ON THE JOURNEY, JUDY BOWMAN
The name of God
I’m confounded by something that’s been happening to me since my twenties. Though my given name is “Judith” I’ve always been known to family and friends as “Judy,” which has been just right as far as I’m concerned. “Judith” sounds far too grown-up for the person I imagine that I am. But something odd began to happen once I was out of graduate school and working as a psychotherapist. People began to call me “Miss Judy.” It started out slowly enough. The occasional bank teller. The seldom-seen convenience store clerk. Then I noticed even some of my friends and family were doing it, too. Where had this odd title come from? And who had given it to me? It sounded strangely antebellum to me. Out of a different age. And I didn’t much like it. I never said that I didn’t like it, though. People seemed to just naturally want to call me “Miss Judy.” Last week I was introduced to the mother of an acquaintance at a luncheon. This woman, who is about my own age, had adopted me as—that name. In a matter of minutes! I don’t understand it. And it’s gotten me thinking about names and titles and things. Why do we call people what we call them? And, of course, all the names of God. Does He like them all? Is there one He prefers above the rest? And what do all His names tell us about Him?
Our God is one God in three distinct Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of these Persons has their own Name. In the Old Testament, by far the most common name of God is “Jehovah” which is used more than 6000 times. Others, like Yahweh, Adonai, Eolohim and El-shaddai are also used. Jehovah comes from the Hebrew meaning “to be” or “He Who is.” It reminds me of the passage in Exodus where God reveals Who He is to Moses by instructing him to tell the Israelites that “I am