What Name Does the New Testament Emphasize - Jehovah or Jesus?

by Vanderhoven7 263 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Sea Breeze

  Regarding the book: King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, by Adela Yarbro Collins and John J. Collins.
  

  While these scholars do confirm the belief among early Christians concerning the deity of Christ, they do reportedly wander into the weeds quite a bit.

  Dr. Burer (editor for Bible.org and editor and assistant project director for the NET Bible, who also worked on the New English Translation-Novum Testamentum Graece diglot, offers these this comments on this work:

  
  

  Relative to the divinity of the king of Israel, the authors are somewhat guilty of Bousset’s own history-of-religions error in making assumptions about its development. Their argument is that the belief about the divinity of the king made its way to Israel through Canaanite religion, which in turn was influenced by Egyptian religion. However, alternative views relative to this theme are not discussed (e.g., Ps. 2). Readers who disagree with this thesis might arrive at the same conclusion, but the starting point as well as the reconstruction of some of the data differs.

  In addition the authors accept without debate the theory of the deuteronomist and deuteronomistic history. (Deuteronomistic History theory holds that, rather than being recorded at the times of the events themselves, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and the books of Samuel and Kings were compiled later)

  Certainly this book was not the place to debate that theory, but again readers might put the pieces of the argument together differently if this theory is not accepted.

  Surprisingly the authors suggest that John 1:1c “may be translated either ‘the word was God’ or ‘the word was a god.’ ” Current scholarship is decidedly on the side of the traditional translation, giving little or no credence to the translation “the word was a god.”
  
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  Fisherman

  Karaite Jews today commonly use and pronouce YHWH as Ye’hovah.
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  smiddy3

  What Name Does the New Testament Emphasize - Jehovah or Jesus?

  Didn`t the " Aid " book acknowledge that the name / word Jehovah was not the correct pronunciation of God`s name but that was the most common /popular name in use .?

  I ask : In use by who? By Christendom ? Who else would be using the name of God if n the people of Christendom ?

  So why would Jehovah`s Witnesses / WTB&TS follow the traditions of Christendom and not use the more accepted pronunciation of God`s name as Yahweh ?

  Maybe they also should have been using the name Yesus instead of Jesus as their was no J sounding letter in the Hebrew language to my knowledge .

  And giving the fact that JW`s have such a disdain / hatred for Christendom why would they copy them ?
• 

  GodBeliever

  If anyone wants to accept human ideas regarding God as a being, their worship is rejected by Him. The bible is clear only for sincere persons.
  
  "And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ ”Luke 4:6‭-‬8

  "The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it." Psalms 24:1

  “I will announce the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have fathered You. ‘Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession."Psalms 2:7‭-‬8
  
  "Just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life."
  John 17:2

  "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
  Philippians 2:5‭-‬11

  "in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, to the extent that He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “You are My Son, Today I have fathered You”? And again, “I will be a Father to Him And He will be a Son to Me”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” And regarding the angels He says, “He makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” But regarding the Son He says, “Your throne, God, is forever and ever, And the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom. “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your companions.”
  Hebrews 1:2‭-‬9
  
  “How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who defeated the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." Isaiah 14:12‭-‬14
  
  Satan wanted to be like God, he realized he cannot ascend above God but he tried to ascend above Jesus who is not the same with Almighty God. He even tried to make Jesus to worship him offering him what he was given by Jehovah, dominion over the earth. He could never have dared to ask Jehovah to worship him. He knew his limitations.
  
  The bible said that everything belongs to Jehovah and after Jesus came to earth and proved obedience until death he was raised by Jehovah and given dominion over heaven and earth. The bible also states that Jesus never wanted to be like God and himself said that his father is greater than him.

  Jesus is the only creation of God, made in His likeness, and He never wanted to be like God as opposed to Satan. Jesus is not a mere angel, he inherited a name higher than anyone else, because he is the Son of God. He was given dominion over the heaven and earth and it was the express wish of Jehovah that everyone to worship Jesus as a representative of Jehovah in everything.
  "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
  John 5:22‭-‬23
  
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  Sea Breeze

  If anyone wants to accept human ideas regarding God as a being, their worship is rejected by Him. The bible is clear only for sincere persons.

  GB, then you should be able to sincerely answer how you are considered a righteous person since only righteous people will be admitted into God's family. I've asked you several times and you won't answer. Are you hiding something GB?

  We are commanded to "be ready always to give an answer for the hope that is in you". But, you won't answer why you believe God should let you into his family? Scripture says that there is no one righteous. So what is it that sets you apart and leads you to believe that you are right with God?

  
  
  
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  slimboyfat

  Yes, Adela Yarbro Collins tends to support the JW translation of John 1:1. She writes in King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, Human and Angelic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature

  “John 1:1 may be translated either ‘the word was God’ or ‘the word was a god’. Justin Martyr apparently understood the passage in the latter way. According to Henry Chadwick, ‘Justin had boldly spoken of the divine logos as “another God” beside the Father, qualified by the gloss, “other, I mean, in number, not in will.”’ Casey describes John 1:14 as involving ‘incarnation in the strong sense in which I use the term, that is, of the process by means of which a fully divine being is born as a person.’ It is not precisely clear what Casey means by ‘fully divine being’ here. If he means something like a second person of a trinity, it is doubtful that John 1 supports the interpretation.” (Pages 175 and 176)

  The recent translation by scholar David Bentley Hart translates John 1

  The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart (2017)

  1 In the origin there was the Logos, and the Logos was present with GOD, and the Logos was god; 2 This one was present with GOD in the origin. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him came to be not a single thing that has come to be.

  
  
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  GodBeliever

  "GB, then you should be able to sincerely answer how you are considered a righteous person since only righteous people will be admitted into God's family. I've asked you several times and you won't answer. Are you hiding something GB?"

  SB
  I am trying to answer everything you ask me through what the word of God provides us, but I suspect you are being biased and you will only be satisfied with the answers that you want. Every other answer that does not suits you, seems to be ignored and then you accuse me of not giving you the answers. You would make a very good politician.
  
  "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was raised because of our justification."
  Romans 4:2‭-‬7‭, ‬9‭-‬11‭, ‬16‭-‬17‭, ‬22‭-‬25
  
  "Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."
  Romans 8:1‭-‬7‭, ‬9‭-‬15‭, ‬17
  
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  Sea Breeze

  God Believer,

  But those scriptures aren't talking about you are they? They are talking about those that like Abraham, believe God. Believing God is what makes us righteous. That is what those scriptures you posted show isn't it?

  Do you believe God when he commands us to enter into an agreement with him "for the forgiveness of sins" at Mt. 26: 27-28 ? Or, do you disbelieve God and believe that you can be declared righteous some other way?

  What say you?
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  GodBeliever

  SB

  I am not playing this game of yours. And who are you anyway to say to whom these scriptures apply or not?

  I know what I believe,and I tried to give you a satisfactory explanation of my belief. I believe in Jehovah and in Jesus's blood that was spilled for our sins. And I believe this is the only way to salvation.

  There is no other name under the sun that anyone can be saved but Jesus's. This is God's will and everything is for his glory.
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  GodBeliever

  Sorry SB for overreacting to your question. I like debates on bible, but it's good to bring our views forward and then let anyone draw conclusions for themselves on weather they are in the position to be saved or not, and then, if they are willing they can adjust their understanding accordingly.