Whats in a name ?

[Apple Sky]

Does God know our name before we are born ? Does your name suit who you are ? What does your name mean ?

 

[RandyPNW]

Does God know our name before we are born ? Does your name suit who you are ? What does your name mean ?

Parents, sometimes, name their children with a meaning attached to give them significance. Whether a child lives up to the name depends on the child.

I don't know what God knows. Some things I think are fixed before we were born, and some things result from purely free choice on our part--how can God know what we haven't chosen yet?

At best, I think God knows all of the possibilities of our choices, right or wrong. He does not make people do right, unless it is a matter of His own overriding concerns.

Clearly, some names God knows in advance. God has actually given new names to people after their parents had given them other names. This happened, of course, not before they were born, but after they were born.

I think the name "Jesus" was foreordained, just as John the Baptist's name was foreordained. Many names given children today are purely random. But God sometimes intervenes to give children "random names" that actually have a relevant meaning in our future lives.

For example, the name I have here, "Randy," means "shield." I would live up to that meaning by defending the faith Jesus delivered to us after his cross.

 

[public hermit]

Does God know our name before we are born ? Does your name suit who you are ? What does your name mean ?

These days, I don't think there is much in a name. Our names are not so much descriptive designators as they are rigid designators that function mostly in terms of reference. If my name is "Bob," it's primary function is to reference me but it probably doesn't describe me in any way. This is in contrast to names like "Adam" or "Jacob," which do seem to have a descriptive function.

I imagine the "name" God knows of us is more related to who we are as individuals than to what name is used to reference us. And, I would think God does know that name and has known it from all eternity.

 

[Apple Sky]

I imagine the "name" God knows of us is more related to who we are as individuals than to what name is used to reference us. And, I would think God does know that name and has known it from all eternity.

Maybe God knows us via our DNA.

 

[public hermit]

Maybe God knows us via our DNA.

Yeah, perhaps, but is all that we are captured by our DNA?

 

[Apple Sky]

Yeah, perhaps, but is all that we are captured by our DNA?

That & Our souls

 

[Bob Crowley]

I don't think it means much these days. For one thing most of us wouldn't know the historical antecedents of our name.

I'd never looked it up till now but "Bob" (short for Robert) means "bright" and "fame" (you could have fooled me). It is derived from the old Germanic "Hrodebert".

My middle name "John" is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning “graced by God” (again you could have fooled me).

My surname is Irish, begob. I don't have much interest in genealogies, and I don't care what my name means.

For me it's a label, and I think for most modern Westerners that's about it.

I'm sure God knows our names before we are born - "I knew you in the womb".

 

[Always in His Presence]

hmmm..... perhaps I should not have named my daughter Dorkus....