When and why did people start writing G_d when referencing God?
December 8th, 2009 Posted by: admin
I’ve seen this a lot within the past 5 years in online posts and even at collegiate level writing and I don’t know how it started or what its purpose is. Why not just write God?
By: Presumptive
By: Presumptive
Tags: Collegiate Level, God, People
December 12th, 2009 at 08:11
or actually be specific and write yahweh – since “god” is a title and not a name.
December 15th, 2009 at 06:35
Many Jews (and others to be respectful of beliefs) do not write out the term “God” out of respect for any term for the deity. If the sentence should be printed out and then casually tossed away or abused, that’s disrespectful.
Here’s what a Rabbi responded:
In recent years, some Jews have carried the practice even further by abstaining from writing the English word “God” and substituting the spelling, “G-d” or “Gd.” However, there is no prohibition in Jewish law from writing “God” in any language other than Hebrew. In fact, there is an often repeated story about Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, z”l, one of the foremost authorities of Modern Orthodoxy, who intentionally would write and erase the word “God” (in English) on the blackboard in front of his students at Yeshiva University in order to emphasize the fact this is not prohibited by Jewish law.
Some Reform Jews observe the custom of spelling God as “G-d.” Most do not. In any case, it would be inappropriate and opposed to Jewish values to correct or shame a person for keeping this practice if it is done out of respect and reverence for God.
L’Shalom,
Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser
December 16th, 2009 at 02:29
It’s originally a Jewish practice, with a long history that begins with a prohibition on erasing or destroying the Name.
Judaism never stops with a simple practice, there’s always layers of understanding and teaching. Extending the care we take around writing the Name (lest it be erased or treated disrespectfully) to the words we use instead keeps that mindfulness and teachings present, even when we work in other languages.
I write G-d because it reminds me always that we can never fully define such a concept and because it reminds me to take care with how I use such ideas and language.
December 19th, 2009 at 05:14
It is a Jewish thing.
Out of respect to the creator of the world, we refrain from saying and writing His name.
December 19th, 2009 at 14:45
From a non-Jew’s perspective, I will write it that way when I am referring to Judaism.
I will also write God when addressing Christianity and Allah for Islam.
For me it is a matter of courtesy and respect and an attempt to acknowledge the real and different views about their respective conceptions of the divine.