WHAT IS GOD'S NAME? (1)

(Message by Tanny Keng)

0. Introduction

a) Does God DEMAND we refer to him using a special or "sacred" name - or does he even care? Do people sin when they refer to our Creator as GOD? Do requests and pleas for help go UNHEARD if a particular Hebrew word referencing the Almighty is NOT used in prayer? Is it sinful and disrespectful to call the Savior of the world Jesus or Jesus Christ? 

b) There are many arguments supporting the doctrine that, like a unique key, God is reachable only through a SPECIAL name whose spelling or pronunciation is correct. One of the most popular set of names used to refer to God revolves around what is known as the Tetragammaton. The Tetragammaton is composed of four consonants, usually YHVH or YHWH, that are used in the Hebrew language to refer to God. When ancient Hebrew was written it was done so without any vowels. Those who read the consonants referring to God were forced to supply the vowel sounds that were missing.

1. What is a name?

a) Before we begin our study, we need to first define what a NAME is. Generically, a name is a word or term by which a person (or a place, thing, concept or object) can be distinctively labeled and known. Names reference things that exist in the real world. Different languages will have correspondingly different words or names for the same things For example, in English we refer to the divine Being who created everything as "God." The French word for our Creator is "Dieu, " the Spanish word is "Dios" and so on.


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