Traditional Jewish law dictates that the four-letter name of God, rendered as YHWH, must not be spoken or bandied about lightly (it’s sometimes called the Tetragrammaton because it’s, well, four…
Traditional Jewish law dictates that the four-letter name of God, rendered as YHWH, must not be spoken or bandied about lightly (it’s sometimes called the Tetragrammaton because it’s, well, four letters long). Instead, Jews used other terms instead, such as “Adonai” (either directly writing it, verbally substituting the word when “YHWH” was in the text).
Christian churches have generally not adhered to that dictate. While in the past they would following the Jewish example (putting in “the LORD” rather than “Adonai, or omitting letters such as in “G-d” and “L-rd”), referencing the sacred name was not seen as quite so taboo, as the centuries wore on, and so it’s been rendered in English as as everything from the traditional Reformation-era “Jehovah” to the more recently popular “Yahweh,” and often used in various hymn.
Interestingly enough, the Catholic Church is now cracking down on the use of “Yahweh” in church music and prayers.
In the not-too-distant future, songs such as “You Are Near,” “I Will Bless Yahweh” and “Rise, O Yahweh” will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States. At the very least, the songs will be edited to remove the word “Yahweh” — a name of God that the Vatican has ruled must not “be used or pronounced” in songs and prayers during Catholic Masses.
Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, announced the new Vatican “directives on the use of ‘the name of God’ in the sacred liturgy” in an Aug. 8 letter to his fellow bishops.
He said the directives would not “force any changes to official liturgical texts” or to the bishops’ current missal translation project but would likely have “some impact on the use of particular pieces of liturgical music in our country as well as in the composition of variable texts such as the general intercessions for the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments.”
I don’t recall, from my Catholic youth, whether there were any hymnal songs that used “Jehovah” (though there are many in the Episcopal hymnal), but that term is out, too.
I dunno. I’m sure there are many to whom it seems an odd thing to get upset about. Using any of the terms doesn’t bother me, per se, though being a liturgical guy I can understand about things being good or bad “form.” It does seem, looking at the announcement, and what underlies it, to be more of a case of a Dictate from Above, ostensibly for reasonable and educational purposes, but with the heavy-handedness (“Thou Shallt Not!”) that the Vatican always seems to wield, rather than the “Here’s why you might want to think about doing this differently” kind of thing I’ve grown more used to in the Episcopal Church.
Anyway … interesting.
(via Ginny)
