Oh my............you hit on the major hang up with witnesses. I believe that they are only fooling themselves because first of all the tetragrammaton in the bible which is YWYH has no consonants and the names Jehovah and Yahweh are basically guesses. Rev. has jah in it, which is like a nick-name but that still doesn't tell us how to pronounce the full name. Having said that, I wonder how they can guess at a pronunciation and then demand that we use it....?? In Acts it says that Jesus is the only named by which men can be saved. I think that the jw's put [other] there on their translation in order to make it seem as if we need another name..They do that alot, the like [other] in Colossians too. It changes the meaning and "other" is not found in the original Greek. They basically just added it because they feel the need to separate the Father and the Son because of their hate for the trinity. Also, the tetragram was not in the original Greek writings. IF.....some of the gospels were ever written in Hebrew...we don't have them. So, it would be a guess as well.
To the 1st question..."GOD is only a title--- That may be true but the apostles used GOD in their writings constantly. They didn't have a fear that some fake God would eavesdrop. God the Father is used very frequently. As a matter of fact, there is not one instance when Jesus prayed that he used the name Jehovah or Yahweh.... not once. He never prayed using a name. If it was that important then surely He would have prayed that way. He used Father and so do we, his children. The dubs are not considered Children of God, atleast I think that was the last "light" that I heard. They may change back and forth on this one. Naturally, it would follow that of they are not children then they would not use Father. I believe that only their 144,000 are considered the children of God. My opinion is that the jw's live in fear that if they pray to the Father or to God or to the Lord that the devil might answer. The jw's live in fear. In Romans, it says that we call out "abba" which means Father when we are given the holy spirit.
To the 2nd question--hallowed be thy name--- It is hard to answer stupid question isn't it? If Jesus meant for us to sanctify the name by pronouncing it when we pray.....He would have done so there!! He didn't. Jesus was asked to show the people how to pray. Again, why didn't He say it there?? He was teaching them how to pray. I guess the jw's know how to pray better than Jesus did. Name, in the bible means more than a pronunciation anyway. Name is his very being. You can call out a name all you want and still be misled as to what the gospel teaches which means that God hasn't given you of his spirit.
To the 3rd question....stating who the prayer is to--- again fear is the problem. Again, Jesus didn't feel the need to do that. Ask your friend to show you where in the bible....Jesus ever prayed or showed us to pray by using the any name. He never did.
To the 4th question....demons flee--- Demons were cast out using Jesus name in the NT. He may show you where Jesus says that many will come in my name and say "Lord didn't we prophecy and cast out demons in your name?" Then Jesus tells them..that he never knew them and they were workers of lawlessness. Those verses do not mean that demons aren't cast out by Jesus, he is condemning them for being unrepetant sinners. Ask your friend how it could mean that demons are not to be cast out by Jesus anymore.....then why do the jw's prophecy is His name?? You cannot have it both ways....but the jw's will twist all of the bible to suit them and they are masters at twisting. It is done very sublty and you need to be cautious.
There are may churches that use the name Jehovah. There even are songs in the hymn books using that name for the Father. If you ask a jw if those people in those churches pray, does God hear them?? They will say NO and tell you that they need "accurate Knowledge".(aka be a jw)...everything that your friend says is from a recording in his brain. He has answers drilled into him for every conceivable question. He is not able to think for himself anymore. He will fight you until you feel like you are going be sick. I don't know why you want to even go down this road with him. His mind is working overtime trying to convert you. Be careful and know your stuff or don't involve yourself at all. God bless. Don't cast out all of your pearls my friend. He will tear you up....just like the good book says.. they will. love, dj
