Questions about god's name

by Jankyn 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Hellrider

  
  Forscher, am I right in this? :

  When you claimed that Jerome says that Gods name was used in the NT, did you then get this from a WTS publication? They go to great lengths on this issue, and they have no problem with "bending the truth" a bit...they even have their own scholar, a JW, and the only academic in the world who believes this (I`m not sure about his credentials):

  Thus, Professor George Howard, of the University of Georgia, U.S.A., made this comment: "When the Septuagint which the New Testament church used and quoted contained the Hebrew form of the divine name, the New Testament writers no doubt included the Tetragrammaton in their quotations." (Biblical Archaeology Review, March 1978, page 14)" (The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever, God's Name and the "New Testament", Watchtower publication, Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2001)

  "The same thing occurred in the "New Testament," or Christian Greek Scriptures. Professor George Howard goes on to say: "When the Hebrew form for the divine name was eliminated in favor of Greek substitutes in the Septuagint, it was eliminated also from the New Testament quotations of the Septuagint. ... Before long the divine name was lost to the Gentile church except insofar as it was reflected in the contracted surrogates or remembered by scholars." (The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever, God's Name and the "New Testament", Watchtower publication, Jehovah’s Witnesses,

  So, did you get this info about Jerome claiming that the name was used in the NT, from a WTS - publication? As far as I know, neither Jerome or ANY of the early church fathers, said anything about this. However, many of them refer to a "hebrew original" Matthew, but these quotes are all from the same source, Papias. This ghost-document (Q - document, I believe they call it), has never been found, not even fragments or traces of it, and the language of Matthew strongly suggests that greek was the original language. And just for the record: There are over 50 000 fragments and early manuscripts of the NT !!! - really strange if the word was in there somewhere...and noone has found it...
• 

  Leolaia

  There were Jewish-Christian gospels (such as Gospel according to the Ebionites, Gospel according to the Hebrews, Gospel according to the Nazoreans, etc.) that were likely based on the Greek text of Matthew and were translated from Greek into Aramaic and Hebrew, so it is possible that Papias was familiar with one of these. Jerome (De Viribus Illustribus, 2) for instance mentions that he "recently translated into Greek and Latin the gospel called 'Gospel of the Hebrews', the one that Origen also frequently uses", so that in this case it would have been translated into Greek from Semitic which in turn had been translated from Greek. The Shem Tob version of Matthew could possibly represent a fragment of the Aramaic and Hebrew Jewish-Christian gospels. Eusebius also mentioned the Gospel of the Nazoreans as "the gospel written in the Hebrew alphabet" (Theophania, 4).
  
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  Jankyn

  See, I knew this was the right place to ask. You folks are great. I watch and learn.

  Jankyn
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  Forscher

  Okay folks. Never let it be said that I couldn't own up to being wrong!
  Yes, My information for the statement about Jerome did come from WTBTS material, so I could be wrong on that statement since I don't have primary material to confirm or rule it out. However, I do stick by my assertion that the name was probably there originally for the other reason I stated.
  I also stand by my statement that the WTBTS is wrong to insert it where they have no material evidence to support placement. While I agree with them that the writers of the NT were unlikely to follow any suposed Jewish tradition of leaving the name out. I say supposed because even you can't agrue with the fragments of the LXX in the Faud collection and elsewhere that show it was in the LXX until we encounter copies made by CHRISTIANS. However It is dishonest to place God's name on the basis of THEORY as to where it should've been.
  My apologies.
  
  Forscher