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To: hogwaller
Names are of men, not of God.

If you were making love to your sig. ot. and she suddenly screamed "Oh, ArGee!", would you accept from her that she was really thinking of you the whole time and just used a different name for you? (Please accept the analogy even if I got the sex of you and your lover wrong.)

The name of G-d which I will not write here was revealed by G-d to Moses. It wasn't something Moses made up while he was sitting in a cave meditating upon the nature of the creator. G-d interrupted Moses in his daily life with a dazzling display of His supernatural power to give Moses a revelation of who He is. He was dramatic so that Moses wouldn't confuse what he had seen with a personal meditation or vision or dream. Moses was to be convinced that he had just had an encounter with the G-d of all and that encounter was to change Moses' life. Part of that revelation was His name. The rest of that was His character. G-d did not reveal His whole character to Moses, not even during the subsequent decades they worked together, because G-d's whole character is infinite and none of us will ever understand it all. But G-d did reveal facets of His character that distinguished Him from the man-made gods of that or any other time so that Moses, and we, could know the difference.

The Hindu model of G-d as whatever you can ascertain Him to be is incomplete, and G-d Himself has shown it to be incomplete. The G-d of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus is unlike any god ever invented by the mind of man. Some of the religions that have stood the test of time have borrowed facets of the Hebrew G-d, and Mohammed and Joseph Smith plagarized His revelation heavily when they remade Him in their own image. But He is unlike any of the man-made gods, completely set apart, completely other. We call that "holy."

There are similarities among the world's great religions. This is proof that they all stem from the days of Noah, who knew G-d personally. If you only look at the similarities you will have reason to think we all worship the same G-d. But if we worshipped the same G-d we wouldn't see similarities and differences. We would see the same thing. G-d doesn't change, not even when we change perspective.

One of the most amazing things about the Bible is that it presents a consistent view of a consistent G-d, even though written over a time span of 1500+ years, 40 authors from all walks of life, and from times when G-d moved very differently among men. Yet with all of that it presents a coherent view of One G-d, One Plan, One Salvation, and One Future.

You can claim that G-d = Allah = Brahma = Great Spirit = Goddess = whatever you like. Ultimately, you won't have to convince me, you will have to convince Him. Between now and then, if you want my advice, I suggest you look a little harder.

Seek the LORD while He may be found. (Isaiah 55:6)

Shalom.

101 posted on 10/30/2001 7:50:47 AM PST by ArGee
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To: ArGee
<< You can claim that G-d = Allah = Brahma = Great Spirit = Goddess = whatever you like. Ultimately, you won't have to convince me, you will have to convince Him. Between now and then, if you want my advice, I suggest you look a little harder. Seek the LORD while He may be found. (Isaiah 55:6)>> I find it interesting that those who follow the Bible, far more so than any other faith, find it necessary to constantly proclaim the superiority of their beliefs over others. Over the centuries, Christians have killed and coerced in the name of God far more than any others, though Moslems are probably a close second here. To me, this need betrays a basic insecurity. The original post of this thread, "proving" now much more benevolent Christianity is than Islam is a case in point. If Christians were as peaceful and nonthreatening as they want to appear, they wouldn't have to constantly tell everyone how great they are. A truly generous, humble and peaceful person doesn't go around telling everyone about his virtues, he simply lives an exemplary life. It's the same with religions.
147 posted on 10/31/2001 12:54:25 PM PST by Lchris
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