Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), an ordained
Methodist pastor, offered some unusual words in the opening prayer for the
117th Congress on Sunday.
He ended the prayer with, “May the Lord lift up the light
of his countenance upon us and give us peace. Peace in our families. Peace
across this land and, dare I ask...oh, Lord...peace even in this chamber now
and ever more. We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and gods
known by many names by many different faiths. Amen and a-woman.”[i]
It was really a desperate moment when he prayed
in such a manner. Either he was ignorant regarding Biblical foundation or he
belonged to some mixed theological and cultural background, his work must not
confuse Christians. First, he uttered the name ‘Brahma’ and second, he said
‘gods known by many names by many different faiths’ which was totally outside
the periphery of Biblical identity of God.
We do not address our God with any names whose
ontological description and nature is distinct from God of the Bible.
Navigating from Genesis to Revelation, we know our God is Triune being and we
don’t have any concepts of avatar[ii],
amshas, bhagavana, etc. His understanding might have been influenced by Eastern
impacts (I don’t know his background, so I cannot claim blindly) for his words
resonate with what we are commonly taught here in Eastern society and
philosophy.
Brahma is distinct in nature and existence from
YHWH, our Holy God. Using this word to address God can be a great issue for
normal believers who are growing in Christ. Biblical theology, unlike Eastern
theology and philosophies, is rigid in its established revelation and doctrine.
Any kind of word, even if it is used to refer God, cannot be used unless it has
been defined in our periphery. We use ‘Parameswara’ (which is also from
Sanskrit) because it has been distinctly defined. We do not use other words
such as Bhagavan, deva, etc. We must be careful about its ontological aspect
and not just linguistics.
During my intermediate level of study in science
at college, I watched a movie ‘Teen Trilok, Chhaudha bhuvan’ by Ps. C.P.
Sharma. I watched this movie already several times and it influenced me so much
that I happened to use ‘Purna Paramatman Para Brahman’ word while praying. Only
after my research on its reliability, I really felt sorry for using this word.
This word is never defined in our theology and worldview nor it is necessary.
If we can borrow the other god's names and use
it to address Jesus, it will lead us to great dangers. For example, the word
BAAL means, LORD. Who is the Lord? We know that it is our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Can we preach: "Believe in Baal and you will be saved".
It means nothing but "Believe in the Lord and you will be saved". The
prayer, "O, Baal, hear us" (I Ki-18:26) means '0, Lord, hear
us", but the Lord did not hear them. It proves that we cannot give Jesus
the names of the other gods, though the meaning is good. So, it is blasphemy to
call our Lord, Jesus Christ, Prajapati or Baal or anything like that.[iii]
Now, what about Arabic Christians using the word
‘Allah? This might be an interesting query for us! Allah, in general, is the
Arabic word for “God” and has been so long before the existence of Islam. Long
before the Arabic prophet Muhammad was born, the name Allah was used by both Jews
and Arab Christians to refer to the one true God. Many ex-Muslim converts to
Christianity commonly refer to God as “Allah.” These converts clearly recognize
the major differences in the character and nature of God and His plan as
described by the Old and New Testament, in contrast to that of Islamic
writings. Those who still insist that it is blasphemy to refer to God as Allah
should also consider that Muhammad’s father was named Abd Allah, ‘God’s
servant,’ many years before his son was born or Islam was founded!” Allah is
not an ancient Moon-god, as some have charged. Muslim astronomers precisely
studied the Moon’s movements because it was necessary for the Islamic calendar;
the crescent moon marks the beginning and end of its months (Surah 43:37). To differentiate
themselves from Muslims, some Arabic Christians refer to God by the names:
Allāh al-Ab—God, the Father
Allāh al-Ibn—God the Son
Allāh al-Ruh al koudous—God the Holy Spirit
Of course, the word “God” does not actually appear in the
original Hebrew or Greek manuscripts of the Bible, accepted as Holy by both
Christians and Muslims. “God” is an old English word which developed from an
Indo-European word, meaning “that which is invoked,” which is also the ancestor
of the German word Gott (meaning: God).[iv]
Hence, in the case of Arabic
Christians, they use Allah but the usage is distinguished from Allah of Islamic
understanding. And the term has been defined as per Biblical theology. The name
for the maximally great being is "God". It could have been anything
for that matter and it does not matter. So, the name does not matter, but the
ontology of that being we call God matters. The root or etymology of the word
is not the issue but the usage or the meaning it refers has great matter.[v]
Finally, we must be very careful regarding how
we address God. Just because a particular word is intended to mean God doesn’t mean
we are free to use it. A mistake in such a usage has great impact when it comes
to sharing gospel and in communication. But when we are using a word that has
been defined e.g. Allah, we must first give a clarification to make vivid distinction
in its use. Let not the knowledge we gain and approach in trying to respect religions
make us go beyond the boundary. Whatsoever be the case with the Methodist
Pastor, let not his prayer misguide believers.
God bless you all.
[Note to the reader: I had previously just recorded an audio message in its response. I brought this article lately due to lack of time I had. However, the inspiration in writing this article goes to Indian apologist Rajkumar Richard and I am glad for his article in his blog for great response.]
[i] https://www.klove.com/news/faith/opening-prayer-for-congress-uses-amen-and-a-woman--19043,
accessed on 1/7/2021, 11:15 pm
[ii] https://eseekers.blogspot.com/2021/01/gospel-to-hindu-world-episode-5.html,
accessed on 1/8/2021, 6:19 am
[iii] http://home.ica.net/~bicq/wrpf/balan.html,
accessed on 1/7/2021, 11:20 pm
[iv] https://christiananswers.net/q-eden/allah.html,
accessed on 1/7/2021, 11:30 pm
[v] I
am thankful for Elder PA Thomas and Indian apologist Rajkumar Richard for this
clarification.
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