What's with the name?

The Tetragrammaton

Many Christians are obsessed with names and meanings especially ones that pertain to their God. Last Sunday (actually this morning too) I stayed and used my time at Rizal Park (or Luneta) in Manila. There is a place I always go to there near the Chess plaza. It's the haven for ideas of all sorts, weird and interesting.

So after listening to the same talk about the basic teachings of the Bible and religion, the clash of Islam and the teachings of Christ a group decided to talk a bit deeper about the Bible. Me and my friend another new found friend sat with the group and the question raised was with the name of God.

Some people need to have a name they want to preach. During the discussion I realized that the Bible doesn't even talk about the need to know the name of God to have salvation. Somehow it's the doctrine that came after the text that needed to reinforce the importance of the name of God.

The Old Testament has always kept the name of God to an almost secret status. Divine beings in the Bible have always eluded the question or even state their names. In the ancient Near East a name is important because with it many prayers and spells were cast and the deities are required to assist when their names are invoked.

Here is where The Catholic and most religions got it right. They never try to say the tetragrammaton or the YHWH. Most of the time it is replaced by the word that equivalent or the same with LORD (usually in all caps).

Think about this what Bible verse says you must know the divine name in order to be saved? So far I have read none. Such knowledge is not even required for salvation.