More Theology

[Our House]

Something that confuses me (might be really dumb, but who cares).....

If there is only one God, and that God is the Christian God, how come He doesn't have only one name?

What I mean is if it's true that the only God is the Christian God and Adam and Eve were the first humans, and they knew of His name...His REAL name...why isn't it commonly known now as just one name? Why do we have Dieu, God, Dio, Dios, Gott, De god, Gud, and many others?

Christians, please don't tell me it's because when God "mixed up the languages", He also mixed up His own name. That would be even sillier than my thread.

[HLMencken]

If you are truly the one dumbest poster here, why are you also called moron, idiot, retard, and poop-for-brains?

[madnak]

Well, none of those are "true names" for God. They're linguistic constructs. YHWH? Elohim? Eh.

If I were God I wouldn't have a name. Honestly, I'm everything. Why do I need a name?

[Our House]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are truly the one dumbest poster here, why are you also called moron, idiot, retard, and poop-for-brains?

[/ QUOTE ]
Great analogy! But I only have one name. The ones above are nicknames that people like to call me (not poop-for-brains...that's a new one).

EDIT: It's very, very hard to win the "Dumbest Poster on 2+2" award. There are just too many.

[madnak]

[ QUOTE ]
EDIT: It's very, very hard to win the "Dumbest Poster on 2+2" award. There are just too many.

[/ QUOTE ]

And they avoid this forum like the plague.

Some cultures have had multiple names. Maybe God's "names" are just how he chooses to represent Himself to different people.

Or maybe they were made up by crazies and scam artists and power mongers who thought a big man in the clouds would put people in line or make them money.

[GolfCabalist]

Many of the Jewish Hebrew names for G-d are also nicknames, each one emphasizing some aspect of his nature, like Messiah (savior), Melech (king), and such.

The names El and Elohim are generics, like the English "god".

The Name is something we dont say. It is sometimes called "tetragrammaton", meaning "four letter name (or word)". This is the name that has been rendered YWHW or similar. In Jewish prayer books, The Name is written right there on the page, but when we come to it, we do NOT pronounce it. Instead, we say "Adonai", meaning The Lord.

In ancient times, there were magicians, called Masters of the Name, who performed tricks or miracles by pronouncing The Name. If they were doing this as a sideshow trick or for profit, that act would be my idea of what is meant in the commandment "dont take the Lord's name in vain". In fact, simple utterance of the name in any context would likely violate the commandment. I see it as kind of like the deepest of respect, in the way that you dont meet the queen of England and say "Hey, Liz!" With the Deity, you dont even say his name at all!

As to your original question, involving various languages, and various religions, I have to resist your suggestion to leave Babel out of it. There are sounds in most languages that cannot even be performed by people who speak other languages. (I think of "tu", 2nd person singular, in French, and Chinese in general, for the English speaker.) You wont find a William in France, but you will find plenty of Guillomes. Still, I understand your point that it would seem that the Creator's name would transcend language...

I think also of "Jesus", which in English sounds like "Gee-Zuss", but in Spanish like "Hey Zeus". Another point on this particular name: That person, the one from Nazareth, his mother called him "Yeshua", "Jesus" is a Greek version. One of the Gospels says something like "In this name only shall ye be saved", sort of a Christian descendent of the four-letter name...in fact, they both begin with the "Y" sound.

As to various religions, another factor comes in: The various names may actually be applied to different persons! The grossest example would be of a Satan worshiper, but you have various persons represented as supreme beings: Buddha, L. Ron Hubbard, Mila Jovavich, Allah, UFO, Evolution, etc etc. Which ones of these may or may not be the One True is at issue as soon as you utter the name.

Thanks for listening! I joined this forum because I wanted to contribute to this thread, which I happened onto through a search. Once I was authorized, I was surprised to find this seems to be a Gambling site, or Poker in particular? Hooboy, what a surprise.

[purnell]

[ QUOTE ]
Something that confuses me (might be really dumb, but who cares).....

If there is only one God, and that God is the Christian God, how come He doesn't have only one name?

What I mean is if it's true that the only God is the Christian God and Adam and Eve were the first humans, and they knew of His name...His REAL name...why isn't it commonly known now as just one name? Why do we have Dieu, God, Dio, Dios, Gott, De god, Gud, and many others?

Christians, please don't tell me it's because when God "mixed up the languages", He also mixed up His own name. That would be even sillier than my thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

Exo 3:14 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.

Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD 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 for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Best I can fo for ya. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[madnak]

Wow. Nice post!

And yes, we're all degenerate gamblers.