Bridge of Reason

  We are often asked this question. Jehovah’s Witnesses regard Christians as, at best neglectful and neglectful, at worst part of a great conspiracy to eradicate God’s name. Perhaps you have, like me, heard Jehovah’s Witnesses speak of the shocking number of Christians they meet who simply don’t know the name. I gently point out that if someone on the doorstep tells a Jehovah’s Witness they are already a Christian, going to this or that church, they are probably not. They just say that to get rid a Jehovah’s Witness of their doorstep. Further, i t should be recognised that Jehovah's Witnesses understand full well we cannot know with any degree of certainty how the consonants YHWH should be pronounced, and ‘Jehovah’ is only ‘a common rendering’ of the name. In an article on JW.ORG they say as much. This is a Poor Conspiracy Nevertheless, i t is worthwhile pointing out that we do use the ‘common rendering’ of Jehovah. It is preached from pulpits, it is found in Christian books ...

A few years ago a friend of mine gave me an ornament he had made in the shape of the name of God. It must have been about eight inches long, three inches high and perhaps half an inch deep.The idea was that it should sit on the mantle piece, ready for when Jehovah’s Witnesses visit, in the hope that it would be the first thing they would spot on entering our sitting room. What a conversation starter! How could they now claim that we do not know or use “the Name”? Well, it worked – after a fashion. The Witnesses calling on me that summer were charming people and we got along just fine. One of them was intrigued by the name of God sitting above the fire, and we discussed its origins and purpose. I explained that it served as a reminder of the God we serve and as a witness to the fact that we know Him by name. His wonder at the idea that I, a “born-again” Christian, should both know and use the name of God turned to astonishment when, saying that I knew how precious it might be to him, ...