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Words of a Fether

I am the way, the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father except through me. ~Jesus

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The Sacred Name Cult

A few days ago I had never heard of the “sacred name” movement. I was searching for information on the Feast of Firstfruits as it may relate to Bible prophecy when I came across one of their sites. What is “Sacred Name”? Basically, they insist that only the original spelling and pronunciation of the name of God and of Jesus is permitted. Nobody is allowed to say or spell those names in their own language, and all who reject this are lost. That’s right, they think salvation is not by faith alone but by having the right language.

The first thing I noticed when I came across this cult was it’s “evil twin” resemblance to the white-supremacist “Christian Identity Movement”, with its claims of rabbinical tampering of the text (which does have some validity concerning the Masoretic text according to some scholars) and the name Jesus being in error, as well as many other issues. Then I noticed that the site owner, who apparently had written his own Bible translation, was a native speaker of Spanish from Puerto Rico. This guy is an expert in ancient Hebrew? In document hypothesis? In anything?

Yet much of the material seems so logical, so authoritative, so easy to believe. But good Bereans always keep Proverbs 18:17 in mind, remembering that it is imperative to hear the other side of the story. I found that other side at This Link (or archive), which includes the site owner’s personal experiences with this cult.

It’s a small cult, so why write about it? Because in recent years there has been a trend in the churches to replace Jesus with Yeshua and God with YHWH. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it does put people in danger of swallowing the teachings of “sacred name” theology. It isn’t just another “messianic fellowship” where people happen to prefer trying to be more Jewish. Instead, it makes salvation contingent upon knowing and using Hebrew names that the cult leaders cannot even prove are correct. I encourage you to go to the link and read more about it, so you can be aware of warning signs if anyone tries to bring this teaching to your local assembly of believers.

Posted 2007-03-01 under Bible, behavior, relationships, religion, sacred name, cult