Does the Bible, the Word of

God, approve of addressing

Godas“Al l
ah” ?
We acknowledge that Allah has been used in Bahasa Malaysia/ Indonesia
Bible for hundreds of years, but it does not mean that God approves of its use
for Him. Does the Word of God tell God’ s people not to use Allah for God? Of
course you cannot find a single c ommandmenti nt heBi blet hatsay s:“
You
shall not use Allah to address your God, ”butt herear epr i
nciplesi nt heWor d
of God that tell His people God cannot be addressed as Allah.

Principles in God’ spreciousWor d make Hi sWor dr el

evantand appl i
cable
today. Before the principles are given, let it be known that the Bible states the
Lord Jesus Christ is God Who “ became flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father,) full of grace
and truth.”(John’ s Gospel 1.14) Those who do not believe that He is God
manifest in flesh (1Timothy 3.16) do not know God at all. The Lord answered
those who doubted He is God,“ Yenei therknow Me, nor My Father: if ye had
known Me, ye should have known MyFat heral so.
”(John 8.19) So the God
Who is mentioned in the Bible is not the God of other people’ s religions or
beliefs, because they do not believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their
God and Saviour. This is an important distinction as seen in the principles that
tell God’s people they cannot address Him as Allah or other names that people
use for their gods and religions, such as Taoism, where the Taoists call their
gods or deities “shen”[神], and this shen is also used in the Chinese Bible for
God. According to the Word of God, this is not right.

1. The principle of hallowing God’ s Name

God does want His people to distinguish and differentiate Him from what other
people worship in their religions. The God and Lord Jesus Christ, wants His
people to hallow God’ s Name as mentioned in the Prayer He gave to His
disciples: “ Hallowed be Thy Name.” As defined by the well-known,
authoritative Vi ne’sEx positoryDi ct
ionar yofNew Test amentWor ds, “
the word
‘hallowed’comes from the Greek hagiazo meani ng‘ tomakehol y’(from hagios,
‘holy ’
), signifies to set apart for God, to sanctify, to make a person or thing the
opposite of koinos,‘ common; ’iti
strans lat
ed‘ Hal lowed, ’with reference to the
Name of Godt heFat herint heLor d’ sPr ayer ,Mat thew 6.9; Luke11.2.”The
Taoists pray to their Chinese gods and call them shen, why should those who
call themselves believers of God and Lord Jesus Christ do the same? They
are not hallowing Him. They are making Him common or level with the
Chinese gods, thus making Him god! The Muslims consider Allah as the
supreme divine name which they consider as unique for their creator. It does
not hallow God’ s Name to use Allah for God in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia
Bible. It should use, instead, another name, perhaps, the name Tuhan. Those
who translated the Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia Bible long ago did not know of
this principle in the Word of God. Had they known, they would not have used
Allah for God.

2. The principle of sanctifying God

God does want His people to set Him apart, and distinguish Him from gods.
Look at the following scriptures:

Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes
of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 38.23)

Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be
your dread. (Isaiah 8:.13)

Thewor d“sanc t
ify”comesf rom t heHebr ew kādhashand is equivalent to the
New Testament Greek verb hagiáz ō. According to The International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia, k
ādhashhast he“ underlyi
ngi deaoft heseparateness of
holynat ureorhol yus e,”thati s,theset ti
ngapar tforGodonl y.Wher ei sthe
‘
separ ateness’or setting God apart from Allah when the name is used by
Muslims and by those who call themselves Christians?

3. God is profaned
Let it be known the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is neither the
Allah in Islam nor the shen in Chinese religions. Let this distinction be made in
the Bible, in writing, singing, prayer and worship. Without this distinction, God
is profaned, common with other gods and religions. In the Hebrew Old
Test ament ,“profane”c omesf rom theHebr ewchalal,andhast hesenseof“ f
or
common us e”( The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). We can also
apply this principle to pronouns for God. Note that when we write the pronouns
for God (He, Him, His, Thy, etc) we begin the pronouns with a capital letter for
distinction to show they do not refer to man. And God is not man.

God says: “ AndI will hallow My great Name, which was profaned among the
nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall
know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be hallowed in you
beforet heireyes .”(Ezekiel 36.23, Darby) God’ s people today have profaned
Him in the various Bible translations, in writing, prayer and worship, and not
hallowing Him before the eyes of other people.

Email address
drjohn.sclim@gmail.com
Website
http://comingworldevent.weebly.com