Naam van God, de Vader [JHWH}

Note:

Indien de eerste christenen de naam “Jehovah” gebruiken is dat omdat zij een tekst of passage citeren uit het Oude Testament waar het Tetragrammaton (JHWH) in het Hebreews vermeld staat. In de ANF hebben de Engelse vertalers voor “Jehovah" gekozen, maar hadden zij ook voor de geaccepteerde weergave van “Jahweh" kunnen kiezen.
Zie ook: De Vader, de Zoon en de Heilige Geest.

God has no name, for everything that has a name is related to created things. Aristides (c. 125, E), 9.264.

He has as many virtues as are distinctive to a God who is called by no proper name. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.165.

To the Father of all, who is unbegotten, there is no name given. . . . These words—Father, God, Creator, Lord, and Master—are not names. Rather, they are appellations derived from His good deeds and functions. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.190.

As to the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe, . . . if anyone dares to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.183.

Then, having proceeded a little further, and wishing to mention the ancient lawgivers, he mentions Moses first. For he spoke in these words: “Among the Jews they say that Moses ascribed his laws to that God who is called Jehovah, whether because they judged it a marvellous and quite divine conception which promised to benefit a multitude of men, Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.27.

God cannot be called by any proper name. For names are given to mark out and distinguish various subject matters, because these matters are many and diverse. However, no one existed before God who could give Him a name, nor did He Himself think it right to name Himself. For He is one and unique. . . . On this account, He said to Moses, “I am the Being.” By the participle being, He taught the difference between the God who is and the gods who are not. Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), 1.281. 

However, the [Gnostics] object that, in the Hebrew language, diverse expressions occur in the Scriptures, such as Sabaoth, Eloë, and Adonai, and all other such terms. From this they try to prove that there are different powers and gods. However, let them learn that all expressions of this kind are but announcements and appellations of one and the same Being. . . . These are not the names and titles of a succession of different beings, but of one and the same, by means of which the one God and Father is revealed. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.412, 413.

If we name Him, we do not do so properly. We can call Him either the One, or the Good, or Mind, or Absolute Being, or Father, or God, or Creator, or Lord. But we are not speaking as though supplying His name. Rather, for lack of an alternative, we use good names in order that the mind may have these as points of reference, so as not to err in other respects. For each one by itself does not express God; but all together are indicative of the power of the Omnipotent. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.464.

That mystic name that is called the Tetragrammaton, by which those alone who had access to the Holy of Holies were protected, is pronounced Jehovah. It means, “Who is and who will be.” Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.585, from a Latin translation.

The soul may be under the oppressive bondage of the body. . . . It may be in slavery to false gods. Nevertheless, whenever the soul comes to itself, such as out of a . . . sleep or sickness, and attains something of its natural soundness, it speaks of God. It uses no other word, because this is the peculiar name of the true God. “God is great and good.” Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.32.

The name of God the Father had been published to no one. Tertullian (c. 198, W), 3.682.

Neither must you ask for a name of God. God is His name. We have need of names when a multitude are to be separated into individuals. . . . To God, who is alone, the name “God” is the whole. Mark Minucius Felix (c. 200, W), 4.183.

We say that the name Sabaoth, Adonai, and the other names treated with so much reverence among the Hebrews, do not apply to any ordinary created things. Rather, they belong to a secret theology concerning the Framer of all things. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.406.

We defend the conduct of the Christians when they struggle even to death to avoid calling God by the name of Zeus, or to give Him a name from any other language. For they use the common name of God—either by itself or with some such addition as that of the “Maker of all things.” Origen (c. 248, E), 4.407.

Christians in prayer do not even use the precise names that divine Scripture applies to God. Rather, the Greeks use Greek names. The Romans use Latin names. And everyone prays and sings praises to God as best he can in his mother tongue. For the Lord of all the languages of the earth hears those who pray to Him in each different language. Origen (c. 248, E), 4.653.

God’s own name also cannot be declared, for He cannot be conceived. . . . For the name is the significance of whatever thing can be comprehended from a name. Novatian (c. 235, W), 5.615.

Neither must you ask the name of God. God is His name. Where a multitude is to be distinguished by the appropriate characteristics of names, there is a need of names. However, to God—who alone is—belongs the whole name of God. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.467.

As I have shown in the beginning, God does not need a name, since He is alone. Lactantius (c. 304–313, E), 7.65