The evolution of religion : $b An anthropological studyFarnell, Lewis Richard
Religion
The evolution of religion : $b An anthropological study
Farnell, Lewis Richard
Prayer; Religions; Rites and ceremonies
Was it from Egypt that the early Israelites derived the same mystic
illusion concerning the divine name, which to some of the scholars of
the last generation appeared to be a faith peculiar to the chosen
people? At least we are now enabled, by the recent exposition of the
facts, to understand the inner force of such prayers as the Psalmist’s
“Save me, oh God, by thy name and judge me by thy strength”:[189.1]
of Jahvé’s warning to his people in the Exodus to obey the angel whom
he sends them, “Obey his voice… for my Name is in him:”[189.2] of the
oath taken by those initiated into the Essenian sect not to reveal the
names of the angels:[189.3] of expressions in the New Testament
concerning the casting out of devils and the healing of the sick in
the name of Jesus: finally, of the significant baptismal phrase, “to
baptize into the name of Christ,”[189.4] which reveals the name as a
religious potency into which as into a {190} spiritual atmosphere the
adult catechumen or the initiated infant is brought. And these facts
of old-world religion and religious logic cast a new light on the
name-formulæ which close most of the prayers of the Christian Church,
and which are words of power to speed the prayer home; and though the
modern consciousness may often be unaware of this mystic function of
theirs, we may believe that it was more clearly recognised in the
early days of Christianity, for in the apocryphal acts of St John we
find a long list of mystical names and titles attached to Christ
giving to the prayer much of the tone of an enchantment.[190.1]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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