“What’s in a name?” You may remember that famous question from Shakespeare's lyrical tale of lovers. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet meet and fall in love, but their romance is doomed from the start because their families are at war. Juliet tells Romeo that a name is meaningless, and that she loves the person, not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks, to "deny his father" and instead be sworn as Juliet's lover.It appears that in our quest to pattern the church after today’s modern culture, some Christians are losing their awe, reverence, and respect for the holy name of God. They have adopted Juliet Capulet’s philosophy of “That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet” and taken it upon themselves to rename God. Such an act borders on blasphemy! It is true that God’s divinity is not impacted by what we call Him, but it is certainly not our right or privilege, as the creation, to rename our Creator.
On June 19, 2006, the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) actually discussed the idea of renaming the holy trinity. The project was initiated in the 212th General Assembly of 2000 and due in 2003, but it was delayed. While not officially adopted, the paper, titled “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing.” was commended to individual congregations for further study and discussion. While changes are seriously being considered, the Trinitarian formula of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” will still be used for baptisms.
The variations for the Trinitarian formula which are suggested in “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing” are as follows: “One from Whom, One through Whom, and One in Whom;” “Rainbow of Promise, Ark of Salvation, and Dove of Peace;” “Speaker, Word, and Breath;” “Overflowing fount, Living Water, and Flowing River;” “Sun, Light, and Burning Ray;” “Giver, Gift, and Giving;” “Lover, Beloved, and Love that Binds together Lover and Beloved;” “Rock, Cornerstone, Temple;” “Fire that Consumes, Sword that Divides, and Storm that Melts Mountains;” “One Who Is, One Who Was, and One Who Is To Come;” and finally, “Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child, Life-giving Womb;”
Life giving womb? Leanne Millinger asks, “How does a uterus suggest the role of the Spirit in the believer’s life — power to be Christ’s witness, victory over sin, convicting the world regarding sin, righteousness and judgment?” Such absurdity has motivated other believers back to reevaluate doctrine and as David Irby points out, “All major ‘Reformation churches’ have always agreed that those who don’t affirm, “Father, Son, Holy Spirit” cannot be saved. So even tinkering at the edges of that formula poses a danger to souls.”
