# Why use G-d instead of God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239 "2005-09-05T20:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/1 "2005-09-05T20:43:35Z")
From [www.jewfaq.org](http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/g-d.htm) > [@](#): > > **G-d** > A way of avoiding writing a name of G-d, to avoid the risk of the sin of erasing or defacing the Name. But, after several years of using “G-d”, won’t the letters “G-d” represent the name of God just as much as the letters “God” do? After all, the name of God was originally written in Hebrew, so the latin characters “God” had nothing to do with the name of the Hebrew God. It now seems that after centuries of usage, people consider the letters “God” to be sufficiently representing the name of God that they avoid writing it. Does this mean that the letters “G-d” will one day be considered to sufficiently represent the name of God that people will start using some other letters? ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/2 "2005-09-05T21:03:25Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > From [www.jewfaq.org](http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/g-d.htm) > > But, after several years of using “G-d”, won’t the letters “G-d” represent the name of God just as much as the letters “God” do? > > After all, the name of God was originally written in Hebrew, so the latin characters “God” had nothing to do with the name of the Hebrew God. It now seems that after centuries of usage, people consider the letters “God” to be sufficiently representing the name of God that they avoid writing it. > > Does this mean that the letters “G-d” will one day be considered to sufficiently represent the name of God that people will start using some other letters? I think it’s the intent that counts. Just guessing though. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/3 "2005-09-05T21:38:52Z")
I believe that the basic idea is to provide an English equivalent to YHWH, which is what Jews use instead of Yahweh for the Name, to avoid the sin of saying or writing it. If thousands of years of using YHWH in place of Yahweh hasn’t rendered the two equivalent, I doubt that G-d will ever be considered unwriteable. Hopefully, one of our knowledgeable Jewish posters will be along to provide a more detailed explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Sequent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sequent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sequent)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/4 "2005-09-05T21:59:38Z")
Looks like waterj2 is [right](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-d#Lesser_used_names_of_God) > [@](#): > > Many Jews also write “G-d” instead of “God”. While this last substitution is by no means required by religious law (only the Hebrew name, not the English, is holy), it is done to remind the reader of the holiness attached to God’s name. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/5 "2005-09-05T22:11:17Z")
I’ve often wondered this myself. G-d is God with different symbols used. If it is a sin to write or utter Yahweh, then how do we know it. How are children taugh this and are they left to learn the real word on the street (no sarcasm I am genuinely interested) ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/6 "2005-09-05T22:22:14Z")
> [@Sequent](#): > > Looks like waterj2 is [right](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-d#Lesser_used_names_of_God) I guess my basic problem with that is that “God” is no more “YHWH’s”, “Jehovah’s” (or any of the many derivations) name than my name is “Man.” And the bible bears that out—Satan himself is called a “god.” **(2 Cor 4:4)** It makes perfect sense to me to Caplitalize God when referring to the Sovereign of the universe. However, His name is not “God.” ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/7 "2005-09-05T22:36:45Z")
> [@the raindog](#): > > I guess my basic problem with that is that “God” is no more “YHWH’s”, “Jehovah’s” (or any of the many derivations) name than my name is “Man.” Hey, if your name was “[Jealous](http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2034:14&version=47;) Q. Raindoq” would you want people to call you that? I don’t blame him. 🙂 P.S. > [@Emily Dickinson](#): > > God is indeed a jealous God— > He cannot bear to see > That we had rather not with Him > But with each other play. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/8 "2005-09-05T23:22:10Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > Hey, if your name was “[Jealous](http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2034:14&version=47;) Q. Raindoq” would you want people to call you that? > > I don’t blame him. 🙂 > > P.S. Why quote Dickinson when God Himself is available? :dubious: _“14 For thou shalt worship no other ùGod; for Jehovah – Jealous is his name – is a jealous ùGod;”_ **(Ex 34:14) (Darby)** ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/9 "2005-09-05T23:24:08Z")
Correction… I see you linked to the Exodus text… Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/10 "2005-09-05T23:50:54Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve read something that not only used “G-d” but “J—s” and “Chri–”. Is this Jewish practice as well? Why, if they don’t believe in a divine Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/11 "2005-09-06T00:22:47Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > I believe that the basic idea is to provide an English equivalent to YHWH, which is what Jews use instead of Yahweh for the Name, to avoid the sin of saying or writing it. > [@deevee](#): > > If it is a sin to write or utter Yahweh, then how do we know it. There is no sin in saying or writing the name of G-d in Judaism. > [@](#): > > **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. > [@](#): > > **Nothing in the Torah prohibits a person from pronouncing the Name of God**. Indeed, it is evident from scripture that God’s Name was pronounced routinely. Many common Hebrew names contain “Yah” or “Yahu,” part of God’s four-letter Name. The Name was pronounced as part of daily services in the Temple. Source: [http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm](http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm) Hope that answers some questions. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/12 "2005-09-06T04:42:04Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve read something that not only used “G-d” but “J—s” and “Chri–”. Is this Jewish practice as well? Why, if they don’t believe in a divine Jesus? Where did you see that? Most Orthodox Jews avoid referring to Jesus as “Christ,” the Greek word for ‘annointed’ (aka “Messiah”, which is the Anglicised Hebrew word), as we don’t believe the Jesus was the Messiah, but I can’t imagine that any Orthodox Jew would use the word but leave out some letters. Perhaps some branch of Christianity has adopted the practice? ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/13 "2005-09-06T07:48:19Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > There is no sin in saying or writing the name of G-d in Judaism. Source: [http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm](http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm) You forgot the following from the same page you cited: > [@jewfaq.org](#): > > However, by the time of the Talmud, it was the custom to use substitute Names for God. **Some rabbis asserted that a person who pronounces YHVH according to its letters (instead of using a substitute) has no place in the World to Come, and should be put to death.** Instead of pronouncing the four-letter Name, we usually substitute the Name “Adonai,” or simply say “Ha-Shem” (lit. The Name). ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/14 "2005-09-06T07:58:10Z")
> [@jewfaq.org](#): > > 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. I still don’t get why you can get away with defacing or destroying “substitute” names for God. If my boss is called Joe, and we all start referring to him as Bob, that doesn’t mean I can go around saying “fuck Bob, he’s an asshole”, without any consequences. “Bob” now refers to the entity that is my boss, and whatever I do with “Bob” (e.g. print the name out and spit on it) is indistinguishable from doing the same thing to “Joe” (especially if my boss knows everyone now calls him “Bob”) And I assume God knows people are referring to him as G-d. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/15 "2005-09-06T11:32:20Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I still don’t get why you can get away with defacing or destroying “substitute” names for God. > > If my boss is called Joe, and we all start referring to him as Bob, that doesn’t mean I can go around saying “fuck Bob, he’s an asshole”, without any consequences. > > “Bob” now refers to the entity that is my boss, and whatever I do with “Bob” (e.g. print the name out and spit on it) is indistinguishable from doing the same thing to “Joe” (especially if my boss knows everyone now calls him “Bob”) > > And I assume God knows people are referring to him as G-d. The problem with your analogy is that you and your co-workers didn’t just create a new, unique name for Joe. You picked a name that is used by other workers to describe _their_ bosses, not just within your company (think the various flavors of Judaism) but for bosses the world over. (Islam, Christianity) You may make the claim that "your B-b"is the only valid use of the name Bob, to which I reply “nonsense”. And in fact note that your B-b, on more than one occasion, dissed other Bob’s—while using the name "bob.’ ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/16 "2005-09-06T12:30:26Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > From [www.jewfaq.org](http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/g-d.htm) > > But, after several years of using “G-d”, won’t the letters “G-d” represent the name of God just as much as the letters “God” do? > > After all, the name of God was originally written in Hebrew, so the latin characters “God” had nothing to do with the name of the Hebrew God. It now seems that after centuries of usage, people consider the letters “God” to be sufficiently representing the name of God that they avoid writing it. > > Does this mean that the letters “G-d” will one day be considered to sufficiently represent the name of God that people will start using some other letters? Dunno about English, but this **has already happened** in Hebrew – it had been customary to write a single letter _Heh_ with a following apostrophe (thus in Hebrew – 'ה ), presumably as a short version of _Hashem_. By the time I was finishing high school, this was considered too much of a “God’s Name”, and was beginning to be rendered instead as a single letter _Daleth_ (thus – 'ד )(presumably in order to invoke the sound of the word _Adonai_ [?]). As a lifelong Atheist, this always made me laugh… but to each their own, I guess. Dani ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/17 "2005-09-06T13:38:01Z")
Zounds, and odds-bodkins, but this could get bloody strange. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/18 "2005-09-06T15:55:20Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > I believe that the basic idea is to provide an English equivalent to YHWH, which is what Jews use instead of Yahweh for the Name, to avoid the sin of saying or writing it. From James Cahill’s _The Gifts of the Jews_ (which I just happened to read the other day): Ancient Hebrew was written without vowels; and by the time vowel subscripts were added to the consonants in the Middle Ages, the Name of God had become so sacred that it was never uttered. Even in classical times, as early as the Second Temple period, only the high priest could pronounce the Name of God—and only once a year in the prayer of the Day of Atonement. Once the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, no Jew ever uttered the Name again. From that time to this, the devout have avoided this word in the text of their Bible, reading “_Adonai_” (“the Lord”) when they come to the word _YHWH_. Many Orthodox go a step further, refusing even to say “_Adonai_” and substituting “_ha-Shem_”(“the Name”). So, after such a great passage of time, we have lost the certain knowledge of how to pronounce the word that is represented by these consonants. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/19 "2005-09-06T16:50:16Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > If thousands of years of using YHWH in place of Yahweh hasn’t rendered the two equivalent, I doubt that G-d will ever be considered unwriteable. I’d consider that YHWH and Yahweh _are_ equivalent. After all, YHWH would never mean anything other than Yahweh. **Noone Special’s** post made me laugh. And I think it provides the answer the OP was looking for. Yes, G-d might be the equivalent of God, but you’ve got to cling to it as a bulwark, because what happens if you don’t? You’ll find yourself going from “G-d” to “G–” to “—” and by the end you’ll only be able to refer to the deity by a slight twitch of your left eyelid. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239/20 "2005-09-06T17:05:13Z")
I always thought it was done to make it more difficult for him to do vanity searches on his name. Just me I guess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-use-g-d-instead-of-god/320239.md?page=2)