almost puts him in the same league as Buddha, Krishna, Allah
and the other gods (which are not gods at all)
The god of the Bible is God. the only God. no matter what anyone else calls him, He's God. People in other languages would call him God. in the Greek they would call Him "theo", in the french "dieu". calling Him God doesn't lessen His importance or authority. all the other peoples in the world won't call him Jehovah they would call him something else. so what's the big deal about calling him Jehovah. There is only one God. all others are false.
2007-12-10 23:25:13 · 17 answers · asked by Gruntled Employee 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
why can't you just say "the God of the Bible"
2007-12-11 09:05:32 · update #1
No.
Frankly, pretending that is disrespectful to use the personal name of God ignores the bible.
Nearly SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES (more than any other personal name), the bible itself mentions the personal name of Almighty God:
יהוה (typically transliterated from Hebrew as "YHWH")
The organization perhaps most closely identified with the Divine Name is the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, and they have literature published in hundreds of languages (their website alone has articles in over 300). This extensive translating work has moved Jehovah's Witnesses to detail several dozen different respectful spellings and pronunciations of the Divine Name, all of which are honestly derived into various lingual tendencies from the original Hebrew יהוה ("YHWH") and יה ("YH").
http://watchtower.ca/languages.htm
Ten interesting variations of the Divine Name are shown on this webpage, in large print along the right side of the page:
http://watchtower.ca/e/20040122/article_01.htm
In English, both "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" have a long tradition of representing the Divine Name ("YHWH", also known as "the Tetragrammaton"). At first glance, it might seem that Yahweh (which undeniably includes Y, H, W, and H) would more accurately pronounce the Tetragrammaton as it was pronounced by the ancient Hebrews. However, there is an enormous "but"...
Other common Hebrew names actually include the divine name WITHIN them, giving hints as to its original pronunciation. Increasingly, scholars are leaning toward a pronunciation similar to the three-syllable "Yehowah" rather than two-syllable "Yahweh". If "Yehowah" is close to the correct pronunciation, then it becomes a much more subjective answer about whether "Yehowah" is more similar to "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". Many or most English speakers are likely to embrace the pronunciation which their predecessors embraced at least four hundred years ago.
"Jehovah".
Thus, in English, the three most common Biblical names for God (in order of usage) are Jehovah, Yahweh, and Yehowah. To complete the discussion, Exodus 34:14 metaphorically says that YHWH's name is "Jealous" and Exodus 3:14 says that God's name literally means "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE" and "I SHALL PROVE TO BE"
...(Exodus 3:13-14, NWT) Moses said to the true God: “[What if the Israelites] say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?” 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.’”
...Leeser, “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE”
...Rotherham, “I WILL BECOME WHATSOEVER I PLEASE”
And to repeat, "God", "Lord", "Creator", and similar terms are NOT personal names but impersonal titles.
Learn more:
http://watchtower.ca/e/na/
2007-12-11 01:58:34 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
howdy woody.
god is NOT a name. god is not truly even a title. it is a description. moses was a god, jesus was a god, money is a god and, as you mentioned, there are a LOT of 'gods'.
i dont know if you read the bible much, a little, or not at all.
you did not specify. but, there is a passage that is called by various names:
the lord's prayer, the our father, the paternoster [latin for our father] or the model prayer.
in it, jesus, the son of the most high, tells us,
you must pray, then this way,
OUR father who is in the heavens, hallowed be your NAME.
not title, not job description, not the son's name.
yodh he wau he is his NAME. he tells us that in exodus.
look at this excerpt from a brochure we print:
"But does 'knowing God's name' involve merely an intellectual knowledge that God's name in Hebrew is YHWH, or in English, Jehovah? No, it means more than that. When Moses was in Mount Sinai, "Jehovah proceeded to come down in the cloud and station himself with [Moses] there and declare the name of Jehovah." What did this declaring of the name of Jehovah entail? A description of his qualities: "Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth." (Exodus 34:5, 6) Again, shortly before his death, Moses said to the Israelites: "I shall declare the name of Jehovah." What followed? Mention of some of His grand attributes, and then a review of what God had accomplished toward Israel for the sake of His name. (Deuteronomy 32:3-43) Hence, knowing God's name means learning what that name represents and worshiping the God who possesses it. "
find it [the article] in its entirety at:
watchtower WEBSITE.
for some reason, whenever i post the society's site, the owners of yahoo put in their 'cant post' silliness, so go there and find the submenu that has 'jehovah's name' in it.
'i am JEHOVAH, that is my NAME'
He who calls on the NAME of jehova will get away safe.
there was a lot of superstition by ancient jewish peoples in using god's name tied in with the 2nd commandment given to moses. so, the people, without jehovah's permission, approval or authority. just, superstition- unbiblical, ungodly superstition.
so, they started substituting Lord or God or G_d or somesuch term for Jehovah's name.
that is why you only find jehovah's name a FEW times in the protestant and catholic bibles.
and, why you are afraid of using that name.
it is superstition. look up the link i posted above and see what the whole story is.
adios frm the beach.
gramps
2007-12-11 09:01:50 · answer #2 · answered by grandpa 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The personal name "Jehovah" as mentioned in Psalms 83:18 (and numerous other places) sets him apart above all other gods worshipped by people back in centuries past and today. That scripture in Psalms clearly differentiates Jehovah alone as the "Most High" God over all the earth and He as the creator and originator of all things. It is important to use his personal name as it not only separates him from the false gods of the nations, but it helps honest-hearted ones draw closer to him. Just consider it, if you wanted to become closer to someone, what's one of the first things you'd find out about them? Their name. You can't really get close if you just keep calling someone "you", when you can find out they have a personal name. Likewise, "God" is not his name, "Jehovah" is.
2007-12-11 07:33:44 · answer #3 · answered by X 7 · 8⤊ 1⤋
JWs blieve that Jehovah is in fact the real name of god, this has been derived from the tetragrammatoron which is a word made up of only constanants. Its been translated a lot of different ways including Yaweh, Jehovah, Iehouah and others, but JWs believe that gods name is really Jehovah and that everyone should call him by his real name as he wants us to be that close to him, kinda like calling him Dave instead of Mr Smith.
I dont believe in all that by the way, im a serious sceptic but studied with the JWs a while.
2007-12-11 07:33:54 · answer #4 · answered by james h 4 · 4⤊ 3⤋
No, because...
"All Scripture is inspired of God..." -- 2 Timothy 3:16,17
"...I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty...
I am Jehovah..." Exodus 6:3,6
"You alone, Jehovah,
are the *God above all other gods*
in supreme charge of all the earth." --Psalms 83:18
"...You will have to know that I am Jehovah." --Ezekiel 6:7
"You are my witnesses", is the utterance of Jehovah,"...that I am God." --Isaiah 43:10-12
In other words, God Himself says that he is Jehovah.
His son Christ "made his name known", & told his followers to make God's name known.
The original copies of Holy Scripture contained his name thousands of times. Certain ones omitted his name from many copies of His own sacred word, but I hardly think that any man --or group of men-- had the authority to do that...
If anyone were to omit the name of a books author, today, it would be against the law!
One reason that it is so important for people to use God's name, is because there are so many gods worshipped by people world-wide... It serves to make clear exactly who is meant.
Jehovah is very unique. Also,
The word 'god' is applied in scripture to His chief adversary, Satan the Devil, at 2 Corinthians 4:4 : "...the god of this system of things..."
The word 'god' is a mere descriptive title, like 'doctor', or, 'professor'.
How would one feel if their friends refused to use their name,
but instead always referred to them as, "Friend"?
How would you feel if you were a well-known author, but many refused to use your chosen, real name--instead opting to call you, "Author"?
Would that show respect or affection for you? Or, rather, a lack of such?
It is the same with the Creator of heaven & earth, Jehovah God Almighty.
Comparing our Creator to unscriptural gods for wanting to use His Own Name, certainly seems out of line... no, actually, downright disrespectful.
2007-12-11 08:16:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
No.
"God" is a title. He is called God because of what he has done, i.e creation etc.
But his name is Jehovah.
Example; the most famous president, George Bush.
He is called Mr. President because of the office he holds. If he didn't hold that office, we wouldn't call him that. But no matter what office he holds or doesn't hold, his name is and always will be George.
The same applies. God is a title, because of his Godship. But Jehovah is his name.
2007-12-11 08:19:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 1⤋
It is only Biblical to use God’s name in prayer.
“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, you who are saying to me”.. Gen 32:9
18 At that King David came in and sat down before Jehovah and said: “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah “. 2 Sam 7:18
15 And Hez•e•ki´ah began to pray to Jehovah, saying: 16 “O Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, sitting upon the cherubs, you alone are the [true] God of all the kingdoms of the earth.”.. Isa 37
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
In the middle of the congregation I shall praise you. – Psalms 22:22
Rev 19:
They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty,
(Joel 2:32) And it must occur that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will prove to be the escaped ones, just as Jehovah has said, and in among the survivors, whom Jehovah is calling.”
And Jesus called with a loud voice and said: “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Luke 23:46 which was quoted in Psalms 31:5
(Psalm 31:5) Into your hand I entrust my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Jehovah the God of truth.
Psalms 148:
148 Praise Jah, YOU people!
Praise Jehovah from the heavens,
Praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all YOU his angels.
Praise him, all YOU his army.
3 Praise him, YOU sun and moon.
Praise him, all YOU stars of light.
4 Praise him, YOU heavens of the heavens,
And YOU waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of Jehovah;
For he himself commanded, and they were created.
6 And he keeps them standing forever, to time indefinite.
A regulation he has given, and it will not pass away.
7 Praise Jehovah from the earth,
YOU sea monsters and all YOU watery deeps,
2007-12-11 15:07:13 · answer #7 · answered by trustdell1 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
'jehovah' is a mistranslation of YHWH. It occured when some well meaning Gentiles put the vowels for Adonai in YHWH. Adonai(Lord) was said by Jews when came across the Name. It could get really technical but let see if this sums it up:
Hebrew has no letter 'J'......the 1611 KJV English was 'Early Modern English' the 'J' borrowed from the German had a 'Y' sound. As English developed, YHWH came to be pronounced as 'jehovah', both with the different vowel sounds and with a "J" instead of "Y" at the beginning.
2007-12-11 07:46:30 · answer #8 · answered by Messianic Jewish Shmuely 4 · 4⤊ 5⤋
Jehovah is the awful lawful God on high: Law
Above this is the perfect merciful God: Grace
Law & Grace are "contrary" things, don't mix.
To mix contrary things makes an oxy-moron.
Dare to Compare, rather than Mix, Contrary Things:
Law: I will forget you & I will forsake you: Jeremiah 23:39.
Grace: I will never leave nor forsake you: Hebrews 13:5.
(Pst: Heb 13:5 is from Dt 31:6,8; Jos 1:5; 1Chron 28:20)
So then, we'll go with "Grace" on the "throne of grace";
And flush the other God as Dung, a Phantom Menace.
The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.
2007-12-11 07:42:20 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋
Believe what you want champ, but don't deny the beliefs of others, that leads to no where but a worse world and surely that's against your religion, or is it?
Oh well, guess we won't be catching up in another life.
2007-12-11 07:40:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋