Greeting Mr Salus,

          I have been reading your books with great interest.  I do have           a question:  What is your position on the use or our Lord's           Birth Name -- YaHshua.  I see that you use the name Jesus?  A           name that is a relative new comer to Biblical names.  His           birth name, in the Old English transliteration, Joshua, is           still with us today, so why use a newer name, a name that is           not, literally, a transliteration?  I would appreciate any           valid reasoning for the use of any different name than the one           He was given at Birth.  Thank you for your Time.  I am looking           forward to reading your response.

Sincerely, Dan L Baxley

Brad, Bill,

Thank you for the quick  reply.  See my response and disappointment -- I had hoped that there  might be a much more imaginative answer to the question.  I have asked  many others this same question and have yet to see an answer that  satisfies the why of it all.  At least, Brad, you did not resort to that  old and untrue excuse or lie, that JESUS is the English for the  "inspired" Greek and I thank you for that.  

On 10/26/2022, Brad Myers wrote:

Hi Dan

I work with Bill and do a lot of his  research . You said you would appreciate any valid reasoning for using  the word Jesus . Here are a number of them.

  

Some people claim that our Lord should not be referred to as “Jesus.” Instead, we should only use the name “Yeshua.”  Some even go so far as to say that calling Him “Jesus” is blasphemous.  Others go into great detail about how the name “Jesus” is unbiblical  because the letter J is a modern invention and there was no letter J in Greek or Hebrew.

The  Bible nowhere commands us to only speak or write His name in Hebrew or  Greek. It never even hints at such an idea. Rather, when the message of  the gospel was being proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles  spoke in the languages of the “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents  of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and  Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene” (Acts 2:9–10).  In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was made known to every language  group in a way they could readily understand. Spelling did not  matter......

My Comment: "It never even hints as  such an idea"?  When we repeat the Lord's Prayer, how does it begin?   "Our Father, who is in Heaven, Holy is Your Name..."  That does seem to  hint, at the idea that He has a Name, and that it is Holy.  Then, when  we consider that our Savior said that He came in His Father's Name --  most father name their son a name and the sons and daughters are  registered under a family name, right?  So, it would see reasonable to  say that this is a pretty big hint, that there is a name, and the Son  should bear that Name.  Then, there is Acts 4:12, ".... no other Name,  found among men, by which we MUST be saved", and that seems to be  another really big hint.

Acts 2:9-10 -- It is agreed, everyone  heard the Gospel message in their own native tongue.  Does His  Name,then, sound different in every language?  So, everyone in all of  the other religions, calling on all those different names, are really  calling on Him, just using different names?  Think about it.   Different languages, do not change your name in how it sounds when  repeated.  They were all hearing in a language they were each familiar  with, but they would not have heard his name pronounced differently.   Putin is Putin in Russian, and in English.  Biden is Biden in German,  just as it is in English.  The idea that our Savior's birth name would  change from language to language is not correct.  Would you call Him  Zeus?  Or Mars, Saturn, or any other name than the name he was Named?   Yet, this is what appears to have happened with out Savior -- a Name He  was given, by His Heavenly Father, has been replaced.  It is not as if  His Name were ever lost, it appears in the Old Testament in multiple  place.  What appears to have happened is that His Name was replaced with  a different name, a completely different name, even though His Name,  His Jewish/Hebrew Name was replaced.  

We  refer to Him as “Jesus” because, as English-speaking people, we know of  Him through English translations of the Greek New Testament. Scripture  does not value one language over another, and it gives no indication  that we must resort to Hebrew when addressing the Lord. The command is  to “call on the name of the Lord,” with the promise that we “shall be  saved” (Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32). Whether we call on Him in English, Korean, Hindi, or Hebrew, the result is the same: the Lord is salvation.

My Comment: Really?  That is the  reasoning?  His Name is mentioned nearly 7,000 times in the Old  Testament.  In most translation that Name is replaced with the four  letter, LORD, as opposed to YHWH, and most, if not all of the sources  for the OT admit this, but the reasoning used for that, has nothing to  do with other languages hearing or saying "whatever" but that they are  following the traditions of the fathers.  In other words, the traditions  of men.  Are you familiar with the Third Commandment? Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the Name of YHWH thy God in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain.  (YHWH or LORD?)  So, your reasoning is that when the NT came along,  any name would do?  It is amazing, to me, that you quote Acts 2:21 and  Joel 2:32 -- those two verses witness against what you wrote.  So far, I  have read nothing that is credible or reasonable for having Changed His  Name to something else.  Very disappointed.

This  provides many valid reasons why Bill in his book uses the word Jesus  and why ALL New Testament Bibles use the name of Jesus . Thanks for  taking the time to read some of his books.

My Comment: You did not give any "valid  reasons", you provided "excuses" -- even you call that bogus name, a word, as opposed to, a name.  Excuses for not restoring His  Personal Name, a Name that is connected to the God of Israel, and to His Father in Heaven.  I realize that you may not be speaking for Bill Salus, only assuming this is what Bill Salus believes.   

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Send comments or questions to -- dan@servantsofyahshua.com