Incense...
jack2...
Pom, I am sorry for all the pain you have experienced. I hope that coming to this board has helped.
Well, though I have personally experienced the woes of this man made FARCE, my reason was more for others to see that even the "name" is WRONG AND A LIE. That is the first domino that needs to fall down. You know what happens after the first one goes down,,,,
As for God, Jehovah, Yahweh, (Yahweh just seems to fit better to me.......the name Jehovah does not retain the four Hebrew letters YHWH, and I know what the WTS explanation* is, but I don't totally buy into it) even when I was very busy as a jw, I never had a close relationship with Him.
Personally, I have come to a very simple conclusion. The pronounciation of the name was dissolved INTENTIONALLY by God. I have many reasons for thinking that. One of them is a logical reason, this: IF the Bible truly is by God, and this God is the most powerful being in existence, and HIS LABEL was the most cherished thing to Him, does it make sense that a SUPPOSED man made Jewish superstition/tradition would OVER POWER God and CORRUPT that which is supposedly incorruptable, the "NAME" of God? No it does not, NOT AT ALL. So I do not believe that LYING fabrication of why YHWH has become un-utterable.
Scholars, "Yeah, the Jews made it vanish because of their tradition." Yeah right. And pomegranate's don't have lots of seeds.
Also, IF you believe the Bible to be God's, the most important BIBLICAL reason that the OT name would have become INTENTIONALLY dissolved and obscured by God would be because of this:
Acts 4:10-12
It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The label in the Old Testament HAD to be dissolved in order for the above to become TRUE and so that NO OTHER "NAME" would get in the way of this name, Jesus Christ. That would include YHWH.
That does not necessarily mean that I don't "love" God, but honestly, I would prefer to love my fellow man, and then let that stand as a indication of my love for God. Too often, people claim love for God, and then treat their neighbor poorly (1 John 4:20).
That is a very reasonable re-start. jack2 my friend, with me, it's come down to this. If God wants ANYONE, he takes them for His own WITHOUT their permission, and He will use them anyway HE DARN WELL PLEASES.
What's odd is that MOST people feel that this is a violation of their free will. Well, they're DARN WELL RIGHT! Because I believe when it comes to God's will, man HAS no will. The being who has the power over life and death is the one with FREEWILL.
There are two very good examples in the Bible where God BARGED IN and MADE MEN do what HE wanted. One guy fought it, the other guy accepted AND LOVED IT. (See Jonah and Paul.)
* Pom - thanks for the research!
You're very welcome. I hope it has given some RELEASE and CLOSURE to others who may feel ENSLAVED to one of the MOST VISCIOUS FALSE GODS MADE BY MAN.
typos
Edited by - pomegranate on 4 August 2002 8:17:33
