People with "Jesus" as their first name

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In English we have a Jesus-Joshua distinction which does not exist in all languages, and allows us to use the latter as a common name while reserving the name of Jesus for sacred purposes.
I’m not at all impressed with this–sounds like justification for passing judgment against another culture. So we, who use English, get to name our sons after the Lord, but those who use other languages who don’t have this distinction don’t, without being disrespectful?
 
It is. I was hit by a staggering blast of stupidity. I caught the mistake and deleted the post, but clearly not in time. :o
No problem…I remember being fascinated in high school Spanish with the Spanish forms of common Biblical names. Santiago for the English “James” puzzled me till I figured out it was from Saint Jacob (James). Call me a language geek. :o
 
I’m not at all impressed with this–sounds like justification for passing judgment against another culture. So we, who use English, get to name our sons after the Lord, but those who used other languages who don’t have this distinction don’t, without being disrespectful?
Who names their kid Joshua thinking that this meant they were naming their son after the Lord? My whole point is that from an English-language perspective the names are different and refer to different Biblical figures, and so we can name children “Joshua” without giving them the same name as our Lord.

I knew that even the mildest suggestion of cultural superiority on any point would bring out the outrage. It’s how we’ve been culturally conditioned here in America, and frankly I think it is a very negative aspect of our culture. Culture matters, and as I said I am not a cultural relativist. In my opinion there are relatively few points of cultural diversity that can be compared and deemed 100% equal. Generally there will be elements of better and not quite as good.

It’s the same with comparing individuals. There are few personal traits that are really equal between two individuals. One person is better than any other in a number of ways and the other is better in a number of other ways. None of that is not to say that diversity should not be respected and maintained. Of course not! Unfortunately we have a tendency today to take one valid idea, like respecting and maintaining cultural diversity, and exaggerating it to the point of absurdities like forgetting that cultures, like individuals, are mostly unequal in their distinctive characteristics.
 
Joshua ben Sira from the Bible is called Jesus the son of Sirach in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible (and even the KJV). This is because the Greek form of Joshua, Iesus, was properly translated into English as Jesus. Modern English translations usually translate all of the Jesus’ as Joshua except for Christ.
 
How?
Jesus is Jesus in Spanish and Josue is Joshua.

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From what I’ve just read on the internet I guess that at least some Spanish Bibles use Jesus for both names, even though this other name, Josue, also exists in the culture. Clearly there is not an exact parallel to English usage. I still maintain that it is a beautiful thing that we English-speakers are able to keep the name of Jesus holy in this particular way, while there is of course nothing wrong with the Latin American custom either.
 
How?
Jesus is Jesus in Spanish and Josue is Joshua.

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My Spanish is rusty, but I did find numerous Spanish and Portuguese people on Google named Josue. So, it does appear to be a name that gets used for Joshua by Spanish speakers.

I just take the naming of sons “Jesus” as a sign of intended reverence, and nothing offensive.
 
If it makes you feel better you can pronounce Jesus heh-soos if you are speaking to or about someone with that first name. Or the nickname Chue (Chuey) if you are on familiar terms with them. The Jesus/Joshua explanation has some merit.
 
Joshua=Yeshua=Iesous=Jesus
I think, though, that if Spanish or Portuguese parents want to name their son using a Spanish form of what English speakers write as “Joshua”, they will use “Josue”, not “Jesus”.

Any Spanish experts feel free to correct this if it’s wrong.
 
You will almost NEVER hear a Latino refer to Jesus as “Jesus”. It’s always “Jesucristo” (Jesus Christ) or Senor Jesus (Lord Jesus). Rarely do they use the name of Jesus like Anglos do, by itself. It’s always with an added title.
Did everyone in this thread miss the post above? ^

Because this is really how it is. I grew up speaking Spanish (same as everyone else in California ;)) and I honestly can’t remember ever hearing anyone say “Jesus” by itself. Not me, not my friends, not my family…literally nobody says that. That’s basically something only Anglos do. I’m pretty pocho (Europeanized), and I would still never even think of using it like we do in English in Spanish. It wouldn’t make sense, precisely because we do have this distinction between the personal name Jesus and the Lord and Savior Christ whose name is Jesus. Anglos don’t have it, fine, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with what Hispanic people do, or that they aren’t keeping the name “sacred” or any other nonsense. Name-worship is a heresy, and since it is after all a proper name in the first place, there is no problem here.
 
Did everyone in this thread miss the post above? ^

Because this is really how it is. I grew up speaking Spanish (same as everyone else in California ;)) and I honestly can’t remember ever hearing anyone say “Jesus” by itself. Not me, not my friends, not my family…literally nobody says that. That’s basically something only Anglos do. I’m pretty pocho (Europeanized), and I would still never even think of using it like we do in English in Spanish. It wouldn’t make sense, precisely because we do have this distinction between the personal name Jesus and the Lord and Savior Christ whose name is Jesus. Anglos don’t have it, fine, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with what Hispanic people do, or that they aren’t keeping the name “sacred” or any other nonsense. Name-worship is a heresy, and since it is after all a proper name in the first place, there is no problem here.
It’s true that people most often say: Our Lord Jesus (Nuestro Senor Jesuscristo), Jesuscristo, - but they do say Jesus. My mother’s cousin’s name is Jesus and it is to honor Jesus and to make the faith present in every day life. It is also to shamelessly announce to the world without fear that you are christian. Perhaps, there was an era that it was courageous to carry that name. I wouldn’t be surprise. It’s bold.

I do see both sides though.

Considering the name Jesus as sacred is not name worshiping as per what you are citing, which by the way I was not aware of that and it’s very interest. Who knew? 🙂 The poor monk was not even aware of the turmoil his little book ensued and died not knowing if he had been ex-communicated. You see, that goes to show you that we need the Church to guide us. We humans tend to have a great imagination.

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Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 
I don’t get it…nobody gets upset about naming girls Mary or Elizabeth, or Sarah, etc…or sons John, Peter, Micael, etc. why? Because it is showing respect for those Holy Ones.

So why would anyone thing naming a boy Jesus would be weird or irreverent?

Everyone readily admits it is a Latino thing, so part of me thinks discontent by non Latinos is an unwillingness to be accepting of cultural differences, even among those who share the same faith.

Today’s gospel might be worth another read!
Jesus is simply a translation of Joshua. In lots of cases it is pronounced Haysu!
 
It’s true that people most often say: Our Lord Jesus (Nuestro Senor Jesuscristo), Jesuscristo, - but they do say Jesus. My mother’s cousin’s name is Jesus and it is to honor Jesus and to make the faith present in every day life.
I’m not sure you understand what I mean. Of course people are named Jesus (I grew up with plenty), but it is exceedingly rare to find Hispanic people praying to “Jesus” rather than “Jesucristo” the way that Anglos would pray to “Jesus”. Off the top of my head, the only prayer I can think of that uses “Jesus” and not the titular form is probably the Ave Maria, and even there it is used with reference as a personal name (y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús), not in direct address in the way that Anglos use “Jesus” in prayer. As the poster I was quoting says, it is exceedingly rare to find a Hispanic person using “Jesus” alone to refer to Jesus Christ.
Considering the name Jesus as sacred is not name worshiping as per what you are citing
Of course it isn’t. My point is that we don’t treat the name itself as though it is reserved only for Christ just because that was His earthly given name. It was also a given name of people before His incarnation and after His death and resurrection, down to the modern day. There is nothing wrong with this.
 
There’s a Latino comedian, (I forget his name, but it’s not George Lopez or Cleto Rodriguez) who has a joke about when he was an 8 year old.

He said there was a neighborhood bully named Jesus. And he would wonder, “Why does God hate me so much that he would send his only begotten son down from heaven to beat me up?” 😛
 
Jesus is simply the latinized version of Joshua. Jesus was not the first or last man to have that name.
Yep. There are several variants of the name Jesus. No-one complains about Joshua. 😛
 
I’m not sure you understand what I mean. Of course people are named Jesus (I grew up with plenty), but it is exceedingly rare to find Hispanic people praying to “Jesus” rather than “Jesucristo” the way that Anglos would pray to “Jesus”. Off the top of my head, the only prayer I can think of that uses “Jesus” and not the titular form is probably the Ave Maria, and even there it is used with reference as a personal name (y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús), not in direct address in the way that Anglos use “Jesus” in prayer. As the poster I was quoting says, it is exceedingly rare to find a Hispanic person using “Jesus” alone to refer to Jesus Christ.
Excellent point. Perhaps we should consider that it is us Anglos who are being irreverent by not calling Christ by his title and instead being all chummy with “Jesus.”
 
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