Gloria Patri: The History and Theology of the Lesser Doxology

The Philology and Theology of Glory

T The Philology and Theology of Glory The Philology of Glory The translation of the Latin gloria into the English glory is straightforward and requires little comment. Glory in English will, of course, carry connotations that may vary from time to time and place to place. Living languages change; usage changes; dictionary meanings change in the futile attempt to stay current in the wonderful world of human language in all its creative manifestations .10 Living faith also creates meaning by its practice of praying . The lex orandi, lex credendi (the rule of prayer is the rule of belief) reflects this truth. Believers pray first, and then reflect on their expressed faith. People live the faith first, and theology follows to record practice, much like people talk and write first, and the dictionary follows to understand usage. Living faith and living language both manifest the wonderful creativity with words that allows for new meanings that reflect new realities. We shall see below how this principle that life precedes codification plays 9 out with the word “glory.” The way believers used the word glory led to new definitions, and these in turn led to a particular understanding of the word glory in all its glory. Hebrew Glory In the Hebrew Scriptures the “glory of God” is rendered by kebod YHWH.11 In its profane meanings, kabod suggested “(1) weight or burden, (2) riches or wealth, (3) importance, and (4) prestige, renown, honor (royal prestige, majesty).”12 In the earliest biblical understanding, the glory of God was seen in the theophanies of nature. “The heavens are telling the glory of God” (Ps 19:1). Especially in storm lightning and thunder was the glory of the Lord revealed. “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the god of glory thunders” (Ps 29:3). Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai witnessed a great theophany of the Lord God: “Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel” (Ex 24:17). In one account Moses is given to see the face of God, and afterward he veiled his own face to protect onlookers from the reflected radiance of God (Ex 34:29–35). In another account, Moses is given to see only the back of God as the divinity passes by in glory (Ex 33:20–23). Vermeulen writes: “The Kebod Y ahveh is primarily the concrete Divine Being in so far [as] This reveals Itself to man, and secondarily stands for the more or less abstract divine attributes connected with the appearance of this divine Being, notably the refulgent splendour of God, His might and Majesty.”13 In the Mosaic revelation, the “glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” with a cloud by day and fire by night (Ex 40:34–38). That glory of God was a presence through thick and thin as Israel wandered in the desert in search of the Promised Land. As the glory of God became less phenomenal in its portrayal, a new word was coined by Jewish commentators on the Hebrew Scriptures. Shekinah suggested the tenting of God or the indwellD O X O L O G Y : WO R D A N D C O N C E P T 10 ing of God, and emphasized the on-going presence of God with God’s people. God’s glory was not necessarily overwhelming as the storm, though it ever remained awesome. From the glory of God in the heavens to the glory of God in the Temple was a journey of human understanding. The greater reality was found in the deliberate presence of God and not in the boundless power of God. In his vision of the glory of God that fills the Temple, Isaiah writes: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is 6:3). Ezekiel, the “prophet of the glory of God” writes eloquently of his many visions of the glory of the Lord that filled the Temple (see Ez 1, 10, and 43 in particular ). The shekinah became the source and center of the Lord God’s glory. Kebod YHWH, however, was not replaced so much as it was enhanced. Greek Glory When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the Septuagint composed in the second century...