Jehovah's Witnesses And The Name Of GOD
Jehovah�s Witnesses take pride in their constant
use of the name �Jehovah.� But are their teachings about the name �Jehovah�
correct?
In discussing the name �Jehovah,� we need
to point out that the issue is not really the spelling or pronunciation,
but the claim by Jehovah�s Witnesses that Christians must use that name
�Jehovah� � in worship, prayer, and preaching � before they can be considered
true Christians.
The Bible doesn�t support such a claim, as
evidenced by the absence of the name �Jehovah� in the New Testament.
Nevertheless, this has not deterred Jehovah�s Witnesses from inserting
�Jehovah� in place of �Lord� over two hundred times in their version
of the New Testament. They claim that substituting �Lord� or �God� for
the divine name is unbiblical and that this practice is rooted in pagan
superstitions and religions.
Contrary to this, we find that the practice
of substituting �Lord� or �God� in place of �Jehovah� or �Yahweh� goes
as far back as the Old Testament. For example, Psalm 53 is virtually
identical with Psalm 14, except that it substitutes the word �God� in
place of �Jehovah� four different times. We should also note that both
the Old and New Testaments refer to �Yahweh� as �the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob� (Ex. 3:15-16; Mark 12:26; Acts 7:31-32).
And although the New Testament doesn�t use
the word or the name �Jehovah,� it does use a substitute � namely, the
title �Lord� � which carries the same meaning. In fact, every definition
of �Yahweh� proposed by scholars conveys the same basic idea � that
�Yahweh� essentially reveals God as Lord. In other words, the name �Yahweh�
asserts that God is sovereign and has absolute control over the entire
universe, including His people; it�s just another way of saying God
is the Lord! All this leads me to conclude that Jehovah�s Witnesses
have no biblical justification for their stance on the use of the name
�Jehovah.�
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