeed within each set there reigns confused and conflicting ideals.

[Martin]

The word "allah" may be used by Arab and Maltese Christians because in their native languages it is the only word they have for the Christian God - but in other languages it has another meaning. It is a foreign word which refers to a heathen deity, who is not the Christian God. For non Arab or Maltese Christians to refer to God as Allah would be gratuitous pandering to Islam. It would be a bit like referring to God as Baal because lots if Israelites worshipped Baal once.

[Christopher]

Actually I think Irene is hinting at what is the case. God or whatever you call him/it is a human construct. People get very bothered about blasphemy (saying rude/uncomplimentary/'heretical' things about THEIR chosen deity, but I doubt if - let's call it the ultimate brahman to avoid being too montheistically partisan - even if it exists, gives a damn.

[emanuel appel]

a letter from America

Dear all,

The Dutchman's real name for God is "surrender to Islam".

Give me a colossal break. Why not call God Hitler or Stalin for what's in a name, right?

[bill mayfair]

Why should anyone have to change the name they've always used. Indonesia has a Muslim majority, which at the moment doesn't describe The Netherlands.

Having said that, how about we call God:

"The great delusion"?

"The unproven joke"?

"As If"?

[David Hughes]

What does it matter what you call someone who only exists in the minds of illogical people?

[Michael Stevens]

More than the name, the theological and ontological position behind the use of the name is what matters.

Generally speaking, in those polities where most of the population choose to call God 'Allah', those positions are entirely incompatible with a tolerant Western Liberal democracy.

Try and build a church in Saudi Arabia if you don't agree

[MargaretG]

And what does he think about calling Jesus the Son of God?

[Rev Sam]

G.Tingey - you are right in a more profound sense than you realise. It's a theological axiom that God is not a member of any conceivable set...

[Jason Goroncy]

Ruth. Many thanks for your blog which I always enjoy reading, though rarely venture in on the discussion

You write here: 'In the Bible there are many names for God ...' This is true. And the three great monotheist faiths do share many of these names in common. I can speak best regarding Christianity wherein God is not usually addressed as 'God' but with God's proper, or 'Christian name', ie. as 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit'.

While the Bible shares many divine names with the Koran, 'Father' is not one of them. If the Church's conviction that a central aspect of the ministry of Jesus was to reveal the true nature of God, then central to that revelation is the revelation of the divine name 'Father'. To abandon such a testimony in the name of better 'dialogue' or anything else is really to reject Jesus' testimony.

If you are interested I am in the midst of writing a series of posts on this very question, though it's been on the back burner for a wee while. See http://ptforsythfiles.blogspot.com/search?q=names+and+the+name

[naveed zafar]

As an orthodox Muslim I find this idea appealing. I suspect, however, that `the sole diety` is rather more concerned with our adherence to his revealed ethical and moral values, than a common pronounciation of his name.

[Peter Kirk]

Dr Lancaster, the Arabic word Allah or al-ilah, which starts with alif rather than eyn, is related to Hebrew elohim "God" starting with aleph, rather than to Hebrew aliyah starting with ayin.

I agree that, since all monotheistic religions worship the same one deity, the same word should be used for him. But in the Netherlands that name should be surely the Dutch word for "God", not an Arabic import. If Dutch Muslims really believe in the same Creator God as Dutch Christians and Jews, when speaking Dutch they should use the Dutch word for him.

[Cranmer]

Insofar as Allah is simply Arabic for God, it is a word more concerned with a job title than it is a name. For Muslims, God has no name; he is simply God. But for Jews this God is revealed as the 'I AM', YHWH, the Father; for Christians he is further revealed in Yeshua, the Son; but for Muslims he is not known for he is not knowable. He is not in relationship with his children as is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the matter of calling God Allah is of no consequence at all if one is a Christian Arab dwelling in Arabia. But using the term in a Western culture becomes what St Paul termed 'foolishness to the Greeks'. The term becomes a hurdle to overcome, an offence, a stumbling block. Here it clearly matters what one calls God, and to get the term wrong is to risk the salvation of souls.

[heredal]

"He"?

How do we know it's a "He"?

What if He's a She, or perhaps even an 'it' or a "they"? The bible after all says :

"And God said, Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. " Genesis 1:26/27

Soom room for doubt there, surely?

[G. Tingey]

Excuse me, but my intial reaction to this isn't printable .....

Actually, the correct name for "god" is best written in mathematical language:
{ Ø } - the empty set.

He/she/it/they are figments and imaginary friends, at the best.

[Dr. Irene Lancaster FRSA]

The Bible has different names for God in order to indicate our relationship with HIM.

In Judaism God is not a material being, therefore, the word for HIS transcendence is made up of vowels that are unpronouncable, with substitutes used on an every day basis.

Allah is just like 'al', meaning above in Hebrew, as in the airline El Al, literally 'to up'.

Or the very popular word 'aliyah', 'going up', referring to being called up to the bimah or altar during the synagogue service, or emigrating to Israel.

As it happens it is my own anniversary of aliyah tomorrow. Yes - one whole year in Israel - and what a year it has been.

As a celebration of this, the Christian Friends of Magen David UK, of which I am Patron, have asked me to write a feature on the meanings of aliyah, of which Allah appears to be a derivative.

Do link to my blog to find out more about aliyah:

http://irenelancaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/

And yes and no: it matters to us what we call God, because that tells us something about ourselves. But if God is not a material entity, I doubt very much if He cares what he is called.