Why do Jehovah's Witnesses insist on calling the Lord God....."Jehovah"??

Question

Jehovah's Witnesses were just at my front door, literally, less than 45 minutes ago. I don't understand why they say that God must be referred to as "Jehovah". In my opinion, I don't think that's it's a big deal what you call God, as long as God knows you are praying to him or talking to him. I mean, He knows when you are drawing to him. In my opinion, the NAME isn't that important. Give me your thoughts.

I'm writing this at the point where there are 22 answers. I agree with so many of the answers that I don't know how I will be able to resolve this question with a "best" answer. Thanks.

Answer 1

It's a form of cult bondage. The Jehovah Witnesses use John Chapter 17 where Jesus prays, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world." And that Jesus ends that prayer to his Father by saying And I have declared to them "Your name", and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” Their reasoning is that Jesus put alot of importance on his Fathers "name", ie Jehovah.

Now, Jesus rarely conversed with demons. But one time He did. He asked the demon's name in Mark 5:9. Why? Because there is something in the spiritual world where the name means more than what it does in the physical. This is why Gabriel was adamant that the name of the King should be "Jesus", and His way preparer be named "John". In many other places, we see "His name shall be Immanuel" or "The Word of God" or "King of Kings and Lord of Lords". Even Moses asked of God His name. A name denotes WHO you are. When Jesus said, "“I have manifested Your name" He did not mean the word "Jehovah", He proclaimed Who God is--personally.

Interesting that in Jesus' prayer in John 17, He does not refer to Him as Jehovah, but rather Father. And the most compelling is when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them their model which started with "Our Father..." Now why in the world did not Jesus, in both occasions use Jehovah?

This is one of several examples where the Jehovah Witnesses will pick and choose doctrine based on the agenda of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and not take the Word of God as a whole.

Answer 2

Jehovah's name is in the Scriptures in more than 6000 places and Jesus used Jehovah's name and said we should sanctify it, meaning, make it holy. If you have an older KJV Bible, check these Scriptures Exodus 6:3, Psalms 83:18, Isaiah 12:2, and Isaiah 26:4. Also read Isaiah 43:10, Jehovah's Witnesses exercise faith in Jesus Christ as our savior, Jehovah sent him to earth to die for all mankind's sins, Jesus is the only way Jehovah God has provided for the saving of fallen mankind, what we witness to is , Jehovah is God the Almighty, the Creator, and that Jesus Christ is his Son and the savior God has provided for all mankind, and that the kingdom of God is the only solution to all mankind's problems and that Jehovah God has made his Son, Christ Jesus, king of that kingdom, thus we conduct Bible studies to help people understand what God requires of us to gain salvation and live eternally in paradise, and Jesus set the example of how to do that, it's by going door to door by twos, and in the market places, and in the streets, go where the people are, it is still very effective at gaining brothers and sisters.

Answer 3

I ALONE HAVE THE BEST ANSWER OKAY? JUS KIDDING

okay i will answer your question cause it all you need to know psalms 83:18 says"that thou whose name is JEHOVAH arth the most high over all the earth" thus we see that THE ALMIGHTHY GOD has a name!
another point: there are many gods any thing or anyone can be a god aslong as you worhsip it it can be your god some people worship money some their car some their children rastafarian worship Haile Sellassie so then to differentciate him you should address him by his name would you want someone to call you man/boy? no i dont think so! thus address the almighty as his name!
ps the word "god" is a title jut like mr.,mrs, and so on!
okay?
dont patronize they are the anly people following bible principle

Answer 4

God is a title. Lord is a title.

You and I both have many titles. I, for one, am a mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher, homemaker. If I were to be referred to by any one of those titles as a replacement for my name, day in and day out, I feel that would be disheartening.

My legal name is not the same as my nickname. When a telemarketer calls, they use my legal name. When a friend or loved-one calls, they use my nickname.

When I call upon God, I do so as a friend or a loved one, I call him by his name. . . .Jehovah.

Answer 5

The only thing "new" I have to add is this...names ARE important. We all have one. We name our children, our pets, our boats. When I was a little girl I named my dolls. Some people name their cars. Jehovah named the stars.

Clearly God's name, Jehovah, is important or he wouldn't have had it recorded in his word almost 7,000 times.

Okay, that last part was a repeat of some of the above posts...but it doesn't hurt to add it for emphasis!! :-)

Answer 6

read ps 83 verse 18. Jesus Christ in the model prayer said to use God's name. God is a title not a name. why does the son have a name that we call him Jesus and his Father does not have a name. Jehovah wants us to use his name. I am a mother of three children. should you call me mother and not use my first name??? since mother is a title

Answer 7

My name is Natasha and I am a Jehovah's Witness.

I just want everyone to think of something. I know most of the people posting here have at least one
great friend in their life. Now consider. If you're close to someone, wouldn't you want them, out of
respect, to know your name? You wouldn't want them yelling "Hey You" or "Hey lady" or "hey dude"
all the itme,would you?

We call God by his name because we love him and we want to show him respect.

(Psalm 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth.

God gave us his name and His word the Bible, because he cares for us. And we shouldn't add or remove anything from it. Inlcuding his name.

(Revelation 22:18-19) “I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll; 19 and if anyone takes anything away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take his portion away from the trees of life and out of the holy city, things which are written about in this scroll.

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.

Answer 8

I have been studying with Jehovah's wittinesses for about 4 years. Jehovah is God's personal name, like mine is Jewel, and yours is Thomas. "God" is only a title such as President or professor.

Answer 9

"Jehovah" is the anglisized version of the Hebrew pronounciation of one of the names God called himself by as reported by the many people and prophets who originally wrote the books of the Bible's Old Testament. A more informative way to call God a name, I think, would be the name he gave for himself to Moses when Moses asked of God his name while standing before the burning bush on Mount Horeb to which God answered, "I AM; that is who I am. Tell them that I AM has sent you to them." ["them" meaning the captive Hebrew slaves in Egypt].
The writers of the Old Testament books considered the name of God that the Jehovah's Witnesses use so holy that they dared not ever pronounce it themselves and so they only wrote the consanants of the name in scripture, to wit: YHWH and used the expression 'my Lord' as subsitute for its actual pronunciation when reading scripture aloud .
In closing, beware of the Jehovah's Witnesses. According to their beliefs, they must save others to save themselves from being annihilated by fire at the final judgement. If they don't suceed in doing all they can to pester you into believing as they do, then they believe Jehovah will hold them accouble for failing to make a believer out of you and destroy them along with you when he comes to judge the world.
Finally, the real God is neither male nor female and you certainly can talk to 'him'(for lack of any gendre neutral English pronoun for a person) or better, the I AM, any time, any where, any way. Just be honest. I AM knows the truth already. Jesus said, "...seek and you shall find." I suggest you start your search for God by reading the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Bible. It was written for gentiles like us. And remember, the I AM gave you a brain, so read for yourself and don't let others tell you how to think. I believe the I AM will lead you to salvation through faith in Jesus. You don't need me or any one else except the I AM and the Bible.

Answer 10

Jehovah IS a name of God. Just like El Shaddai, Elohim, I Am, etc. Witnesses aren't the only ones who use Jehovah when speaking or addressing God.

Answer 11

It is true that the Almighty did not say, "Listen, thousands of years from now when a new language called English comes along, they can pronounce my name as 'Jehovah' and that's fine."

Instead, like with any and every personal name, different languages TRANSLATE personal names to fit their lingual tendencies. George becomes "Hor-hey" in Spanish or "Gay-org" in German and no one gets upset.

It's not exactly wrong to call the Almighty by the impersonal "God", just as it's not wrong to call one's offspring "Child". If we want a familiar and close relationship, however, it makes sense to use the personal name of someone we love. The Scriptures encourage us to use God's personal name.

The Hebrew name “Yahweh” (or “Yehowah”) does seem to accurately pronounce the divine name. Just as the Hebrew name “Yeshua” (or “Yehoshua”) is translated into “Jesus” in English, the Hebrew name “Yahweh” is translated into “Jehovah” in English.

The important thing is to use God’s personal name in whatever language you speak, rather than insisting upon the impersonal! The name “Yahweh” is certainly preferable to the non-name “God” or “Lord”, especially if you speak Hebrew. If you speak English, feel free to use the name "Jehovah".

(Psalms 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth

(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them