Devotional Moods Behind NOMINA SACRA in Judeo-Christian and Modern Thoughts

Abstract

It is obvious that divine names in Jewish literature carry the sense of identity, reverence and glory. The Jewish people out of reverence for the name of God over the centuries have attached devotional moods to the name of God. During the Christian era, Christian scribes have employed such reverence and the tradition for writing sacred names continued to the modem times. Using descriptive and analytical methods, this paper evaluates the concept of nomina sacra and the devotional moods associated to sacred names in ancient Jewish and Christian literature. Unlike other works, it also considers the modem expressions of sacred words particularly among Christians in the literary and non-literary worlds despite the rise of critical and scientific means, which have been questioning Christian religious texts. The paper cautions Christian scholars and Bible translators on the pressure secularism is exerting on the devotional intentions behind sacred words in our modem writings and the need for continuing this ancient Christian scribal practice in a technological world.