Question:

What do you think about the "Sacred Names" issue? Should Christians use names such as Yahweh instead of LORD, Hayshua instead of Jesus, Messiah instead of Christ? Have the translators of the Bible made a huge error in substituting the word LORD for the tetragramaton YHWH or Yahweh?

Andrew

Answer: Dear Andrew,

The Sacred Names movement is not a new movement – nor is it monolithic, for there are many varieties. One thing that virtually all seem to have in common is a different view than the historic and orthodox Christian view of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In addition, most have their basis in teaching in the Old Testament, with very little if any teaching from the New – consequently their view of Jesus Christ is flawed – as they often see and believe him to be less than God, in opposition to the testimony of Scripture.

Another common thread comes out of pre-Christian Judaism, when some Jews took the commandment not to take God’s name in vain to an extreme – some Jews would not even utter the name of God in any context. Variations on this extremism have led some to find the "hidden" name of God – or the "only true" name of God.

The Bible shows us that the names of God are not to be taken in some woodenly literal way, for we as humans are only given these names as an accommodation to our humanity. That is, we are unable to comprehend God, so God has revealed himself in a variety of ways to help us understand what he is like, rather than an architectural blueprint of who he is, exactly – for we are incapable of understanding that. Who better to know our incapability’s than our Creator?

While we cannot comprehend God, he enables us to apprehend him through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reveal the Father. Jesus told us that he and the Father are one. He was and is God, existing eternally as the second person of the Godhead. The Gospel of John is a great place to study this topic. So we can have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, our Savior, who came in the flesh to save us from our sins.

I could go on and on – but I have many questions and can only give a limited time to each answer. Hope this helps.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht