Divine Designations - How exactly was the name of the Christian deity written the 1st century BC/AD?
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There is a risk that this question is covered somewhere else between the lines, but I haven't found anything specific enough.
What is the prevalence (ideally in numbers or in percentages) of the names of the Christian deity? To be more specific, **which names did early Christian sources articulate in their very own words**?
- **No translations**, only counting the very original writing and only writings where the source language is certain.
- Only from Christian or Jewish historians and/or writers, **excluding secular sources** and the Bible itself.
- Only **1st century BC until 1st century AD**.
I am aware that we do not have many writers for that time period, but 1 or 2 confirmed sources are already a great start.
- Examples for names include **ΘΕOC (Theos), ΚYΡIΟY (Kurios), יהוה (YHWH)** ... et al, excluding adjectives or descriptions of His character.
When we look e.g. at the works of Josephus, we see that he uses in Antiquitates Judaicae alone the term 'THEOS' more than 1300 times.
Let us lay aside our prevalent bias for Modern Hebrew and against Koine Greek, and have a balanced view about how the people in that time actually called Him.
Asked by Thomas Lorenz
(187 rep)
Jan 31, 2025, 06:32 PM
Last activity: Mar 8, 2025, 06:05 AM
Last activity: Mar 8, 2025, 06:05 AM