and that Jehovah's Witnesses are proud to use that name?
Don't You Think It's Odd That "Jehovah" Was Invented By A Catholic Monk?...
by minimus 35 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Mum
When I was a dub, I came to realize that everything about JW's was modeled on the Roman Catholic heirarchy and organizational structure. President of the society = Pope; GB = college of cardinals; Bethelites = nuns and priests; DO - cardinal; CO = bishop; CO = parish priest; Elders and MS's = deacons. In her book, Visions of Glory: a History and a Memory of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Barbara Grizutti Harrison pointed out that the JW's were just like the Catholic Church of the middle ages.
No, I'm not at all surprised. Without Catholicism, the JW's wouldn't know how to operate at all.
-
Apognophos
What I think is that there was probably not a lot of research done back when they started using the name That rendering of the name was used by virtually all English speakers for centuries before the Watchtower took it up.
-
whathappened
Most Witnesses do not know this, even though the Watchtower did print this information in it's literature. Of course, they do not highlight the fact, as they like to leave the impression they are the only ones who use the "divine name."
-
minimus
The incorect name of God.
-
MaybeSo
On a recent Watchtower study they said: "It is believed the name of god is translated: Jehovah". That way they can't be held accountable for missusing it or translating it wrong.
-
MaybeSo
- The Watchtower (2014)
- w14 7/15 pp. 23-27
WHAT GOD’S NAME MEANS
14 To enhance our appreciation for the honor of bearing God’s name, it is good for us to meditate on its meaning . Commonly translated “ Jehovah ,” the divine name comes from a Hebrew verb that can describe action and can be translated “to become.” Thus, the name Jehovah is understood to mean “He Causes to Become.”
-
sir82
Their argument is "Jehovah is the mostly commonly recognized English translation; No one gives us flack for using "Jesus" instead of "Yehoshuah", so why give us flack for using "Jehovah" instead of "Yahweh"?
I think it is a reasonable argument. Names are translated just as any other word is.
-
Phizzy
There is no "correct" name of God of course.
If God were to exist, as the thing of which we can think of nothing Higher etc etc, God would not need a personal name.
The JW's make much of using the bastardised "Jehovah" which comes from the Catholic Monk who first coined it adding the vowels of Adonay to the Tetragrammaton, YHWH.
Much has been written about the correct, possible, pronunciation of YHWH, but that of course is not important either, read the history of Yahweh,as he emerged from other Middle-Eastern cultures, eventually ditched his wife, and after the Babylonian Exile became the god of the returnees and you will see that use or non-use of the name is not an indicator of much.
Preferred non-use may indicate a more educated approach to the subject than J.W's and the W.T have.
-
minimus
But, if a Witness wanted to refer to him as Jahovah, he would be counseled. Jehova is another possibility. As was noted, it's a bastardization, no matter what.