I am sure this topic has been brought up many times here but I don't always have the oppertunity to read all the posts so I am going to raise it again.
I went to the meeting the other day with my wife and this came up in the talk. The speaker saying how improtant it was to have the RIGHT bible to get the most out of bible reading. The right bible being the NWT of course because it uses the divine name which we all know is Jehovah...or Yahweh. He went on to tell how important and respectful it is to use the divine name.
That got me thinking about it and I got to wondering.
First, how can they be so sure of what the name is since the only letters are YHWH in the old Hebrew? They add the vowels to make it work. Well, what if they are the wrong vowels? Maybe gods name is Yehawha...or maybe Yohewaho. Who Knows?
Secondly, Why is it more respectful to use his name when praying to the heavenly father? When I address my father I don't use his proper name I use his title...Dad. If I used his name it would have been very disrespectful.
Any thoughts?
What IS Gods name anyway?
by NikL 37 Replies latest jw friends
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NikL
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blacksheep
Actually as a child, I always wondered about this. JW's tout that THEY (alone?) use the correct form of God's name, yet they then acknowledge that no one really knows the corrrect pronunciation. Okay.....
I think it's a whole bunch of BS. If a God cared so much that he be address by his TRUE name, he'd find a way to make it known. To me just another example of JW's pointing add knat's eye stuff while missing the big picture.
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twinkletoes
What about the words Jesus said when he was in agony on the Cross (torture stake etc.) Didn't he cry out My God My God why have you forsaken me. Surely, Jesus would have used God's name at that critical time, if it was necessary?
The JWs try to make you think that they are the only ones using God's name (which of course isn't true) just as they try to make you believe that the JWs are specially chosen as they have the faithful and discreet slave class, and I think that anyone who reads Crisis of Conscience will soon come to realise that the FD class do not exist.
Twink
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Introspection
Good point about the use of dad Nik. I tend to think of how service people have a name tag, like at the store or even how when you call up the bank sometimes the operator refers to himself as "Mr." so and so. That doesn't work at all, nobody is going to think they know the person well - the relationship hasn't changed at all. Of course, the one calling himself mister might feel more respected, just as Jehovah's Witnesses cling to the name.
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Oroborus21
The plain truth is that the name JEHOVAH is a mistake.
JWs circumspectly acknowledge this in different publications including the Divine Name brochure.
The mistake occurred when bible copyists took to writing above the Hebrew Tetragrammaton (YHWH) the word "Adonai" which means "Lord" and was to be read and pronounced instead of the Divine Name. The vowel points A-O-A from Adonai were later then mistakenly inserted into the Tetragrammaton by later copyists who didn't know any better.
By the 14th Century C.E. we have the EARLIEST appearance of the name ("Jehovah") in the pre-latinized form of "Yahowah", soon latinized to Jehovah. There are no other earlier forms of this name before this time period and CERTAINLY the divine name was not known by this latinized form since the form in use would have been either Hebrew, Aramaic or Koine Greek, probably an old form of Hebrew.
This latinized form became more and more common after the 14th Century and for 500 years has continued as a mistake that is more or less AN accepted form of the Divine Name.
Witnesses rationalize that the use of this mistaken form is acceptable because it is recognized by the general populace. They further argue that some form of a personal name for God is necessary and useful to the cultivation of a relationship with Him.
It is interesting to note that when transliterating to other languages it is this English form that is used.
Scholars debate about whether other forms are more accurate, and every reasonable person would agree that irrespective of what vowels are used a "more accurate" construction would at least require that the Hebrew consonants be used and not the latinized ones. I.e. any construction using "YHWH" as the consonants would be by definition closer to the truth.
As I said these facts are not highlighted by the Organization nor even when they are admitted is there any hint of attempting to return to a closer form for the sake of adherence to the "truth." No Bro. Russell settled on "Jehovah" and by God that is the form to be used henceforth, right or wrong.
Today, I believe JWs are less concerned with the actual accuracy of the name and more concerned with the strength of the name as it serves as a BRAND (in advertisng terms)--to be preserved and perpetuated among the public.
In a sense Witnesses are right in terms of their rationale for use of the name--especially in the view that the use of a personal name of God and not merely a descriptive title promotes closeness with God.
If they just left it at that it would be fine.
Where they go wrong is in their dogmatic insistence that the use of this (mistaken) form makes them not only "special" but righteous. Too often in the literature and talks, citation of the use of Jehovah is held up as some giant triumphant feat among the nations--all with the connotations of saying "we're the best!, We're the best!"
Not exactly a Christ-like attitude you'd agree.
And moreover just simply amusing when you consider the real truth or rather untruth and fallacy of the use of this particular spelling.
--Eduardo
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Francois
"The God that you can name is not the eternal God." - Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching"
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JamesThomas
Amen to that Francois.
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AlanF
"Hallowed" is his name.
AlanF
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AlanF
Eduardo, I agree with most of what you said. However, you didn't state what you feel would be an acceptable alternative to "Jehovah". Please enlighten me.
Consider that in the U.S. I'm called "Alan" but in France "Alain". Is the latter wrong?
AlanF
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Perry
Hellava response Oroborus21. Thanks