Mr. McCabe, you obviously don't read your own Bible. On the first page alone (Genesis) in the Arabic Bibles around the world the word Allah is there 17 times. YHWH was only given in Exodus, there aren't any vowels, so why did you say Yahweh?

This question appears to be in response to my answer to the question "Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?".

Thanks for your comments. When I read the question "Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?", my understanding was that the questioner was suggesting that it was possible that we all worship the same God, just by different names. The thrust of my argument was that we worship different Gods. I still hold to this.

During my explanation of how these Gods are different, I mentioned briefly what the words mean, just in case any reader may not have understood. I stated "Allah is a generic Arabic term for 'god', and could be applied by Arabic speaking peoples to any god". It sounds as though the questioner accusing me of not reading the Bible agrees with me on that point. Of course, I don't read Arabic, so (looking over your question above) what connection me reading my English Bible has to the proper usage of an Arabic word is beyond me.

With regard to YHWH and Yahweh (also known as the "tetragrammaton"), you are correct that the ancient Hebrew scriptures did not have any vowels. However, YHWH is not written in Hebrew. It is written in English. The letters "Y", "H", and "W" are all English letters. The ancient Hebrew scriptures were not written in English without vowels as you seem to be incorrectly claiming, so I'm not really sure what you are bickering with me over.

Both YHWH and Yahweh (and Jehovah and Yehovah, for that matter) are English transliterations or transcriptions of the same Hebrew term. None of these transliterations is exactly what was originally written by the prophets, since the ancient Hebrew scriptures were not written using the English alphabet. As an interesting side note, Jehovah's Witnesses argue that "Yahweh" is not the correct pronunciation of the original Hebrew word that was written without vowels. They claim that "Jehovah" is the correct pronunciation.

This particular word is rather tricky with respect to pronunciation, apparently because the ancient Hebrews and early Christians found it to be too holy to speak. Since it was never spoken and was written in the ancient scriptures only without vowels, it's correct pronunciation is in question.

Nonetheless, I felt no compunction in using the term "Yahweh" in my answer to the original question for three reasons. First, it was the term used by the individual asking the question, thus, I necessarily had to use it in my answer. Second, it is generally accepted (with the recognition that the pronunciation may perhaps be flawed) as the revealed name of God by virtually every major Christian theologian, pastor, preacher, layperson, historian, and apologist in the English speaking world. Third, it is not the word itself (it's sounds and symbols) that is important, as though it were some sort of magic formula, but rather the meaning behind the word.

Finally, the name Yahweh (or YHWH, Yehovah, or Jehovah if you prefer) shows up first in the Christian Bible in the book of Genesis in Genesis 2:4, not in Exodus 3:14-15, where it's initial revelation to Moses is described.

Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH God made earth and heaven.

Aren't Allah, Brahman and Yahweh just different names for the same God?