Why do you spell out the word “God”? Isn’t it synonymous with “Elohim”?

Q.   Why do you spell out the word “God”? You say the word Elohim and isn’t “God” basically the English rendering of Elohim?

A.   Some spell out “God” because of its pagan connection. According to the Britannica, the root of god means, “to pour as a molten image.” Also, according to some scholars, the supreme deity of the Teutonic religion was named and pronounced “God.” To avoid this connection and pronunciation of this word, some will simply spell it out. Below are a few references confirming these associations:

“…and that even where the earlier neuter form is still kept, as in Gothic and Old Norwegian, the construction is masculine…. “God” is a word common to all Teutonic languages. In Gothic it is Guth; Dutch has the same form as English; Danish and Swedish have Gud, German Gott. According to the New English Dictionary, the original may be found in two Aryan roots, both of the form gheu, one of which means ‘to invoke,’ the other ‘to pour’…the last is used of sacrificial offerings. The word would thus mean the object either of religious invocation or of religious worship by sacrifice. It has been also suggested that the word might mean a ‘molten image’ from the sense of ‘pour.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 12, 1911).

“It is much more difficult to trace the Teutonic word, ‘God,’ back to its origin. There is no doubt that the Supreme Being has always been called by this name in all German tongues…. We can only say, therefore, that ‘God’ was probably an old Teutonic word, used long before the introduction of Christianity, to signify either one Supreme Being, or gods in general. Indeed, we find that in the Old Norse, god in the neuter means a grave image, an idol” (Edinburgh Review, vol. XCIV, p. 170).

“In all Teutonic tongues the Supreme Being was always with one consent been called by the general name God…. Some remarkable uses of the word God in our older speech and that of the common people may have a connexion with heathen notions” (Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, pp. 13, 15, 1882).