My husband and I were visited by Jehovah's witnesses. I asked them some questions but their answers were weak. So I challenge any Jehovah's witnesses to try to give strong answers to these questions. 1) You say that Jehovah is the one and only name of God, how do you know this. The answer I got was that it was derived from the hebrew letters for yaweh(sp?) now how do you get Jehovah from ywh? 2) I asked them if it was possible that God had a secret name known only to him and that anyother name was just what people gave him, their answer to that was would a person call me by anyother name than my true name, maybe but don't some people have nicknames that they go by? 3) Do Jehovah's Witnesses not have anything to celebrate? Surely God isn't that boring 4) How can you not participate in voting and things like that? You say you are not of this world does that mean if you were living in a house that wasn't your permanent home would you allow it to go to waste just cause it wasn't your home?
2007-02-20 15:44:36 · 6 answers · asked by Cat's Eye Angie 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
1) I believe this question has been addressed by many posters already. So briefly, we believe Jehovah is the English translation of Yahweh, which comes from YHWH. In other languages it wouldn't be Jehovah, just as Jesus is pronounced Heysuse (phonetic spelling) in Mexico.
2) Anytime you ask a "is it possible" type question, the answer is usually of course it is possible. What we believe is that God wants to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us- a friendship. So in doing so, he would tell us the name he WANTS us to call him by. The scriptures indicate that name is YHWH. (See above answer to derive back to Jehovah).
3) We have receptions at our weddings. We have bridal showers. We have baby showers. We celebrate anniversaries. We have gatherings ranging from very small to congregational sized for no reason at all other than to associate.
4) Regardless of who is president, mankind has proven they cannot rule themselves. We are patiently waiting on God's government to make any and all repairs on "our house". I guess the way I view your illustration is that we are not the adults in the house we are the children. Children are not expected to make repairs they wait on the appropriate parties.
I hope these answers help. If you need further information, feel free to email me.
2007-02-22 06:58:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No one truly knows how the consonants YHWH were pronounced to speak God's name but the original King James Version says at Psalm 83:18 that Jehovah is the most high over all the earth. That, coupled with a scripture at Isaiah 43:10 is how Jehovah's Witnesses arrived at the descriptive name they now have. Chances are that the vowels YHWH (in the original Hebrew scriptures almost 7,000 times) are more correctly pronounced Yahweh for God's name but changing the pronounciation would also mean that Jesus' name would have to be changed as it contains God's name and the pronounciation would be similar so he would have to be called Yeshua or Yehoshua and most Christians would severely object. Since no one can be sure and since we are certain that God is ok with the translation Jehovah as long as we define what his name means and the true person it represents, we are ok with it. 2.) Over and over in the Bible, God makes it clear how important it is to him that his name be known. Why would he do that and have a secret name that only he knows?? That makes no sense. 3.) We celebrate life, we celebrate anniversaries, we celebrate God, we celebrate true friendship. We give gifts all year long to show our affection for others. There is nothing boring about being a Jehovah's Witness!! 4.) Our king, Jesus Christ, is sitting at the right hand of God and ruling over all of us already. Would we vote for some inferior man to take his authority away?? Not a chance!! We take care of the earth. We respect it and our fellow human beings. We do not participate in war. We come to the aid of our brothers and others in the case of natural disasters. This system of things is not our home but the earth is a treasure and we do take care of it. ANY more questions?? Feel free to e-mail me.
2007-02-20 16:05:40 · answer #2 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
As for God's name, here's a reference
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2006/11/robertson_says.html
By the way, no one knows how to pronounce Jesus name, either. as they didn't have a J in Hebrew.
A witness would have told you that they celebrate life, giving life, teaching about everlasting life, and seeing how life goes on. They don't mourn over the dead, but celebrate that the person does not have to deal with the coming tribulation.
They give gifts for the sake of it and not for some special event. When there is a wedding, it’s a come all affair and bring food. Similar things happen after the Sunday meeting. a lot of pot lucks, but no booze. Don't need booze to have fun. What's boring is hearing the same old thing every year in the shopping malls, "Yes honey, I'll buy it for you, but you can't play with it until Christmas." Even if it is supposedly a celebration of the birthday of Christ, he gets no gifts, and the only gifts he wants is you dedication to his Father and for your children to know him, and not just Bible stories.
As for participating in voting, are you saying that while living in pre-Nazi Germany, you would have voted for Hitler? They don't just not vote here, but everywhere, regardless of the form of government. Remember when Saddam said he got 100% of the votes from 100% of the adults. Knowing that JWs lived in Iraq, I rather doubt that. Do you think they voted for Castro in Cuba. One sure thing about true Christians, is that all follow the same path.
As for not being a part of the world, take some time and look up the word in the dictionary. It means people, not property or planet. In reference to the Bible, it refers to those not living in the light of God and Christ. JWs strive to live 100% of the time in that light, and not on the edges or in the shadows, because a person thinks it more fun out there. Remember, the reason the King James Bible was commissioned was because he thought the Genesis Bible was too strict, and people have immortalized his name for it.
2007-02-20 22:00:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Many Christian denominations refer to the Lord almighty as Jehovah at times. It is not just the JW's Jehovah is an english translation of Yaweh.
2007-02-20 16:15:20 · answer #4 · answered by sweet cheeks 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Jehovah is the English TRANSLATION of the name YHWH. He has a nickname, that is
Jah/Yah. Alleiuia (Praise Jah)
www.m-w.com states “
Etymology: New Latin, reading (as YehOwAh) of Hebrew yhwh Yahweh with the vowel points of 'adhOnAy my lord”
In English, the name James is different when translated to another language, some as Santiago, Jaime, etc…
Jehovah or Yahweh is the personal name of God. This is different than a title or positions of God such as God, Father, God of gods, etc.
JWs are neutral when it comes to politics. Some people need secular leaders to achieve discipline, organization , order, peace, etc. We have our own Leader, Jesus, who also uses the faithful discreet slaves, who help each JWs in following Christ and the Father. Those qualities are already being achieved inside JWs organization. It is also true that we need the human government, they act as ministers for our own good. We follow them as long as their laws do not go against God’s laws.
2007-02-21 05:38:52 · answer #5 · answered by trustdell1 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you want to scare them off so they never come back, try this.
In Genesis, on the sixth day the Elohim (a plural word) say, "Let us make men in our image..." and give them the earth to look after. On the eighth day Yahweh Elohim (a particular Elohim with some self-esteem issues) creates the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve and the whole Tree of Knowledge debacle ensues. It was the Other People to whom Cain went to find a wife. These Other People are not bound by original sin, or by anything that followed in the bloodline of Adam and Eve.
Telling them this, and if you are one of the Other People, telling them that as well usually makes them either run or they start to think a little too hard about their belief structure. More amusement for next time.
2007-02-20 16:07:23 · answer #6 · answered by Huggles-the-wise 5 · 0⤊ 6⤋