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| LBRP hebrew (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Diagram of the names of God in Oedipus Aegyptiacus (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| ghost god (pike and 12th) (Photo credit: Dylan) |
Names of God, or Holy
Names, describe a form of addressing God present in a monotheist notion of a
singular God in liturgy or prayer.[1] Prayer involving the name of God
has become a part of both Western and Eastern monotheist spiritual practices. A
number of traditions have lists of many names of God, many of which enumerate
the various qualities of a supreme being.
The English word "God" is used by
multiple religions as a noun or
name to refer to
different deities.[2]
Ancient cognate equivalents for the
word "God" include proto-Semitic el,
Hebrew Elohim
(God or/of gods), Arabic 'ilah
(a or the
god), and Biblical
Aramaic Elaha (god). The personal or
proper name for God in
many of these languages may either be distinguished from such attributes, or homonymic. For example, in Judaism the Holy Name is sometimes
related to the ancient Hebrew ehyeh (I will be).
Correlation between
various theories and interpretation of the name of "the one God",
used to signify a monotheistic or ultimate Supreme Being from which
all other divine attributes derive, has been a subject of ecumenical discourse
between Eastern and Western scholars for over two centuries.[3] In Christian theology the word
must be a personal and a proper name of God; hence it cannot be dismissed as
mere metaphor.[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 Om and Gayatri within the Indian Christian community) but
usage of the names themselves mostly remain within the domain of a particular
religion, or even may help define one's religious belief according to practice,
as in the case of the recitation of names of God (such as the japa).[7] Guru Gobind Singh's Jaap Sahib, which contains
950 names of God.[8] The
Divine Names, the classic treatise by Pseudo-Dionysius,
defines the scope of traditional understandings in Western traditions such as
Hellenic, Christian, Jewish and Islamic theology on the nature and
significance of the names of God.[9] Further historical lists such as The 72 Names of the Lord show parallels in the
history and interpretation of the Name of God amongst Kabbalah, Christianity, and
Hebrew scholarship in various parts of the Mediterranean world.[10]
One definition of
the Name of God was given by Elisha Mulford as "that name which passes
into the common forms of thought". The author states that in its
derivation, it may have an ethical significance.[11] Other writers suggest that the
"name of God represents the nature of God".[12] 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;[13] 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.[14]
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