God versus G-d

So as some here know, I am a Religion major at UCF. Well, a topic came up for one of our discussion posts and I wanted to pose it here to see what the members have to say. The question is, "Do you believe it is respectful, disrespectful, or neither with regard to the spelling of God vs G-d?"

Many of the responses are neither but a few of them align with what pops into my head when I see G-d. I thought it was just me but now I realize that I am not the only one. As I have mentioned in the past, my coming to the LORD was through a Catholic>Protestant>Agnostic>Atheist>Agnostic>Universalist>Christian path. I wasn't always walking with Jesus. With regard to G-d, well, whenever I see it the first thing that pops into my mind is the blasphemous term we all wish to avoid hearing and using. Much like BS is an abbreviation for a certain word, another two letters are an abbreviation for that aforementioned word that was alluded to.

So, basically, for many folks writing G-d has exactly the opposite effect of what the writer is trying to accomplish. They are trying to accomplish being respectful but some see it as one of the most disrespectful terms around and a direct violation of Commandment 3. I understand intent is everything but what about for the individual reading it who doesn't know about the intent? One of my classmates said, "I never understood why people who I thought were Christian would always take god's [sic] name in vain when they posted things on Facebook. Now I know better!"

What are your thoughts on this?
 
When I see G_d I never thought about it in a derogatory way like you mentioned. I take it as a Jewish custom out of respect.

I take the word God as a generalization. It isn't specific to me like YHWH, Adonai, Elohim, The Great I Am, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, someone could say God and being speaking of the God of this world(satan), or some other God.

And it does occur to me that capitalizing god still could be discussed further.

I try to be specific when praying or mentioning God of the bible.

That's why I like the Complete Jewish Bible translation because it has names of people and places transliterated to sound like biblical Hebrew.

Exodus 17:15Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
15 Moshe built an altar, called it Adonai Nissi [Adonai is my banner/miracle],

This bible I like also, but I haven't read much from it.

Exodus 17:15Names of God Bible (NOG)
15 Moses built an altar and called it Yahweh Nissi.
 
I find no problem with people using G-d because the motivation behind it is to give reverence to His name. However, I don't see any problem with God either as all we've done was replaced the O with a hyphen. The pronunciation is the same, the name is the same, and provided the motivation is the same, the reverence is the same. The only difference is the spelling, and the hyphen only represents the O.

I don't know too much about the history of this, and I can't argue against it or for it.
 
I don't mind when people use G-d but I think He told us His name even though we might mispronounce it maybe. I prefer Yahweh.
 
I guess I tend to view it differently.
To me when people use G_D or Yeshua, in the place of God or Jesus, I see them as trying to exhibit an 'assumed' holiness that has no place in the grand scheme of things.
But that's me.
As I see things, it is taking power and importance from the real entity where it belongs and giving it to language.
 
I guess I tend to view it differently.
To me when people use G_D or Yeshua, in the place of God or Jesus, I see them as trying to exhibit an 'assumed' holiness that has no place in the grand scheme of things.
But that's me.
As I see things, it is taking power and importance from the real entity where it belongs and giving it to language.

I sorta agree but for me I like to give a name to the God we worship because many people see God as a generic god that covers every religion/faith if you get my drift. Also in Australia Jehovah has become strongly conneceted with the JW's so I like to use Yahweh to avoid the confusion.
 
From what I understand, some modern Jews follow the tradition of not ever being able to destroy or erase God's name in print. They can get around this by writing G-d or G!d, so the name isn't actually written and the word could be erased or the document not so closely protected.

There have been a lot of attempts to assign meaning in various way to the way the name of God, YHWH, looks or could potentially sound, but one of the suggestions/insights that has stuck with me is that YHWH, pronounced without vowels, kind of sounds like breathing. There have been lots of attempts on how we may pronounce the unpronounceable Name, and the sound of breathing seems to me just as valid as any other suggestion. I'd be wary about building any kind of doctrine from that which isn't supported elsewhere in scripture, but the thought has been useful to me in this way:

Job 12:10
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

Col 1:17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

It's significant to me that when I am in doubt and distress, my very breath can be a reminder to me that it's Jesus who sustains life, and holds the universe together.

It's also significant that when I am speaking to someone who denies God, perhaps they are breathing the very name of the One they deny. I don't necessarily need that to be what God intended when He gave us His Name... but it does remind me to calm down in those situations. It's a cheeky thought in the back of my mind that helps me keep my emotions in check.

In terms of being respectful about God's name, considering the Hebrew tradition of respecting God's name helps me be more conscious about what I am doing and saying. To show His Name the respect it deserves, I'd best be careful what I'm doing with the breath He's given me, both in terms of my time and my speech. Again, associating God's name with breath is not something specifically taught in scripture, so I don't offer this as a teaching, but an insight I humbly submit to the judgement of the body here. For me, it's really just something I can use to remind me to do something the Bible does teach: to honor God with my time and speech (a long journey for me). It's kind of like a WWJD bracelet I can't take off.
 
From what I understand, some modern Jews follow the tradition of not ever being able to destroy or erase God's name in print. They can get around this by writing G-d or G!d, so the name isn't actually written and the word could be erased or the document not so closely protected.

There have been a lot of attempts to assign meaning in various way to the way the name of God, YHWH, looks or could potentially sound, but one of the suggestions/insights that has stuck with me is that YHWH, pronounced without vowels, kind of sounds like breathing. There have been lots of attempts on how we may pronounce the unpronounceable Name, and the sound of breathing seems to me just as valid as any other suggestion. I'd be wary about building any kind of doctrine from that which isn't supported elsewhere in scripture, but the thought has been useful to me in this way:

Job 12:10
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

Col 1:17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

It's significant to me that when I am in doubt and distress, my very breath can be a reminder to me that it's Jesus who sustains life, and holds the universe together.

It's also significant that when I am speaking to someone who denies God, perhaps they are breathing the very name of the One they deny. I don't necessarily need that to be what God intended when He gave us His Name... but it does remind me to calm down in those situations. It's a cheeky thought in the back of my mind that helps me keep my emotions in check.

In terms of being respectful about God's name, considering the Hebrew tradition of respecting God's name helps me be more conscious about what I am doing and saying. To show His Name the respect it deserves, I'd best be careful what I'm doing with the breath He's given me, both in terms of my time and my speech. Again, associating God's name with breath is not something specifically taught in scripture, so I don't offer this as a teaching, but an insight I humbly submit to the judgement of the body here. For me, it's really just something I can use to remind me to do something the Bible does teach: to honor God with my time and speech (a long journey for me). It's kind of like a WWJD bracelet I can't take off.

There have been a lot of attempts to assign meaning in various way to the way the name of God, YHWH, looks or could potentially sound, but one of the suggestions/insights that has stuck with me is that YHWH, pronounced without vowels, kind of sounds like breathing.

Cool !
 
I sorta agree but for me I like to give a name to the God we worship because many people see God as a generic god that covers every religion/faith if you get my drift. Also in Australia Jehovah has become strongly conneceted with the JW's so I like to use Yahweh to avoid the confusion.
I've been living up here in Australia all my life and I've never heard anyone use Yahweh... I guess we have never met.:)
 
Interesting. Personally I've thought the concept is fine, but it seems a bit unnecessary. Whatever someone's conscientious dictates I respect.

Personally I am fine with God, though I am picky about capitalization. I do not like to use the tetragram, however. I'm really uncomfortable using it at all and I'm uncomfortable seeing others use it. As I understand Jews did not pronounce the Name.

I've also learned in Elizabethan English they used Thou, Thy and Thine for you, your and yours when referring to God. I incorporated that into some of my prayers then.
 
I guess I tend to view it differently.
To me when people use G_D or Yeshua, in the place of God or Jesus, I see them as trying to exhibit an 'assumed' holiness that has no place in the grand scheme of things.
But that's me.
As I see things, it is taking power and importance from the real entity where it belongs and giving it to language.

I'd hate to assume that on people who may only trying to offer reverence to His name. For some, perhaps, but it would be unfair to point at someone and claim they are trying to put something on themselves when they may honestly have the purest of intentions in using those words.

I know how it feels to be called out for trying to be holier than everyone else when I really meant no such thing.
 
I guess I tend to view it differently.
To me when people use G_D or Yeshua, in the place of God or Jesus, I see them as trying to exhibit an 'assumed' holiness that has no place in the grand scheme of things.
But that's me.
As I see things, it is taking power and importance from the real entity where it belongs and giving it to language.

Bingo!
 
C'mon, guys. While that may be true for some cases, we're judging people based on something we can't be sure about. If someone uses Yeshua or G-d rather than Jesus or God, we can't assume they are doing it for the wrong reasons based on nothing but our own fallible judgment.

The gate swings both ways -- they could assume we are trying to be holier by avoiding certain language when we only mean to refer to them by what they are commonly known.
 
I'd hate to assume that on people who may only trying to offer reverence to His name. For some, perhaps, but it would be unfair to point at someone and claim they are trying to put something on themselves when they may honestly have the purest of intentions in using those words.

I know how it feels to be called out for trying to be holier than everyone else when I really meant no such thing.
No one here as far as I am aware is asking you to assume anything.
I know positively beyond all doubt that I myself am not asking anything of you.
 
C'mon, guys. While that may be true for some cases, we're judging people based on something we can't be sure about. If someone uses Yeshua or G-d rather than Jesus or God, we can't assume they are doing it for the wrong reasons based on nothing but our own fallible judgment.

The gate swings both ways -- they could assume we are trying to be holier by avoiding certain language when we only mean to refer to them by what they are commonly known.

Larry, from the people I know personally who are Jewish, their answer would be.....
It is a Jewish custom to leave the -o- out of G-d and L-RD. The main reason is :
Because it makes the words G-d and L-RD unpronounceable. They can read the names and know Whom what they mean, but cannot pronounce them. The misuse and abuse of any of G-d's Names is anathema [“accursed”] for a Jew. During the third century A.D., the Jewish people stopped saying this name in fear of contravening the commandment .........
"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" (Exd 20:7).
 
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