Names of God

Can God really be comprehended in terms of a name or concept like Love?

"God is Love."

In our era, we know that God has many different names. The question becomes one of whether it is acceptable for humankind to take the name of God and reduce that name, or to a mere concept, like Love.

In the early days of ancient Judaism, the name of God was something that was held in awe and treated with absolute respect, at least by the true believers. Of course, in those days, there were the doubters too, as there probably always will be.

For the true believers, the question at that time became one of how to refer to God, whose name could not be spoken, even though the reality of God was apparent to His people.

The name God is now comprehended in terms of many different understandings of what the word God means.

The simplest one of these for us to comprehend is the designation of the name God, in terms of the concept Love. "God is Love." It appears that we do not have any problem accepting that Biblical statement or in understanding God in this light. We can interpret that in many ways.

Note that this is not unlike taking a person's surname like Black, Brown, Green or White, on a human level and reducing it to some kind of an understanding of what that particular word was intended to mean or is intended to convey, either to oneself, or to others.

In this instance, we do not hesitate to accept the words black, brown or white as colors. Colors are conceptual and something that is understood in terms of our perception. No one appears to take offense with respect to using those words in this kind of a context.

What happens though when one takes a surname of some kind and essentially reduces it to a concept? Is it some kind of reductionism? Does it reduce its meaning or signification? Probably not. More than likely, it is being used in a different context.

Should the Blacks, the Browns, the Greens or the Whites be offended?

In response to this, one might ask, this question. Did or does, God take offense when His name was or is still being reduced to the concept of Love? Should those with the surnames of Black, Brown, Green or White be offended, when their surnames are used to designate the colors these words can depict?

What we do become aware of or see in all of this, is an attempt by humankind to comprehend the world in which we all live. Our best way of understanding anything, no matter how large it is or how small it is, is to reduce it to a concept, which we can perceive and then, come to understand.

We do comprehend the concept of Love in a multiplicity of ways. It is used as a name, surname or a family name. No one has a problem with that either, for some strange reason.

If I take the word love and put it into an e-mail address, is that offensive? No, it is not, but personally, I would be rather careful about using the name God in an e-mail address.

How we choose to use the name God in terms of a concept or even as the concept of Love is our own personal choice.

This article is intended to offer food for thought. We probably still tend to regard and to use the name God, in terms of awe and respect, even when His name is regarded as the name or the concept of Love.