Renaming God: Finding the God of My Understanding

Renaming God

With this in mind, I’ve been writing a series of blog posts called “Renaming God.” As my earthly father was one person with many names reflecting different experiences and understandings of him, likewise, God boasts many aliases, depending on different perspectives. Someone with a PhD in trinitarian theology might say that God has only three names: “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.” But the Bible gives countless names for God, each name reflecting either a different aspect of God’s personality or a unique experience that someone had with God.

The God of My Understanding

It’s important to have a dynamic conception of who God is, and an adaptable expression of that understanding. Alcoholics Anonymous often refers to the Higher Power as “The God of My Understanding.” This recognizes the fact that each person can only relate to God according to their own experience and perspective. No matter who you are, you can’t inherit a relationship with the Divine. Your experience of God is your own.

The fact is, not every name of God works for everyone. As I shared in this artcicle, for many, the old names for God no longer cut it. Some, like one woman I know, come up with their own names for Deity. Angry at God and disgusted by religion, she didn’t stop believing. Yet, she could no longer call God by the old names. So, she held her fist to the sky and shouted, “Hey, You!” And to this day, that’s what she calls the God of her understanding.

Old Names Were Once New

When we think of God’s name (or names) we often consider them to be traditional and ancient. But all the old names for God were once new. In fact, many Bible heroes renamed the Supreme Being according to their relationship with the God of their Understanding. Here are some names that Bible characters gave to the God of their understanding:

1. Hagar – “El Roi” (The God Who Sees Me)

• Genesis 16:13 – “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

2. Abraham – “Yahweh-Yireh” (The LORD Will Provide)

• Genesis 22:14 – “So Abraham called that place ‘The LORD Will Provide.’ And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’”

3. Moses – “Yahweh Nissi” (The LORD is My Banner)

• Exodus 17:15 – “Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.”

4. Gideon – “Yahweh-Shalom” (The LORD is Peace)

• Judges 6:24 – “So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace.”

These old names were once new. The people who came up with these names thought they were being original. Then, after a couple of generations of people adopting these new appellations, they just became what people perceived as the proper names for God.

 And, as a side-bar and a fun fact, any time you see the word “LORD” in all caps, this is a renaming of God. The original says “YHWH,” which observant Jews believe is the unpronounceable name of God. In order to avoid pronouncing “Yahweh,” they rename God, or substitute the word “Lord” instead. Yes, even the Bible uses CAPS LOCK for emphasis!

Jesus Renamed God, Too

Old Testament prophets aren’t the only ones who renamed God. Jesus took the initiative to rename God as well. For the most part, Jewish believers in the first century related to God as a divine governmental leader. God was Lawgiver, Lord, King, and Judge. While scriptural references to God as Father existed, they mainly referred to God as such in terms of national identity. But to Jesus, God-as-Father meant something much more personal.

Jesus Called God His Personal Father

Jesus referred to God as “Father” as a reflection of personal and intimate relationship. Here are three examples of ways that Jesus related to God as Father.

1. In Personal Prayer

In personal prayer, Jesus often referred to God with the intimate term, “Abba.” Which isn’t just a 70s pop band—it’s a word is best translated as “Daddy” or “Papa.” It demonstrates the close and abiding relationship that Jesus had with God. If God was the King of the Universe, then Jesus was the Prince of Heaven who could call his royal father “Dear Daddy.”

• Mark 14:36 – “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

2. In Doctrinal Statements About His Identity

If you’re looking for deep theology rather than intimate relationship, you can find it in Jesus’s use of the name “Father” to describe the Divine. For Christ, it was not all about a lovey-dovey relationship. Jesus used this word to communicate his holy sonship and his ontological oneness with the Divine.

• John 10:30 – “I and the Father are one.”
• John 14:9–10 – “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father… The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”

3. In High Priestly Prayer

In his “high priestly prayer,” Jesus demonstrates that this intimacy can also have a reverential tone. Here we find tenderness mixed with respect, worship, and devotion. God is not just “Father,” but God is holy and righteous as well.

• John 17:1 – “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son…”
• John 17:11 – “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name…”
•  John 17:25 – “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you…”

Jesus Taught Us to Call God Our Father

Though prophets before him had used fatherly imagery, Jesus adopted it and made it so much more personal. We might think that this is fitting for Jesus, as a third part of the Holy Trinity. But then, Jesus did something even more radical—He taught us to call God our Daddy, too!

1. In Public Teaching About God

When he taught the crowds, Jesus shifted from talking about God as his Father and began referring to God as OUR Father as well.

• Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light shine before others… and glorify your Father in heaven.”
•  Matthew 6:4 – “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
• John 5:17–18 – “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

2. In Teaching the Disciples to Pray

As Jesus removed himself from the crowds and invited his disciples into personal times of teaching, he further revealed God as “Our Father in Heaven.”

• Matthew 6:9 – “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’”
• Luke 11:2 – “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.’”

Inviting people to refer to God as their father was unprecedented in Jewish teaching. Jewish prayers began with references to God as “King of the Universe,” but not as “Daddy.” Jesus didn’t just overturn tables in his ministry—he overturned the way we relate to God. No more do we relate to God as an emperor in the sky. Instead, God is our beloved Father.

3. After the Resurrection

After the resurrection, Jesus underscored the kinship he had with believers. Through this phrase, Jesus invites all believers into the same relationship with the Father that he has. With God as Jesus’s Father and our Father, we become siblings of Christ.

• John 20:17 – “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

Jesus taught us that it is okay to rename God according to our new understanding. While the Old Covenant reflected a pious and reverential attitude toward God as a divine governmental leader, Jesus modeled a new relationship with God as Daddy. He taught us that not only could he refer to God this way, but we could, too. But did Jesus intend for this to be the only way we know and understand God—through paternalistic language?

When the Old Names No Longer Work

Jesus taught us that it’s okay to rename God when our old ways of understanding God no longer work. Not only is it okay to do it—Jesus modeled this evolving relationship with the Father as something we should seek. So, many have adapted to lovingly referring to the Almighty as our Daddy.

Still, some find the name “Father” to be problematic. For them, this has become one of those old names that no longer work. In my article, “Renaming God Can Rescue Your Floundering Faith Today,” I write:

“Unfortunately, God doesn’t work for everyone. What I mean is, that the word “God” doesn’t resonate with many people anymore. Each person who has given up on a traditional Judeo-Christian concept of God has their reasons. Some have suffered emotional abuse and physical violence in God’s name. For others, God is too tied together with patriarchy, or with regional religious conflicts. Many have difficulty imagining a Superman or Santa Claus in the sky. Still others have walked away from the Church and God because Christians have given God a bad name through their political or social stances.

While some who deconstruct their religion abandon God altogether, others are not prepared to embrace atheism. Though they question inherited Sunday school theology, they just can’t shake the idea or feeling of a higher power. They wish they could relate to God, but that word has too much baggage.”

Some find “Father” difficult, too, because of its gender-based attachments. For many, God is not a man in the sky. God can be feminine just as much as masculine—and God can be nonbinary. When the old familiar names for God no longer work, it may be time to resurrect some less well-used ones. Or, even to come up with some new names for God that fit your developing relationship.

Personal Names for God in the Bible

If the “traditional” names for God no longer work for you, here are a few less-well-known or less well-used names for God in the Bible. Notice that these are all personal names—meaning that they reflect the idea of God as a divine person with whom you can have a relationship. Perhaps one will speak to you:

1.    Husband

• Isaiah 54:5 – “Your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name.”
• Hosea 2:16 – “On that day, says the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘my Baal.’”

2.    Potter

• Isaiah 64:8 – “We are the clay, you are the potter…”
• Jeremiah 18:6 – “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.”

3.    Redeemer / Kinsman-Redeemer

• Isaiah 49:26 – “I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer”
• Ruth 4 (implied through Boaz)

4.    Shepherd

• Psalm 23:1 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
• Isaiah 40:11 – “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”

5.    God as a Mother or Nurturing Woman

• Isaiah 66:13 – “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
• Isaiah 49:15 – “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
• Isaiah 42:14 – “For a long time I have kept silent… but now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.”
• Deuteronomy 32:18 – “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.”

These are just a few of the personal names that you might choose to enhance your relationship with God. Many people crave a deep and personal intimacy with their Creator, and these names may help you find that unique expression of divine love that you’ve been looking for.

Impersonal Names for God in the Bible

As the Bible gives many personal names for God, it also suggests impersonal (or non-anthropomorphic) names that you could adopt to describe the God of your understanding.

Some may ask, “Why would I want to relate to God in an impersonal way, when I could have a relationship with a loving and divine spouse, parent, potter, shepherd, or redeemer? The best answer is that some people wrestle too much with the world’s injustice to accept the idea of a heavenly person who makes all the decisions, either causing or permitting such suffering in the world. Others have spent years lifting their hearts to God in prayer, and have felt nothing in response. For one reason or another, many feel more comfortable with the idea of God as an impersonal force. For these people, the Bible has many divine names on offer.

1.    Rock

• Deuteronomy 32:4 – “He is the Rock, his works are perfect…”

2.    The Way

• John 14:1-7 – “I am the Way…”
• Acts 9:1-2; 24:14 – Early Christian sect of Judaism was called The Way.

3.    Wellspring or Source

• Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-13 – Water from the desert rock
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 – Jesus was the rock in the wilderness
• John 4:1-4 – Living Water
• Revelation 22:1-2 – A river of life

4.    Light

• John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world…”
• Psalm 119:105 – “A lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

5.    Life

• John 1:3-4 – “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”
• John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life…”
• John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

These are just a few of the many names that the Bible gives for God that do not utilize anthropomorphic imagery. Some others are fortress, fire, cloud, and word (logos). If you’re interested in finding more names for God that do not rely on depictions of God as a heavenly person, I invite you to do your own study to see what you find. Maybe these impersonal names for God aren’t what you’re looking for—but for many, they can be a breath of fresh air (which, come to think of it, is another name the Bible uses for God.)

Renaming God Makes People Angry

At this point, some people may become angry at the idea of renaming God. “It’s ok for Jesus to rename God,” they may say. “After all, Jesus IS God.” And it might be alright for prophets to rename God. They are prophets, after all. But renaming God isn’t something just anybody can do. People may grow upset at the idea that we can rename God ourselves. Or, they might be okay with calling God the personal names in the Bible, but feel disturbed by the impersonal names. If you feel unsettled by the idea of renaming God, you’re not alone. Many people were upset when author Wm. Paul Young renamed God in his 2007 book, The Shack.

Papa and Sarayu

In The Shack, the author renamed God the Father as “Papa,” most often depicting Papa as an African-American woman. At the time, racist and sexist Christians complained about the depiction of God as a Black female. In the 2017 movie, the only time Papa appears in male form, he appears in Native American skin.

If this upset conservatives, they were likewise incensed by Young’s depiction of the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman called Sarayu. This name is Sanskrit for “wind” or “breath.” As such, Sarayu represents God’s shimmering, life-giving, comforting, creative, guiding life force. Some who did their research were offended that Young drew the name from Sanskrit, a language sacred to Hinduism, rather than the Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic of Christianity. But Young was attempting to convey the availability of God’s spirit to all people.

How God Wants to Relate to You

People were unhappy with these depictions because, unlike Jesus who showed up in the book as Jesus, Young took the liberty of renaming and even reimagining the image of God. But the people who get angry about Young’s renaming God are the same ones who repaint their Toyota trucks, renaming them “YO.” That’s the sort of mentality we’re dealing with.

Young knew something that Jesus also knew when he renamed the “King of the Universe” as “Abba”—God wants to relate to you in the way that you can relate to God the best. And sometimes that means you need to rename God.

In The Shack, God appears to Mack not as an old man with a beard, but in ways that Mack needs at the time. Because he suffered abuse at the hands of his earthly father, Papa knew that Mack would not respond well to Father God. So, Papa took on friendlier flesh to make it easier for Mack to relate. God does the same for us. God meets us where we are, as the God of our understanding.

Animal Imagery for God in the Bible

God is not limited to a choice between person-centered imagery on the one hand, and impersonal force on the other hand. For those who can best relate to the Creator through a relationship with the living beings of creation, the Bible offers animal imagery to describe the Divine. Here are a few examples:

1. Dove

• Luke 3:22 – “…the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.”

2. Hen / Mother Bird

• Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34  – “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…”

3. Eagle / Mother Eagle

• Deuteronomy 32:11–12 – “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young…” –

4. Bear Robbed of Her Cubs

• Hosea 13:8 – “I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs…”

5. Lion

• Hosea 11:10 – “He will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children will come trembling…”
• Amos 3:8  – “The lion has roared—who will not fear?”
• Revelation 5:5 – “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.”

Based on the Bible, it is just as appropriate to refer to God as “Dove,” “Lion,” “Bear,” “Hen,” or “Eagle” as it is to call God, “Abba, Father.” For those people to whom the traditional names for God no longer appeal, there are plenty of divine names you can find in scripture, that are also attractive. You can find personal names for God, impersonal names for God, and even names for God drawn from the animal world. Because some of us need God to roar. Others need God to coo. For more on animal imagery for God, check out When God Was a Bird:Christianity, Animism, and the Re-Enchantment of the World, by Mark I. Wallace.

Botanical Names for God

Not to draw things out too far, but there are even names for God for the botanists and gardeners who don’t feel as drawn to anthropomorphic images of the Divine. Here is a sampling of holy names drawn from plant life:

1. Tree of Life

• Proverbs 3:18 – “She [Wisdom] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.”
• Revelation 22:2 – “On each side of the river stood the tree of life…”

2. Root / Branch / Shoot (Messianic Imagery)

• Isaiah 11:1  – “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
• Revelation 22:16 – “I am the Root and the Offspring of David…”

3. Vine / Vinedresser

• John 15:1  – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

4. Flowering Plant / Tender Plant

• Isaiah 53:2  – “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.”

Extrabiblical Names for God

Just because a name of God is in the Bible, that doesn’t mean it works for you. Likewise, a name by which you relate to God doesn’t have to come from the Bible. God gave you an imagination to use, and a heart that is sensitive to the Spirit’s promptings. You can adopt a name for God that comes from your own understanding and creativity. You can also borrow from other people and traditions to find what works for you. Here are just a few examples:

• Trail Guide
• Master Architect
• Great Spirit
• The Tao
• The Universe
• Eternal Womb
• The Gift and Giver
• Nature
• The Ineffable
• Wisdom

When you call God by a name that reflects your understanding, you make that relationship even more special. It’s like a special nickname that’s just between you and your Creator. And there’s nothing disrespectful about a sweet nickname.

God of Your Understanding

No matter who you are, the Bible offers a rich supply of divine names for the God of your understanding. If you’re traditional and love to describe God with names like “Father,” “Judge,” and “King,” these images abound in scripture. But if you prefer to relate to God as more of a force or nonanthropomorphic presence like “Light,” “Life,” and “Way,” you can find those passages as well. If you’re looking for animal-related names for God like, “Eagle,” “Lion,” or “Bear,” the Bible supplies those. And, if you’re attracted to botanical names for God such as “Vine,” “Root,” “Branch,” or “Tree,” you can be biblically correct by calling God those things.

Just remember that no matter what you call God, every name is a metaphor and no one name can encapsulate the totality of God’s nature. The truth is that God is ultimately beyond our understanding, anyway. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

REMEMBER, IF YOUR NAME FOR GOD FITS TOO NEATLY ON A BUMPER STICKER, YOU MAY BE UNDERESTIMATING GOD.

No matter what language you use and regardless of what holy name you know God by, you are only going to get a piece of the picture. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12,

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Does all this mean that there is nothing we can be sure about, and that God can be anything we want God to be? No—God is love, and anything that looks like love looks like God. As a consequence, nothing that doesn’t look like love can be from God. What this does mean is that God meets us where we are and relates to us in a deep and personal way specifically tailored to each of our needs. Each relationship with God is as unique as the person having that relationship. That’s why God is the God of YOUR understanding.

The God of My Understanding

Before all of this becomes too academic, let me tell you about a spiritual experience of my own, that I had even before Wm. Paul Young wrote The Shack. In “Neurotheology: Is Spiritual Experience All in Your Head?” I wrote:

Half a lifetime ago, I was a twenty-five-year-old man trying to support a growing family with door-to-door sales. I recall several days of pounding the pavement, only to return to the office each night with empty hands. My best friend in those days was the depot manager. He and I shared a common Pentecostal/Charismatic leaning at the time. He asked if I wanted him to pray for me. Nodding my head in the affirmative, I had no idea what was about to happen when he placed a hand on my chest and began to pray.

The floor melted away beneath me. I hit the concrete like a wet rag, and didn’t even feel it. As my friend disappeared, I found myself transported and transformed. No longer was I a strapping young man. Instead, I was a baby in the arms of a heavenly Father who sat in a chair and cradled me in loving arms. I remember wordlessly reaching up and stroking the long gray beard, the same way my infant grandson cooed and stroked mine just yesterday. (I can still feel the texture of that beard, in my memory.) A dark-haired Jesus looked over the Father’s shoulder and smiled. When their gentle breath combined to stir my fair hair, I knew that breeze was the Holy Spirit. God had only three words for me that day—words I will never forget. The Father looked at me with loving eyes, and spoke in the voice of my old school bus driver (picture actress Hattie McDaniel). God’s only three words, spoken in a female voice, were, “You so funny!”

When I finally came out of my reverie, I knew three things.

1. Regardless of my struggles, I was held in the arms of a loving God.

2. My worries were adorable to the God who already knew what I needed, and already had the solution prepared.

3. While I would subsequently over-analyze my own experience, God deftly defied my theological categories.

“So, What?”

Instead of God trying to fit into some theology that I’d learned in Sunday school or seminary, God wanted to relate to me in a way that was meaningful to me. God wanted to speak to me as the God of MY understanding, and not the concept of some theology professor.

God knew I needed to be held by a loving father, accompanied by a strong brother, and that I needed to hear the Divine Voice through the vocal cords of a Black Southern grandma. Then, God decided to remind me of the unfathomable quality of it all, by hiding the Spirit from me and gentling me with a playful breath. God showed up to me exactly as I needed God to show up. And I imagine that God will do the same for you.

I suspect that when you try to superimpose somebody else’s understanding onto your relationship with God, you look like a kid trying to wear clothes too big to fit. And, when you try to impose your understanding on someone else’s relationship with God, they show up with faith that looks like an ill-fitting garment. It’s then that God, who is especially fond of you, smiles at you with loving eyes and says, “You so funny!”

Now, What?

When my pastor asked me to share this at our church, I linked the idea to our church’s values. Perhaps this aligns with your values as well:

• We bring hope. If your faith is failing due to your old categories for God changing, that doesn’t mean you need to abandon your relationship with the Divine. Maybe you just need new names for the One who holds you in love.
• We speak life. We affirm that each person’s walk with God is going to be different, and that we don’t need to judge another person’s path.
• We move towards people. We know that we can be in fellowship with all kinds of people, regardless of their names for God. Because, regardless of the name they use, they are all created in God’s image. This enables us to move toward others, regardless of our differences.
• We practice hospitality. As Jesus did, we make place at the table for everyone.
• We put Jesus first. For me, that means my favorite name for God is Jesus. It’s Jesus who best represents the heart and the way of love.
• We live Spirit empowered. It means I continue to open myself to the wind and breath of the Holy Spirit. As such, my faith is not static, but ready to change and grow as the Spirit leads.

The God of your understanding might bear a different name from the God of my understanding. But behind all this is the same love, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And underneath are the Everlasting Arms of Papa, who is especially fond of you.

For related reading, check out my other articles:

• Why Renaming God “The Host” Appeals to Every Faith Tradition
• Pain is Inevitable; Suffering is Optional
• What If the Universe is Alive?