1. Introduction
· There are some people who believe to be the true followers of Jesus because they call him by his proper Hebrew name Yeshua.
· Their slogan is “Why would I call him anything but his name?” Of course this assumes that any attempt to translate can’t possibly also be his name.
· They often think Jesus is a greco-roman change to pay tribute to Zeus ‘Iesous’ sounds like ‘heil Zeus’.
2. Argument by Analogy
· A common scripted answer is saying “If someone goes to another country they don’t change their name for people, the people call them by their name.” This is so incredibly backfiring because it’s VERY common for people to enter a new country only for no one to be able to say their name so they shorten it or do something simple to make it easier. That’s the first obvious problem.
· There’s also the fact that they are anthropomorphizing God in their analogy. And analogies shouldn’t be used to argue for anything. They should be used to simplify and help explain. Not to validate the truthfulness of an idea.
3. Translating Names
· They say “the number one rule in translation is that names should never be translated.” I haven’t seen any actual historians or linguistic scholars be so confient and so full of certainty as they are.
· The Septuagint was written by Hebrew Jews for Greek Jews. In the 3rd century BC. Now that’s BC. And in the Septuagint you see every instance of Yahweh translated into ‘Kurios’ which means Lord. So what’s the conspiracy and why? And who is in on it? Why does constantine or the council of Nicea get dragged into all this? None of that existed yet?
· The NT authors don’t go out of their way to say Yeshua, so what’s the response? Oh well you can’t trust the manuscripts! “Name above all other names-Iesous.” “And every tongue declare that Iesous is Lord.” Just like with most fringe and wacky culty ideas, they have to challenge the manuscripts, which is the bible itself. All throughout the Greek NT you will find Iesous. So their contention is that the NT was originally written in Hebrew. Very bold asumption given that we have thousands and thousands of manuscripts, none with Greek. And it’s a slippery slope to challenge the manuscripts because you’re rejecting what God has given us. They necessarily cannot believe bible infallibility if they doubt the NT as we have it today.
· Now here is where the people who believe this should be embarrassed. Iesous only sounds like ‘Hail Zeus’ in ENGLISH. ENGLISH did not exist when this word was put in all the manuscripts. And you know in Greek, “Hail Zeus” would be chaire zeu which sounds nothing like “Jesus.” If they could understand the blunder they are making they would legitimately be ashamed of themselves. And that would just be for believing it let alone spreading it.
· It’s hard to pinpoint just one answer from them in regards to when all this deceitful and sneaky corruption was supposed to have taken place but just know that the early church fathers like Polycarp (70-155) and Clement (96-110) and Ignatius (110) and Justin Martyr (100-165) all wrote in Greek and used Iesous to refer to the Christ. And the Didache uses it at the start of Chapter 9.
4. Same Identity
· One red flag is their blatant simplification of the issue. “You either say the original name or you’re bad and wrong and worshiping the wrong god and/or satan.” No nuance means no real thought has occurred.
· They will actually accuse you of worshiping Satan if you use the name Jesus. I understand if you think I’m exaggerating or making that up but it’s true. I was in a group chat where this is what I was accused of and if anyone disagreed with the accusation they certainly didn’t speak up to correct them. But all this does is show a superficial understanding of worship. They don’t bother unpacking a biblical definition because if they did they’d know worship involves works (right hand) and consumption of the mind (between eyes/forehead) Deut 6:6-8 and Rev 13:16. It doesn’t involve a slip of the tongue and a lack of knowing what you’re doing.
· Believers who say ‘Jesus’ still have the exact same character as those who say Yeshua. It’s the character that you focus on and learn from and speak to. To think God is blocking relationships or that the pronunciation of his name is affecting that in anyway is legalistic stupidity. And it is an indictment on the character of the God they believe in.
5. Satan Is Identical to God
· All those prayers answered and healings and miracles invoked by the name of Jesus? Yeah, those are all Satan! And they point to the fact that Satan can do counterfeit miracles!
· This empties all words of meaning. They haven’t unpacked the bible’s definition of ‘counterfeit miracles’ and just hastily assume it’s the exact same as real miracles.
· So if all Jesus believers are in grievous sin and wrong, why are their lives so much better than everyone else who sins and unbelieves? Christians fare better in psychological health but why would they be if Satan is on their team?
6. Consequences?
· This is another major issue with the teaching. If it is as bad as they say it is (devil worshiping), why is it that someone who says Jesus and someone who says Yeshua can look identical and believe the exact same thing in every other way?
· We all know bad teaching produces bad fruit so what is the bad fruit of saying Jesus? They cannot tell you and they’ll go round in circles trying to. The only thing they can land on is the untestable-that you will go to Hell. That’s convenient for them. But I think if it was any other conversation they would agree that when God tells us to do something or not do something, it’s always for our benefit (obviously manifested) spiritual or physcial or psychological wellbeing. And yet there is no ramification for calling him Jesus when it’s meant to be so bad?
· The only consequences I see are when someone uses the name ‘Yeshua’. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that but it often brings with it people who take spiritual pride in being in the know and thinking all the rest of Christendom is wrong and and deceived and that mentality leads to being way more vulnerable and open to deception. And is also the reason Christendom is so fractured. In being duped, they think its everyone else that is duped.
· Because of the strong legalism element, they actually end up literally worshiping a name when the bible says worship the name it means the essence of the person, their identity. These people actually just worship the name. if you find yourself in a group chat you will see it. The obsession over the spelling, the hatred of any other name, the stories they believe on the etymology and because they are not experts, they really are just stories and loose syllable associations.
7. Confusion
· Even among the people who propagate this, there is confusion. I have been privy to a group chat where multiple people split hairs and worry about whether it’s actually Yeshua or Yahusha, or Yahushua. This is what legalism causes, unnecessary worry on the trivial.
8. Cult Mentality
· It’s not a cult. But the mentality is there. They have the patience for you to ask a handful of questions but if you don’t start agreeing, (sometimes you can get 2 or 3 questions), they will start attacking you and your motivations. If you don’t agree with them then you just want to argue and prove everyone wrong and you don’t really care about truth.
· It’s sad that they are puffed up with knowledge that is not even real knowledge. Because when you press them with just a couple of questions on specifics, suddenly you are the bad guy. and they will just send you videos instead of breaking down their thoughts and arguments themselves.
· They grossly mishandle scripture as all good cult followers do. Taking isolated verses out of context, with a superficial understanding, throwing them at whatever point the’y’re trying to make.
· I’ve asked what would happen if someone just actually couldn’t pronounce God’s name how they insist it should be pronounced. The answer I got? “Excuses excuses.” Wow maybe that one was just too deep and intellectual for me to understand.
· If you don’t agree you are “spiritually blind” another accusation.
· All their petty ignorant attacks and insults need to be put into perspective. They’re just punches and jabs that you have to absorb and accept. Ignore them but just negotiate with them, don’t ignore them to the point of ignoring and hiding otherwise they will feel unheard. Ignore them in the sense of it affecting your emotions, it’s all out of ignorance and once they finally realize the truth they can condemn themselves. It’s no good you doing it because they won’t hear you and it’s a distraction for you anyway.
· 2 Cor 1:13 “Our letters have been straightforward and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us.”
· A doctrine like this isnt believed in isolation usually. If it is, that person probably belongs to a church and just happens to say Yeshua. But fringe beliefs like this are usually grouped together so it doesn’t matter how good your refutation is, they will hold on to it speciifcally because they think they are right about a bunch of other little teachings, and it’s the confidence in them that carry over to the confidence in this. It’s a mentality of pride that needs addressing.
· Also, how many of these people came to this conclusion all by themselves? Hmm? Or did they need another human to come alongside and whisper this to them? Or did they really buckle down and study those scriptures extra hard to realise they can’t actually trust them?
· Meat sacrifice to idols sensitive conscioence stuff. Good parallels.
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