MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA TREATISE I.15. THE NAMES OF GOD.
ANGELICO, Fra
St Bernard
1438-40
TREATISE I.
15. THE NAMES OF GOD.
I. God is ineffable. He cannot be described. Considering the name as being the summing up and the picture
of a person and his qualities and peculiarities, we may say
that God cannot be named. If our intellect cannot grasp
His essence, still less can feeble words express it. Even
the transcendent ideas that find expression only in those
nobler languages which we call the arts, are still too much
" of the earth earthly " to suggest to us a fraction of the
wonders and delights contained in the Creator s smallest
attribute. Even this earth will never be adequately described, although it is but the footprint of the Almighty.
Hence it was said, " Why askest thou My name, which is
wonderful?" (Jud. xiii. 18). And again, "I am the Lord
that appeared ... by the name of God Almighty ; and
My name Adonai I did not show them " (Ex. vi. 3). The
name of God was not pronounced or even known by the
Israelites : it was represented by four letters which we pronounce Jehovah. No word can express God s nature but
the uncreated Word of God Himself, the second Person of
the Blessed Trinity. Never presume to measure the perfections of God by the ideas of men. You cannot judge of
His ways, His designs, the wisdom of His decrees, the
methods by which He carries them out. To attempt this is
the same as attributing a human character to God and a
human name.
II. But because God is ineffable and indescribable, we
must not on that account abstain from naming God according to our abilities, from describing His perfections and
glorifying His name. In the same way that God, although
incomprehensible, may yet be known to a great extent by
us; so the impossibility of a full description of Him does
not prevent us from describing Him in a way that will excite
much devotion and give glory to His name. " When you
exalt Him put forth all your strength and be not weary, for
you can never go far enough " (Eccli. xliii. 34). The fact
that we cannot go far enough is the very reason why we
should go as f?r as we can. If we cannot render God the
whole of His deserts, we should at least offer Him all that
is in our power. Glorify the name of God, then, as much
as you can, making His perfections known to others, en
lightening their ignorance about Him, leading them to practise worship and prayer, and teaching them to love Him.
III. Consider the multitude of names by which God
allows us to address Him. The Jews had seventy-two
names for God ; and we have many more, according to the
different aspects in which we regard Him. Much of our
knowledge of God is negative ; we know that He is free
from our imperfections and limitations ; so we call Him the
Infinite, the Eternal, the Immortal, the Uncreated. Other
names refer to God as the origin of all life and virtue and
goodness. Therefore we speak of Him as the Creator, the
First Cause, the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the All-
just, the All-merciful. Under other aspects we may address
God as our life, our perfection, our joy, as perfect truth and
perfect beauty. In the old times God was called the Lord
of Hosts, the strong, the great, the terrible (2 Esdr. i. 5).
Jesus Christ has revealed to us a different class of names.
Christians think of God more frequently as their love, their
highest good, their supreme desire, their felicity, their
sweetness, their Spouse, and chiefly as their Father. Above
all we know the name of God made man, Jesus Christ, the
only "name under heaven given to men whereby we must
be saved" (Acts iv. 12). Rehearse the different names of
God, and praise Him for what is signified by each. Be
grateful that He has granted you to know His name and to
call upon it.
"No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than Thy blest name,
O Saviour of mankind."
MEDITATIONS ON CHRISTIAN DOGMA BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES BELLORD, D.D.
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