Jehovah's Witnesses: Why do you feel it is accurate to address our Creator by His Name?
Many say they wouldn't address their biological father by his name, but only by his title. (dad, daddy, father, etc.) That is but one line of reasoning used by those who oppose the use of Jehovah's name.
NWT
(Exodus 9:16) But, in fact, for this cause I have kept you in existence, for the sake of showing you my power and in order to have my name declared in all the earth.
(John 17:6) “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have observed your word.
Psalm 83:18 (King James Version) 18That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
2009-12-12T10:23:46Z
Bruce: Your answer saddens me.
Q&A Queen2009-12-11T08:18:34Z
Favorite Answer
Because we are encouraged to. :)
(Romans 10:13-14) For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” 14 However, how will they call on him in whom they have not put faith? How, in turn, will they put faith in him of whom they have not heard? How, in turn, will they hear without someone to preach?
Can you call on someone's name and not USE it?
(Matthew 28:19-20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them IN THE NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit,
How to do that without using God's name?
(John 17:26) 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.”
Why did Jesus make his father's name known if it was not to be used?
It's interesting that some of the same folks who make this claim call men "FATHER" when Jesus clearly said to call NO man father (Matthew 23:19) ========== Nice illustration, Vot. In fact, on my refrigerator is a copy of an old New Yorker cartoon. It had a man on his knees praying and a Viking God (and his dog) standing in front of him. The man says "I'm sorry Wotan, but when I said 'God', I meant.. you know... Jehovah". THAT in a nutshell is why we use the name of the Almighty.
Does a person worship their parents, no, that is what is called natural affection. I'm sure that when dealing with ones parents in Bible times and your parent was in a position of authority you did not call him dad, for then the crowed would think you would get partiality shown to you. How would you like for everyone in your family to call you man, woman, girl, or boy? Those that use that excuse are not being reasonable, they don't call their friends Mr & Mrs man & woman. The answer to your question is the scriptures that you quoted, those & many others says that we are to use Gods name, doesn't Matt 6:9 say to "make holy" God's name? How does one do that if they don't say his name? I for one(there are millions more) will obey Jesus when he tell us to "make holy" Gods name, just as Ps 83:18 states "[Jehovah, is the most high over all the earth]!
One of my favorite cartoons has a man knelling by his bed praying. On the other side, stood Thor, with his Hammer! The man says "I am sorry, Thor!. When I prayed to God, I meant the God of Bible, Jehovah!"
All gods have names, and unless you use that god's name, who do you call on? With 300 million gods in the Hindu system, you have to be very specific. And that is what translators around the world recognized, that unless the readers KNEW the name of God, they may believe that they are reading about one their familiar god.
While he is my Father, he is also the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. It is appropriate to address him by his self defined Name, especially when praying in public.
When we talk about him amongst our friends, it is right since we do have physical fathers that we honor with that title too (and they might be in the same room).
And we would surely speak his Name when talking to those who are not his servants, so that both he is honored and there is no confusion in their minds who we worship.
Jehovah is not ashamed of his name. He encourages us to use it. (Psalms 83:18) He also tells in the Bible to draw close to him and he will draw close to us. You can't be close to someone and use a title instead of a name. Could I be close to a person and just call him "man"? Makes no sense. To have a close relationship with our heavenly Father we use his name.
Another good reason to use his name... Most religions calling themselves christian don't use it, they are either afraid of God's personal name or they hate it. So it separates his true worshipers from those only claiming to be calling on him, whom they often mistake with Jesus, his Son. Jehovah's people have never been popular, it's one of their identifying characteristics. So we use it even though the original pronunciation has been lost. So has the pronunciation of all names in the original texts of the Bible. We honor him by using his name in spite of how it is viewed by the world.
"Adulteresses, do YOU not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
The fact is that, throughout the Bible, servants of God have addressed God, not merely as "God," but specifically by his name, YHWH (Jehovah in English). From Abraham -- the friend of God -- onwards, specific mention is made of people addressing God by his personal name. The Psalms of David, for example, call upon God by his name, Jehovah, hundreds of times.
Regardless of how some feel about using God's name, it is clear from the Bible that his approved servants did so on a regular basis. And Jehovah did not reprove them for this; instead, he blessed them.
What matters in this instance is not what people think to be proper, but what God has shown to be so.