Article September 11, 1948 Issue

BEHOLD THE DIVINE NAME AND NATURE!

DORIS BROGDON LEMCKE

The Scriptures abound with commands to call upon the name of the Lord, to rejoice in it, to praise, magnify, and glorify His name. Because the name of God signifies the nature of God, it is essential that His name be understood. God is the primal cause of true existence. The understanding of the nature of the one cause reveals the nature of all the phenomena of spiritual existence—man and the universe. In the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy states (p. 555), "Searching for the origin of man, who is the reflection of God, is like inquiring into the origin of God, the self-existent and eternal."

The transforming power that is inherent in the knowledge of man's divine origin and nature is well illustrated in several instances related in the Bible where certain men were called by new names immediately following outstanding spiritual enlightenment and the discernment of their true identity. Jacob was identified by the name of Israel, Simon Bar-jona was called by the new name of Peter, and Saul of Tarsus was thenceforth known as Paul.

Something of what unfolded in the thought of Moses when seeking out the name and nature of God is related in the third chapter of Exodus. When confronted by what seemed a tremendous demand, Moses' faith in his own ability quailed, and this realization of human insufficiency or personal inadequacy brought forth an appeal to the real source of his being, to his Ego-God, the one Ego. Thus his momentous inquiry, "Who am I?" At this crucial moment, rising to the height of spiritually understanding something of his own selfhood within the divine nature, the Hebrew lawgiver heard God's name revealed as "I AM THAT I AM."

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