Posted on 01/14/2017 9:41:01 AM PST by Salvation
Q. Is saying “Oh, my God!” when reacting to a situation or story taking the name of the Lord in vain?
Janet, Wakefield, Kan.
A. While the phrase “Oh, my God” could be a prayer, it is not usually meant in this way. More commonly it uses the Divine name as a mere expression of surprise or exasperation. This is not a reverent or prayerful use of God’s name in most circumstances. The word “vain” means empty. And, therefore, the context you cite would usually seem to qualify as using God’s name in vain.
However, in assigning culpability (blameworthiness), it is good to remember that some have developed a bad habit of using this expression. As such, they usually commit the sin in weakness rather than malice, not intending to show disrespect to God.
It should further be recalled that the Second Commandment, “You shall not use the name of the Lord in vain,” has for its first meaning that we should never use God’s name to swear falsely or curse others. Irreverence of God’s name through casual use, such as you cite, is an extended meaning of the commandment. Thus we see that violations of the Second Commandment do admit to some degree of seriousness. It is far more serious a sin to use God’s name to swear falsely than to inadvertently use it to express surprise.
Still, one ought to avoid such vain or empty uses. One way to help break a bad habit that may have developed is for the one who says, “Oh, my God!” to correct themselves aloud by saying, “Oh, I mean to say, ‘May the name of the Lord be praised!’” This makes reparation and also helps break the habit.
Something to consider when we are tempted to speak carelessly.
Monsignor Pope Ping for his OSV column.
And it has become a colloquial expression that even those who don’t believe in God use it. Thus a definitely empty and meaningless use. Of course their lower case god or gods may not care that its name is being taken in vein. ;)
And I have to admit that I often say it as a semi-automatic exclamation without meaning any reference to “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” This reminds me of expressions that hardly anyone knows the origins of, such as from various Bible verses or Shakespeare or historical events.
EXODUS 20:7
You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name.
How many are aware “OMG” is a gross misuse of GOD’S Name?
GOD is HOLY. His NAME is to be feared.
**GOD is HOLY. His NAME is to be feared.**
Exactly!
“”GOD is HOLY. His NAME is to be feared.”
That’s just your opinion. Jews think even spelling out G*D is a bad thing. Who is right?
God is not His name any more than Man is my name.
[Jews think even spelling out G*D is a bad thing.]
PSALM 96:9
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
LEVITICUS 19:2
For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate Yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.
DEUTERONOMY 7:6
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
GOD is HOLY. He expects us to fear His Name and as His treasured possessions, JEWS & GENTILES grafted onto the tree through faith in the LORD JESUS CHRIST are to treat GOD with respect.
Or reverence His name.
Reparation for Catholics:
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible, and ineffable Name of God be ever praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified, in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Exodus 3: 13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
At the end of Matthew, we do know his name, for Christ tells the apostles: “Go therefore to all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The apostles knew the name (in the singular, not ‘names’). Jesus had told them to do everything in his name. That’s the same name that he said was his Father’s, and not his own. As he told the Jews (John 5:43): “...if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.”
In his prayer to the Father before going to the garden (John 17), he said in vs 6: “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gave at me out of the world...”. And in vs 26: “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it...”.
And in Hebrews 1:4, the writer says: “...as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
The command given in Matthew 28:19 is obeyed by using the name of Jesus, as shown by the examples given in Acts 2:38; 8:16; 19:5.
Also Acts 10:48 and 22:16. I know they don’t say the name in those two; just “in the name of the Lord”. But, as Peter said in Acts 2:36: “..God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
I know that Trump is called by some “the Donald”, but proper names don’t use ‘the’ in front of the name; although titles do. Such as ‘the King’, or ‘the President’.
The name above all others is Jesus (Acts 4:12).
Ever notice that when people curse, and use a name from the Bible, it’s not the trinitarian formula?
The devil hates the name of Jesus.
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