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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is Allah the God of Israel? | Acts 28:2 | Robin Hass | 157815 | ||
Dear MJH, This is basically a very good post. I agree with all of what you write, I have no ax to grind for Islam; I was just fascinated whilst on vacation this summer to come across Maltese Christians using the word Allah for God in their language. The only problem with your post is it needs backing up with some proofs. What is the etymology of the word Allah? It boils down to whether Allah is the personal name of a Arabic demon or simply their word for theos. If you can give proof that Allah is a personal name like Beelzebub then the case in closed; the Maltese Evangelicals are in error. I understand that the Maltese were under the rule of Islam in the medieval period, perhaps the word Allah wrongly came into their language at this time. If they were using it at the time of Paul's visit and right back to Babel then it is a true generic and totally legitimate. Paul perhaps encountered it when he engaged these people of 'barbarous' tongue on his missionary visitation. I seem to recall hearing that the Bible Societies whose job is to translate Scripture into hundreds of languages sometimes have problems with finding a word for theos; some ethnic groups may only know demonic personal names and have no word for God available. Going back to part 2 of my question, are you not of the opinion those non-Christians who speak of God and understand this to mean the Creator ARE referring to Yahweh. Surely even atheists who deny there is a Creator/God are denying the Christian God. Mankind's generic concept 'God' is Yahweh. The Maltese Christians are certainly using the word Allah to translate theos, here is proof: http://www.fgpc.org.mt/bible.htm Robin |
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2 | Is Allah the God of Israel? | Acts 28:2 | MJH | 157895 | ||
Possibly my lack of knowledge about the languages may have caused be to err. Maybe not, but doing a simple google search on the phrase "etymology of the word Allah" provided some interesting things to read. They are of course just web sites that can say anything, but there seems to be a common thread reflected in the following statement: ----------- In common roots with all Abrahamic religions, ie. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. Arabic Torah, Bibles and Qur'an, the word "Allah" is used where "God" is used in English. Allah is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God". However, Allah is somewhat a unique word grammatically, since it cannot be made plural or given gender (i.e. masculine or feminine), which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God. The root word "God" in English, for instance, can be used in similar forms, such as "God", "Gods" or "Goddess". --------- Maybe this helps some? MJH |
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