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Something to think about:

Blaspheming God’s name means to use God’s name in vain.
We know that saying “Oh my God” in a casual manner is using God’s name in vain. Because of this, many people would use the word “gosh,” “goodness” or use “OMG” while thinking about the word mentioned previously.

Here’s the thing. The Webster dictionary defines “gosh” and “goodness” as a euphemism (or a substitute) for the word “God.” Other dictionaries agree with these definitions. This would mean that phrases like “oh my gosh” or “oh my goodness” are equal to “oh my God,” which means that if used in a casual manner, it is blaspheming God’s name.

Now, this might not be a matter for non-Christians, but to Christians, if this is sin, we should not practice it because it is sin.

I can admit that if this is true, I am guilty with the usage of “goodness” as a blasphemy, and I know that many Christian friends use the word “gosh” as a casual expression as well.
So let’s discuss. If this is true, is this using God’s name in vain?

Seel
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There's also "jeez" as a euphemism for Jesus, that one to me sounds more like blasphemy than gosh or goodness. Personally I don't view them as euphemisms just because a dictionary says so. If I were to say something is fouled up, it doesn't mean that I'm referencing it to be f-ed up, just 'fouled'.

I think to say that it's sinning to say gosh or goodness, or jeez, might be legalistic—but on the other hand if a Christian's conscience tells them it's sin, then it's sin to them. In other words, I think what predicates the blasphemy is if you're thinking of God when you say them. If you say gosh and you're just thinking of a negative emotion and verbalizing it, I don't see it as blasphemy. Maybe I can say gee-wiz instead, but that would just be another euphemism LOL

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God is a title, not a name. His name is Jehovah. So no, I don't think gosh or goodness qualify. Not that my opinion matters in your eyes anyway.

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Personally, I don't think "God" and "gosh" and "goodness" are equal. For one, God is just a title, as Elara said. Could a slang word for a title equal a name? It doesn't sound very probable. However, you can pull apart meanings for any and every word and find a way to define it as "bad". It just matters how you look at it.

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I say its ok to say jeez, but I like to try to make it sound more like: cheeses; and I am ok with saying gosh, or golly, or goodness. Saying God and Jesus is sinning for anyone who cares...

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I think it's not the actual word usage but the intent with which you use your words. If you don't say "Oh, my God!" but you say "Oh, my Gosh!" you're substituting a word for another word. The same intent is there. It's still wrong in my opinion.

It's like spelling out a mean name. Calling someone a Bee or a Bee-aye-tee-see-aitch is the same as using the word itself. You're not magically okay if you substitute something in for what you really mean.

It's all about the intent.

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Warmaker has a good point in terms of intent with the example of curse words. Saying a substitute of a swear word does not lose the intent of you wanting to swear.

And I think God is actually one of the names of God Himself. He has many names. Jehovah is not the only name.

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I too would have to agree with warmaker on this subject. And I have my own scenario to add to his statement. Over the past six years, I have... subjected myself to media that endorses profanity, and I have worked a part-time job during the summer that requires me to be in contact with the public. Unfortunately, such poor language has rubbed off on me and has lead to me use such words. Earlier this year, I started using "fudge" and "sheep" in place of similar sounding four letter words with hopes to stop using profanity all together. However I have noticed that when I do use my own censorship, my intentions have not been the best.

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You do know his name isn't god right?

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DARKANINE : Well nevertheless, God does refer to himself as God - http://www.gotquestions.org/names-of-God.html; saying God as a curse word is still taking his name in vain, which is blasphemy.

I don't think saying gosh or goodness is blasphemy unless you are mentally equating it to God.

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O my goodness,level 99 and max stats on Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga!OMG!Mamamia

---

(last edited by winfred on 05-19-11 10:02 PM)

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winfred : ...So you're saying it's inconsequential?

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tRIUNE : Yeah,i think so but thats just me

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I do say gosh or goodness alot and If I say them in front of my aunt she freaks out cause I believe she read somewhere its better too say Pickle snappers or a fraise like that. I made up Pickle snappers just now in a second lol. I think Its a better term too use.. Instead of OH MY GOD I quote use OH MY GOODNESS .. which is better in my mind. I really do not want to start a debate about anything I just said Heads up just what I believe.

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I think everyone's forgetting that we are all human and we are all apparently sinners. The Bible asks quite a lot. In the end, I think it's a little silly to fret over something like the use of "goodness" or "gosh". When I say "goodness" I'm not saying it because I don't want to take God's name in vain, I say it because I heard it said funny somewhere so I reference that. I didn't even realize that this was an issue until I saw this thread. Jewish people seem to do the G-d, which seems to be fine for them.

I think that if you just accept that you're bound to sin, perhaps confess, and just make sure that you follow the important lessons from the Bible, then you should feel fine.

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NotJon : The thing is that when Christians are Christians, God makes a change in them that they would have a 180 degree flip in their lives. God brings them a new heart with new desires that whatever sin that they used to love, they now hate. And the things that they used to find disinteresting or hate about the things of God, they now desire and want more to be like Him. They would have a growth in holiness.

That being said, Christians would be sensitive if something is a sin or not. I raised this issue because there exists an explanation of why people use substitutes rather than God's name to say certain phrases. This means that there are people who would use substituting words to use God's name in vain. So it's important to talk about where the line is, because Christians do not want to sin against God. We are still struggle in sin, obviously, but it's the struggle against sin that separates the saints from the sinners, who lives a lifestyle in sin or has no faith in Christ to forgive all of your sins.

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These are both good points. I agree with the idea that if the person feels like they are sinning by saying gosh or goodness then it is a sin. SO if you think you are sinning stop, however, if the person is just not saying gosh or goodness just to follow the letter of the law then it is also a sin. It is only to puff up his or her own ego to tell themselves "look how good of a christian I am I won't even say gosh or goodness" We also have to think about going to far into following the letter of the law. I would say it is better to pray and ask God what he thinks about using the words in your own life. Our goal should be to follow his guidance and not our consience.

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bcabral7 : I think you've explained in better words what I was saying.

About God's guidance instead of your conscience... since growing in my walk with Christ, I've thought that your conscience is still the same except, now it's guided by the Holy Spirit's indwelling. Does this make sense, or is that just my own perspective?

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in my opinion you shouldn't use any of them and people should say WOW! or Jeez instead but that's just me :/

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Gosh and goodness certainly aren't blasphemy . As others like Elara have said, God is just a title or a describing word. There are many beings that are given the title of God. The name of the Israeli God that you aren't supposed to use is Yahweh or YHWH. Up until the destruction of the temple, Jews did not pronounce the name but they were allowed to write it down. This may be why most versions of the bible just use the word LORD instead.

In Exodus 3:15 you can see that his name is clearly Yahweh/YHWH and nothing else "God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations." "

Like I claimed, most versions of the bible have 'the LORD' instead of YHWH. It is also notable that earlier versions would have used a hebrew word that would translate to Elohim instead of God.  Elohim refers to the fact that there are mulitple Gods as the majority of religions then were polytheistic, even Jews. Why would Yahweh need to say that he was the God of Abraham and Jacob if there was only one God? Answer that and stay fashionable

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