AE 959 [2-4]
"The name of God" means every quality
by which God is worshiped.
For God is in His own quality,
and is His own quality.
His essence is the Divine love,
and His quality is the Divine truth therefrom
united with the Divine good;
thus with us on earth it is the Word;
consequently it is said in John:
The Word was with God, and God was the Word.
(John 1:1)
So also, it is the doctrine
of genuine truth and good from the Word;
for worship is according to that.
Now as His quality is manifold,
for it comprises all things that are from Him,
so He has many names;
and each name involves and expresses His quality
in general and in particular.
He is called "Jehovah," "Jehovah of Hosts,"
"Lord," "Lord Jehovih," "God,"
"Messiah or Christ," "Jesus," "Savior,"
"Redeemer," "Creator," "Former,"
"Maker," "King," and "the Holy One of Israel,"
"the Rock" and "the Stone of Israel," "Shiloh,"
"Shaddai," "David," "Prophet,"
"Son of God," and "Son of man," and so on.
All these names
are the names of the one God,
who is the Lord;
and yet where they occur in the Word
they mean some universal Divine attribute
or quality distinct
from the other Divine attributes or qualities.
So, too, where He is called
"Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,"
three are not meant, but one God;
that is, there are not three Divines, but one,
and this trine which is one is the Lord.
Since each name
means some distinct attribute or quality,
"to profane the name of God"
does not mean to profane the name itself
but His quality.
"Name" signifies quality for the reason
that in heaven everyone is named
according to his quality;
and the quality of God or the Lord is everything
that is from Him by which He is worshiped.
For this reason,
since no Divine quality of the Lord
is acknowledged in hell,
the Lord cannot be named there;
and in the spiritual world
His names cannot be uttered by anyone
except so far as His Divine is acknowledged;
for there all speak from the heart,
thus from love and consequent acknowledgment.
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