|
|
|
|
In the New Testament we have the name Jesus Christ which means God (Jehovah) is salvation Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." For one to have salvation they must call on the name of Jesus which means you are relating to God's person and His work in his Son. This in no way means this is the only name of God since he said his name is I am who I am, that is my name forever (having eternal nature). This too is related to the name of Yahweh. Names are related to God's nature expressing His attributes and since He is a God who never changes these names will never cease either because all His attributes are eternal also. The name Jesus is God "[Jehovah] is salvation." (preferably Yahweh but for the sake of this article I'll keep it as Jehovah since this relates to Jehovah witnesses. In the New Testament. we find Paul quoting Joel 2:32 and applying it to Jesus in Rom.10:9-13: "for whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be saved. " is there a conflict? No! Paul applies this Lord to the person of Christ. Jews always called on God to be saved and delivered. Paul as a Jew called Christ Lord not only as a theologian but as a worshipper of God. By this he meant him as GOD. The name is often pronounced Yahweh (or a similar sound), yet in the New Testament we find Paul quoting this verse and applying it to Jesus. We find God called numerous names in the Old Testament none of which is Jesus. The name Jesus was a common name used in New Testament times. This was the name bestowed upon the Son at his conception when the angel spoke to Mary. We find God the Father bestowing on him the name above all names Phil. 2:9, we find in v.11 it says we will confess Jesus Christ is Lord. The dispute with the JW's is what does Lord actually mean? Consistently used the title Kyrios refers to Jesus throughout the book of Revelation, then it would be proper to understand that John is including the Lord (Jesus) as truly "God" and "the Almighty. "Similar instances are found in the book of Revelation where the one being addressed as either "Lord" or "Jehovah" is identified as being "God." (See Revelation 4:11, 15:3, 16:7, 18:8, 19:6, 21:22, 22:5 and 22:6) The Greek word for Lord in the New Testament is kurios which is equal to
Yahweh in the OT Jesus in the Greek language is called Kurios Isous Christos-
LORD JESUS CHRIST.
When the Son came in the form of a man he humbled himself, this is what is called his
humiliation. After he rose from the dead all authority in heaven and in
Earth was given back to him (Mt.28:18-20) by his Father. The name is singular showing that all three are equal
being Yahweh. It is by this name every knee should bow to, to the glory of the Father.
Paul says It is at his exaltation he is given the title of Lord Jesus Christ. Showing Jesus is indeed Yahweh. In Acts 2:34-36 peter proclaims this Jesus sits at the right hand of God, And that God (the Father) has made him both lord and Christ. Now at his coronation he is given the title of Lord with his name, which shows his nature and his rank above all men and angels. In Acts 10:36 the apostles present him as "Lord of All", this new name is based on him being the sovereign, being superior to all. It signifies his rulership on Earth and in Heaven. This also makes it clear that the Son is God, just as the Father is God. There are numerous groups that make an issue out of Gods name. Lets look at the Jehovah Witnesses claims. One of the Societies purposes for the New World Translation is the restoration of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) to the New and Old Testament. Everywhere the New Testament says Lord they inserted the name Jehovah claiming they are
restoring the name that was omitted. Well almost everywhere! When the name Lord is applied
to Jesus it is not changed to Jehovah. For the simple reason they do not believe
Jesus is God, and don’t want to give that impression. (the word for Lord Jesus is
Kurious just as it is for Jehovah in the Old Testament Greek translation) All one has to do is
compare the words of the New World Translation and the Kingdom Interlinear
Translation (both of which are published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society)
and they find they have taken liberty in some areas and inserted words that are not in the
Greek such as "other" in Col.1:15. Jesus created all "other" things.
By doing this it upholds that Jesus was created as well, being the one thing
Jehovah (the Father) created and He (Jesus created all other things. But
Jn. 1:3 makes it clear that “All things were made through Him and without Him
nothing was made that was made.” (All means all). This fact is consistent
throughout the NT revelation. "The foremost feature of this translation is the restoration of the divine name to its " rightful place in the English text. It has been done, using the commonly accepted English form Jehovah 6,973 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and 237 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures." (New World Translation Reference Edition, revised 1984, page 6.) .2. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has carefully documented Hebrew versions which use the Tetragrammaton. This is the basis for the 237 "Jehovah" references found in the New World Translation. (The best reference source for this material is the Kingdom Interlinear Translation. First, consult the introductory material EXPLANATION OF THE SYMBOLS USED. Finally, study each of the 237 Jehovah references in the text, carefully reading each footnote. Take particular note of the dates for both the Greek texts and the Hebrew versions to which the footnote refers). 2What you will find is that they have taken it upon themselves to add the Tetragrammaton where there clearly is none. Here are some examples. In Matthews gospel the actual occurrence of the YHWH behind the Greek words Kurious and theos are 8 times they based their Jehovah on 7 of these but then added 11 more making the total 18. The gospel of Luke YHWH behind the Greek words Kurious and theos are 2 times in their NWT they based it on these 2 but add 34 more. The gospel of John YHWH behind the Greek words Kurious and theos are 2 times they based their Jehovah on one of these and added 4 making it 5 total. Another example of their dishonesty and changing the words intent, when it comes to naming arthrous which has a definite article with the word God and Anarthrous which has no definite article. Take the gospel of John which is famous for their controversy in verse 1. there is no definite article in this verse yet they translate it as such . When it occurs 19 other times they do not include the "a" for God in it except once. In Jn.10:33 the Jews answered him: We are stoning you not for a fine work , but for blasphemy, even because you, although being a man, make yourself "a god." With this kind of interpretation it actually insinuates that he is blaspheming and teaching polytheism and that the Jews were correct in their accusations. In the book of Hebrews they translate the word god 14 out of 54 to Jehovah, in 1 John 3 times out of 57. Did the Apostle John write the divine name (the Tetragrammaton) in Revelation 1:8, 11:17 and 4:8? No he did not. But he did write the Greek word Kyrios. When it comes to Kurios such as in Mt.3:3, 4:7,10 they translate it Jehovah. When it come to the book of Revelation they don't change the name God to Jehovah in 1:1 or anywhere else, even in 3:12 where it appears 4 times in that verse alone. What is going on. Is this accurate translating, is it good or honest teaching? Jehovah Witnesses wrote in "Peace on Earth" p.12 1969, the Tetragrammaton is defined as "the four Hebrew letters YHWH or JHVH that form a biblical proper name of God." Does God have one name or two? It can't be with both a J and a Y and a W or a V these are all different letters for different pronouncements." There is no J pronunciation in Hebrew so it is false to apply a J to the Tetragrammaton- if one wants to be accurate in pronouncing his name in Hebrew. Claim on Watchtower.org website (now www.jw.org)Under What Is God's Name? Surprisingly, the majority of the hundreds of millions of members of the churches of Christendom would probably find it difficult to answer that question. Some would say that God's name is Jesus Christ. Yet Jesus was praying to someone else when he said: "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world." (John 17:6) He was praying to God in heaven, as a son speaking to his father. (John 17:1) It was his heavenly Father's name that had to be "hallowed," or "sanctified." Not once did Jesus utter God’s name (Jehovah) in the New Testament, he always called Him Father and asks us to do the same. Because Jehovah’s Witnesses are legalists they try to make an issue out of this, misunderstanding that Jesus stressed a relationship with His Father that only one born again of the Spirit can have now and in the kingdom later. Claim on www.jw.org website 2. God has many titles but has only one name. That name is JEHOVAH. In most Bibles, God's name has been removed and has been replaced with the titles LORD or GOD. But when the Bible was written, the name Jehovah appeared in it some 7,000 times!—Exodus 3:15; Psalm 83:18. This is not true at all God uses many names to describe himself and Jehovah is not one of them found in the Hebrew text. They have done a disservice by giving a slang word for God and turn it around to accuse the translators of the Bible of being disingenuous. THE UNIVERSAL JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA says "JEHOVAH is an erroneous pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton a four lettered name of God, made up of the Hebrew letters Yod He Vav He. The word "JEHOVAH" therefore is a misreading for which there is no warrant and which makes no sense in Hebrew" The Hebrew letters point to a Yod Y the more correct pronunciation is Yahweh or some form deriving from the same consonants. For example Yah is used in its shorter form in Ex.15:2 and 17:15, Isa.12:2 and Ps.118:14 . JEHOVAH -"is an erroneous form of the name of the God of Israel." (ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA) JEHOVAH -"the pronunciation "Jehovah" is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of ADHONAY." (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA) JEHOVAH -"is an erroneous form of the divine name of the covenant God of Israel." (THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA) JEHOVAH -"is a mispronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is grammatically impossible. The form "Jehovah" is a philological impossibility." (THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA p. 160) The Tetragrammaton YHWH "When Christian scholars of Europe first began to study Hebrew, they did not understand what this really meant, and they introduced the hybrid name "Jehovah" . . . THE TRUE PRONUNCIATION OF THE NAME YHWH WAS NEVER LOST. . THE TRUE PRONUNCIATION OF THE NAME YHWH WAS NEVER LOST. . Several early Greek writers of the Christian church testify that the name was pronounced "YAHWEH". This is confirmed, at least for the vowel of the first syllable of the name, by the shorter form Yah, which is sometimes used in poetry (e.g. Ex. 15:2) ... The personal name of God of Israel is written in the Hebrew Bible with the four consonants YHWH and is referred to as the "Tetragrammaton." At least until the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. this name was regularly pronounced with its proper vowels, as is clear from the Lachish Letters, written shortly before that date."( ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA (Jerusalem) p. 680 Vol. 7)(Quotes in Questions for Jehovah Witnesses Joan Cetnar) While the pronouncement may still not be known one thing we do know, its not Jehovah. Where dopes the name Jehovah come from? We can trace the name Jehovah to the first person to use it, a Roman Catholic monk from the 1200’s. "The first recorded use of this form dates from the thirteenth century C.E. Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk of the Dominican Order, used it in his book "Pugeo Fidei" of the year 1270." (from Jehovah's Witnesses own book "Aid to Bible Understanding" p.884). If you ever want to see a Jehovah Witnesses jaw drop tell them this. Since the Hebrew text has no vowels he inserted the vowels and changed the Hebrew into English slang. The American Standard uses this name, however Jewish scholars have generally pronounced it Adonai (master of all) out of respect for the sacred name. They also used "Ha Shem" The Name to avoid pronouncing it. Even today when Jews write the word G_d they leave out the middle letter in respect to what they were taught about his name. 'Some Christian scholars render the four-letter Name as "Jehovah," but this pronunciation is particularly unlikely. The word "Jehovah" comes from the fact that ancient Jewish texts used to put the vowels of the Name "Adonai" (the usual substitute for YHVH) under the consonants of YHVH to remind people not to pronounce YHVH as written. A sixteenth century German Christian scribe, while transliterating the Bible into Latin for the Pope, wrote the Name out as it appeared in his texts, with the consonants of YHVH and the vowels of Adonai, and came up with the word JeHoVaH, and the name stuck." (website on Judaism Jewfaq/name.htm) They also admit that Jehovah is not the correct name "down through the centuries, the correct pronunciation of the divine name in Hebrew has been lost. Hence, it is uncertain what vowels should be used to fill in the name" (WT Feb.1, 1980). The truth is the Watchtower Society's adoption of the divine name of God was invented by a Catholic monk. If it was the first found to be used in 1270, the Society is obviously wrong in quoting in their literature that the name Jehovah was used in the OT by King David, Abraham, or anyone else in the Bible. By taking the name from the Catholics, they have become religious hypocrites. They use Christiandom when they feel like it and denounce it for everything it does. The same reasoning is done when they use Christian scholars to prove their position in doctrines. How can one go to the very ones they denounce as of Satan to prove they are right. Since this is a English slang, there is no J in Hebrew. So in making an issue out of being accurate, they have become more than inaccurate. Their accusation of modern Christendom having removed it from the Bible is not only wrong but untrue. Jehovah is not the divine name for God because their is no J pronounced in the Hebrew language, neither is this a correct pronunciation especially from the Greek. In fact one was required to call God Jehovah. Did the disciples go around telling people that they must address God as Jehovah. No one addressed God as Jehovah, not even Jesus, he called him Father as the disciples were told to pray to the Father. Nor were the disciples called Jehovah's Witnesses, they proclaimed Jesus. All of this is made up by the Watchtower . (click here-to go to the evidence) Interesting that the Jehovah’s Witness Bible does no give the word elohim for God such as in Genesis 1. In Exodus 6:2 they have Jehovah say to Moses “I am Jehovah” which is not an accurate translation of the Hebrew at all. Also Ex.6:6 Therefore say to the sons of Israel “I am Jehovah”. This is not what the Hebrew says, they are changing the word of God for their own predilection. In the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures 1984 p.12 it actually says "While many are inclined to view the pronunciation "Yahweh" as the more correct way, we have retained the form 'Jehovah' because of the peoples familiarity with it through the centuries." So they admit they are following a tradition that comes from a Catholic priest! So how are they against the Catholic church? Truthfully, the only ones who are familiar with this false name is their society for Jehovah. They certainly would not want their people finding out the truth of their false representation of God's name. This name was adopted at least 50 years after the Society started. It was incorporated in 1931 by Russell's successor Joseph Rutherford who became greatly disturbed of those who were loyal to Russell their society's founder. Rutherford became increasingly jealous over the years since many continued to hold allegiance to Russell's teachings. In the 1920's Rutherford attacked many of Russell's teachings and even went so far as to say Russell was not God's messengers' (so much for unity). By 1931 he spoke of himself as 'the world's foremost Bible Scholar'. Rutherford then announced a new name in order to separate from all those who still wanted to follow Russell’s doctrine. 'He said, "we refuse to bear or be called by the name of any man," meaning Charles Taze Russell." (1941 Jehovah Witness yearbook p.34) They were so loyal they were called Russellites. As their own literature states" The insistence that Russell had been 'that servant' led many to regard Russell in what actually amounted to creature worship.( JEHOVAHS WITNESSES IN THE DIVINE PURPOSE 1959,p. 69.) So the truth about the name Jehovah's Witnesses was not used to give glory to God, but to pacify the jealousy that Joseph Rutherford had over their founder C. T. Russell and essentially bring them under his leadership. Yet they write Jehovah Witnesses get their own name from the bible, as at Isaiah 43:12 where it says," You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah, and I am God." If one examines the scripture they use the name of Jehovah is not mentioned and it is Israel as a nation that has witnessed the deliverance of their God. (Peace on Earth p.12, 1969). What is the Jewish explanation of the name? With the Temple destroyed and the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of the Temple, pronunciation of the Name fell into disuse. Scholars passed down knowledge of the correct pronunciation of YHVH for many generations, but eventually the correct pronunciation was lost, and we no longer know it with any certainty. We do not know what vowels were used, or even whether the Vav in the Name was a vowel or a consonant. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about the difficulties in pronouncing Hebrew. Some religious scholars suggest that the Name was pronounced "Yahweh," but others do not find this pronunciation particularly persuasive. Historian Flavius Josephus, who was born a kohein at a time when the pronunciation of the Name was still known, said that the name was four vowels (War of the Jews, Book V, Chapter 5), probably referring to the fact that each of the four consonants in the name can serve in Hebrew as a vowel or vowel marker. See Hebrew Alphabet. Not only does the society reject Jesus being Jehovah (God), but they have taught everyone to worship and call on the name Jehovah that is proven to be unbiblical and fictitious. Its source is what they call Babylon. Imagine, the very name they are calling on is fictitious and is from what they call a Pagan source. So what is his name? God has many, each express a certain facet of His nature, his attributes. In the New Testament the angel told Joseph his name will be called Jesus (Y'shua) Mt.1:21 also in vs.25. (meaning God is salvation) But there are other names He is called. Mt.1:23 Also says his name will be called Immanuel (with us is God) a fulfillment of Isa. 7:14. Mt.1:25 says his name will be called Jesus, Luke 1:35 he will be called "the Son of God." Isa.9:6 "His name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, Father of eternity, prince of peace." In Rev.19:13 "His name is called the word of God." Who is this? Vs.15 says it is the one who rules the nation's the same whose name on his robe "Is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." This is the same word of God John writes of in the first chapter of his Gospel that is called GOD. In the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures in Acts 7:59-60 Stephen addresses his prayer to Jesus ( footnote 1985 Ed.) The word "Lord " and "Jehovah" are used interchangeably as "Lord Jesus" or "Jehovah Jesus" in verse 59 and "Jehovah" or "Lord" in verse 60. All this proves is that they come from the same Greek word. The name Jesus is used for the Son. The Fathers nature is made known by this
name because it is the name the Son took at the incarnation. To pray to the Father in the
Son's name would not be acceptable unless the Son was of the same nature. Jesus in Jn.17:6
says he has made the Fathers name known to men, that the name Jesus (Yahweh is salvation)
expressed salvation is in a person who is Yahweh. In 1 Cor.11:23 in the NWT a footnote tells us John C. Reichardt's version of the New Testament in 1846 in Hebrew (J14) uses the Tetragrammaton YHWH in place of LORD. What it does not say is that he also uses the Tetragrammaton in place of LORD in 1 Cor.12:3 which reads and nobody can say "Jesus is Yahweh except by the Holy Spirit." Not only is this information left out but in the Watchtower May,15 p.320 1960 they completely distort their representation by saying the word Kyrios without the definite article is thus used also in 1 Cor.12:3 there in the Greek text the same expression occurs as in Philippians 2:11 namely KY'RIOS YESOUS "Jehovah Jesus.: None of the Hebrew translations render it "Jehovah Jesus," but recognize the Greek word Ky'rios there as a title and hence use the Hebrew word Adon, meaning Lord, instead of the name Jehovah." As I have just shown they even quote a scholar that uses this as such proving their dishonesty. Yet they go on to say in the quote "Hence the NWT is consistent, and it violates no general rule of action set forth in its foreword when it renders the expression in 1 Cor. 12:3 as well as Phil.2:11, Jesus is Lord not Jesus is Jehovah. so the translators are not to be charged with being influenced by the theology of anti-Trinitarian Arius for doing so." But when Thomas Called Jesus "my Lord and my God" they say
Jesus corrected him for blurting out, exclaiming this by mistake. Nowhere does he say the Fathers name, or is Jehovah used. In Jn. 5:13 he repeats it "that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." Meaning that we believe in the person who is the name that brings salvation, Jesus. Salvation is found in no other NAME. If your calling on a name that is fictitious, that does not express who God is and is not the name we are told to call on in the Bible, will he acknowledge it? Yuor salvation depends on the gospel and who the son is. 2. From the book The Tetragrammaton and the Christian Greek Scriptures. (A copy can be obtained from Witness Inc:)
|
|
|
