by Giuseppe Monno
Jehovah’s Witnesses hold that God should be addressed exclusively by the name revealed to the people of Israel, the so-called sacred Tetragrammaton. However, this position does not fully reflect the unfolding of biblical revelation in its fullness.
Already in the Old Testament, a more intimate relationship begins to emerge: in the book of Jeremiah, God says to his people, “You will call me, ‘My Father,’ and will not turn away from following me” (Jeremiah 3:19). This perspective reaches its fulfillment in the New Testament.
In the Gospels, Jesus Christ teaches his disciples to address God in this way: “So then, this is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). He himself turns to God using the Aramaic word “Abba”: “Abba, Father! Everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it” (Mark 14:36).
Moreover, when Jesus reads the Scriptures in the synagogue, the Gospel text says: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor…” (Luke 4:18–19). Here the term used is “the Lord,” in continuity with the Jewish tradition that avoided pronouncing the Tetragrammaton.
The Apostle Paul deepens this understanding further, writing: “And it is the proof that you are sons that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6). And again: “You have not received a spirit of slaves leading you back into fear, but a spirit of adoption through which we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15).
From a Christian perspective, therefore, what is central is not the pronunciation of a particular divine name, but a living and personal relationship with God as Father. Jesus does not abolish the significance of the divine name revealed in the Old Testament; rather, he brings its meaning to completion by introducing believers into a true relationship as children with God.
To call God “Father” is not simply a formula, but the expression of the believer’s new identity in Christ. Just as a child naturally turns to a parent by saying “father,” so the Christian is called to live in a relationship of trust, love, and intimacy with God.
If this filial reality is not yet fully lived, it is not merely a formal deficiency, but part of a spiritual journey still unfolding, in which the Spirit gradually leads the believer to recognize and experience God as Father.