You ask where to research whether God's name was originally spoken. Try Exodus 3. He revealed His name to Moses in answer to the question "When they ask me who sent me, what shall I TELL them?"

His reply? TELL them YHWH sent you.

Since He had His scribes write down His name 6855 times in the scriptures, it seems reasonable to suppose that He wants His name known, even to those who cannot read.

I am hardly a Bible scholar, but my studies indicate that rather than His name (which by Eastern thought, knowing and using a person's name gave power over them), basically God told Moses, "Tell them' I AM ' sent you."

Using a form of the verb "to be" was not meant to suggest a name, but rather a higher existence. YHWH and its phonetic variations are the words that the children of Israel used to signify the LORD God. I usually have to get refresher courses from friends who are of the Jewish faith and/or heritage, but even there, an etiquette exists.

This in turn, leads to my questioning about whether when in the New Testament, we are told to call on the name of Jesus in order to be "saved," it may mean more than just the name of the person who was crucified. Maybe Jesus appeared to other peoples who knew him by other names.

Carl,

I know quite a number of different passages where a particular line is different from version to version of the Bible (NIV, King James, RSV, etc.)

Yes, while finishing the last four quarters of college at what was then Point Loma College (a Church of the Nazarene college), I had to drop a course in Hebrew because of time limitations. (I was working full time at night at a radio station).

But in NT Greek studies in seminary, we learned how difficult it is to translate such a dynamic language. For example, I have done studies on the words which are either translated "make whole" or "heal" or "save" in the NT. I have come to the conclusion that Jesus wanted to save/heal the complete person.

I find discussion of theological issues interesting (sometimes), but just like in college philosophy "club" debates many years ago, I learned that "facts" available cannot prove or disprove the divinity of God, Jesus, or any other supernatural being - at least based on what we have now and with our skills.

As I've said elsewhere, and in the philosophy "clubs," personal experience/inspiration/revelation can not be disproved. May not be believed either, of course.

It's enough for me that people be open to more than just what they've been taught, for we all learn our biases. Since I believe in God, I believe He will show us our own way to faith.

Carl,

There was an article last Diocesan quarterly new letter by the Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip (Episcopal, Atlanta, GA) that I found very interesting. Among its points were that no where in the Bible does it state that the text is literal, much less infallible.

The other point was that many so-called arguments about the bible, are mostly about doctrine, not the scriptures.

He is leading a men's Bible study and the way they do it is to read passages from different versions.

Moved to 'Religious Research' section:

http://www.wineintro.com/forum/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000386