In the Hebrew in which the original Hebrew Scriptures are written, a special name used for God in some places was YHWH, commonly referred to as the tetragammon. Israelite people would not say the name YHWH out loud, as a sign of respect for God's transcendence and greatness. Often they would say "The Name" instead.
YHWH was translated as Jehovah in the King James version.

When written down, Hebrew had no vowels, so the way to say YHWH had literally been forgotten by the time scribes added "pointing" to the Hebrew text to aid pronunciation. Translators in the C20 believed that Yahweh was likely A MORE accurate translation of the tetragammon than Jehovah.

I've only seen the article re the Pope's statement in passing. However, as a corrective to the overly familiar attitude to YHWH of some Christians, who seem to think they can tell YHWH what to do, perhaps it's not a bad idea!

Andrew Prior - http://churchrewired.org

Post Babylonian Jews adressed God as Adonai meaning the Lord. I believe it is important to understand the development of the names for God as it represents an evolution in theological thought. YHWH was first used by Moses in Hebrew thought and became exclusively the God of Israel, the masculine God revealed in the firey cloud. Abraham and the partiarchs Before Moses (the monotheistic patriarchs) worshipped God by the name El Shaddai, which was the many breasted Celestrial female God of all life. Originally chosen from the many gods worshipped at Uggarett. However Jacob while in Edom and several of his Edomite cousins worshipped God by the name Aloah which in Arabic later developed into Allah.

The name or its spelling is of miniscule importance compared to the understanding of what it represents and means. When we address God as Lord, it represents submission to his character and will.
(dinners ready to be continued)

Good point Andrew... I get nauseated by many of the incredibly shallow "Jesus is my bofriend" style songs.. or.. "Oh what a nice day..thank God" kind of stuff floating around.

Hymn
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling,
All Thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart."

Just 8 lines and it is so powerful in it's ideas so grandiose that such lame choruses as

In the place Ive found where I can hide.
Its safe inside
Your arms of love.
Like a child whos helped throughout a storm,
You keep me warm
In your arms of love.

SHRIEEEEKKKKK..... warm fuzzy words sure..but any depth? Plus..they are all about ME.. and how "I" feel rather than the centrality of Christ.

I agree Polycarp that there is in Christianity today a Jesus cult that has taken over much of what is called Christian, and fails to recognise the Lord. Jesus was the human being through which God in Christ is made known. We do not worship the icon of the physical Jesus. We worship the character, attitudes, behaviours, actions, sacrifice, achievements, compassion, wisdom, relationships because through that we recognise the Lord.

God is not flesh and blood, but through flesh and blood the character of the eternal God is revealed. The spirit of God is revealed in lives that reflect the character of Christ the Lord. The most notable aspect of our recognition of Christ is to make him Lord. By our admiration and devotion we emulate and follow in his way. We then become in this current history the incarnation of God to demonstrate love, forgivness and reconciliation of sinners.

Dear Foxy,

Thanks for your comments.

I think the Vatican are working from the perspective of what Jesus said, presumably replacing OT references. Albeit, Psalms, I think, has references to the Lord. Some of the churches' scholarship seems to use Vulgar Latin and Koine Greek. Given Jesus' time and place in History, he most likely spoke Aramaic and Attic Greek (Court Greek). The Nicaean framers to modern clerics would have been / are linguistically lower caste than was Jesus.

Dear Poly,

- What is your take on the eccesiastical fallability at Nicaea?
- Whom can rightly start a church? Sells? You? Me? The Queen of England?

Philo,

It is actually more detailed than I have related. My copy of the high-level Church correspondence is in PDF format. The directives are argued and not off-the-cuff.

Cheers,

Peter