Saturday, August 27, 2011

Goodbye is a common religious phrase?

Yes, did you know that every time you say goodbye, you are in fact, using a once common religious phrase, and blessing?
According to a popular blog site (Hot blog), “Of the many ways to say farewell — peace, so long, later, skater, ciao — goodbye is the most common. And a form of good-bye has been spoken since the sixteenth century. It comes from godbwye, which is a contraction of “God be with ye.” The phrase was also influenced by good day and good evening, and although an abbreviation itself, it can also be abbreviated further to either, bye, or bye-bye.
Interestingly, a common Spanish term of farewell also now commonly used in English is AdiĆ³s. Which also means good bye and is also a contraction of a similar religious phrase.
Thus Adios, is contraction” of ‘A’, which means “to,” and ‘Dios’, which means “God.”
Well that’s your interesting discovery for today. What are some other common religious terms that you know off that are also so common in everyday speak that they have, for all intents and purposes, lost their original religious connections?
Well, till I hear from you that’s all from me, so “God be with you = goodbye”!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

A Child of the Manse is not necessarily a Child of God!

In an earlier blog, (Why is a Manse called a Manse?) on my main blog site, I mentioned that any house occupied by a Church minister of religion, and particularly those from a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church background, is called a manse; and even then for only as long as it is occupied by a practising Church minister.
I used Wikipedia for my source material and after explaining all about a Manse, it then added this:
“Many notable Scots are referred to as a "son (or daughter) of the manse", as a parent was a Presbyterian minister, and they were therefore brought up in a manse.
Among those to whom the epithet has been applied are:
Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development
Wendy Alexander (sister of Douglas), Labour MSP; former leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament (2007–2008); former minister in the Scottish Executive (1999–2002)
John Logie Baird, engineer and inventor of the world's first working television system
Richard Baker MSP, Shadow Justice Minister in the Scottish Parliament
Frankie Boyle, comedian
Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
John Buchan, novelist and Unionist MP, served as Governor General of Canada
Peter Fraser, advocate; former Lord Advocate (1989–1992); former Conservative and Unionist MP
James Gray, Conservative MP
William "Captain" Kidd, pirate
Andrew Bonar Law, former Prime Minister (1922–1923)
Eric Liddell, athlete and rugby internationalist, winner of the 400 metres at the 1924 Olympic Games; missionary to China; portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire
Sheena McDonald, broadcaster
Michael Moore, Liberal Democrat MP
John Reith, founder of the BBC
William Ritchie Sorley, philosopher
David Steel, former leader of the Liberal Party and the Social and Liberal Democrats; former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
William Montgomery Watt, Islamic studies scholar and Orientalist
John Witherspoon, signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence”.
Now when you look at some of those names above (Such as Gordon Brown, William ‘Captain” Kidd, Michael Moore and even William Montgomery Watt, just to name a few, it is easy to see that although they were indeed sons of the Manse, they have not all necessarily followed in their father’s footsteps in regard to both belief and a personal walk of faith in Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and saviour!
Just once again showing that just because your parents or grandparents are/were Christians, it doesn’t mean you are too! No indeed not! In fact, as another old saying says: God doesn’t have grand children! Only Children!”
So it is not enough to be a child of the manse, or of any Christian for that matter! No! Instead you and I, all, need to be a child of God too! And that is a personal thing that not only each one of us must do personally, but also something that only we can do and personally too, if we want to inherit the Kingdom of God.
If you would like more information on how to do that please just ask. Only too happy to help, if I can.