Just saw a couple posts about whether Allah of Islam is the G-d of the Bible or the name of G-d. While it is evident to a student of the Bible that the answer is a resounding no, there has to be scholastic honesty in this debate and I just have to put my two cents in on this issue. The generic name for a god in Hebrew is El. In the plural it is Elohim. Another form often used is Eloah. It is a generic "name"- we would say title in modern terms, though the idea of a difference between "name" and "title" is quite a bit more blurred in antiquity. This term means a powerful being, one with powerful authority. It is very generic- it can refer to any god of the heathen, such as the moon god of ancient Arabia, or any other such deity. It can also refer to humans in high authority, and is used biblically of human judges. It is a very generic term, that is the point. A sister language to Hebrew, also used in the Bible is Aramaic. THe term for G-d in Aramaic is Alaha. It meanas the same thing. As Aramaic evolved into Arabic, the term Alaha changed to Allah. It is a more recent evolution of a name, or title if you like of G-d. So, in a sense, Islam is correct in claiming the word "Allah" is a name, or title of the G-d of the Bible. In Arabic, it can refer to the G-d of the Bible, but also it can refer to any god- it is a generic term. But is the one they claim to be Allah the same G-d? In the Torah, G-d gives His Name as, to translat into English, The Etrenal- the One Who will be, The One Who is, and the One Who was, the famous Y-H-V-H. AS far as I know, Islam never uses His Name, just the generic term for G-d. And the G-d of Islam delights in murder and injustice, so there is no way that they are one and the same.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 02:30:30 +0000
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