Should we add the 'Christian' qualifier when we talk about Christian God?

Question

Often I see a 'Do you believe in God' question on here, and invariably it is asked by a American christian completely failing to appreciate the fact that there are many belief systems and gods out there.

Now I appreciate the opportunity to snark as much as the next man but really, it is confusing the issue. Maybe C-God? or יהוה‎, YHVH, Yahweh, Adonai or Jehovah?

10 points to the most creative suggestion.

Answer 1

God's personal name appears nearly SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES in the bible, and is used to refer to the Almighty more times than "God", "Lord", and "Father" combined. Jews, Christians, and others who respect the Holy Scriptures have every reason to use the personal name "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" or whatever the Divine Name translates to in the speaker's language.


It is true that the Almighty did not say, "Listen, thousands of years from now when a new language called English comes along, they can pronounce my name as 'Jehovah' and that's fine."

Instead, like with any and every personal name, different languages TRANSLATE personal names to fit their lingual tendencies. George becomes "Hor-hey" in Spanish or "Gay-org" in German and no one gets upset.

It's not exactly wrong to call the Almighty by the impersonal "God", just as it's not wrong to call one's offspring "Child". If we want a familiar and close relationship, however, it makes sense to use the personal name of someone we love. The Scriptures encourage us to use God's personal name.

The Hebrew name “Yahweh” (or “Yehowah”) does seem to accurately pronounce the divine name. Just as the Hebrew name “Yeshua” (or “Yehoshua”) is translated into “Jesus” in English, the Hebrew name “Yahweh” is translated into “Jehovah” in English.

The important thing is to use God’s personal name in whatever language you speak, rather than insisting upon the impersonal! The name “Yahweh” is certainly preferable to the non-name “God” or “Lord”, especially if you speak Hebrew. If you speak English, feel free to use the name "Jehovah".

(Psalms 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth

(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them

Answer 2

I use a qualifier when I am asking a spiritual question concerning the bible. Of course anyone can answer (and they do). But I found that when I put a question out there without the qualifier, I get attacked because the person does not know that I am already a Christian and they get a little preachy.

Also, it gives the atheist/Muslims/agnostics and others a chance to determine whether they even want to bother answering the question.

If it is a free-for-all question, I don't normally use the qualifier. I just hope it does not offend anyone when I do.

So I said all that to say: I AM

Answer 3

Absolutely! I have many friends who do believe in God (I am a Co-Mason and that is a requirement) but certainly not the God who encouraged slavery, wholesale killing of women and children. They likewise do not believe that a man born of a woman is the sole God (or even part of a tri-une deity.) And then there are folks who believe that any man can become a God over a whole planet. That does not correspond with many of my friends' beliefs.

There are many Paths and each one claims to be exclusive. It is very like the Sufi story about the blind men and the elephant. BTW, Snork (may He rest in peace) played that elephant in the movies. Banana Splitz showed us the way.

And a big shout out to all the believers in TFSM (the Flying Spaghetti Monster), a God you can sink your teeth into.

Answer 4

According to Wikipedia, 'God' (with a capitalised 'G') is the deity of monotheistic religions. Presumably as opposed to 'gods' of others.

I get the impression that many Christians consider 'God' to refer to their creator. But not anyone elses. Hence the confusion.

Whether Christians would think it necessary to clarify which god they are referring to I don't know. I guess that would depend on whether or not they feel they have a monopoly on the term 'God'.

Edit: Talking about this to my wife, she feels that Christians would feel 'disloyal' talking about the 'Christian God' since that rather implies that there are other, equally valid 'god's out there. For them God IS god. So why qualify it?

Though I suppose that if people are keen to elicit a certain kind of answer, there's nothing to stop them from putting 'A question from a Christian' or whatever to clarify things.
.

Answer 5

Insightful question.

Given that the majority of participants on the USA version of YA are indeed Americans, we shouldn't be surprised by the ethnocentric nature of questions/answers in any of the YA topics. (i.e. If you want the French outlook, for example, go the French version of YA.)

However, to address your specific question....

Even within Christianity there are different views of God amongst the sects. He's the same God of Abraham to all. But the subtle variances in which the different sects view Him is determined by their personal cultural histories and how the religious leaders portray Him to the masses.

The same can be said for different sects of Judaism and Islam, each of which also believes in the God of Abraham.

Answer 6

Traditionally God (uppercase) is Yahweh, etc...
So when I see God, I assume Jehovah, Yahweh....

When I see god, I assume other deities.

The same problem comes with the theist = christian, non-theist = everyone else assumption.

So - for the ten points, I suggest.. (drum roll)

Giving the gods numbers - and we reference them like this:

231) Celtic gods
393) Norse gods
398) Hindu gods
940) Greek gods

and so on... the numbers don't matter as long as we agree - except for one -

666 must be Satan. Will you give me that one?

Answer 7

The problem is that those American Christians would not bother to define their god in any way we suggest. They really don't get why they might need to. God is God, after all.

So it's up to us to ask for clarification or simply assume they mean the Bible god that they believe in.

Answer 8

I suggest "bible god". That would about sum up all the christian fractions and denominations, with a fair share of others too. Ever heard for the term "abrahamic religions"? That's a good one, too.
So either "bible god" or maybe "abrahamic god".

(oh and just for a foot note - whenever anybody asks the "do you believe in god" question, I can't help myself but to answer: "Sure, which one are you talking about? There's so many..")

Answer 9

Well, after years of dealing with Evangelical and Catholic extreme ideas about the Divine, I have a few catch phrases/images, which I employ in my own mental shorthand, but which I seldom employ in public (to avoid being burned at the stake, etc.)

For example, 'Grandad God' is useful with the worn-out (and vaguely Oedipal) conceptualization of an old man in the sky. I laugh out loud when folks say, 'the man upstairs' like God is some ageing alcoholic tenant man living over my Granny's garage . . .

For the most popular U.S. Fundamentalist version of J.C., I like 'Jesus-Iggy-Elvis'. The Jesus of Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard is 1/3 hippie, 1/3 punk martyr, and 1/3 obese has-been Southern rock star.

Most R. Catholic ideas mix up Jesus with Saint Francis and Mahatma Gandhi images, as I see it. The Catholic Father God is sort of 1/2 Mafioso Don and 1/2 anorexic Santa Claus.

The Evangelical and Pentacostal Holy Spirit represents all the pent-up and suppressed sexual neuroses of many born-again loud mouths, and is the coolest space age robot dove God flying around the sanctuary each Sunday.

So in summary, I like to call the Evangelical God 'Ronald McGod', and that's my vote for best C-God codename.

Answer 10

YHVH would be most accurate and no one could be accused of being disrespectful. But, I just refer to said deity as "the Christian god" (Note the lowercase, they do it to me so why shouldn't I return the favor?) or if I am particularly pissed off at the fundies, "gawd".