Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hall@vice.ico.tek.com (Hal Lillywhite) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: gulf crisis, spiritual help for peace Message-ID: Date: 23 Sep 90 06:01:00 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article lae@io.UUCP (Larry Enos) writes: >God is not nameless, as you believe, at least not to orthodox >Christians and Jews who have believed in Him for thousands of years. >Moreover, you cannot approach Him using whatever name you choose. (Larry goes on to claim that we must address God as Jehovah or the equivalent or we are worshiping a false god.) Larry, I think you are taking this a bit far. I see no reason why the same God cannot have different names in different cultures. In fact the Islamic peoples are rather adamant that they are worshipping the same God we are, just under a different name. I even remember seeing a Bible (a Catholic version I think, anybody able to specifically identify it?) which at least in the Old Testament used the term Allah for God. Please don't assume that because somebody speaks a different language or has a different culture that they and their religion are somehow inferior to us. (C.S. Lewis has an interesting presentation of this in his book, _Out of the Silent Planet_.) As far as the original question goes, I don't think Christians were being asked to join in New Age worship. I think the request was simply for everybody to pray for peace, certainly a worthy endeavor. Let the New Agers do it their way while we do it ours. "Prove [examine] all things, hold fast that which is good." (1 Thes 5:21) We can examine this statement and determine that praying for peace is good even if the person who suggested it believes some things which are not.