Hallowed be Thy Name

Not since reading the late ROBERT ANDERSON’s book, The Honour of His Name, has the present reviewer seen anything written on this important subject. As WARREN HENDERSON states in his Preface, ‘Our speech and behaviour reflect our heart’s adoration for the Lord Jesus and, thus, directly affects our testimony of Him to the world’.

While HENDERSON shows his provenance through his discourse on the American Constitution and the occasional references to the President, this serves to illustrate his starting point that whereas ‘the name of the Lord was protected from slander and evil speaking’, now ‘much of the “professing” Church is engaged in blaspheming the name of the Lord’.

The chapters ‘Are You a Blasphemer?’ and ‘Causing Others to Blaspheme God’ are challenging ones. Henderson is pointed when he says, ‘unbiblical expressions relating to God have proven in time to soften our appreciation for truth and our reverence for Him’. But the writer does not stop at our speech but explores aspects of our behaviour: ‘Deliberate disregard for the word of God … and loss of reverence for the Lord’s Name have degraded the name of Christ throughout the world’. The chapter ‘The Lord of Gatherings’ is one that focuses upon how unscriptural talk leads to unbiblical practices. As the writer argues, ‘As the Church is under Christ’s authority, meets in His Name, and gathers in His presence we do not want to employ errant terminology and practices which would supplant Christ’s rule as Head of the Church’. This is a timely book and one that should be profitable reading for young and old alike.