Bill Salus, prophecy author
Christian Leadership Response
From: Dan L Baxley To: Bill Salus, author of many book about Biblical Prophecy. As a worker in the field of Biblical Prophecy, one would think a Biblical warning about saying things in the Name of God, or to use the name of other gods, would be of prime interest to anyone using the Hebrew/christian Bible as a source or base for prophetic works? So, I wrote to find out why, or perhaps there is a good reason for not using the Birth Name of our Savior. This is the email I sent and the answer I received.
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
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The Response, plus my comments added -- this is actually the email received from Brad Meyers, saying he works with Bill Salus, as someone who does a lot research for Bill Salus. I responded by adding my comments and also, then, posting here, for your consideration.
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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 DanI 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.
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.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: 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.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.___________________________________________Send comments or questions to -- dan@servantsofyahshua.com