Class 4: The Name of God

This class is on the name of God and the question of the divine names in general.

The beginning of the Creed, “I Believe in God the Father” invites us to reflect on God’s names, and in particular on the one He revealed to Moses “in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai” (CCC 204),

“Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you', and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." and he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'. . . this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Ex 3:13-15).

This revelation was the “fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants” (CCC 204). “God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence and identity and the meaning of this person's life” (CCC 203).

God’s name “I AM” is mysterious but it also discloses a marvelous harmony between faith and reason, or between philosophy and theology. In fact, there are strong philosophical reasons to assert with St. Thomas Aquinas that “I AM” is “the most proper name of God.”

In his famous theological work, Summa Theologiae, Aquinas offers a very detailed analysis of the question of the “names of God.” He explains why and how some names we use for God can express His essence or substance. One part of this analysis is committed to the name that God revealed to Moses in the burning bush.

In this class, Dr. Di Blasi outlines what the Catechism says about God’s names and then explains Aquinas’ approach to the question of the names of God, in general, and the question of the name revealed to Moses, in particular.