My understanding is that the origins of the word Allah or Al-Lah, on the one hand and the Jewish term El or Elohim, on the other, are indeed different. That is to say, the two names are associated with different virtues, spiritual qualities, or what have you. But these are really differences of emphasis only. In reality we know that God is the Source of all good virtues and attributes, not just a few of them here or there. Best Regards, Matt ----- Original Message ----- From: Brent Poirier Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 1:15 PM To: Baha'i Studies Subject: Allah the Christian God There is a TV program here in the US done by a man -- probably a Jew who
converted to Christianity -- and it has a very Jewish flavor. Often he
appears in Jewish religious garb and speaks of the fulfilment of Old
Testament prophecies by Jesus. Many of his programs are filmed in the
Holy Land. His apparent purpose is to teach Christianity to Jews.
Last week on his program he criticized an ad that ran in the NY Times in
which the ad proponents were saying that more inter-religious
understanding was required. It had at the top in bold, GOD-YAHWEH-ALLAH
and said that these were merely different names used by Jews, Christians
and Muslims for the one God. It was a call for peace and understanding.
The TV speaker said that there is *no relation* between God and Yahweh on
the one hand, and Allah on the other. He said it again for emphasis -- no
relation, that "Allah" is someone "completely different".
For centuries Arab Christians have been praying in the Basilica of the
Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
My question is, haven't they -- Catholics and other Christian
denominations -- been calling on God with the Arabic word "Allah?" Aren't
they doing so today? Isn't the priest at Mass in those basilicas speaking
to "Allah"?
I plan to use this in a talk and would like confirmation that Arab
Christians in the Holy Land are praying to God by the name Allah; and that
in the current Arabic translations of the Bible by such mainstream Bible
publishers as the Nelson Bible publishing company, the Old and New
Testaments are replete with references to "Allah."
I know that in some places in the Bible God is referred to by other names
such as Lord, Jehovah, Jah, Elohim, and so on; the same is true in English
language translations of the Bible, and I am not referring to these
instances.
Thanks
Brent
----------
You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Baha'i Studies is available through the following:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st
news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st
http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public)
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
----------
You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Baha'i Studies is available through the following:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st
news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st
http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public)
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
|
