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Throwing Inkwells
Vainly Naming the Name
As with all commandments, we keep them not just by avoiding certain behaviors but also by doing good works. So we are reminded to pray, praise, and verbally give thanks to God for his goodness and to call out to him in times of trouble. We must work to ensure proper teaching and employ God's name in defense of truth and goodness.
Or, as the psalmist says, "… call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (50:15, ESV).
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Related Elsewhere:
Previous Christianity Today articles on swearing include:
'Bless and Do Not Curse' | What should happen to ESPN's Dana Jacobson? (January 24, 2008)
Clean Air for Ears | The FCC has rejoined the war against indecency. (June 1, 2004)
Joyous Cursing | Was Dale Earnhardt Jr. right about profanity? (October 1, 2004)
Previous columns by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway include:
Same Sex, Different Marriage | Many of those who want marriage equality do not want fidelity. (May 10, 2010)
Is Cosmetic Surgery Immoral? | Even more importantly: Why do you want to know? (March 16, 2010)
Segregated in a Whole New Way | A church family from the same generation isn't much of a family. (January 28, 2010)
Throwing Inkwells
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a contributor to GetReligion.org, an editor at Ricochet.com, and a frequent writer for Christianity Today and a number of other outlets. A committed Lutheran, her column ran from 2009 to 2011.
- In Praise of Confidence
- Flunking Pew's Pop Quiz
- The Parent of All Virtues
- Faith Unbound
- Same Sex, Different Marriage
Grieving with the Good Friday God
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
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Martin Jacobs
Good article. Well done to the author, who picks out one of (the?) most important aspects of the 3rd Commandment - Thou shalt not misrepresent YHWH. As far as the language is concerned, I'm less offended by the 'sexual' swear-words than the use of 'God' or 'Jesus Christ' as expletives. I sometimes feel like telling someone who uses them, "hey, I actually worship that person." Anyway, it's odd that the wider culture seems to have more tolerance for the theologically profane than Anglo-Saxon body functions. Another example of the upside-down world we live in?
Dr. James Willingham
C.S. Lewis in his si/fi work, That Hideous Strength, describes the answer to the abominable conspiracy that seeks to rule the world to the very point of controlling every individual's thoughts and behvaior. The answer to such atrocity is given by Ransom whose symbolism is rather obvious, "They pull down deep Heaven upon their heads." And Deep Heaven comes down to earth, and its presence transforms even the bears into loving creatures. What Mr. Lewis really described was the reality of a visitation like the First and Second Great Awakenings which often involved such a sense of a Heavenly presence that people were transformed. In one case Whitefield, Wesley, and others, the presence in the room where they were gathered was so overwhelming that they could not rise from the floor on which they had lain in prayer. Will such in conjunction with the truth preached be the means by which the Lord wins the whole earth in one generation and for a 1000 more? God grant that it shall be so.
Carol McCormack
In Bible history, as God was revealing Himself to His people, those chosen people regarded His name as so sacred it could not be spoken, just spelled: YWHWH. So, it still is sacred, is it not?