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[Go Dog]

How offensive is it to say "Oh my God!" as an expression of surprise?

I've never quite understood why this is taking the Lord's name in vain. It's an expression of frustration, surprise, crying out to the Lord as if saying why? Does OMG put a bad taste in Christian's mouths? Also another expression "What the hell?" is that sinful, offensive too?

There are also variants some of which are used in the bible, such as "My God!" "My Lord!" "Oh Lord!" "Oh God!" are these just as offensive?

[jimwalton]

The obvious place to start is in the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.7. "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Some of you may recognize it from its King James Version form: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."

First of all, "the name" equals the identity of the deity and expresses who he is in his very nature. Think "identity theft." His name is who He is. In those days people would invoke the name of the god to accomplish something they wanted done. So at least one part of the command is that you have no business trying to control what God does for your own self-interests. Unlike the gods of mythology, the God of the Bible is primarily known by his name (as opposed to some natural event, like the rain or the sun). The name, then, is the only thing that God's people have by which to know and worship him, so the name is as sacred as God himself.

Next, let's look at "misuse." It means not to use a name unnecessarily, idly, treating it as if it were worthless and meaningless. It covers any careless or irreverent use of the name of God. So from this there is at least one thing we know for sure: Saying "Oh my God," or "God" in exclamation, is about the worst blasphemy possible, and according to Exodus 20.7, anyone who misuses God's name so casually will be held guilty. It's tragic that it's the most frequent exclamation in America. What does a person say when they win on the radio? What do they say when they are surprised? What do they say in doubt? Disbelief? Shock? Sympathy? Exactly. Regardless of anything else, this is the worst, for it is a deep offense to God.