In as much as I don’t agree with some of the views of Daddy Freeze, I will love to buttress his point on the post he made earlier on Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus, while bringing it down to the Igbo translation “Jesu”
Put aside doctrines, let’s reason and research together. Don’t believe me, research my below postulations.
So far Hebrew language is concern, the letter “J” does not exist, rather what is commonly used in place of it is “Y”, just like the letter “Q” does not exist in Igbo letters, as what exists in place of it is “KW”.
The name you call “Jesus” (Christ) today was translated from the original Hebrew name Yeshua/Yehoshuo, which means “God is salvation”. Note that the term “Yah” is a short form for Yaweh (Hebrew name for God) which appears in many Hebrew names.
Again, this name (Yeshua) was not only answered by Christ, as the successor of Moses also had same name which was literally translated to Joshua In English: Eg Yah/Jah = short form for Yaweh/Jehovah, used in referring to God based on Hebrew and English translation. While “Yahoshua” (alternatively Yeshua)and Joshua means “God is salvation” based in Hebrew and English translation respectively.
How then did the name Jesus came to be?
Note: I’m not saying that the term Jesus is not in anyway related to Yeshua, just read the below to understand.
It may surprise some of you to know that the name Jesus never existed hundreds of years after the death of Christ, talk more of when he lived. Again, there’s no book that existed beyond 700 years ago that has the name “Jesus” recorded in it. Thus the earliest Christians didn’t even know about or heard the word Jesus.
The name was later (years after the death of Christ) formulated by the Catholic Church under the authority of the Roman Empire. Giving the fact that they (the Romans) previously reverence the God Jupiter which is related to the Greek God of Olympus Zeus before their conversion to Christianity, they already substituted the word Zeus (Deus) as a term used for God in Latin language, that is why even in today’s Latin, God is translated as Deus.
They simply wanted their lingual concept of God which is Zeus (Deus) as entailed in their language to be captured in place of the Hebrew term for God (/Yah/weh) while translating the name Yeshua (God saves), and that’s exactly how Jesus came about.
From Hebrew Yeshua to = Greek Iēsous (which is related to Zeus), then to = Latin Iesus before = English Jesus. Hebrew=Greek=Latin=English.
A good example of such translation: Assuming when Christianity was brought to Igbo land that Igbos as people worshiped Arusi Ogwgwu (Ogwugwu god) and had the word “Ogwugwu” as the word that refers to God in Igbo linguistics. Then the converts who later became Christian scholars decided to translate the name of Yeshua by replacing the Hebrew Yahweh (God) with the Igbo lingual concept of God Ogwugwu. That is “Ogwugwu n’ azo”, meaning “Ogwugwu is salvation” or “Ogwugwu saves”. Since the name Ogwugwu has be conceptualized to mean God (in almighty sense) in Igbo language. I hope you understood the lingual coinage? Remember it was just an instance.
In conclusion, if you make your research, you’ll understand that so far the name of Christ is concerned, The Hebrew name is Yeshua, and the English name Joshua literally is more equivalent to it than Jesus which was derived from a term related to a known GrecoRoman god.
Again, the truth is that Yeshua which was given to Christ as recorded was already being answered by many in Israel (example is the successor of Moses and many others), and probably the church didn’t want to use a literally equivalent name in other to make Christ and his name a unique figure. If not, there’s no difference between Yeshua and the English Joshua.
It’s not about emotions or what you feel, it’s about fact, I’m only saying it for knowledge sake and not for you to stop using the name you believe in. After all there are many spirits/gods that exists, and any of them could be answering anyone’s prayer in any name😊…lol
But on a serious note, if the Igbo bible translators were serious and sincere, they would have understood that Chi-Ukwu is the term we use in reverence to the supreme being and as such, the literal translation of Yeshua should be /Chi/nazo which means God is salvation or God saves. It captures the true name of Christ (Yeshua) more than “Jesu” which is meaningless in Igbo language.
Meanwhile there’s a debate on whether Jesus actually existed or not. But personally I don’t have an opinion on that, as there’s no evidence to absolutely and validly prove that he didn’t. Just as I read Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and many other ancient scholars and historical characters without knowing if they existed or not. I also read the teachings of Jesus and I can tell you that tho his moral and leadership philosophy is not perfect, it’s still one of/if not the best so far. The only problem is that most of our Nigerian Christians are hyp*crites and does not or cannot practice his teachings. If half of his (Christ’s) philosophy is practiced by just half of Christians in Nigeria, Nigeria would have been the best place to be in.
Away from that tho….. joke apart oo, imagine if someone enters your church and shouts in the name of Yeshua, Joshua, or Chinazor? I guess you’ll label him Antichrist?……That’s the power of indoctrination, it makes you fear and reject truth/fact even when you discover it. It makes you want to hear only what you fantasize or wish to hear.
Meanwhile the goal is religious tolerance. No religion is perfect.
Worship your God
Be good and do Good
English 
