Because words related to religion can be loaded with unintended meaning, here's fair warning: We use a handful of sometimes-loaded words throughout this site. Some examples:
Scriptures -- We use the following words interchangeably: Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, Jewish Bible, Ancient Scriptures, Canonized Scriptures, Holy Books. We hope this practice will honor the faith of every believer, without disparaging any.
Prophets -- In the spirit of Moses' teachings in Numbers 11:29, the term prophet can be somewhat amorphous. We use it liberally to mean:
• The main holy character of a canonized book of scripture.
• The putative author of a book of scripture.
• Any of the 55 prophets acknowledged by Rashi.
• The inspired leader or head of the assembly of God's people.
In future postings we will list each of the Prophets according to their time period.
Biblical names -- The King James Version of the Bible is endemic in Western culture, so we generally use spellings found in that edition. Where appropriate, we also include romanized versions of Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Arabic and Egyptian spellings.
Covenant People -- By which we mean: The Jews. Whether you believe the Jewish people are the only, the first, the former, or the least covenant people, the foundational scriptures of every monotheistic faith agree that Judaism is the source of the idea of Godly covenants.
Deity -- While we may disagree about interpretation, this site respects the right of every individual to hold any honest belief about G-d. So go ahead. Give G-d any name, or any pronoun, you like. View G-d as an idea, a single being, a unified being, a social grouping, or an entire pantheon. View G-d as male, female or genderless. In the end, we'll all find out which of us is right, yes? In the meantime, following convention, we'll refer to G-d on this site by the conventional terms He, the Father, Elohim or Yahweh.
Scriptures -- We use the following words interchangeably: Tanakh, Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, Jewish Bible, Ancient Scriptures, Canonized Scriptures, Holy Books. We hope this practice will honor the faith of every believer, without disparaging any.
Prophets -- In the spirit of Moses' teachings in Numbers 11:29, the term prophet can be somewhat amorphous. We use it liberally to mean:
• The main holy character of a canonized book of scripture.
• The putative author of a book of scripture.
• Any of the 55 prophets acknowledged by Rashi.
• The inspired leader or head of the assembly of God's people.
In future postings we will list each of the Prophets according to their time period.
Biblical names -- The King James Version of the Bible is endemic in Western culture, so we generally use spellings found in that edition. Where appropriate, we also include romanized versions of Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Arabic and Egyptian spellings.
Covenant People -- By which we mean: The Jews. Whether you believe the Jewish people are the only, the first, the former, or the least covenant people, the foundational scriptures of every monotheistic faith agree that Judaism is the source of the idea of Godly covenants.
Deity -- While we may disagree about interpretation, this site respects the right of every individual to hold any honest belief about G-d. So go ahead. Give G-d any name, or any pronoun, you like. View G-d as an idea, a single being, a unified being, a social grouping, or an entire pantheon. View G-d as male, female or genderless. In the end, we'll all find out which of us is right, yes? In the meantime, following convention, we'll refer to G-d on this site by the conventional terms He, the Father, Elohim or Yahweh.
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