The House of Yahweh: Part III A Faulty Foundation (Bibliology)

Welcome to part III of our study on the cult, the House of Yahweh. We've already covered the reasons why we're studying the cult and their basic history. What I really want to focus on is their theology in some very specific and doctrinally crucial areas…areas of non-negotiation. The one thing I will give them credit for is their honesty. They don’t sugar-coat anything and will give you a straight answer to your questions…no matter how heretical the answers are.

I’ve emailed them about 10 times with questions and follow-up questions after reviewing their websites and some of their material. I’m going to limit myself to a few main, foundational points which will clearly show you that this is a heretical cult.

A. Bibliology: First of all, what do I mean by “Bibliology”? This word comes from two Greek words:

• Βίβλος meaning “Book, scroll”
• Λόγος meaning “word, utterance, doctrine”

Bibliology is thus “the study of the doctrine of the Word.” Why do I start with this doctrine? What you believe about Scripture- its origin, its preservation, its authority determines what you will stand for. Consider this quote from Dr Thomas Strouse in his book “The Lord God Hath Spoken” (p. 7):

“If one does not have a solid foundation in Bibliology, then all the other doctrines, such as Theology Proper, Soteriology, Ecclesiology and Eschatology will crumble”

It does not take long to see that the House of Yahweh has an extremely weak view of Scripture. You will find tons of Scriptural references in their works…the only problem is that when something contradicts their doctrine they conveniently change it to match their view. This is the opposite of what Bible believers hold to. Scripture is supposed to change us...not the other way around. Let’s look at their own statements taken from their website (http://www.yahweh.com/):

“We decided to go far beyond all other conscientious scholars and produce a completely new and independent translation, restoring Yahweh's Name to the Holy Scriptures. We were determined to produce a Bible that would remain as faithful to the original writings as humanly possible… You can now possess the most profoundly accurate translation of The Holy Bible available anywhere. The Newly Restored Original Bible is entirely based on the original sacred Scriptures of old.”

Here is my question…which “Scriptures” did they use to translate this Restored Bible from? I've repeatedly asked them for manuscript evidence and I've been ignored. The cult is very good at throwing tons of Scriptures at an argument (death by cross-reference!) but very poor at supplying Scripture verses that actually support their position...and when they find verses that contradict their view they become editors of God's Word.

1. Their Faulty View of Inspiration:

Here is their basic view on the Bible: “The Bible was first written in Hebrew, and then translated into Aramaic, then Greek, then Latin and finally to English. When translated from one language to another footnotes were added. The copyists, scribes, and translators would write footnotes in their manuscripts of the Bible which would later be included in the text by other copyists.”

First of all it’s flatly wrong. They seem to believe the Bible was all (OT and NT) written in Hebrew…and then translated into Aramaic, Greek, Latin and English. The entire NT was inspired and written entirely in Greek. If they don’t even understand how we got our Bible today, how can they be trusted to produce the most accurate revised translation? What “Hebrew” manuscripts did they use for the NT?

Here is the question I asked them: "What is your stance on Scriptures? You said on your website that the original Bible was in Hebrew that was translated into Greek, Latin, English, etc. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and Aramaic (i.e. mainly Daniel)…while the NT was all originally written (inspired) in Greek completely. Do you agree with that? If not, what manuscripts did you translate into the House of Yahweh’s translation? The reason I ask is because you’ve replaced the words Elohim, Adonai, etc in the OT with Yahweh and did the same in the NT for Theos (God), etc…what manuscript evidence did you use?"

HOY Response: "There are so many reference sources that we use that is impossible for us to list them all." Talk about skirting the issue!

Here is a quote from their website: "In producing The Book of Yahweh, every known biblical reference source available was used, including many rare and out of print books and facsimile copies of the most ancient manuscripts…In striving to produce the most accurate Bible ever, we have restored Yahweh's Name in all the Scriptures in which it was inspired to be written. We have also replaced Yahweh's Name in each of the hundreds of places where it was used in compound with place names, and within personal names."

Editors of God’s Word! Listen for yourself: “As the editors and annotators of the Original Bible, The Book Of Yahweh, we were determined to restore the many vital words which were left untranslated in today's modern English versions, which would have revealed the complete Message of Yahweh that was inspired to be written. The Book of Yahweh, The Original Bible, restores these words. We have also endeavored to remove all words which, according to the most critical references, have been added to the original Scriptures, such as the footnotes that mysteriously became "inspired writings" when later copyists incorrectly included them in the the Bible. Most of the time, these added words CHANGE, HIDE, or CONTRADICT the original message of Yahweh, effectively confusing the reader, who is in search of the truth of Yahweh. We have not omitted these Scriptures arbitrarily; indeed, commentaries of religious scholars have stated these scriptural facts. We have simply acted upon the facts presented where others did not.”

I’ve repeatedly asked them for their manuscript evidence and have gotten nothing but the answer above- “impossible to list them all.” True! It’s impossible to list them all because they can’t find them!

They also said, “wherever our Creator’s Name appears in the original Hebrew manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures, Yahweh will be written throughout the translation.”

In just this single page they have replaced the inspired Word “elohim” with the name “Yahweh” about 15 times- I’d love to see what manuscript evidence they have for that. The first use of the Yahweh (I believe it should be "Jehovah") is in Gen 2:4. They also have to come to grips with Elohim being used 2601 times in the Old Testament.

In addition, look at the page excerpt from the book of John that they have on their website; http://www.yahweh.com/yahch1.html. Notice that again, they’ve replaced the Greek word “Theos”, meaning God, with the Hebrew word Yahweh. Again, they’ve ignored my questions asking them for manuscript evidence. There are NO Greek manuscripts that have “Yahweh” (Hebrew) in the Greek manuscripts. How in the world do you insert Hebrew words into a Greek manuscript and expect to be believable and credible? This is blatant tampering with God’s word!

The doctrine of inspiration means nothing to these folks. For one they believe that inspiration hasn’t ceased since they are acting as prophets and believe they have the authority to change Scripture back to its originally intended form; secondly, they are the only authorized editors today who can change God's Word at the drop of a hat.

2. Their Faulty View of Preservation:

The doctrine of preservation means nothing to these folks either: When I asked them if they believe there has been no real Christianity until Israel “Buffalo Bill” Hawkins came around they said, “This is true” If you read their information on the book of Yahweh you’ll see that they believe the Word of God to be restored and that they are the restorer and preserver of God’s word alone.

It should be no surprise when I expose their other heretical teachings. Since they don't have a problem tampering with God's Word we shouldn't be surprised when they change God's Word to match Mr. Hawkins perverted doctrine. This is not a bit different from any other false teaching (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, etc).

I'll talk to you next time about their Christology and Soteriology.