Hi Chris,
Yes, Jesus did reveal to us that He is the I AM (YHWH) of the OT and that His Father is our Father. And yes, referring to someone as Father signifies a closer relationship that people on a first name basis. Jesus also taught us to regard His Name as Holy & said the way we should pray, “Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy Name…”. At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord = God. Realizing that Jesus is YHWH is what can bring back lapsed-Catholic Jehovah’s Witnesses and others back into the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church. YHWH the I AM, that is Jesus, reveals His Father to us. Jesus, I AM, YHWH, is The Way, The Truth & The Life. Salvation is vital for each individual! That’s why it’s so important to understand Who God is & Who He revealed Himself to be. Jesus, Emmanuel, is “God (of the OT) with us”
My boss and good friend is a JW. In fact he learned and worked at the JW hqs. in Brooklyn. He constantly tries to convert me by bringing up the concept of God’s name, saying that it was Jesus’ sole mission to reveal it and spread knowledge of it and that it is Satan that does not want us to know and say it, which is also why he considers my faith, Catholicism satanic, because the Pope (the Antichrist to him) recently forbid the use of God’s name in the liturgy.
While it is true that Jesus did call himself God by refering to himself by that name, “I Am,” I can tell you two things:
1.) You will never be able to convert a JW becasue of their fixation on this subject and because the Holy Father forbid the use of God’s name in the liturgy (oh no!!), or in the very least, this may the be last subject you want to use in your attempt
2.) I think JWs are mssing the whole point of the Gospel. Jesus didn’t come to reveal God’s proper name. That was not His main mision. He came to bring salvation through his sacrifice and resurrection. He did reveal God’s name, but through Him: through His existence and work. But that was not His sole mssion. Knowing and speaking God’s proper name is not what “saves” us.
The JWs, on the other hand, see the Gospel, and Jesus and God,…and everything else!!..completely differently. To them, you are not saved unless you know and confess God’s proper name. So to a Catholic like me, debating this subject with them is pointless since I have radically different views of the Gospel, of Jesus, and of God…as a Catholic, I am an adopted brother of Christ and His Father, the Godhead, is now my Father. My Heavenly Father’s “proper” name is irrelevant in this context. So whenever my JW friend brings up the name issue (and this is only the issue he brings up), I just respond by saying, “So? You’re missing the whole point.”
So maybe my point really is that in order to convert a JW you first have to explain to them what the Gospel really is about, because their view of it is radically different than the orthodox christian view:
watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm
-Chris
