Early Christian Views of God’s Name
Early Christians treated God’s name as holy, powerful, and not to be used lightly. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Cyprian, Novatian, and others tied this idea to Scripture, worship, and God’s own character. Some writers also said God is beyond full human naming, so the material is strong on reverence but mixed on how far Christians should press the idea of a single divine name.
138 early-church witnesses · 203 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Name of God?
Early Christian writers often said God’s name is holy, great, and not to be treated lightly. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Cyprian, and later writers like Novatian, Victorinus, and Lactantius spoke of God’s name as something revealed by Scripture, honored in worship, and linked to God’s power and character.
Some writers also said God is so one and so high that he has no proper human-style name, or that his name is beyond full human speech, while others still named him with biblical titles like Lord, Father, or the name given to Christ. The evidence is broad but mixed: strong on reverence for God’s name, thinner and more varied on whether Christians should speak of one fixed divine name or stress divine unnameability.
Bible passages such as Exodus 3:15, Exodus 20:7, and Malachi 1:11 strongly shape the early Christian language here. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians commonly taught that God’s name is holy and must not be profaned.
- Many writers linked God’s name to Scripture, worship, and his public revelation to his people.
- Some writers also said God is beyond ordinary human naming, so the teaching is not uniform in wording.
Questions Answered by the Sources
How did early Christians speak about God’s name?
The sources present God’s name as holy, great, and deserving of praise, not casual use. Several writers also say God’s name is unique, belongs to God alone, or is beyond ordinary human naming.
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Tertullian, Apology Direct teaching
using no other word, because this is the peculiar name of the true God.
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Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching
The Lord denounces, and says, Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out devils, and in Your name done many wonderful works?
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
Let them confess Thy great name, for it is fearful and holy, and the honour of the King loves judgment.
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Clement of Rome, Second Epistle (attributed) Supporting witness
For the Lord says, Continually my name is blasphemed among all nations, and Wherefore my name is blasphemed;
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
To God who alone is, belongs the whole name of God;
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Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness
to God, who is alone, the name God is the whole.
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Exodus 20:7 Background
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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Malachi 1:11 Background
For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the Lord of hosts.
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Psalms 135:1 Background
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
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Leviticus 22:32 Background
Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
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Psalms 99:3 Background
Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Did early Christians say God’s name must not be profaned?
The evidence shows a clear pattern of reverence: God’s name is to be blessed, glorified, and not taken in vain. Some sources directly echo biblical warnings about blaspheming or profaning the divine name.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
God, therefore, has no name, because He is alone;
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Exodus 3:15 Background
Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
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Exodus 6:3 Background
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
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Exodus 34:5 Background
Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
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Exodus 3:14 Background
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Did early Christians teach that God’s name was made known to people?
A number of sources say God’s name was made known, proclaimed, or called upon, especially in scriptural and worship settings. At the same time, other writers say His name was not published to all or could not be fully spoken by humans.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Supporting witness
For with the name of God the following words will harmonize: intelligence, word, life, incorruption, truth, wisdom, goodness, and such like.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Direct teaching
For the term Eloë in the Jewish language denotes God, while Elōeim and Eleōuth in the Hebrew language signify “that which contains all.” As to the appellation Adonai, sometimes it denotes what is nameable and admirable;
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book II Supporting witness
3. If, however, any object that, in the Hebrew language, diverse expressions [to represent God] occur in the Scriptures, such as Sabaoth, Eloë, Adonai, and all other such terms, striving to prove from these that there are different powers and gods, let them learn that all expressions of this kind are but announcements and appellations of one and the same Being.
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
Now the names taken from the Scriptures are names of one and the same God;
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Origen, Commentary on John Background
Now a name is given to God; He is said to be the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
And it is the name of God that is expressed;
Did early Christians think God’s name could be fully named or known?
Several sources say no one can utter the ineffable God’s name, that God has no peculiar or private name, or that His name was not originally disclosed in a normal way. These are real witnesses, but they do not all mean the same thing in exactly the same sense.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
In the next place, we must know that this name cannot be uttered by the mouth of man, as Hermes teaches, saying these things: Now the cause of this cause is the will of the divine good which produced God, whose name cannot be uttered by the mouth of man.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
And that no one might inquire His name, he said that He was without name, and that on account of His very unity He does not require the peculiarity of a name.
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Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness
Neither must you ask a name for God.
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness
For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God;
Did early Christians connect God’s name with Christ?
Yes. Novatian, Victorinus, and Origen connected the name above every name with Christ, and they treated that language as tied to God’s own honor and rule. This is a real strand in early Christian teaching, but it is more about Christ sharing divine honor than about a separate discussion of the Father’s name alone.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
For He has received a name which is above every name, which assuredly we understand to be none other than the name of God.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
For He has received a name which is above every name, which assuredly we understand to be none other than the name of God.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
...s rightly affirmed to be in the form of God, because He Himself, being above all things, and having divine power over every creature, is also God after the example of the Father. Yet He obtained this from His own Father: that He should be both God of all and should be Lord, and be begotten and made known from Him as God in the form of God the Father. He then, although He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery that He should be equal with God. For although He remembered that He was God from God the Father, He never either compared or associated Himself with God the Father, mindful that He was from His Father, and that He possessed that very thing that He is, because the Father had given it to Him. From there, both before the taking on of flesh, and also after the taking on of the body, and besides, after the resurrection itself, He yielded all obedience to the Father, and still yields it forever. From this it is proved that He thought that the claim of a certain divinity would be robbery, namely, that of making Himself equal with God the Father. But, on the other hand, being obedient and subject to all His rule and will, He was content even to take on Himself the form of
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
...rible risk who says that Christ is either man or angel alone, withholding from Him the power of the divine name, an authority that He has constantly received on the witness of the heavenly Scriptures, which continually say that He is both Angel and God. To all these things, moreover, this is also added: just as the divine Scripture has often declared Him both Angel and God, so the same divine Scripture also declares Him both man and God. In this way it expresses what He would be, and even then portrays in figure what He was to be in the truth of His substance. For it says, "Jacob remained alone. And there wrestled with him a man even till daybreak. And He saw that He did not prevail against him. And He touched the broad part of Jacob's thigh while He was wrestling with him and he with Him, and said to him, 'Let me go, for the morning has dawned.' And he said, 'I will not let You go unless You bless me.' And He said, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Jacob.' And He said to him, 'Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name, because you have prevailed with God, and you are powerful with men.'" And it adds, moreover, "And Jacob called the name of that p
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
... be. But they will say that it was an angel. How then will He be God if He was an angel? Since this name is nowhere granted to angels, the truth on both sides forces us to this conclusion: we ought to understand that it was God the Son, who, because He is from God, is rightly called God, because He is the Son of God. But because He is subject to the Father and the announcer of the Father's will, He is declared to be the Angel of Great Counsel. Therefore, although this passage does not fit the person of the Father, lest He should be called an angel, nor the person of an angel, lest he should be called God, yet it fits the person of Christ, that He should be both God because He is the Son of God, and an angel because He is the announcer of the Father's mind. And the heretics ought to understand that they are setting themselves against the Scriptures, because while they say they believe Christ was also an angel, they are unwilling to declare that He was also God, when they read in the Old Testament that He often came to visit the human race. To this Moses also added the example of God being seen by Abraham at the oak of Mature, when he was sitting at the entrance of his tent at mid
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
For since it belongs to God alone to be above all things, it follows that the name which is that God's who is above all things, is above every name;
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
Wherefore also God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name;
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
Wherefore also God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name;
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
which name by consequence is certainly His who, although He was in the form of God, thought it not robbery for Him to be equal with God.
Common Questions
Did early Christians think God’s name was holy?
Yes. They often called God’s name holy, great, and deserving of praise, and they tied that language to Scripture and worship.
Did early Christians say God has no name?
Some did say God has no proper human-style name or that his name cannot be fully spoken, but other writers still used biblical names and titles like Lord and Father.
Which Bible passages mattered most?
Exodus 3:15, Exodus 20:7, Malachi 1:11, and related psalms were important because they speak of God’s name as holy, known, and praised.
Source Index for the Name of God
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 145 ranked source links from 203 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 145 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 138
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 65 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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