Just today I was looking at lyrics meanings when I stumbled across someone saying "G-d". This is not the first time that I have stumbled across this phrase and has previously deduced they meant "God". The question came to me then, "Why aren't people spelling out the name of God?" The second time around I decided it was time to get to the bottom of this.
After researching for some time, this is what I came up with.
"G-d" is used similarly with the usage of "Yahweh" or "Yhvw" by the Jews. They refuse to say the name of God as they believe it is sacred to him, in a way of giving him respect. However, recently people, I believe both Christians and Jews, have taken to refusing to call God by his full name for the same reason as "Yahweh".
I would like address this carefully because while it isn't a sin to refuse to utter the name of God as a form of respect, it does seem at the very least silly.
The glory of the cross is that when Christ died he acted as a mediator between us and God, dying for our sins. When he died the curtain in the temple, which symbolized the separation between us and God was torn apart, indicating that we can now draw near to God. He is our beloved father as we are brothers and sisters of Christ. Seeing that we are children of God, isn't it strange to hesitate to speak our own father's name? While I can see the trueness of heart in this usage, I can't see how Christians can really see it as anything but silly. If anything, it prevents us from sharing the Gospel to others which is our call as witnesses of Christ's love.
That's my spiel on "G-d", I figured that you guys might appreciate it so that when you happen upon it you'll understand what you're looking at. Comments? Questions? Let meh know. (down arrow)
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