Ancient Churches Lexicon Entry:

Names of the Lord

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The people of the Ancient Church gave the Lord a variety of names that described His different attributes (AC 4162). They did this because by a name they understood not merely a name, but the essential quality of something (AC 2724). The name God Shaddai, for example, described those temptations in which the Lord fights on a person’s behalf, after which He bestows benefits (AC 4162). Jehovah Nissi described the Lord’s protection against those steeped in falsity arising from interior evil (AC 8624). The Lord’s providence guarding a person against entering into the mysteries of faith were called “cherubim,” and Divine truths that they received through answers they called “terephim” (AC 4162). The people of the Ancient Church understood that each of these names referred to the one God, namely the Lord (AC 3667, AC 4162). However, when the Ancient Church declined, they began to worship as many gods as there had been names for the One Only God, and of themselves they added many more (AC 3667, AC 5628).

See also:

Idolatry, Names, Polytheism

Passages relating to Names of the Lord and the Ancient Churches:

AC 1992; AC 2724; AC 3035; AC 3667; AC 4162; AC 5628; AC 8624
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