Names of God in Christianity in the context of "Tetragrammaton"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Names of God in Christianity in the context of "Tetragrammaton"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Names of God in Christianity

The Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular (e.g. Ex. 20:7 or Ps. 8:1), generally using the terms in a very general sense rather than referring to any special designation of God. However, general references to the name of God may branch to other special forms which express His multifaceted attributes. The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible reveals YHWH (often vocalized with vowels as "Yahweh" or "Adonai") as the personal name of God, along with certain titles including El Elyon and El Shaddai. Jah or Yah is an abbreviation of Jahweh/Yahweh, and often sees usage by Christians in the interjection "Hallelujah", meaning "Praise Yah", which is used to give God glory. In the New Testament the terms Theos, Kyrios and Patēr (πατήρ i.e. Father in Greek) are additionally used to reference God.

Respect for the name of God is one of the Ten Commandments, which some Christian teachings interpret to be not only a command to avoid the improper use of God's name, but a directive to exalt it through both pious deeds and praise. This is reflected in the first petition in the Lord's Prayer addressed to God the Father: "Hallowed be Thy Name".

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Names of God in Christianity in the context of Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist Christian denomination, stemming from the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. Russell co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881 to organize and print the movement's publications. A leadership dispute after Russell's death resulted in several groups breaking away, with Joseph Franklin Rutherford retaining control of the Watch Tower Society and its properties. Rutherford made significant organizational and doctrinal changes, including adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931 to distinguish the group from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with the legacy of Russell's traditions. In 2024, Jehovah's Witnesses reported a peak membership of approximately 9 million worldwide.

Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their evangelism, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and for refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider the use of God's name vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider unscriptural doctrines. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and the establishment of God's kingdom over earth is the only solution to all of humanity's problems. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity. They prefer to use their own Bible translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

↑ Return to Menu

Names of God in Christianity in the context of Jehovah

Jehovah (/ɪˈhvə/) is a Latinization of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה Yəhōwā, one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judaism and a form of God's name in Christianity.

The consensus among scholars is that the historical vocalization of the Tetragrammaton at the time of the redaction of the Torah (6th century BCE) is most likely Yahweh. The historical vocalization was lost because in Second Temple Judaism, during the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE, the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton came to be avoided, being substituted with Adonai ('my Lord'). The Hebrew vowel points of Adonai were added to the Tetragrammaton by the Masoretes, and the resulting form was transliterated around the 12th century CE as Yehowah. The derived form Iehovah first appeared in the 16th century. The form Jehovah began to printed following a 17th-century development leading J to become a separate letter for printing the consonantal I.

↑ Return to Menu