The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century ceworked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim.
Latin-speaking Christian scholars replaced the Y (which does not exist in Latin) with an I or a J
OK so far you've attempted to explain how we went from YHWH to JHWH
But if we pick the vowels from "Adonai" or "Elohim", how do we get "
Jehovah" ?
We could easily get "
Jahowih" could we not ?
And those Hebrew words are not the name of God, but titles. So what business do they have in God's
name ?
If God wants us to use His own personal name, then He would give it.
How do you know ?
You're just judging God by your own standards
Anyway.....is it so important that we must know His real name?
Does that have any bearing on one's faith?
Does it change how we feel towards Him whether we know His real name or not?
Yes, it is very important
In almost every religion I can think of, the god or gods have names
Without a name, how can you have a personal relationship ?
If the president was to meet you, you might call him Mr President, but if he wanted to have a
personal relationship with you, he's ask you to call him by his name. Joe
Suffice it to say that in the Scriptures, He is called by many names (titles) - including the title, FATHER
- of which Jesus Himself had instructed us to use.
You got it right when you said titles (like Mr President is a title - see above)
Even the
Lord's prayer reads:
Our
Father,
Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name...
Two
titles, but no name. If "hallowed" means sacred, how can we hold God's name sacred, if we don't know what it is ?
Jesus didn't instruct us to call Him Father for no reason!
It is how God wants us - followers of Christ - to regard Him.
Jesus was divine, he was god-from-god. Yet he had a name. Why is that ?
So yes you might call God "The Father", but you might also call Jesus "The Son" - except he has a name
And you're wrong:
John 17:26:
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Personally, I like referring to Him as, FATHER.
It is more than just a benevolent title.
I don't, or Lord or any title
Just as if you knew Joe Biden personally, you'd call him by his name, not some title invented by man
The name FATHER takes our relationship with Him on a high level.
No more than calling him Lord or Mr President
It's just no longer a relationship between Creator and creation.
Calling Him - and regarding Him - as FATHER, now becomes something similar between a parent and a child.
It's not a personal relationship though
You might call a priest "Father" - but you don't have a personal relationship with him
I think - when we have been instructed by Jesus to regard and call God as our Father, and yet we insist to refer to Him as formally as we can by trying to use His real name (which we cannot pronounce properly because it can't be) -
Isn't that like trying to put Him at arms' length from us?
Why are we trying to be so......'formal?"
No it's not putting him at arms length
Referring to Joe Biden as Mr President does that - it is impersonal.
Joe Biden's personal relationships will call him by his name
It's kinda like someone trying to get personally closer to us, like meeting the parents of your fiancee for the first time:
"Call me mom," says your future mother in-law.
And yet, you insist to refer to her as .....................Mrs. Joan Smith.
How do you think that would feel?
Or if your future mother-in-law wanted a personal relationship with you, she tell you to call her Joan.