How we name our God according to his self-revelation By Steve Strickler and Gerrit Dawson The Layman Volume 40, Number 1 Posted May 7, 2007 Our aim in this essay is to reflect the ways God talks about himself – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in Scripture. We hope that readers will feel the energy and dynamism as we let the glorious particularity of our God shine forth. In the English-speaking Christian church, the word “God” is used generally without confusion or misunderstanding. The Hebrew translation of “Elohim,” for God who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), and the Greek “Theos,” for God who so loved the world that he gave his only son (John 3:16), are prime examples of how Christians speak about their God who has been revealed to them in Scripture. ‘God’ means God We preach and teach, refer to and worship “God” without fear of being misrepresented or unwittingly drawn into syncretism. “God” means God, the God of the Scriptures. But at the dawn of the 21st century, we realize the old assumptions are under challenge. The emergence of Eastern religions and New Age philosophies has revealed a co-opting of the word “God” in the English language. Our neighbors, for example, may share with us their experiences of “God.” We assume that they are Christians because they name “God.” Nothing in the conversation strikes us as being particularly wrong until they begin to speak about karma and reincarnation. Then, to our surprise, we discover that their “god” isn’t who we thought he was. That three-letter word beginning with an uppercase letter doesn’t necessarily mean what it used to mean or what many people thought it meant. And so, we are forced to admit that precise language has become crucial in this pluralistic culture. Diversity of religious beliefs The world is shrinking. American spirituality reflects a growing diversity of religious beliefs. We may take our cues from a culture that has dealt with pluralism for a very long time. In Egypt, Christians have known this for centuries. All Egyptians, Muslim and Christian alike, speak Arabic. The Arabic word for “God” is Allah. Many Arabic colloquialisms contain the word “Allah” and Christians – without a thought – use them in the same ways that Muslims do. When Christians, however, speak with each other about their God – the Triune God revealed in Scripture – they tend to avoid (for obvious reasons) the Arabic word for God. Instead, they prefer the word “rabee” (Lord) for the Lord of the Old Testament or the Lord Jesus of the New Testament. In addition, they take full advantage of all the naming privileges due those who worship the one Triune God – they call on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This essay recognizes that using generic language to designate our God may contribute to people of various backgrounds getting along in today’s culture. Yet, such unqualified, general language does not communicate who our God is or how he made himself known. He is not generic; indeed, he is most particular. We choose to celebrate that particularity. Scripture, of course, speaks of God in a way that affirms no dualism: There is no other god – the Triune God alone reigns as the one and only deity. Still, the first commandment Moses received on Mount Sinai was, “I am the LORD, your God. … You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3). This first commandment acknowledges the human heart’s penchant for idolatry. There are, in fact, as many different gods as there are people with sinful tendencies to imagine them. We are given to manufacturing idols in our hearts, and our minds seek to devise new and errant philosophies to serve those idols. Thus, Israel receives this command: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). God’s name is not God In this Deuteronomy text, we see that Israel’s deity has a name. He is the Lord, their God. This is first introduced to Moses when the Lord appears to him in the burning bush: Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers (the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; see Exodus 3:6) has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13-14). God’s name is translated in English, I AM WHO I AM or, in transliterated Hebrew, YHWH (most accurately spoken and written, Yahweh). This divine name, referred to as the “Tetragrammaton” by scholars, was thought to be too sacred by the Hebrews to speak aloud. According to this convention, Scripture writers wrote YHWH, but spoke or read aloud the Hebrew word, Adonai (meaning Lord), in its place. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has a name. His name is the Lord. In I Kings, Elijah calls the people to stop dancing between two opinions: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (I Kings 18:21). The whole of the Old Testament testifies to the struggle of the people to maintain their allegiance to the one true God, the Lord. In Isaiah 6:1-8, both “Lord” and “Lord” are used in a striking way. In his vision, Isaiah saw the Lord (Adonai) sitting on a throne, but listens to the seraphs calling out the praises of the Lord (YHWH). Theological reflection explains that Isaiah was speaking, and eventually writing, according to convention – he saw Adonai, not daring even to write the name YHWH. The seraphs, of course, had no such compunction. The distinctive way The distinctive way in which our God is named as YHWH and Adonai in the Isaiah passage apparently is not maintained throughout the Scriptures. In the book of Daniel, for example, Adonai is used 10 times, YHWH seven times. Further study would perhaps yield a deeper understanding of why one is used in one place and the other in another place and context. For these purposes, however, it is enough to note the general tendency of the Scripture writers as they name their God. We note what appears to be a general rubric and concede the existence of exceptions to that rule. We believe it is critical that we be consistent in how we name our God. We rely, therefore, on the revealed testimony, Scripture itself, to determine how we will speak and write and teach about him. The Rev. Steve Strickler is Director of Church Relations for the Presbyterian Lay Committee, and the Rev. Dr. Gerrit Dawson is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, La.

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