Why are there so many names for God?

Answer 1

A single god can have many names. I am not trying to suggest that all gods are actually one. I'm saying that the followers of one set religion may know Him as many different things.

The Christian God has many names: Lord of Lords, God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Lord God, etc. He is known by many different things because He really is a lot of things. Being the Supreme Ruler of the universe, He does many different things for us. Another reason He has many names is because He means different things to different people.

Also note: If you were asking about how the Trinity works, I'll try to explain. God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son (Jesus Christ) are all God. They are three parts, yet all one. Becuase of this, when someone refers to the Holy Spirit or Christ, they are talking about that one part.

AnswerI'm not sure this is a great answer - especially for a Q placed in the Christian category - but probably relevant:

I'm also not sure if it is by custom, understanding, interpretation or actual scripture - but in Judiaism it is common to try and avoid using the same term for God in prayer (or discussion) repeatedly. I was always told it comes from that religions basic ideal that the Supreme is so all encompassing, so beyond description or classification, so ethyerial and all dimensional, that to use one term may impinge on that in some way.

AnswerThe Jewish scripture did not use or speak the true name of God. They related to God in a personal way according to his attributes. If you were sick, they He is your Healer. If you are in turmoil, then He is your Comforter.

Sometimes God was referred to as the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac. This again is identifying His name with the attributes of their elder generation.

They also attributed physical aspects of God, such as "the hand of God" so that they could relate a spiritual being to their real world situation.

AnswerAncient Jews did not use the name of their god because it was considered blasphemous, partly because if you wrote it down the paper you wrote it on could be defiled somehow. They instead used "lord" and various other pseudonims, and the original name of YHWH is - יהוה - which is translated as YHWH, JHVA etc, and because the original pronunciation is unknown vowels are added, thus making Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahovah etc.

Answer 2

There are a number of reasons why many different names were given to the concept of an ultimate deity throughout the centuries. First, the world's religions emerged from different sources and histories: for example, in India, Hinduism became the national religion, and as it grew more influential, its gods and goddesses became dominant. Today, few people speak Sanskrit, but the original Sanskrit names of the Hindu deities are still used. And although there are Buddhists, Jains, and Muslims in that country, Hinduism continues to dominate the popular culture. Such Hindu gods as Vishnu, Shiva, and Krishna are among the most popular. But none of the Hindu deities have gained similar importance in the west, where a tradition of monotheism has generally prevailed.

Second, since religions develop in very different geographic areas, there is an element of cultural distinction (a certain deity is the protector of a certain city, or even a certain country); there are also different names based on the languages of those cultures. In French, the word for God is "Dieu," in Spanish (another Romance language), it is "Dios," but in Swahili, it is "Mungu."

And then there is a third factor: translation. This can be a major problem in knowing what to call the deity. For example, many Christians believe Jesus is not only the son of God but also God himself-- but the name "Jesus" is not what his parents called him; his Hebrew name was "Yeshua." However, when the Christian scriptures were translated into Greek (and later Latin), the church changed his name to a Greek form rather than the original Hebrew, as they also did with his mother Miriam (which became Mary).

There are other translation issues that affect the deity's name. Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, believe that the deity should be called Jehovah (based on their belief that the Hebrew name YHVH was supposed to be pronounced as "Jehovah"). Muslims call the deity Allah (the Arabic word for God). In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), there are many names for the deity, often describing God's attributes-- the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Faithful One, the Jealous One, the One Who guards Israel, etc. But the King James translation and others that followed simply translated all of them as either Lord or God.

Answer 3

Because the Romans 'stole' the main Greek gods and renamed them.

e.g. Poseidon (Greek) = Neptune (Roman)