quickie

[karisma]

Why do some people write "G-d" instead of God?

 

[Adammi]

Why do some people write "G-d" instead of God?

Calling God, God, is actually a title refering to the actual name of YHWH (pronounced differently by different people). In ancient Judaism God's name, Yahweh, was considered so holy that it shouldn't even be said or written. In this reverence for the sacred name of God they called him HaShem (correct me if I'm wrong) which is Hebrew for "The Name".
In that same spirit some Messianic Jews spell God, G-d.

 

[dvd_holc]

People do it because of the combination of a couple of things:

fear for God, respect toward God, or humanity toward God
the tradition began to fulfill the commandment they shall not take my name in vain...because the people believe that God is so big, profound, and holy...that they could not justifly honor God by pronouncing or writting His Name. The Name of God within the bible also take with it the divine presence of God. For example, in Exodus 24:20-21, God's Name dwells in a angel. So then if the Name of God can dwell in this world...and God's nature is eternal...you can't put it in things that can be corrupted...

 

[Adstar]

Why do some people write "G-d" instead of God?

It’s an old Jewish tradition. An attempt at reverence. I personally disagree with it. If one is to call on God one must have a name to call, If people suppress the name of God then people do not know who to call.

The title Yahweh is a speculated expansion of the Jewish abbreviation YHWH.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[epy]

Didn't mean to double post and I don't know how to delete this if it is even possible for me to do so. Sorry.

 

[epy]

A name has meant far more profound things in the past than it does today. If I'm not mistaken (do correct me if I'm wrong), a name in biblical times nearly meant the person. To go in someone's name was to go as if you were him. In that respect, to put God's name on a piece of paper or other object that would not be maintained would be far from reverent. For instance, given that idea, to put God's name on a Bible study handout that will probably be thrown away afterwards would be associating God with trash. G-d or some other variant is meant to avoid disrespect.

I hope that was useful.

 

[plum]

A name has meant far more profound things in the past than it does today. If I'm not mistaken (do correct me if I'm wrong), a name in biblical times nearly meant the person. To go in someone's name was to go as if you were him. In that respect, to put God's name on a piece of paper or other object that would not be maintained would be far from reverent. For instance, given that idea, to put God's name on a Bible study handout that will probably be thrown away afterwards would be associating God with trash. G-d or some other variant is meant to avoid disrespect.

I hope that was useful.

this is a good examination of it yes

the following is from a Jewish perspective, but it illustrates why believers do it as well:

Writing the Name of God

Jews do not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood").

Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.

The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God.

It is worth noting that this prohibition against erasing or defacing Names of God applies only to Names that are written in some kind of permanent form, and recent rabbinical decisions have held that writing on a computer is not a permanent form, thus it is not a violation to type God's Name into a computer and then backspace over it or cut and paste it, or copy and delete files with God's Name in them. However, once you print the document out, it becomes a permanent form. That is why observant Jews avoid writing a Name of God on web sites like this one or in newsgroup messages: because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it.

Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God." In addition, the number 15, which would ordinarily be written in Hebrew as Yod-Heh (10-5), is normally written as Tet-Vav (9-6), because Yod-Heh is a Name. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numerals.

that was from http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm#Writing

 

[Jmie]

Why do some people write "G-d" instead of God?

never encountered that before, from where can that be read? (sorry, ignorant)

 

[sc4s2cg]

never encountered that before, from where can that be read? (sorry, ignorant)

Like my endings of my posts.

G-d bless,
sc
Ps. There's a link to an explanation in my signature. Also, for me, this is just a way to remind myself who He is, so I won't lose the meaning of Him in debates and fellowship on CF.

 

[Apollonian]

Calling God, God, is actually a title refering to the actual name of YHWH (pronounced differently by different people). In ancient Judaism God's name, Yahweh, was considered so holy that it shouldn't even be said or written. In this reverence for the sacred name of God they called him HaShem (correct me if I'm wrong) which is Hebrew for "The Name".
In that same spirit some Messianic Jews spell God, G-d.

From what I understand the word "God" is not a translation of YHWH. God with a capital G signifies the singular "god". The term "god" is used in many contexts.

That said, as an interesting note, if you look in many translations of the old testament you will see the word "LORD" printed in all caps (or "drop-caps"). This is the usual way in which the name YHWH is translated. Traditionally, only priests who had been purified were allowed to scribe the true name of God (YHWH).

As for people who write "G-d" (which I haven't really ever seen myself)... I imagine that has more to do with internet filters which may consider "God" as a swear word and turn it into "***" rather than any strict religious principle.