Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

The devil, who hates the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ because of its vanquishing power, trembles at this all-powerful Name, and for that reason, he slandered it among many Christians, so that they may turn away from this fiery weapon, which is fearful to their enemy, but salvific for them.

Letters to the Laypeople, Letter 14

Prof. Serge Verhovskoy: The Distinction Between the Created and the Uncreated Names of God.

A particular form of the revelation of God in a word is the revelation of God in the Divine Names. A Name of God, as a human word, is, of course, created. (It is, therefore, possible to use it senselessly or “in vain.” The identification of a Name of God, as a [created] word, with God Himself is a heresy which was condemned by the Russian Holy Synod in the twentieth century.) But God Himself can dwell and act in it.

The Divine aspect of a Divine Name is, as it were, a Divine “self-definition” or a thought of God about Himself. The presence of a divine principle in the Divine Names follows from the whole attitude of the Old Testament toward Them. The Name of God is Holy, and God sanctifies Himself in His Name (Lev. 22:32). Men can offend the Name of God by their sins (Am. 2:7). God acts for the sake of His Name (Ez. 39:7, 25). The [uncreated] Name of God is one, great and eternal, as is God Himself (Ps. 9:2, 135:13, Zech. 14:9). God acts through His Name (Ps. 54:1). If there were nothing Divine in the Name of God, how would it be possible for us to bless, praise and love it, worship and serve it, rejoice in it and be persecuted for it’s sake? Finally it is striking that God reveals His Names (e.g. Ex. 3:13–14, 6:3). It follows that They express the genuine Divine reality.

God is near to a man in His Names (Ps. 76:1). The presence of God is equivalent to the presence of the Name of God. The Name of God dwells in the whole earth and especially in the Holy Land, in Israel, in Jerusalem, in the temple and in individuals. The Jews loved to give their children names in which there was a Divine Name (Ishmael, John, Joachim, Jesus, etc.).

There are about one hundred Divine Names in the Old Testament. Each of them has its own meaning. It is possible to include into Them the entire theology of the Old Testament. The Divine Name is “wonderful” (Jg. 13:17–18); it is “remembrance of God” (Ex. 3:15). God reveals His Name in order for men to know Him (Ex. 6:3, 33:19; Jer. 23:6).

"God and man: the Doctrine of the Knowledge of God in terms of Eastern Orthodoxy," pp. 95-6,  Serge Verhovskoy

Professor of Dogmatic Theology,
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

What’s in a Name? 

 A Biblical Primer on the Glory of God’s Holy Name

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Gregory Palamas

On the other hand, if someone were to reverence the sign of the Cross without the Lord's Name written upon it, he could justly be accused of doing something incorrect. Since 'at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth' (Phil. 2:10), and the Cross bears this venerable Name. How very foolish not to bow the knee at Christ's Cross!

St. Gregory Palamas, Homily 11, On the Precious and Life-giving Cross

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. John of Damascus

I venerate every holy temple of God and every place upon which the Name of God is invoked, not because of their nature, but because they become recipients of the Divine Energy.

St. John of Damascus,
Against those who decry the veneration

of the Holy Icons, Book 3, 34.

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Basil the Great

If the Holy Spirit can produce in the Apostles that which the Name of the Father and of the Son produces in the converted pagans, and the Name of Jesus Christ  - in the repentant Jews... how, then, can you say that the Spirit, which has the same Energy as the Father and the Son, does not share their Essence?

St. Basil the Great, Against Eunomius, Book 5: On the Holy Spirit

The Name of God in the Divine Services: Priestly Prayers of the Matins

"We give thanks unto Thee, O Lord our God, who hast raised us up from our beds, and hast put into our mouths a word of praise, that we may worship and call upon Thy holy Name."

From the Second Secret Prayer of the Matins

"For blessed and glorified is Thine all-honourable and majestic Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

From the Fourth Secret Prayer of the Matins

"That remaining ever in safety of soul and body, we may with boldness glorify Thy wondrous and blessed Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

From the Sixth Secret Prayer of the Matins

"Thou... hast awakened us from our beds, and roused us to the worship of Thine honourable Name."

From the Eighth Secret Prayer of the Matins

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Theodore the Studite

Heretics: “Is the inscription to be venerated,” the heretics ask, “or the icon, of which the title is inscribed? Is it exclusively one or the other, and not both? How?”

The Orthodox: That is rather like asking, “is it right to venerate the Gospel book or the title on it?” The representation of the Cross or the inscription on it?” I might add also in the case of our kind, “the man, or his name?” perhaps Peter and Paul and each of the individuals of the same species. Would that not  be stupid, not to say ridiculous? What is there, of all things before our eyes that is nameless? How can the thing which is named be separated in honour from its own appellation, so that we may offer veneration to the one and deprive the other of it? These are relationships, for the name is by nature the name of something which is named, and a kind of natural icon of that to which it is applied. Therefore the unity in veneration is not divided.

St. Theodore  the Studite, Against the Heretics, Book I, 14.

Letter to a Friend

We do not consider modern academic theologians and bishops, even Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, to be equal in authority to the great Fathers and Teachers of the Church, such as the three Great Hierarchs and the three Pillars of Orthodoxy. Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky clearly did misunderstand and misrepresent the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas on the Essence and Energies of God. Saint Gregory’s teachings were accepted and proclaimed as dogma by the Hesychast Councils of the fourteenth century and are included in the Synodicon of Orthodoxy. But around 1913, because of the Latin Captivity and pseudomorphosis, Russian academic theologians and some bishops appear not to have been reading Saint Gregory, these councils, or the full Greek text of the Synodicon. These texts were available in printed editions, but they were not “fashionable” in the Russian theological academies because of the Latin Captivity.

We also do not consider the Russian “synod” of a few government-appointed bishops to be equal in authority to the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Councils held under Saint Photius the Great, or the Hesychast Councils. These councils have been accepted by the entire Orthodox Church and their teachings have been incorporated into the Synodicon of Orthodoxy. Certain modern councils are sometimes given the title “pan-Orthodox Councils,” such as those that condemned the new calendar in the sixteenth century. But the Russian “synod” cannot compare in authority to any of these councils. The Russian “synod”—which existed from the time that Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate until the election of Saint Tikhon as patriarch—was something like a government bureau. The bishops were presided over by a layman (the over-procurator) who was sometimes not even an Orthodox Christian, but a Lutheran. This “synod” made several decisions inconsistent with Orthodoxy. This “synod” once approved intercommunion with Lutherans. Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky protested that un-Orthodox decision.

We must make the proper Orthodox distinction between God’s Essence and His Energies. We all agree that God’s Essence is unknowable, undefinable, and has no name. But we are speaking of God’s uncreated Energies, or Graces, which are knowable, can be participated in, and definitely do have Names (see the work, The Divine Names, by the Areopagite).

The 1913 Russian decree mistakenly claims that when Saint Gregory Palamas called the Energies of God “Divinity/Godhead,” that he was speaking in a way that is more broad than usual. This is false. Saint Gregory, the Hesychast Councils, and the Synodicon all make it clear that the Energies of God must always be confessed to be “Divinity/Godhead.” That is the normal language of the Church.

The Russian decree of 1913 also wrongly claimed that the Energies of God cannot be called “God” and certainly cannot be called “God Himself,” but can only be called “Divinity/Godhead.” But this is the exact opposite of what Saint Gregory Palamas taught. The Saint wrote that “every power or energy [of God] is God Himself.” Similarly, the Hesychast Councils and the Synodicon do not separate “God” from “Godhead/Divinity” in the way that the mistaken 1913 decree does. In the tradition of the Church, these words can and are used interchangeably. For example, God the Holy Trinity is called the Tri-Hypostatic Divinity.

We all agree that we do not render divine worship or adoration to any created name, to material sounds and letters. It is clear, however, that God’s Grace is attached to the sacred names and prayers just as God’s Grace is attached to and works through holy icons. This is not mechanical or magical, but it is one way God’s Grace works. Even the material, created names of God are a type of icon and we venerate holy icons. Thus we venerate God’s created names as we venerate the holy icons.

What the many quotations from the Scriptures, Fathers, and prayers of the Church that we have provided also demonstrate is that the “Name of God” in the language of the Church, often refers, not to the material or created names, but to their inner significance. The “Name of God” often refers to the uncreated Revelation, Grace, and Energy of God. And the Church clearly teaches that all the uncreated Divine Energies are “God Himself.” Thus, when the Scriptures, Fathers, and prayers of the Church enjoin us to praise the Name of God, they mean that we ought to praise God Himself.
Thomas Deretich.

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Diadochus of Photiki

When by remembrance of God we close all the exits of our mind it has need of some obligatory work to satisfy its restlessness. The only thing it should be given is the sacred Name of our Lord Jesus; let this wholly satisfy the aim that its has set itself... Those who mentally keep this holy and glorious Name unceasingly in the depth of their heart can see too the light of their mind.

When this wonderful Name is kept in the thought with intense care it very effectively scorches every filth that appears in the soul. ‘For our God is a consuming fire’ scorching all evil says the Apostle (Hebrews 12:29). Out of the fire the Lord finally brings soul into the great love for His glory. For the glorious and most coveted Name, becoming established in the warmth of the heart through the mind’s remembrance of it, gives birth to the habit of unhampered love for His goodness, since nothing then remains to hinder this. This is the precious pearl, which a man acquires having sold his possessions and rejoices greatly in acquiring Him.

St. Diadochus of Photiki, On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination, 59

The Name of God in the Divine Services: Prayer of Sanctification of St. Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis.

We bless these substances through the Name of thine Only-begotten, Jesus Christ; we pronounce over this water (or oil) the Name of Him Who suffered, Who was crucified and arose and sitteth at the right hand of the Unbegotten... may the participation in these substances be medicine for healing, a medicine of complete health, in the Name of Thine Only-begotten, Jesus Christ, through Whom unto Thee is the glory and dominion in the Holy Spirit throughout the ages of ages. Amen

The Name of God in Early Church Writings: Shepherd of Hermas (2nd century)

"Listen," he said: "the Name of the Son of God is great, and cannot be contained, and supports the whole world. If, then, the whole creation is supported by the Son of God, what think ye of those who are called by Him, and bear the Name of the Son of God, and walk in His commandments? do you see what kind of persons He supports? Those who bear His Name with their whole heart. He Himself, accordingly, became a foundation to them, and supports them with joy, because they are not ashamed to bear His Name."

Shepherd of Hermas, Book Three, Similitude Nine, 
Ch. 14.

"I have revealed Thy Name unto men." (John 17:6)

7/20 October, 2012
Ss. Sergius and Bacchus

Dear _____ ,

The Church teaches us to pray, saying:

"Glory to the Father and to the Son  and to the Holy Spirit..."

She also teaches us to pray thus:

"Grant us... that we may hymn and glorify Thine All-honourable and Majestical Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

Do you consider that in the first prayer we are worshipping the Holy Trinity, but in the second - something else? Of course not.

In both cases we worship the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the fact that we know that there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is because the Holy Trinity revealed Its Names to us. Without these revealed Names, we would not know that there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit at all. It is these revealed Names that allow us to really know that there is Holy Trinity. That is why the Names cannot be separated from God because it is they that reveal Him.

This is what St. Maximus the Confessor says in his scholia to St. Dionysius’ On the Divine Names, 2.7:

“Everything Divine that has been revealed to us (*), can only be known by participation.”

(*) Commentary by St. Maximus “That is - the Names”

St. Ephraim the Syrian:

Father and Son and Holy Spirit can be attained only through Their Names.

Do not investigate Their Hypostases,

Meditate only on Their Names.

If you will start to search out the Hypostasis, you will perish;

But if you believe in the Name, you will live. May the Name of the Father be a boundary for you: do not cross it and do not search out His Hypostasis. May the Name of the Son be a wall for you: do not try to overcome it and do not search out His Begetting. May the Name of the Spirit be a hedge for you: do not enter therein to investigate Him.

St. John of Damascus tells us:

And this also it behoves us to know, that the Names Fatherhood, Sonship and Procession, were not applied to the Holy Godhead by us: on the contrary, they were communicated to us by the Godhead, as the divine apostle says, ‘Wherefore I bow the knee to the Father, from Whom is every family in heaven and on earth’.

And our Saviour Himself prays to the Father, saying:

"I have revealed Thy Name unto men."

When God reveals something about Himself, can that be created?

This is what we mean by the Name of God - the revealed Truth about Him, and only afterwards - the human words by which this truth is articulated. This Truth about God exists and will always exist no matter if we materialize it in our human language or not. During your stay here in Boston, I asked you, whether created concepts and ideas can exist without words. You said: "Of course," and brought as an example the mathematical concepts. This is exactly how the term “Name of God” should be understood. It is the Truth about God, revealed by God, which is then articulated in human, created words. Every revelation of God about Himself, every Truth about God, is His Energy. It is in this sense, and in this sense alone, that the Name of God is His Energy. When this Name is articulated in human words, it, of course,  is not the Energy of God, but rather, it has the same holiness as an icon, and we may say that God's Energy is present in this created (sacred) word.

That is why the Saints say that the Name of God is holy by nature, that it is the source of sanctification, that by it are the mysteries accomplished, that it cleanses the heart of passions, and that is casts out demons etc. These are things that only God can do, and this is because the Name of God (again, its inner meaning and content) is the revealed Truth about God, and thus, His Energy.

This discussion really reminds one of the iconoclast period. The defenders of Orthodoxy taught that the Holy Icons are blessed by the inscription of the names, to which the heretics asked:

“Is the inscription to be venerated, or the icon, of which the title is inscribed? Is it exclusively one or the other, and not both? How?”

St. Theodore the Studite answered:

That is rather like asking, “is it right to venerate the Gospel book or the title on it?” The representation of the Cross or the inscription on it?” I might add also in the case of our kind, “the man, or his name?” perhaps Peter and Paul and each of the individuals of the same species. Would that not  be stupid, not to say ridiculous? What is there, of all things before our eyes that is nameless? How can the thing which is named be separated in honour from its own appellation, so that we may offer veneration to the one and deprive the other of it? These are relationships, for the name is by nature the name of something which is named, and a kind of natural icon of that to which it is applied. Therefore the unity in veneration is not divided.

In a very similar manner, when we worship God, how can His Names be deprived of the honour of worship? It is through them that we are able to know and worship God in the first place. Because these Name are not human deductions but a revelation of God about Himself.

We do not worship or venerate or glorify just the “Names,” independently from God, but rather, as much as the Names of God are a revelation of God, they are inevitably part of the worship that is due unto God. In the same manner, we do not worship simply “Light” or “Providence” or “Power” taken independently, but rather, as much as they are God’s operations, they are part of the worship that we render to God.

I hope this will help to clarify matters.

With love in our Saviour,

+ Gregory *

* Bishop of Brookline (HOCNA)

The Name of God in the Holy Scriptures: Prayer of King Solomon

And the king turned his face, and the king blessed all Israel, (and the whole assembly of Israel stood:) and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel today, who spoke by his mouth concerning David my father, and has fulfilled it with his hands, saying, From the day that I brought out my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any one tribe of Israel to build a house, so that my Name should be there: but I chose Jerusalem that my Name should be there, and I chose David to be over my people Israel. And it was in the heart of my father to build a house to the Name of the Lord God of Israel. And the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it came into thine heart to build a house to my Name, thou didst well that it came upon thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house, but thy son that has proceeded out of thy bowels, he shall build the house to my Name. And the Lord has confirmed the word that he spoke, and I am risen up in the place of my father David, and I have sat down on the throne of Israel, as the Lord spoke, and I have built the house to the Name of the Lord God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which the Lord made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, how much less even this house which I have built to thy Name? Yet, O Lord God of Israel, thou shalt look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays to thee in thy presence this day, that thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place which thou saidst, My Name shall be there, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays at this place day and night. And thou shalt hearken to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and thou shalt hear in thy dwelling-place in heaven, and thou shalt do and be gracious.

3 Kings, 8:12-30

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Athanasius the Great

What grace did He receive who is the Giver of grace ? Or how did He receive that Name for worship, who is always worshipped by His Name? Nay, certainly before He became man, the sacred writers invoke Him, 'Save me, O God, for Your Name's sake’; and again, 'Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God. ' And while He was worshipped by the Patriarchs, concerning the Angels it is written, 'Let all the Angels of God worship Him'

And if, as David says in the 71st Psalm, 'His Name remains before the sun, and before the moon, from one generation to another ,' how did He receive what He had always, even before He now received it? Or how is He exalted, being before His exaltation the Most High? Or how did He receive the right of being worshipped, who before He now received it, was ever worshipped? It is not a dark saying but a divine mystery.

St. Athanasius the Great, First Discourse Against the Arians, 40-41

Holy Fathers on the Name of God: St. Symeon of Thessalonika

What shall we say of this divine prayer, in invocation of the Saviour, 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me'? It is a prayer and a vow and a confession of faith, conferring upon us the Holy Spirit and divine gifts, cleansing the heart, driving out devils. It is the indwelling presence of Jesus Christ within us, and a fountain of spiritual reflections and divine thoughts. It is remission of sins, healing of soul and body, and shining of divine illumination; it is a well of God's mercy, bestowing upon the humble revelations and initiation into the mysteries of God. It is our only salvation, for it contains within itself the saving Name of our God, the only Name upon which we call, the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God. 'For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,' as the Apostle says (Acts iv, 12)

That is why all believers must continually confess this Name: both to preach the faith and as testimony to our love for the Lord Jesus Christ, from which nothing must ever separate us; and also because of the grace that comes to us from His Name, and because of the remission of sins, the healing, sanctification, enlightenment, and, above all, the salvation which it confers.

The Holy Gospel says: 'These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.' See, such is faith. And the Gospel adds, 'that believing ye might have life through his Name' (John xx. 31). See, such is salvation and life.

St. Symeon of Thessalonika, On Prayer.