In the Apostolic Age we meet with:the same thing. Nothing so preserved a man from evil as keepin*^ his name strictly sacred. The Christian of Per- gamum who, fighting his moral battle in the place
* where Satan sits enthroned,' has not renounced his faith but adhered to God's name, is assured of his ultimate triumph, for to him is given 'a new name, unknown to any except him who receives it.* He who is known to men as the 'Logos of God,' or the * King of kings and Lord of lords,' is assured of victory as He rides forth on His white horse, for
* he bears a written name which none knows but himself.' W
The fact that the Flamen Dialia was forbidden not only to touch but even to name certain animals and things carries the tabu on names forward into other regions.***
The names of the dead were kept secret, for if a dead man heard his name, he would at once re- turn.ttt
Among the Greeks, therefore, it was customary to pasB graves,
* Gn 13 218-25. ct. Ahuna-Vairya (ERE i. 238).
t He 113, 2 P 35, Ro 417 ; c. Clemen, Primitive Christianity and Us Non-Jewish Sources, 1912, p. 82.
t Frazer, GB^, pt. ii., 2*0600 and the Perils 0/ the Soul, p. 318 ; HDB V. 131.
JHaddon, p. 23; Frazer, GB^, pt. ii., Taboo and the Perils of the Sotd, p. 319; Anthropological Enfia)/s, ed. W. H. R. Rivers, R. R. Marett. N. W. Thomas, 1907, p. !)1.
II Exp, 8th ser., v. (1913) 311 ; Frazer, GB-\ pt. ii., Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, p. 327 ; Clodd, pp. 81, 82, 83, 84, 92, 94 ; Haddon, p. 22.
% Frazer, GB^, pt. ii., Taboo and the Perils of the Saul, p. 335 ; Clodd. p. 115 ; ERE I. 251.
•• Frazer, GB-i, pt. ii. , Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, p. 328.
tt HDBv. 181.
XX Quoted by Robertson, p. 49 n.
§§ Clodd, p. 117. im Jg 5. Mt 8. 20.
1[«I Rev 2" 1912- IS. 16. **• Granger, p. 142 f.
ttt Frazer, GB^, pt. ii., Taboo and the Perils of the Soul, pp. 349, 353.
especially those of heroea, in silence.* Among the Abiponea all mention of the dead waa avoided, and the relatives of the dead changed their names. t This custom prevailed among the Amer- inds, Australians, Albanians, Tasmanians, Shetlanders,! etc. Our I^rd in calling Lazarus from the dead expressly named hini.5 The Amerinds anci others, by solemnly conferring the name of a dead person on a living one, thereby caused the latter to become an incarnation of the dead. II Certain ceremonies of naming and a certain type of name may have sprung from this custom.
Secrecy in regard to the name was also observed in the case of exalted personages. Instances of this in the case of kings have been collected from many parts of the world. H
The British sovereign is rarely spoken of by hia name, * Hta Majesty ' or ' the Kmg " being generally employed. In the British House of Conmions a member ia not addressed by hia name, but as 'the member for N.,'and the first step in punishing a member ia 'to name him," thus bringing the offender out of his impersonal sacredness.
The tabu on the name was still more important in the case of those connected with divinities and in that of the divinities themselves, as tlie nearer to the divine, or tlie more divine a person was, the greater the potency dwelling in his name.
A priest of Eteusis on taking otTice assumed a holy and hidden name which was written on a tablet and cast into the sea, and when he died that name became the one by which he waa known.** The real name of Confucius is so sacred that it is a punishable offence to utter it.tt The Oyainpis never name a waterfall till they have passed it, lest the sacred snake in it might on hearing the name attack them.H The Egyptians relate that the name of the god Ra was uttered by his parents and then concealed in him by them in such a way that it was impossible for any spell to bewitch him. But Isis managed to worm it out of him and thus became his superior in power.§§ We do not know how the real name of Ra or Amon was pro- nounced. In a Leiden papyrus a magician .says, ' I am he to whom . . . thou didst grant the yt-uxri^ of thy mighty name, which I shall keep secret, sharing it with no one.' II II Examples from various parts of the world have been collected showing that the true names of the gods were kept secret.^K Heroes, giants, and fairies all kept their names secret.*** The Algon- quins venerated a woman who came down from the skies, and whose name was too sacred to be spoken. ttt Allah is but an epithet in place of the Most Great Name; for the secret of the latter is committed to prophets and apostles alone. ttt In the vocabulary of the original Aryan language, the real names of the gods cannot be proved. §§§ This holds true in all the religions of the Mediterranean race, for the divine name was felt to be part of the divine essence and itself of supernatural potency. II 11 Ii The Romans called their chief goddess the Dea Dia, but this was a mere adjectival description employed be- cause of the fear of mentioning the real name.H^if The Roman pontiffs concealed the true names of their gods, and especially of the guardian deity of Rome, lest they should be wrongly used by unauthorized persons or an enemy.**** 'It was improper to mention the personal name of the Sa5ovvo^ at Athens on account of his sacred character.' tttt Many div- inities were invoked as iroKviuvvfjie (' thou god of many names'), all possible titles of power being summed up in one word.ntt .^schylus speaks of ' Zeus, whoever the god is,' and Euripides refers to the enlightened man ' who knows the silent names of the gods.'§§g§ Fausanias, speaking of Pallantion, says ' There is a temple of 0eoi still standing on the top of the ridge : they are called Ka^apoi, and oaths on matters of the greatest import are taken before them. The people do not know their names, or knowing them are unwilling to pronounce them.' |||||||j On