Summary and Conclusion
Summary
They that are unlearned and unstable wrest the scriptures to their own destruction.
Those who teach the sacred name doctrine find it absolutely necessary to teach that Jesus said the name Yahweh many times. All sacred name teachers yield to this necessity. If they did not steadfastly affirm this to be so, they could not expect to convince others to use this name when they worship God and say it at other times.
Their argument goes something like this. 1) The Creator has a name. 2) He expects us to call Him by this name. 3) Jesus called Him by this name. 4) We know what this name is and how it is pronounced. 5) It is Yahweh.
This argument is as full of holes as a sieve. Let the five statements be reiterated according to the truth. 1) The Creator revealed a name to Moses and Moses revealed it to Israel. 2) God expected Israel to honor His name and call Him by it. When they brought dishonor to His name, He removed it not only from the people but from the temple also. 3) Jesus never once called God by the name revealed to Moses. He called God Father. 4) No one knows how the four-letter name of God was originally pronounced. 5) The pronunciation "Yahweh," like any one of numerous other attempts to secure the original pronunciation, is just a guess.
The manifest weaknesses of such an argument is that it comes up short when tested by the Scriptures. This study has focused on the central point of the sacred name argument above – Jesus called God by the name Yahweh. From a number of vantage points, the study has shown that this sacred name doctrine is just another error in a long line of errors propagated by the movement.
The sacred name teacher is unable to offer any empirical evidence that Jesus called God Yahweh. He is also unable to show any proof that Jesus taught his followers to call God Yahweh. The chief reason for this inability being there is no evidence of this happening. The explanation for why there is no evidence of this having happened is that it did not happen.
The teachers within the sacred name movement take a number of tacks in attempting to demonstrate the correctness of the theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh. Every avenue they pursue in this effort is a classic workshop on the misuse of the Scriptures.
Misinterpretation of What the Scriptures Say
The theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is a false theory because it is based on a false interpretation of what the Bible says.
Prominent among the points raised by sacred name teachers in support of their cherished theory is that Jesus “had to have” said the name Yahweh. They hypothesize the he-had-to-have-said-it doctrine – the he-must-have-said-it doctrine – on a misunderstanding of the words Jesus spoke to the Father in his prayer.
Speaking to the Father, Jesus said he had “…manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me…” He further said he had “…declared unto them thy name.”
Without giving proper consideration of what the Scriptures say in other places or the exact meaning of the words Jesus spoke, sacred name teachers leap to the conclusion that Jesus must have and had to have brought the name Yahweh to these men.
The sacred name doctrinal interpretation of what Jesus said is in error for a number of reasons.
- Jesus never spoke or taught the name Yahweh at any place in all the Scriptures.
- Jesus made no condemnation of the then current Jewish custom of not speaking the name of God.
- The Scriptures show that the disciples were students of the Old Testament long before they heard Jesus teach. Therefore, they already knew the four-letter name of God written there.
Such are the problems these erroneous doctrines and the teachers of them face. For an in depth study of these issues, read Part Two of this study.
Disregard of What Scripture Says
The theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is a false theory because it is based on a disregard of what the Bible says.
One of the primary points raised by sacred name teachers is that Jesus called God by the name Yahweh and therefore we must follow suit. How these men can have such a detrimental disregard for what the Bible says is two steps passed amazing.
Jesus did not call God by the name Yahweh. Sacred name teachers deliberately fail to notice the facts in this case.
Jesus, as he taught, referred to God as Lord and God.
Jesus, when he taught and when he prayed, called God Father.
But the sacred name teachers know that Jesus would have called God Yahweh. They know he would not have called God by the pagan titles Lord and God. Well they know more that the Bible knows. Please, excuse all of us who are only seeking to learn and know what the bible says.
A more through examination of what the Bible reveals about how Jesus addressed the Creator is found in Part Three of this study.
Rectifying What Scriptures Do Not Say
The theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is a false theory because it is based on the pointed attempt to rectify what is not written in the Scriptures.
A key thrust of the theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is that the essential mission of Jesus on earth was to make known this name. There is no way this could have become one of the focal points of the movement’s teaching except through the ability of the sacred name teachers to overlook the fact that in the Scriptures Jesus taught nothing about the name Yahweh.
The work of Jesus on earth had nothing to do with the name Yahweh. The reasons this is true are obvious.
- Jesus never even spoke the name Yahweh.
- Jesus did not condemn the Jews for not saying the name Yahweh.
- Jesus discussed the deeper meaning of the name Yahweh with no one.
- Jesus never preached one sermon regarding the importance of the name Yahweh.
- Jesus did not teach a single lesson about how to properly pronounce the name Yahweh.
By way of correcting for the lack of any mention in the Bible of Jesus doing these things, sacred name teachers do them all.
No one should add to the Scriptures. But, while sacred name teachers overlook what Jesus actually taught, they apparently envision all sorts of sermons, lessons, discussions, and actions containing information about the name Yahweh and attribute them to Jesus.
The sincere Bible student is astonished when the sacred name doctrine is compared with what Jesus taught. A more detailed study of these points is made in Part Four.
Denying the Validity of Scripture
The theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is a false teaching because it is based on an outright denial of the validity of the Scriptures.
Every sacred name teacher will quickly and happily hold forth on how Jesus said the name Yahweh when he quoted from the Old Testament. However, when the New Testament Scriptures are examined, it is seen that such is not the case. Jesus never said the name Yahweh. He always put another word, usually Lord or God, for the four-letter name of God when he quoted the Old Testament. This is true in every case.
When the New Testament evidence is presented to sacred name teachers they unhesitatingly respond by saying the New Testament Scriptures are invalid. There are many degrees of variation among the movement’s teachers on the authority of the New Testament. Some deny all the New Testament. Others deny the writings of Paul and think he was apostate. Some allow only the Gospels. Even those who hold to the New Testament as much as their doctrine permits, assert that the New Testament has become so corrupted over the years that no one can have confidence in it concerning the name Yahweh and the name of Jesus.
The sacred name movement teaching that Jesus said the name Yahweh when he quoted the Old Testament is fabricated. We know it is fabricated for a number of reasons.
- To one degree or another it makes the witness of the New Testament null and void.
- It causes its advocates to postulate an additional theory that the New Testament has been tampered with and the name Yahweh taken out.
- It can only speculate as to when, by whom, and how this tampering was accomplished.
- It unabashedly claims the New Testament is not a viable document.
Any doctrine that justifies its existence by denigrating the Scriptures is patently false. Read a more thorough discussion of these points in Part Five of this study.
Twisting What the Scriptures Say
The theory that Jesus said the name Yahweh is a false theory because it is based on twisting what the Scriptures say.
Perhaps the most bizarre argument made by sacred name teachers to support their doctrine that Jesus said the name Yahweh is that he was tried and killed because he said this name. Sacred name teachers twist one scripture after another in order to make this argument. It is just another false teaching.
Jesus was not killed for speaking the name Yahweh. Sacred name teachers miss the mark on a number of scriptures when making such a claim. Particularly they abuse the scriptures by saying the blasphemy the Jews accused him of was saying the name Yahweh. The Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate because they envied him.
- They accused Jesus of making himself the Son of God.
- The false witnesses said nothing about Jesus speaking the name Yahweh.
- The high priests had to look for witnesses to testify against Jesus and found none.
- If Jesus had said the name Yahweh, the high priests had heard him say it and could have witnessed against him themselves if the charge had been saying the name Yahweh.
Once again, sacred name teachers have shown themselves willing to go off the deep end in finding ways to claim that Jesus said the name Yahweh. They have yet to find a more absurd argument than that he was killed for saying this name. This theory is simply a made up notion. It is as false as anything these fakers ever came up with.
One would have to have help to get anything close to this teaching from studying the scriptures regarding the trial of Jesus. Study this teaching more in Part Six of this study.
Conclusion
The teaching that Jesus had to have said the name Yahweh and must have said the name Yahweh is a false doctrine. It cannot stand up to comparison with what the Bible says. It finds no support in the Gospels or in any New Testament book.
This theory was conceived in the need for some semblance of an underpinning for the sacred name doctrine. It was given birth by early sacred name teachers. It continues to be fostered by a new generation of sacred name advocates. It holds up only in the minds of sacred name converts who have a doctrinal predisposition to believe it. It is a false teaching.
The theory stands for denying the New Testament as a legitimate spiritual guide. It stands for misapplying the scriptures to obtain a perverted meaning. It stands for disregarding the context of the scriptures to obscure what Jesus said. The theory stands for twisting the scriptures to support a false teaching.
The teaching that Jesus had to have said, that he must have said the name Yahweh and any conclusions based upon it are rejected as a man made theory. The teaching should be abandoned because it is contrary to the written Word of God. Just as Dagon could not stand before the Ark of the Covenant, the theories and concoctions of sacred name teachers fall before the Words of the Almighty God written in the New Testament.
Jesus did not use, say, speak, nor teach the name Yahweh or any other pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton. It was not his mission to reveal this name to his followers, the nation of Israel, and the world. He was neither tried nor put to death for saying this name.
All these sacred name teachings ring hollow and find no accord with the Holy Scriptures. The sacred name teaching that Jesus taught and spoke the name Yahweh is like Belshazzar from the book of Daniel.
It has been weighed in the balances and been found wanting.