Names of God: Difference between revisions

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Monotheistic faiths believe that there is and can only be one unique supreme being, Polytheism means the belief in several coexisting deities. The conceptions of such beings can vary widely, but the word God in English and its counterparts in cognate languages are normally used for all of them. Other languages have similar generic names, and a common experience is for the word for "God" in one language to be perceived by speakers of other languages as the name of a specific deity worshipped by speakers of that one language. However some names refer almost exclusively to the supreme being of a single religion.

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

In the Hebrew Bible, the name of God represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature. The various Jewish names of God represent God, and His divine attributes. The most important name of God is the tetragrammaton (Hebrew:Template:Hebrew, English: YHVH or YHWH—vowels are not written in the Hebrew spelling), and Elohim. See Ēl, Names of God in Judaism.

Christianity

Yahweh or Jehovah are common vocalizations of God's personal name based on the Hebrew tetragrammaton (above). Most modern Christian Bibles have removed this name in nearly all of the 7000 places it appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, usually replacing it with 'LORD' or a similar alternative. The name does appear at four places in the King James Bible (e.g. Exodus 6:3), but is only used with prominence by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Nearly all Christian traditions recognize the name in some form, even if it has largely fallen out of use.

Much of Christendom believes in the Holy Trinity, i.e. a single God in three Persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.

Jesus (Iesus, Yeshua, Joshua, or Yehoshûa) is a Hebraic personal name meaning "Jehovah Saves", and Christ means "the annointed" in Greek. (translating Messiah).

In the effort to translate the Bible into every language (see SIL), the Christian God has usually been named after a pagan or philosophical concept that was present in the language before Christianity.

God itself is an example of this, the word having earlier referred to Germanic pagan deities. Greek Theos (Θεός, with the initial letter invariably capitalised - pagan or "false" gods were written as theos/θεός, theoi/θεοί with lowercase letters used throughout)) was used for the supreme God even before Christianity, in the Septuagint. St. Jerome translated the Hebrew word Elohim to Latin as Deus. Other names of the Christian God that have a history of pagan meanings include Slavic Bog, Finnish Jumala, Japanese Kami and in Arabic Allah which is generally thought to be solely a word which describes the Islamic God.

The less evangelical branch of the Quakers often refers to God as The Light.

Another term used is 'King of Kings' or 'Lord of Lords' and Lord of the Hosts.

Other names used by Christians include the Hebrew names Elohim, El-Shaddai, and Adonai.

Islam

Allah is the most frequently used name of God in Islam when speaking Arabic. It originally simply meant "the God" in Arabic, and was used in pre-Islamic times to refer to a divinity worshipped in Mecca. It is properly translated as "God" in English, and seen by Muslims as the same God of Christianity and Judaism (Referred to as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). The Arabic word Allah is a linguistic cognate of the Hebrew word Eloah and the English word "god", although there are some Christian sects which claim that there is a distinction between their deity and the deity or deities worshipped in either Judaism or Islam. Nevertheless, Allah is the same word in Arabic used by Arab Jews and Christians when speaking of God.

An Islamic tradition states that there are 99 Names of God, which are His attributes.

Besides those names of Qur'anic origin, some other names have been used, be it far less widely, e.g. the Osmanli anachronism Tangri (originally the pagan Turks' celestial chief god, corresponding to the Mongol Tengri), or the Farsi word for God, Khuda.

Rastafari

• Haile Selassie is the name of God incarnate in the Rastafari movement. God is called Jah and Haile Selassie is called Jah Rastafari, from his precoronation name Ras Tafari Makonnen

Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'ís refer to God using the local word for God in whatever language is being spoken, so God is used in English, Allah in Arabic, Gud in the Scandinavian languages, and so forth. This is because Bahá'ís believe that, although people have different concepts of God and His nature, and may call Him by different names and use different languages, everyone is referring to one unique Deity.

Bahá'ís believe that the essence of God is beyond the knowledge and understanding of human beings, and that he therefore must be known through his names, or attributes. God's names are seen as his attributes, and God is often, in prayers, referred to by these titles and attributes, such as the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the Merciful, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous, the All-Wise, the Incomparable, the Gracious, the Helper, the All-Glorious, the Omniscient.

Translations of scripture typically use the local language unless a whole phrase is being transliterated for a specific purpose. However, since the languages in which the Bahá'í Faith was first authored were Arabic and Farsi, the term Allah and other "names" are used in some specific contexts, even by non-Arabic speakers. The above-mentioned attributes are sometimes referred to in their Arabic form - for instance Bahá'ís refer to "Bahá" (meaning Glory or Splendour) as The Greatest Name of God. This also forms the root of the word "Bahá'i." The Bahá'í greeting Alláh'u'abhá is a formulation of this word and is usually translated "God is most Glorious".

Pharaonic Egypt

• Aten is the earliest name of a supreme being associated with monotheistic thought, being the solar divinity which Akhenaten had declared the only god of the state cult, as part of his wholesale absolutist reforms, thereby threatening the position on the various temple priesthoods, which had the old polytheism restored immediately after his death. See also the Great Hymn to the Aten .

Zoroastrianism

• Ahuramazda "Lord Wisdom" is the name of the supreme benevolent god in Zoroastrianism.

Roman paganism

While some of the older deities have names long pre-dating the Latin people the Romans belong to, and even more were adopted with their autochthonous names (or Latinized in a recognizable way), many minor divinities were named simply as personifications of various minor aspects of daily life. Latin also prominently used an abstract word for god, deus (hence deity and, from its adjective divinus, divinity), from Proto-Indo-European root deiwos, also the root of words for "sky" and "day" -- the god-sense is originally "shining," but "whether as originally sun-god or as lightener" is not now clear; the epithet Deus Optimus Maximus, DOM "Best and Greatest God", coined for Jupiter, the pater familias of the Roman pantheon, was later adopted in Christianity, as well as Deus.

Mithras

The name of this Persian god of light, one of the earliest Indic words we possess, being found in clay tablets from Anatolia dating to about 1500 B.C, reported in English only since 1551, is from Latin, from Greek Mithras, derived from itself from Avestan Mithra-, possibly from an Indo-Iranian root mitram "contract," whence mitras "contractual partner, friend," conceptualized as a god, or, according to Kent, first the epithet of a divinity and eventually his name; from proto-Indo-Germanic root base mei- "to bind"; related to Sanskrit Mitrah, a Vedic deity associated with Varuna.

Dharmic religions

Hinduism

• Brahman in Sanskrit is both the knowable and unknowable Supreme. Om, has been seen as the first manifestation of the unmanifest Brahman (the single Divine Ground of Hinduism) that resulted in the phenomenal universe. Anami Purush (nameless power) and Radha Soami (lord of the soul) are two names used for God in Surat Shabda Yoga.
• In Vaishnavism, the Vishnu sahasranama enumerates names of God. The names of Vishnu's Dasavatara in particular are considered divine names. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Krishna in particular is held as the personal aspect of God, the Hare Krishnas being a modern example of a movement following this philosophy.
• In Shaivism, the Shiva sahasranama enumerates names of God.
• Trimurti is the Hindu "Trinity", although this differs largely to the Christian conception. See Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma. See also Sahasranama.

Sikhism

In Sikhism God is One Entity and has no gender. He is referred to in the Sikh Scriptures by many hundreds of names. The holy scripture of the Sikhs called the Sri Guru Granth Sahib or SGGS begins with the following passage called the Mool Mantar or the "Main Mantra":

Original Text -Punjabi: ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

ISO 15919 transliteration: Ika ōaṅkāra sati nāmu karatā purakhu nirabha'u niravairu akāla mūrati ajūnī saibhaṃ gura prasādi

Simplified transliteration: Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purkh nirbha'u nirvair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṃ gur prasād ||

English: One God. Truth is His name. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Malice. Image Of The Undying, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent. By Guru's Grace ~

The English translation uses 'His' or 'He' when referring to God. Sikhism does not recognise God as being of either sex and the original Punjabi version reflects this by being gender neutral.

The SGGS says the following about God: "You have so many Names, Lord, I do not know their limit. There is no other equal to You." (SGGS page 877).

However, some of the popular names for God are:

• Akal Purakh meaning Timeless Primal Being. "Akal" stands for 'Primal, timeless' and "Purakh" stands for 'Being'
• Ek Onkar meaning Creator
• Satnam meaning True Name
• Waheguru, meaning Wonderful Lord
• Bhao Khandan meaning Destroyer of Fear
• Dukh Bhanjno meaning Dispeller of Pain
• Bhagat Vachhal meaning Lover of His Saints
• Hari meaning Glowing, Shining, Vitalising - Absolute Name of God
• Govind meaning Preserver of the World

God according to Guru Nanak is beyond full comprehension by humans; has endless number of virtues; takes on innumerable forms; 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." (SGGS page 358)

Chinese religions

• Shang Ti 上帝 (Hanyu Pinyin: shàng dì) (literally King Above) was a supreme God worshipped in ancient China. It is also used to refer to the Christian God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible.
• Shen 神 (lit. spirit, or deity) is commonly used to refer to various spirits, including gods, and was adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. In this context it is usually rendered with a space, " 神", to demonstrate reverence.
• Tian 天 (lit. sky or heaven) is used to refer to the sky as well as a personification of the sky. Whether it possesses sentience in the embodiment of an omnipotent, omniscient being is a difficult question for linguists and philosophers.

Other traditions

• Xwedê is the term used for God in the Yazidi religion and in Kurdish.
• Abraxas is a god uniting the dualistic concepts in Gnosticism. See also Monad.
• Cao Đài is the name of God in Caodaism.

Taboos

Several religions advance taboos related to names of their gods. In some cases, the name may never be spoken, or only spoken by inner-circle initiates, or only spoken at prescribed moments during certain rituals. In other cases, the name may be freely spoken, but when written, taboos apply. It is common to regard the written name of one's god as deserving of respect; it ought not, for instance, be stepped upon or dirtied. It may be permissible to burn the written name when there is no longer a use for it.

Judaism

Most observant Jews forbid any method of discarding the written name of God. Once written, the name must be preserved indefinitely. This leads to several noteworthy practices:

• Commonplace materials, such as calendars which include quotations from Torah, are written with an intentionally abbreviated form of the name. For instance, quotations written in English may substitute "G-d" for the name of God. Thus, a calendar or children's Hebrew school workbook may be discarded along with ordinary trash.
• Copies of the Torah are, like most scriptures, heavily used during worship services, and will eventually become worn out. Since they may not be disposed of in any way, including by burning, they are removed, traditionally to the synagogue attic. See genizah. There they remain until the building itself is destroyed by the hand of God or gentiles (non-Jews).
• All religious texts that include the name of God are buried.

Literature and fiction

• Names of God in Old English poetry
• Aigonz is the word for God in the lingua ignota of Hildegard of Bingen
• Eru Ilúvatar, a name of monotheistic God in Quenya, a fictional language invented by J. R. R. Tolkien.
• "The Nine Billion Names of God", a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.
• Maleldil is the name of God in Old Solar, the true language in the Space Trilogy books by C.S. Lewis

See also

• Goddess
• List of deities
• Names of God in Judaism
• 99 Names of God (in Islam)
• Sahasranama (Hindu)

Sources and external links

• Etymology OnLine- here divinity and Mithras
• Hebrew Names of G-d
• Names of God
• Names of Krishna (God)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911- Turks
• Meher Baba's 101 Names of God
• Jehovah (Yahweh)