The letter was sent to all bishops of the Catholic Church. "By directive of the Holy Father"* they were ordered neither to use nor pronounce "the name of God." Furthermore they were directed to replace the divine name with the title "Lord" or "God" in all translations of the Bible.
Examining the Letter
Though the third paragraph claims deep concern over the "accurate" and "faithful" transmission of "the sacred text" and says that such text should be translated "without omissions or additions," and though it states, "translators must use the greatest faithfulness," it does a backflop in practically the next breath and says that God's name should be omitted and "Dominus [Lord]" or "a word equivalent in meaning" should be added.
How could such an order harmonize with the ideal of an accurate and faithful transmission of the sacred text? God inspired the original writers to include his personal name thousands of times in Scripture. An accurate transmission would retain that, translating it into its English equivalent.
Ironically, though the paper speaks against the use of the divine name, it uses it numerous times in the attempt to ban it. And so, in addition to using the tetragrammaton in its Hebrew form (YHWH) a number of times, it also refers to "diverse written and spoken forms" such as "Yahweh, Yahwe, Jahweh, Jahwe, Jave, Yehovah, etc."
What is interesting is that the letter fails to mention the most common and widely used form of the name, the English Jehovah.
Nevertheless, if any use of the divine name is automatically a misuse of it, as the Church contends, then this letter to the bishops is so as well.
Septuagint Claims
The paper claims that the Bible used by the "first generation" of Christians, called the Septuagint, "regularly rendered the Hebrew tetragrammaton with the Greek word Kyrios, or "Lord."" Therefore it claims, "these Christians... from the beginning never pronounced the divine [name]."
Before determining whether this is true, consider: The above quotes from the paper admit that the tetragrammaton was in the Hebrew Bible. If the prophets and holy men of old then, wrote and used the divine name, how stable is the claim that modern day Christians should not, or that the first generation of Christians did not?
Furthermore, how likely is it that the example of Christ, who taught his followers to pray to his Father using the request "let your name be sanctified"** (Mt. 6:9), was ignored by those early Christians, and that they then embarked on a campaign to hide the divine name and champion its disuse?
Insight vol. II quotes Dr. P. Kahle who says, "We now know that the Greek Bible text [the Septuagint] as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the Divine name by kyrios." 1
Commenting on the timing of the removal of God's name from the Septuagint, Insight vol. II continues, "When did this change in the Greek translations of the Hebrew Scriptures take place?... in the centuries following the death of Jesus and his apostles... The so-called Christians, then, who "replaced the Tetragrammaton by kyrios" in the Septuagint copies, were not the early disciples of Jesus. They were persons of later centuries, when the foretold apostasy was well developed and had corrupted... Christian teachings. - 2 Th 2:3; 1 Ti 4:1" 1
In other words, the letter's claim that the first generation of Christians never used the divine name nor read it in scripture is false. It is based on later alterations that occured in the text of the Septuagint. The Church knows this.
Use of the Divine Name Supported by Reference Texts
A good way to get the Bible's view of whether or not God's name should be used is to look at scriptures that reference the name. There are hundreds of such references to the divine name in the Bible. They provide strong contextual evidence supporting both the historical use of God's name by his servants and the presence of the divine name throughout the original text.
For example, at Exodus 9:16 (see also Romans 9:17) God tells Pharoah through Moses, "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." Though not containing the divine name, this passage shows that God wants his personal name declared earthwide.
As numerous verses from both the Hebrew and Greek parts of the Bible show, it was never God's will for his name to be hidden or covered up, and his servants never did this.
"Give thanks to Jehovah, call upon his name" urges Psalms 105:1 (see also Isaiah 12:4).
Psalms 83:16 and 18 speak of people searching for and knowing God's name. Numbers 6:27 connects the bearing of God's name with his blessing and his people are depicted as saying, "in the name of our God we shall lift our banners." (Psalms 20:5)
In a messianic text, Christ is spoken of as coming in God's name. He prays for its sanctification in Matthew 6:9 and requests the Father "glorify your name" at John 12:28.
At John 17:26 Christ, referring to his disciples says, "I have made your name known to them," and in Revelation he refers to "the name of my God" (3:12).
Also in Revelation those called to reign with Christ are spoken of as having "his [Jesus'] name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads." (14:1)
At Psalms 116:13 a Psalmist exlaims, "on the name of Jehovah I shall call," and at Deuteronomy 32:3, "I shall declare the name of Jehovah." At Exodus 3:15 God instructs Moses to use his name when addressing Israel.
Psalms chapter 5 contrasts the righteous with the unrighteous and says of the righteous, "those loving your name will exult in you."
Really, according to Hebrews 13:15, God's servants are obligated to "openly profess his name." (NIV)
What can we conclude? That just as the ancient faithful servants of God and the first generation of Christians, modern day Christians love and use God's name (Hebrews 6:10) and feel a personal responsibility to broadcast it along with the good news of his kingdom.
What's in a Name?
The importance of a name is everywhere instantly understood. We like people to use our personal names and feel close to those that do. We are not offended by its usage except where slander or harmful gossip may be involved. We expect our firends to use and value our name as it is the only word that carries with it our reputation.
If we admit the value of mere human names, of how much more importance must the name of the Most High, the Universal Sovereign be?
God's name will never be stamped out. It ascends above all other names for Jehovah is the God to whom every family on earth "owes its name." - Ephesians 3:14.
Intentional Confusion
Needless to say Christendom's clergy see things differently. They would like God's name to sink into disuse and be forgotten (Jeremiah 23:27), to be 'wiped out from under the heavens' (Deuteronomy 9:14). The letter even claims that working toward this end is a matter of "remaining faithful to the Church's tradition." (see Matthew 15:3 and 6)
The intention behind the removal of God's name in whole or part from many translations of the Bible seems to have been to futher the idolatrous worship of Jesus as God and to reduce the evidence that supports the distinct personages of God and Christ. The use of slogans such as 'Jesus is Lord' neglect to mention that his Father, Jehovah, is also 'Lord,' and it becomes easier for the two to be confused (see Matthew 22:44).
It also makes it easier for Biblicaly unsupported doctrines such as the Trinity, which is itself based on a blurring of the distinction between God and Christ, to continue to exist.
Finally it is noteworthy that professed Christians, when appealing to Christ in the prophecy of Matthew 7:21-23, make no mention of the name of the Father but claim only to have done their works in Jesus' name. At some future point these ones are completely rejected by Christ.
Cover Up!
To give you an idea of the extent of this campaign to hide the divine name, consider: The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures returns the number 6,613 when queried with the term Jehovah. The American Standard Version returns 4,145 for the same query.
The King James Version returns the number 6, and here they all are:
that place Jehovah: as it is said [to] this day, in the...
Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to...
the LORD, and called it Jehovah-shalom; unto this day it is...
[83:18] That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH,...
LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my] song; he also...
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH...
Six verses.
One paragraph of text out of 894 pages...
...but still better than Today's English Version, the New International Version, and the Amplified Bible which all return zero. Though some translations such as the Jerusalem Bible (which is a Catholic Bible) use the personal name Yahweh many, such as the New King James Version have erased all trace of a personal name.
On Shaky Ground
True Christians respect people of all religions along with their right to believe and worship however they choose. They do not ignore however the Biblical condemnation of the religious institutions that many people still support.
For their false teachings and lies about God, their attempts to eradicate his word the Bible and remove his name from it, as well as their atrocities, political meddling and support of war, false religion is soon to be forcibly ended as a just punishment from God (Revelation 18:8).
Their corrupt condition is even now being exposed and talk of an end to religion is being heard.
The end will come swiftly and irrevocably for both the Christian and non-Christian segments of these religions. (Revelation 18:8) 2
Now is an excellent time to abandon and withdraw support from such institutions (Revelation 18:4, 5). The institutions themselves are beyond reform or rehabilitation.
On an individual level however, hope and opportunity remain.
References
* Unless otherwise indicated all quotes are from: Letter to the Bishops Conferences on the Name of God (Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, June 29, 2008)
** Unless otherwise noted all Bible quotes are from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1984) http://www.watchtower.org/e/bible/index.htm
1. Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. II, subject heading Jehovah, (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1988)
2. A Worldwide Message: The End of False Religion is Near http://www.watchtower.org/e/kn37/article_01.htm
Erek Daniels - Erek is an ordained minister in association with Jehovah's Witnesses and a published freelance writer.
