<I cannot see how to know or not know the pronounciation of HIS NAME will
<have anything to do with our relation with the Almighty and the way we
live and
<therefore our eternal hope.
<I do believe that it is important to refer to the Almighty with respect
and to
<honour HIM in our way of life and the way we deal with each other. Did not
<Jesus himself said that "to do for others what you want them to do for you is
<the essense of the Torah and the prophets' message", and "love your enemies",
<and "love the L-D your G-D" etc?
<I would recognise that there is a place in scholarly research to explore this
<issues, but let do not this take us away from the essense of HIS Word. "You
<call me L-D but do not do what I commanded you" should be kept in mind. Did
<not Jesus also said: "Is not the one that calls me lord, but the one that
does
<the will of my Father who will inherite eternal life."?
Dear Franz,
I appreciate that you express your feelings about the question we are
discussing. I respect your beliefs,noticing that you use a slightly
different subject for the thread, and I also respect the beliefs of others
taking part in the discussion. I try to keep the discussion on a scholarly
level, although we inevitably also will touch religious issues. I agree
that the point is not whether we know the pronunciation of T or whether we
adress our heavenly Father as God or Yahweh or Jehovah or L`Eternal, but
more important is the contents of the passages you quote.
However,the way we look at T may be important because it has a bearing on
the most central christian question (and therefore on the passages you
quote): Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What is the relation between them?
Time and again we have on the list discussed passages which adress these
questions and our aim has been to avoid as much as possible the religious
side, and discuss linguistic and philological questions which may help us
to get a clearer view of the matter. When Wes asked whether T was still
pronounced in the first century, I responded because I believe there is
much unfounded conventional thinking about the subject which need to be
elucidated.
Everybody agree that T was pronounced in the first temple period, and when
I asked David if the reason why different groups ceased to pronounce it was
superstition based on Hellenistic influence, my motive was not to hurt
anybody«s feelings. But as a basis for our belief it is important to know
WHY the name became viewed as ineffable. The answer to this question may
throw light on the position of Jesus and his followers in relation to T and
whether it has a legitimate place in the NT. In the long run I think our
faith will profit when a strong light illuminates its basis, also when we
need to adjust our faith.
Barukh hasshem (Blessed be the Name)
Rolf
Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo