Christians, why DO we commonly call our God by such a generic name?

Question

The Jehovah's Witnesses call Him Jehovah, and rightly so, since that is one of His names. "God" is so generic; why don't we call him by one of His real names? He is my God, but that is not His name. I do call Him Jesus, but what about all the other names? Any insight on this?

Here's a listing I came across of His names.
http://www.characterbuildingforfamilies.com/names.html

Answer 1

thank for the link..i think we call our Father GOD.by habit..when look in dictionary i guess..it would say..a higherbeing..period. satan is a god of this world..cor 4.4
and some folks..their car is a god..their job.or their mind.or their body..or thier wealth is their god..which ten commandment call this sin..idolatry..no other god before me.
i like mustangs..classic cars..sometime spend too much time..study them.checking out what for sale..ect.
and separate my soul..from him.
anyway......jehovah Rapha, Nissi is my GOD..
JESUS..is the way "TO GOD"..we pray to OUR FATHER, in the name of JESUS...yet..JESUS not even right neither..it think..we need to be using the jewish name..yeshua..i think it was..that name has a MEANINg..within it.
like john means god grace.
robert is bright and fame
joshua means savior.
on and on.
the life within a name..shape a person is very very possible.

Answer 2

There is only one "NAME" for God, and He tells us that it is Jehovah (in English), Yahweh (in Hebrew).

God & Lord are titles.

If you can add the word 'THE' in front of the word, it is a title.

The God, The Lord

Here is a list of God's name in other languages.

Forms of the divine name in different languages, indicating international acceptance of the form Jehovah

Awabakal - Yehóa
Bugotu - Jihova
Cantonese - Yehwowah
Danish - Jehova
Dutch - Jehovah
Efik - Jehovah
English - Jehovah
Fijian - Jiova
Finnish - Jehova
French - Jéhovah
Futuna - Ihova
German - Jehova
Hungarian - Jehova
Igbo - Jehova
Italian - Geova
Japanese - Ehoba
Maori - Ihowa
Motu - Iehova
Mwala-Malu - Jihova
Narrinyeri - Jehovah
Nembe - Jihova
Petats - Jihouva
Polish - Jehowa
Portuguese - Jeová
Romanian - Iehova
Samoan - Ieova
Sotho - Jehova
Spanish - Jehová
Swahili - Yehova
Swedish - Jehova
Tahitian - Iehova
Tagalog - Jehova
Tongan - Jihova
Venda - Yehova
Xhosa - uYehova
Yoruba - Jehofah
Zulu - uJehova

Answer 3

The earliest written style of the Germanic be conscious god comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English be conscious itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ?u?an. maximum linguists agree that the reconstructed Proto-Indo-ecu style * ?hu-tó-m grew to become into based on the basis * ?hau(?)-, which meant the two "to call" or "to invoke".[4] The Germanic words for god have been initially neuter—making use of to the two genders—yet in the time of the technique of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the be conscious grew to become a masculine syntactic style.[5] The capitalized style God grew to become into first utilized in Ulfilas's Gothic translation of the recent testomony, to characterize the Greek Theos. interior the English language, the capitalization keeps to characterize a huge distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[6][7] even with important differences between religions mutually with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, the Bahá'í faith, and Judaism, the term "God" keeps to be an English translation problem-loose to all. The call would characterize any appropriate or comparable monotheistic deities, such as a results of fact the early monotheism of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism.

Answer 4

In Jewish tradition God name was not used out of reverence for Him. We still do this today in our Christian faith. I know it seems odd. But God name should never be used as a common word and those it protects it out of reverence. Look how many use the name Jesus in slang as well as to name there children.

Answer 5

Your question is very good. Those people who wish to have a close personal relationship with God, should most definitely know his name! That is one of the first things we find out about someone we meet. Jehovah or Yahweh is his name. Jesus is the Son of God, and should never be confused with the one true God. Jesus himself said the following...

(John 17:3) “. . .This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”
(John 17:6) “. . .“I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.. . .”
(John 17:25-26) “. . .Righteous Father, the world has, indeed, not come to know you; but I have come to know you, and these have come to know that you sent me forth. 26 And 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 and I in union with them.””

I looked at the site you linked, but it is very confusing and only makes it harder for people to come to accurate Bible knowledge.
They refer to Jesus as being God. Jesus did not teach that and neither does the Bible.

(1 Corinthians 11:3) “. . .But I want YOU to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.”

Jesus was in subjection to God, just as man is in subjection to Jesus. Jehovah, God is the Almighty and the only one who is not in subjection to a higher authority, since he is the Most High.

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

Answer 6

But Jesus is NOT Almighty God.
God has no beginning.
Jesus DID...He was Jehovah God's very first creation.
(Proverbs 8:22-31) “Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. 23 From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth. 24 When there were no watery deeps I was brought forth as with labor pains, when there were no springs heavily charged with water. 25 Before the mountains themselves had been settled down, ahead of the hills, I was brought forth as with labor pains, 26 when as yet he had not made the earth and the open spaces and the first part of the dust masses of the productive land. 27 When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he decreed a circle upon the face of the watery deep, 28 when he made firm the cloud masses above, when he caused the fountains of the watery deep to be strong, 29 when he set for the sea his decree that the waters themselves should not pass beyond his order, when he decreed the foundations of the earth, 30 then I came to be beside him as a master worker, and I came to be the one he was specially fond of day by day, I being glad before him all the time, 31 being glad at the productive land of his earth, and the things I was fond of were with the sons of men.

So Jesus has been alongside his Father, Jehovah God, since the very beginning.
The early Jews, though, had dealings ONLY with Jehovah. they did not know about Jesus...But they were aware that there would come a messiah.
This turned out to BE Jesus.
(Exodus 3:13-15) Nevertheless, Moses said to the [true] God: “Suppose I am now come to the sons of Israel and I do say to them, ‘The God of YOUR forefathers has sent me to YOU,’ and they do say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?” 14 At this God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.” And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU.’” 15 Then God said once more to Moses: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.
(Exodus 6:3) And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them.

Answer 7

Well he gave his name to Moses as: "I will become who I will become" - But thats a bit long for me :P Also, the fact that we call him God, shows that we belive that he is the only God.

Answer 8

It's out of respect. The human mouth is so dirty and full of blasphemy, that we don't use God's real name because we are not worthy of doing so.

Answer 9

well the muslims call him allah, and that is not his name. it's just their language's word for "the god". I'm not exactly sure what yaweh means, but I wouldn't mind calling him that.

Answer 10

It is very important to know the different names of God, because each name describes a different aspect of His many-faceted character. It helps with prayer to know him better.
Here are some of the better known names of God in the Bible:

EL, ELOAH: God "mighty, strong, prominent" (Genesis 7:1; Isaiah 9:6) – Etymologically, El appears to mean power, as in “I have the power to harm you” (Genesis 31:29). El is associated with other qualities, such as integrity (Numbers 23:19), jealousy (Deuteronomy 5:9), and compassion (Nehemiah 9:31), but the root idea of might remains.


ELOHIM: God “Creator, Mighty and Strong” (Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33) – The plural form of Eloah, which is accommodating of the doctrine of the Trinity. From the Bible’s first sentence, the superlative nature of God’s power is evident as God (Elohim) speaks the world into existence (Genesis 1:1).


EL SHADDAI: “God Almighty,” “The Mighty One of Jacob” (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 132:2,5) – Speaks to God’s ultimate power over all.


ADONAI: “Lord” (Genesis 15:2; Judges 6:15) – Used in place of YHWH, which was thought by the Jews to be too sacred to be uttered by sinful men. In the Old Testament, YHWH is more often used in God’s dealings with His people, while Adonai is used more when He deals with the Gentiles.


YHWH / YAHWEH / JEHOVAH: “LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4; Daniel 9:14) – Strictly speaking, the only proper name for God. Translated in English Bibles “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses “I Am who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). This name specifies an immediacy, a presence. Yahweh is present, accessible, near to those who call on Him for deliverance (Psalm 107:13), forgiveness (Psalm 25:11) and guidance (Psalm 31:3).


YAHWEH-JIREH: "The Lord will Provide" (Genesis 22:14) – The name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.


YAHWEH-RAPHA: "The Lord Who Heals" (Exodus 15:26) – “I am Jehovah who heals you” both in body and soul. In body, by preserving from diseases, and by curing them when afflicted with them and in soul, by pardoning their iniquities.


YAHWEH-NISSI: "The Lord Our Banner" (Exodus 17:15), where banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the desert victory over the Amalekites in Exodus 17.


YAHWEH-M'KADDESH: "The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy" (Leviticus 20:8; Ezekiel 37:28) – God makes it clear that He alone, not the law, could cleanse His people and make them holy.


YAHWEH-SHALOM: "The Lord Our Peace" (Judges 6:24) – The name given by Gideon to the altar he built after the Angel of the Lord assured him he would not die as he thought he would after seeing Him.


YAHWEH-ELOHIM: "LORD God" (Genesis 2:4; Psalm 59:5) – Combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic “Lord,” signifying that He is the Lord of Lords.




YAHWEH-TSIDKENU: "The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16) – As with YHWH-M’Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness to man, ultimately in the person of His Son, Jesus
Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).


YAHWEH-ROHI: "The Lord Our Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1) – After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declares “Yahweh-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).


YAHWEH-SHAMMAH: "The Lord is There” (Ezekiel 48:35) – The name ascribed to Jerusalem and the Temple there, indicating that the once departed glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 8—11) had returned (Ezekiel 44:1-4).


YAHWEH-SABAOTH: "The Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 1:24; Psalm 46:7) – “Hosts” means hordes, both of angels and of men. He is Lord of the host of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles, of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that he is able to accomplish what he determines to do.


EL ELYON: “Most High" (Deuteronomy 26:19) – Derived from the Hebrew root for “go up” or “ascend,” so the implication is of that which is the very highest. El Elyon denotes exaltation and speaks of absolute right to lordship.


EL ROI: "God of Seeing" (Genesis 16:13) – The name ascribed to God by Hagar, alone and desperate in the wilderness after being driven out by Sarah (Genesis 16:1-14), when she met the Angel of the Lord and realized she had seen God Himself in a theophany. She realized that El Roi saw her in her distress and testified that He is a God who lives and sees all.
EL-OLAM: "Everlasting God" (Psalm 90:1-3) – God’s nature is without beginning or end, free from all constraints of time and contains within Himself the very cause of time itself. “From everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”


EL-GIBHOR: “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6) – The name describing the Messiah, Christ Jesus, in this prophetic portion of Isaiah. As a powerful and mighty warrior, the Messiah, the Mighty God, will accomplish the destruction of God’s enemies and rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15).