It is not without cause that we say that two orders of divine names exist and that the former hold a greater dignity and majesty than the latter.
Five Books on the Nature of God, or On the Divine Attributes
Five Books on the Nature of God, or On the Divine Attributes
By Girolamo Zanchi
Translated by Patrick J. O’Banion
Book 1, Chapter 3, Part 1
Volume 1 is available for order now from Merchant Royal Press
Although all of the names of the second order are, to be sure, as much divine names as those of the first, nevertheless, we should distinguish between them. For the apostle also makes a certain distinction between the precepts that he had heard immediately from the Lord Jesus and that he read in the law of the Lord and those that he himself, carried along by the Holy Spirit, wrote to the churches. This is clear from 1 Corinthians 7 and elsewhere.
In that passage, Paul is about to remind the Corinthians of God’s precept about not deferring marriage, and he prefaced it in the following way, saying: To the married, I declare (not I but the Lord) that the wife must not separate from her husband [v. 10]. However, he indicated the command that he had received by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about separating from an unfaithful spouse by adding: To the rest (namely, to those who are married but to one of a different religion), I say, not the Lord, that if some brother has an unfaithful wife… [ 1 Cor. 7:12]. Is this not also God’s precept? Absolutely. For, with regard to commands of this kind, Paul says in that same epistle: If someone appears to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things I write to you, that they are the commands of God [1 Cor. 14:37]. Why, then, does he say: I say, not the Lord? In order to emphasize that a certain distinction should be made between, on the one hand, those things that God commands immediately in the law or that Christ commands by His voice and, on the other hand, those that Paul himself commanded, not as coming from him but as he wrote according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Two Orders of Divine Names
Now, the latter as much as the former must be kept, and he who disregards the former sins as much as he who disregards latter. Nevertheless, even to the apostle himself, it seems that disregarding the commands that God commanded directly is a more serious sin than disregarding those that He commanded through the apostles. Even the most illustrious prince will judge himself to be more gravely offended and to suffer more serious injury if someone rejects what he himself commands by his own mouth than if someone disregards something that he enjoined through others.
Therefore, it should not seem remarkable for me to say that a certain distinction should be made between those names that God Himself imposes upon Himself and the names He is called by holy men carried along by the Holy Spirit. For the former order of names seems that it ought to hold more majesty and reverence among us than the latter. Just so, I doubt not that the former has more signifying force than the latter, while that force is not so evident to us for names imposed upon God. Such is the case with the sacred name Jehovah, which now and again God told the prophets was His name, that is, a name so particular as to be unsuitable for any other. For since God set both this name and the other names of the first order upon Himself personally, could anyone doubt that they most particularly signify what God intended to signify with those names? Accordingly, these have some greater degree of majesty than the others, although all of them truly are divine names and, for that reason, worthy also of the greatest honor and reverence and should never be used in vain, even as the law commands.
Next, the names worthy of the greatest honor are those that were established to signify the divine essence itself directly. These include the name Jehovah among the Hebrews, Θεός among the Greeks, and Deus among the Latins. Following these names are those that were contrived to indicate properties and attributes, such as the names just, merciful, powerful, and others of this sort. The rationale for this is that these names are also customarily predicated of men insofar as they are just, merciful, and wise. But the names Jehovah, Θεός, Deus, and the like are not normally, nor should or can they be imparted to men. So, it is commonly supposed, and not without cause, that the head should be uncovered at the name God but not at the name just or powerful on account of the fact that the name God was established to signify the essence of God (or God Himself), but the others were established to indicate God’s various distinctive characteristics [proprietates].
Hence, it is not without cause that we say that two orders of divine names exist and that the former hold a greater dignity and majesty than the latter.