Misconceptions Clarified XVIII: Can Christians use the English Name of Jesus?
As America increasingly diversifies its pluralistic and religious landscape, the criticisms and misconceptions regarding the Christian faith likewise continues to also increase. For instance, Christians at some point in their journey of faith may be confronted with some questions that they might be ill-equipped to answer, such as, “Why do Christians use the English name of Jesus when His Hebrew name is Yeshua? Are Christians worshipping a different person when they call on the name of Jesus? Or, what about the pagan connotations associated with the name Jesus? Isn’t the name Jesus another name for the god of Zeus?” These are some of the questions that are posed by many non-Christian groups and even within some Christian circles accusing those who use the name Jesus of false worship and idolatry. Hopefully, in this episode of Misconceptions Clarified XVIII it will answer the question of the hour, “Can Christians use the English name of Jesus?”
Well, before this episode delves into the misconception at hand, it’s important to understand the origins of languages in general before this article can make any definitive conclusions. First, what was the original language spoken by Adam and Eve who were the first human beings to inhabit the planet earth? Did they speak original Hebrew or another language? Now, there are several theories as to which language they spoke in the very beginning in the book of Genesis. One of those theories comes from the Midrash, an ancient Jewish source, which they called the “Adamic language.” Some also believe that Adam and Eve used a form of the ancient Semitic language, and others believe they originally spoke Hebrew. Unfortunately, there are no ancient written records that have survived from their time to confirm which language they actually spoke. There are some reports that believe the Hebrew language is a translation or an offshoot of what Adam and Eve spoke, which if the case, debunks the notion that transliterated names and languages is against the will of God.
Furthermore, when considering the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11, the whole world at that time after the global flood of Noah spoke one language. Then mankind decided in their heart to build a city along with a tower that reaches to the heavens, and when the Lord came down to see the city and the tower they were building, the Lord said in verse 6 & 7, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” After the Lord confused their language, meaning, made them speak other languages they could not interpret, it caused them to stop building the tower of Babel and were thus scattered over the face of the earth. The primary reason why this episode of Misconceptions Clarified mentions the account of the Tower of Babel serves as a critical reminder of who created languages in Scripture. It was God who gave mankind their mouth, it was God who confused their language, it was God who made them speak different languages, and it was God who scattered the inhabitants of the earth at that time to different places to speak their other languages. And if God is the responsible agent for the different languages that exist, wouldn’t He also be responsible for revealing Himself to those who speak a different language outside of the main languages spoken by God’s chosen people of Israel?
To answer the question above, “Today the Bible is the most translated book in the world. There are versions of the complete Bible in 704 of the 7,106 languages estimated to be spoken in the world, translations of the New Testament in 1,551 languages, and translation of parts of the Bible into 1,160 additional languages. The Bible is also the most printed book in history, as well as the best and the longest seller. According to the Guinness World Records, as of 2021 it outnumbered any other publications with an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies sold and distributed.” The Bible has been translated in whole and in part in over 3,000 thousand languages around the world, and it appears that God has taken the bull by the horns in ensuring that the end will not come until the Gospel of Christ has been preached across the world, which would not have been possible without the process of translation or if God had set such a stipulation that He could only be called by one name in one language. How would other cultures and other languages know who the true and living God is without translation? If God confused the languages in the beginning, translation would be a critical and necessary component in knowing who God is, right?
Now, when it comes to the misconception that Christian’s must be worshipping a different person since the English and Hebrew language are two very different languages. The Hebrew language only has 22 characters in its alphabet, it contains numeric value, it has no vowels, they read from right to left, and there is no letter J. On the other hand, the English alphabet has 26 characters, has vowels, reads left to right, has the letter J, and has a larger vocabulary. The ancient Hebrew language consists of approximately 7,000 words according to the Jerusalem Post, while the modern Hebrew language has increased to approximately 33,000 words. The English language however is estimated to have over a million words, but the “Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes some 470,000 entries. The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, reports that it includes a similar number.” Even if this episode takes the lower number of 470,000 words in the English language, it is still substantially greater than the Hebrew vocabulary, and it’s not even close. In other words, when it comes to translating the ancient Hebrew language from Greek to Latin to English, there is going to be some obvious differences, and one of those differences being the name of Jesus.
Yet, the name of Jesus may appear on the surface to be a different name, but is it really different in meaning? When Christians say the name of Jesus are they referring to a different person other than the person of Jesus mentioned throughout the New Testament? The name Jesus in the Greek New Testament is “Iesous” and derives from the Hebrew origin “Yehosua,” which means “Yehovah is salvation,” or God is salvation. The English translation of the name Jesus is an offshoot of the Hebrew name ‘Yehosua” also known as Joshua in English. So, in order to proclaim the name that is above all names, the name of Yeshua had to be translated from Hebrew to Greek to Latin, etc. in order for those who speak a different language can come to know who Jesus is. Think about it, if a missionary were to come to a country that speaks an entirely different language and attempts to explain who Yeshua is in his original language, which his name is spelled יְהוֹשׁוּעַ, they would have no idea who He is because the Hebrew language is foreign to that country. Remember, God confused the languages in the beginning and without the gift of interpretation, which is one of the gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, the language barrier would prevent them from coming to know the One and True Living God. Not only that, but when it was time to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-13 where the disciples received the Holy Spirit, they needed to speak in other tongues. The crowd present during that time heard their own languages being spoken to include the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cretans, and the Arabs all heard “them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues” according to Acts 2:11. The translation of the wonders of God through the disciples was necessary and continued to be necessary throughout the subsequent generations so that everyone will come to know who Jesus really is.
But, what about the Pagan connotations of Jesus name to the Greek god of Zeus? Again, the name of Jesus is an English Translation of the original Hebrew name. The name of Jesus is not the same as the name of Zeus in the Greek New Testament. In Acts 14:12, Acts 14:13, and Acts 19:35 mention the Greek name Zeus which is spelled, Ζεύς, and differs from Ἰησοῦς, the name of Jesus in the New Testament. The name of Jesus means salvation whereas the name of Zeus means Jupiter or “a father of helps,” which are totally two different names. Just because there appears to be some resemblance between Zeus and the name Jesus in the Greek, and just because it sounds similar to one another in the Greek language does not mean they are the same, and it does not mean that the name of Jesus has any associations to the name of Zeus. The name Martin and Martian sound and appear similar, but they are totally two different names with totally two different meanings, and if you are unaware of how to defend against the claims that you must speak the name of God or the name of Jesus Christ in their original language, you may find yourself doubting what you even believe.
Lastly, remember this one very important detail…, nowhere in Scripture does it command the people of God to call Jesus by His original Hebrew name, it was only commanded to Israel in the context of Exodus 3:14. Matter of fact, there is no exact certainty amongst Jewish circles of how to pronounce the Hebrew tetragammaton YHWH, the personal name of God, which they believe the pronunciation was lost over time. So, they used other alternatives such as Yehovah, Adonai, Elohim, just to name a few. When God revealed His personal name to Moses in Exodus 3:14, the first question you must ask is how did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who came before Moses manage to get by in their relationship with God without knowing His personal name? How was Adam and Noah, a preacher of righteousness able to navigate their relationship with the Creator of the universe without knowing His personal name? Why was God commonly referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob even after he reveled himself to Moses? Furthermore, how was Jesus able to maintain a pure and perfect relationship with the Father without ever using the Hebrew tetragammaton or using the personal name, YHWH if this was the only name everyone who comes to faith were to use? Why did Jesus along with Peter refer to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 22:32 and Acts 3:13 versus God’s personal Hebrew name? Why didn’t Jesus never correct anyone when they used the Greek translation of his name versus his Hebrew name? Could it be that God’s name is multifaceted and encompasses meaning that cannot be fully expressed in human terms, which is why He said in Exodus 3:14, “I Am Who I Am,” which is translated in Hebrew “Haya Aser Haya,” “I will be who I will be?” Let’s not forget that Jesus identifies with the same identification in John 8:58 where He said, “before Abraham, I am,” but instead of Hebrew, it was in Greek. Only the Lord knows the full extent of himself and why He decided to go about certain things in the manner that He did. But could it be that God’s name is multifaceted to provide other nations outside of the nation of Israel an opportunity to know who He is? Could it be that the reason why the Scriptures have been translated in more languages than any other book in the world is that He desires to save them in their own native tongues?
Either way, regardless of whatever your position may be on this particular episode regarding the English translation of the name of Jesus, there are a few things that are for certain:
1). The English name of Jesus which was translated from Greek to Latin derives from Hebrew origins.
2). The name of Jesus and the name Yeshua are the same name with the same meaning. Jesus is just a translation of the name Yeshua.
3). There is only one Jesus Christ from Nazareth born in Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah, from the line of David who died on the cross at Calvary for the sin of the world and resurrected on the third day from the grave, reappeared to the disciples for 40 days before He ascended to the right-hand throne of the Father in heaven. He’s the only one that did this regardless of the language his name might be translated in. So when Christians pray to God with this person of Jesus Christ in their heart, are they really worshipping somebody else?
4). The Greek god Zeus is not the same as the name of Jesus Christ, nor are there any pagan associations to the name of Jesus.
5). God created language in the very beginning, then confused the language to create many languages, and thus, He is responsible for revealing Himself to these languages.
6). Two out of the nine gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 include speaking in tongues, a known language, and the interpretation of tongues, interpretation of known languages.
7). On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples declared the wonders of God in 14 different languages, and those wonders include what God did through His One and only Son.
In conclusion, when it comes to answering the question, “Can Christians use the English name of Jesus?” First, it is important to clarify that anyone who decides to use the Hebrew name of Jesus is more than welcomed to follow their own convictions. There is nothing wrong with referring to Jesus in His original Hebrew or Greek language. Some people lose sight of the fact that the Greek language was the main language spoken during the time of Jesus, that the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek 300 years prior to the time of Christ, and that the New Testament was primarily written in Greek. This is all God’s doing! If God only wanted His Word and His people to only stick with Hebrew, He is certainly All-Powerful enough to preserve His own Word however He desires, but yet, it was God that allowed His own Word to be translated into a different language. So, the answer to the question, “Can Christians use the English name of Jesus?” Not only can Christians use the English translation of Jesus Hebrew name, but any other language can use their translation for Jesus Hebrew name in order to come to know who Jesus really is. For this reason, we praise God that we can know Him regardless of whatever language we speak. And for those that have still yet to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their native tongue, may the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob continue to advance the cause of translation so that the Word of God may reach all people, in Jesus holy name we pray, amen.
names - What is the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton? - Mi Yodeya (stackexchange.com)
The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. (bitterwinter.org)
How many words are there in English? | Merriam-Webster
G2203 - zeus - Strong's Greek Lexicon (nkjv) (blueletterbible.org)
G2424 - iēsous - Strong's Greek Lexicon (nkjv) (blueletterbible.org)