Names of God

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about names for the single God of monotheistic religions. For theonyms generally, see
List of deities
.
A diagram of the names of God in Athanasius Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652–1654). The style and form are typical of the mystical tradition, as early theologians began to fuse emerging pre-Enlightenment concepts of classification and organization with religion and alchemy, to shape an artful and perhaps more conceptual view of God.
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There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various

ecumenical discourse between Eastern and Western scholars for over two centuries.[3] In Christian theology the word is considered a personal and a proper name of God.[4] On the other hand, the names of God in a different tradition are sometimes referred to by symbols.[5] The question whether divine names used by different religions are equivalent has been raised and analyzed.[6]

Exchange of names held sacred between different religious traditions is typically limited. Other elements of religious practice may be shared, especially when communities of different faiths are living in close proximity (for example, the use of

Mediterranean world.[10]

The attitude as to the transmission of the name in many cultures was surrounded by secrecy. In Judaism, the pronunciation of the name of God has always been guarded with great care. It is believed that, in ancient times, the sages communicated the pronunciation only once every seven years;[11] this system was challenged by more recent movements. The nature of a holy name can be described as either personal or attributive. In many cultures it is often difficult to distinguish between the personal and the attributive names of God, the two divisions necessarily shading into each other.[12]

Abrahamic and Abrahamic-inspired religions

Further information: El (deity)

Judaism

Main article: Names of God in Judaism
Further information: I Am that I Am, Yahweh, Tetragrammaton, Elohim, El Shaddai, and Elyon

Eloah (אלה) is used in poetry and late prose (e.g., the Book of Job) and ending with the masculine plural suffix "-im" ים creating a word like ba`alim ("owner(s)") and adonim
("lord(s), master(s)") that may also indicate a singular identity.

In the

Mosaic
tradition.

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers 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.'" God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation".

— Exodus 3:13–15

In Exodus 6:3, when Moses first spoke with God, God said, "I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known to them by my name YHWH."

YHWH (יהוה‎) is the proper name of God in Judaism. Neither vowels nor

vowel points were used in ancient Hebrew writings and the original vocalisation of YHWH has been lost.[13]

Later commentaries additionally suggested that the true pronunciation of this name is composed entirely of vowels, such as the Greek Ιαουε.[14] However, this is put into question by the fact that vowels were only distinguished in the time-period by their very absence due to the lack of explicit vowels in the Hebrew script. The resulting substitute made from semivowels and glottals, known as the tetragrammaton, is not ordinarily permitted to be pronounced aloud, even in prayer. The prohibition on misuse (not use) of this name is the primary subject of the command not to take the name of the Lord in vain.

Instead of pronouncing YHWH during

Adonai" ("Lord"). Halakha requires that secondary rules be placed around the primary law, to reduce the chance that the main law will be broken. As such, it is common religious practice to restrict the use of the word "Adonai" to prayer only. In conversation, many Jewish people, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God HaShem (השם), which is Hebrew for "the Name" (this appears in Leviticus 24:11
).

Almost all

Orthodox Jews avoid using either Yahweh or Jehovah altogether on the basis that the actual pronunciation of the tetragrammaton has been lost in antiquity. Many use the term HaShem as an indirect reference, or they use "God" or "The Lord" instead. Mark Sameth argues that Yahweh was a pseudo name for a dual-gendered deity, the four letters of that name being cryptogram which the priests of ancient Israel read in reverse as huhi, "heshe", as earlier theorized by Guillaume Postel (16th century) and Michelangelo Lanci [it] (19th century).[15][16][17][18]

Christianity

Main article: Names of God in Christianity
Further information: Jehovah
The Divine Name YHWH on a Lutheran Christian altar at Fiskebäckskil Church in Sweden
Jehovah, a vocalization of the Divine Name YHWH, on a stained glass window in of Saint-Fiacre de Dison Catholic Church in Belgium
See also: Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament

In Christianity, the Old Testament reveals YHWH (יהוה‎; often vocalized with vowels as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah") as the personal name of God.[19][20] References, such as The New Encyclopædia Britannica, affirm the vocalization "Yahweh" by offering additional specifics to its (Christian) reconstruction out of Greek sources:

Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and claim that this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.[14]

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.[22]

The Hebrew personal name of God YHWH is rendered as "the LORD" in many translations of the Bible, with Elohim being rendered as "God"; certain translations of Scripture render the Tetragrammaton with Yahweh or Jehovah in particular places, with the latter vocalization being used in the

which?] English translations of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as LORD, thus removing any form of YHWH from the written text and going well beyond the Jewish oral practice of substituting Adonai for YHWH when reading aloud.[24][failed verification
]

English Bible translations of the Greek New Testament render ho theos (Greek: Ο Θεός) as God and ho kurios (Greek: Ο Κύριος) as "the Lord", with the latter being the "Greek translation of the Hebrew OT name for God, Yahweh."[25]

anointed' in Greek (Χριστός). Khristos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah
; while in English the old Anglo-Saxon Messiah-rendering hæland (healer) was practically annihilated by the Latin Christ, some cognates such as heiland in Dutch and Afrikaans survive—also, in German, the word Heiland is sometimes used as reference to Jesus, e.g., in church chorals).

In the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, God, that is, Jesus is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". (cf. Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13)

Some

Abba which is Hebrew, "Most High".[19] Abba ('father' in Hebrew) is a common term used for the creator within Christianity because it was a title Jesus used to refer to God the Father
.

Mormonism

Main article: God in Mormonism

In Mormonism the name of God the Father is Elohim [29] and the name of Jesus in his pre-incarnate state was Jehovah.[30][31] Together, with the Holy Ghost they form the Godhead; God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.[32] Mormons typically refer to God as "Heavenly Father" or "Father in Heaven".[33]

Although Mormonism views the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct beings, they are one in purpose and God the Father (Elohim) is worshipped and given all glory through his Son, Jesus Christ (Jehovah). Despite the Godhead doctrine, which teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate, divine beings, many Mormons (mainstream

The Book of Mormon ends with "to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the eternal Judge of both the quick and dead. Amen."[34]

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God has only one distinctive name, represented in the Old Testament by the Tetragrammaton. In English, they prefer to use the form Jehovah.[35] According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the name Jehovah means "He causes to become".[36]

Scriptures frequently cited in support of the name include Isaiah 42:8: "I am Jehovah. That is my name", Psalms 83:18: "May people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth", and Exodus 6:3: "And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but with regard to my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them."[37][38]

While opposers of the faith critique their use of the form "Jehovah", Jehovah's Witnesses still hold on to their belief that, despite having scholars prefer the "Yahweh" pronunciation, the name Jehovah adequately transmits the idea behind the meaning of God's name in English. While they do not discourage the use of the "Yahweh" pronunciation, they highly consider the long history of the name Jehovah in the English language and see that it sufficiently identifies God's divine persona.[39][40] This rationale is analogous to the widespread use of Jesus as the English translation of Yehoshua.

Islam

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script).
Main article: Names of God in Islam
Further information: Allah and God in Islam

Ottoman Turkish language as the equivalent of Allah.[42]

He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (Translation of Qur'an: Chapter 59, Verses 22-24)

Sufism

In

verses of the Quran
:

"La ilaha illa Hu"

— Al Imran:18

Baháʼí Faith

See also: God in the Baháʼí Faith

The

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, is the "complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God".[45]

Mandaeism

Main article: Hayyi Rabbi
Further information: Mandaeism

Mandaeans believe in one God called Hayyi Rabbi ('The Great Life' or 'The Great Living God').[46] Other names for God used include Mare d'Rabuta ('Lord of Greatness'), Mana Rabba ('The Great Mind'), Melka d'Nhura ('King of Light') and Hayyi Qadmaiyi ('The First Life').[47]

Gnosticism

Main article: Monad (Gnosticism)

Indian religions

Hinduism

Main article: God in Hinduism

There are multiple names for God's various manifestations worshiped in Hinduism. Some of the common names for these deities in Hinduism are:

Additionally, most Hindu deities have a collection of 8/12/16/32/100/108/1000/1008 names exclusively dedicated to them known as Namavali.[clarification needed][citation needed]

Tamil Tradition

  • அருமன் (Arumaṉ) - The most giving.
  • உய்யன் (Uyyaṉ) - The most high.
  • இறைவன் (Iṟaivaṉ) - The one above all.
  • இயவுள் (Uyyaṉ) -
    who sets things in motion
    .

Arya Samaj

Main article: Satyarth Prakash

Aum
" as God's personal and natural name.

Jainism

Main article: God in Jainism

Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents (soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion) have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and an immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Jainism offers an elaborate cosmology, including heavenly beings (devas), but these beings are not viewed as creators; they are subject to suffering and change like all other living beings, and must eventually die.

Jains define godliness as the inherent quality of any soul characterizing infinite bliss, infinite power,

moksha
.

If godliness is defined as the state of having freed one's soul from karmas and the attainment of

Rishabhanatha
was god/Tirthankara but he was not the only Tirthankara; there were many other Tirthankara. However, the quality of godliness is one and the same in all of them.

Jainism does not teach the dependency on any supreme being for enlightenment. The Tirthankara is a guide and teacher who points the way to enlightenment, but the struggle for enlightenment is one's own. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in the cosmos; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas.

Jains believe that to attain enlightenment and ultimately liberation from all karmic bonding, one must practice the ethical principles not only in thought, but also in words (speech) and action. Such a practice through lifelong work towards oneself is called as observing the

Mahavrata
('Great Vows').

Gods can be thus categorized into embodied gods also known as

Kevalis, and non-embodied formless gods who are called Siddhas
. Jainism considers the devīs and devas to be souls who dwell in heavens owing to meritorious deeds in their past lives. These souls are in heavens for a fixed lifespan and even they have to undergo reincarnation as humans to achieve moksha.

Sikhism

Main article: Names of God in Sikhism
Further information: God in Sikhism

There are multiple names for God in Sikhism. Some of the popular names for God in Sikhism are:

  • Akal Purakh, meaning 'timeless being'.
  • Ik Onkar, 'One Creator', found at the beginning of the Sikh Mul Mantar.
  • Nirankar, meaning 'formless'.
  • Satnam, meaning 'True Name'; some are of the opinion that this is a name for God in itself, others believe that this is an adjective used to describe the Gurmantar, Waheguru.
  • Waheguru, meaning 'Wonderful Teacher bringing light to remove darkness'; this name is considered the greatest among Sikhs, and it is known as Gurmantar, 'the Guru's Word'. Waheguru is the only way to meet God.[citation needed]
  • Dātā or Dātār, meaning 'the Giver'.
  • Kartā or Kartār, meaning 'the Doer'.
  • Diāl, meaning 'compassionate'.
  • Kirpāl, meaning 'benevolent'.

In the Sikh scripture, both Hindu and Muslim names of the Supreme Being are also commonly employed, expressing different aspects of the divine Name. For instance, names like

Karim ('generous'), and Sahib ('lord') are of Muslim origin.[48]

God, according to Guru Nanak, is beyond full comprehension by humans; has an endless number of virtues; takes on innumerable forms, but is formless; and can be called by an infinite number of names thus "Your Names are so many, and Your Forms are endless. No one can tell how many Glorious Virtues You have."[49]

The word Allah (Punjabi: ਅਲਹੁ) is used 12 times in the Guru Granth Sahib (primary religious scripture) by Sheikh Farid. Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Arjan Dev and Bhagat Kabeer used the word 18 times.

Iranian religions

Yazidism

Main article: Yazidism

Yazidism knows only one eternal God, often named Xwedê.[50] According to some Yazidi hymns (known as Qewls), God has 1001 names.[51]

Zoroastrianism

Main article:
101 Names of God

In

Parsi tradition expanded this to a list of 101 names of God.[52]

African religions

!Kung

The supreme being in

!Kung mythology
is known as Khu, Xu, Xuba, or Huwa.

Odinani

omnipresent supreme deity that encompasses everything in space
and time itself. Igbo Christians also refer to the Abrahamic God as Chukwu.

West African Vodun

Lisa, and all of the universe. After giving birth to these, she retired and left the matters of the world to Mawu-Lisa. She is the primary creator, Mawu-Lisa the secondary creator, and the theology based on these is called Vodun, Voodoo or Vodoun.[53]

Yoruba religion

The supreme creator in the

Olodumare. The Yoruba believe that Olodumare is omnipotent and is the source of all.[54] Olodumare is aloof; he is not directly involved in earthly matters and lets other Yoruba deities (orisha), who are his sons and daughters, answer human concerns through divination, possession, sacrifice and more.[55] However, everything is in the hands of Olodumare when they are going to bed at night.[54]
Yoruba Muslims and Christians also refer to the Abrahamic God as Olorun.

Zulu traditional religion

Unkulunkulu is the supreme creator in Zulu traditional religion. Unkulunkulu brought human beings and cattle from an area of reeds. He created everything, from land and water, to man and the animals. He is considered the first man as well as the parent of all Zulu. He taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food.[56] Zulu Christians also refer to the Abrahamic God as Unkulunkulu.

Native American religions

Anishinaabe

Main article: Anishinaabe traditional beliefs

Gitche Manitou, also known as Gitchi Manitou, Kitchi Manitou, means "

Christian missionaries have translated God
as Gitche Manitou in scriptures and prayers in the Algonquian languages.

See also

References

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  2. ^
    Kopelman Foundation
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  4. ^ (PDF) Sacraments of the Incarnate Word: The Christological Form of the Summa theologiae C Wells, Etd.nd.edu
  5. ^ Aiyadurai Jesudasen Appasamy, G. S. S. Sreenivasa Rao, Inter-faith dialogue and world community. Christian Literature Society for India (1991) "All these names of God are, of course, symbols. ... All names of the one God or the Absolute are symbols." p. 9
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    . The Old Testament contains various titles and surrogates for God, such as El Shaddai, El Elyon, Haqqadosh (The Holy One), and Adonai. In chapter three, consideration will be given to names ascribed to God in the patriarchal period. Gerhard von Rad reminds us that these names became secondary after the name YHWH had been known to Israel, for "these rudimentary names which derive from old traditions, and from the oldest of them, never had the function of extending the name so as to stand alongside the name Jahweh to serve as fuller forms of address; rather, they were occasionally made use of in place of the name Jahweh." In this respect YHWH stands in contrast to the principal deities of the Babylonians and the Egyptians. "Jahweh had only one name; Marduk had fifty with which his praises as victor over Tiamat were sung in hymns. Similarly, the Egyptian god Re is the god with many names.
  20. ^ "The Name of God in the Liturgy". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2008. The directive notes that 'in recent years the practice has crept in pronouncing pronouncing the God of Israel's proper name,' known as the holy or divine tetragrammaton, written with four consonants, YHWH, in the Hebrew alphabet. In order to vocalize it, it is necessary to introduce vowels that alter the written and spoken forms of the name (i.e. 'Yahweh' or 'Jehovah').
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-1-64508-304-7
    . Shorter forms of Yahweh: The name Yahweh also appears in a shortened form, transliterated Jah (pronounced Yah) in the Revised Version and the American Standard Version, either in the text or footnote: " my song is Jah " ( Ex 15:2); "by Jah, his name" (Ps 68:4); "I shall not see Jah in Jah's land (Is 38:11). It is common also in such often untranslated compounds as hallelujah 'praise Jah' (Ps 135:3; 146:10, 148:14), and in proper names like Elijah, 'my God is Jah,' Adonijah, 'my Lord is Jah,' Isaiah, 'Jah has saved.'
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  24. ^ NASB (1995). "Preface to the New American Standard Bible". New American Standard Bible (Updated Edition). Anaheim, California: Foundation Publications (for the Lockman Foundation). Archived from the original on 2006-12-07. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated as LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion.
  25. ISBN 978-0-8308-1777-1
    . Many of the uses of kyrios for God are in citations of the OT and in expressions derived from the OT (e.g., "angel of the Lord"), and in these passages the term functions as the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT name for God, Yahweh. For example, twenty-five of the uses of kyrios for God in Luke are in the first two chapters, where the phrasing is so heavily influenced by the OT. The third frequently used term for God is "Father" (patēr), doubtless the most familiar term for God in Christian tradition and also perhaps the most theologically significant title for God in the NT. Unlike the other terms for God already mentioned--without exception in the Synoptics, and with only a few exceptions in John--"Father" as a title for God appears only in the sayings attributed to Jesus (the Johannine exceptions are in editorial remarks by the Evangelist in 1:14, 18, a saying of Philip in 14:8 and the crowd's claim in 8:41).
  26. ^ Yeshua (ישוע, with vowel pointing יֵשׁוּעַ - yēšūă‘ in Hebrew) Strong's Yeshuwa
  27. ^ Ilan, Tal (2002). Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity Part I: Palestine 330 BCE-200 CE (Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum 91). Tübingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr. p. 129.
  28. ^ Stern, David (1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, Maryland: Jewish New Testament Publications. pp. 4–5.
  29. ^ First Presidency and Council of the Twelve, 1916, "God the Father", compiled by Gordon Allred, p. 150
  30. ^ Moroni 10:34
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  32. ^ "Doctrine and Covenants 76:12-24". churchofjesuschrist.org.
  33. ^ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "How can we come to know our Father in Heaven?". Mormon.org.
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Sources

External links

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