Beth El Conservative Messianic Ministries

What's in a Name? [Part 4] Is the name 'Jesus' pagan? There is a voice among those who would call themselves 'Messianic' which is growing ever louder. It is thew voice of a group I have mentioned before - the Sacred Name movement. Among their subscribers are those who believe: 1. The name 'Jesus' is a complete fabrication, after all, the letter J didn't exist until the end of the Middle Ages and certainly not in Hebrew. 2. The original Hebrew name Yahshuah (or one of its several forms) is the only name that should be used, otherwise you are speaking to a false god. This is particularly the case if you use the English form 'Jesus'. If a person were to go to another country their name would be the same as in their own country - or would it? Peter in English is Pedro in Spanish, Pietro in Italian and so on - does the change of spelling mean it refers to a different person? 3. The name 'Jesus' means 'Hail Zeus'. 4. The name 'Jesus...

 What's in a Name? [Part 3] Variations on a Theme And there is salvation in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved [Acts 4v12] While I have used the spelling 'Yeshua' throughout these articles so far, it will come as no surprise that there is something of a controversy regarding the exact spelling and/or pronunciation of Jesus's Hebrew name. Needless to say, some of these discussions can become very heated indeed and are no credit to the Messiah who bears the name, whatever the form of it. Certain groups simply cannot agree on which form is 'correct' and some even declare that you must use the form they say is the right one, or you are calling upon a false god. Many, if not most, of these variants have come from the Sacred Names movement (which has origins from around the 1930s) and are perpetuated by the Hebrew Roots movement (which appears to have originated in the 1990s, though both would say they can tr...