The Name of Jesus

Dennis: I give up. What "H"?

 

Maybe it's strictly a Canadian, maybe Maritime province, profanity, that I personally would not use.

It would not be unusual to hear the expression "Jesus H. Christ" when someone had a unexpected mishap.

French Canadian profanity previously revolved around religious expressions. Some people prefer sexual expressions. Myself, I prefer bodily function profanity although I do use it somewhat infrequently.

You asked, I answered and I am just slightly embarrassed.

 

The things you find on the 'Net

The things one can find on the 'net...

For those who might be interested...http://www.emich.edu/~linguist/issues/4/4-901.html

"I am very impressed -- should I say "im-fuckin-pressed"? -- by
David Stampe's analysis of infixation, phrases, and stress in
vol 4.888. But George Gale's reference to "Jesus H. Christ" in
vol 4.887 is beside the point, at least as far as concerns its
origin.

"Jesus" is a transcription in Latin of the name "Yeshua" [or
something like that; my Hebrew isn't strong and my Aramaic is
nonexistent], maybe carried via Greek. In Greek it's spelled
iota eta sigma omicron upsilon sigma
which in capitals, using the common curved sigma variant, looks
like
IHCOYC
-- the "Y" is approximate, the rest is accurate. This, or the
first three letters, is commonly seen in medieval and Renaissance
religious art. There is also a tradition of "I.H.S." interpreted
as "Jesus hominum salvator" 'Jesus, savior of people' and in other
expansions as well -- remember that "J" as a distinct letter from
"I" is only a few centuries old. This "IHC" is the likeliest
origin of the H. in "Jesus H. Christ".

What is relevant in Gale's observation is the survival of the
expression long after the times when most speakers were familiar
with this trigraph (or is it still current?). The rhythm and the
apparent insertion into a familiar name certainly fit the general
pattern that Stampe points out."

Mark A. Mandel
Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200
320 Nevada St. : Newton, Mass. 02160, USA : [email protected]

 

This last saturday I attended a ceremony connected to the the 400 soldiers who departed from Salem . The prayer by the chaplin did not mentioned Jesus and seemed to be generic enough, but I suppose atheists/agnostics might be offended and see here in that prayer a lack of a separation between church and state.

But when Dan called from Colorado two days ago, where these soldiers are in 20 days of intensive training including, he says, middle eastern customs, Dan mentioned that while they were all assembled they were asked if any among them held to any "foreign" religion! It was not explained why this was asked. Of course, Christianity sort of is "foreign" too in terms of place of origin , I suppose, and even has "branches" under that designation which would seem as "foreign" theologically to me as a religion not so named.

While I haven't much pondered this, I would think that it would be an unwise position to take that Christianity *as individualized in its supposed adherents* has proven to be a peaceful religion whereas others are "evil" and warlike. Church history rather soundly tramples all over that notion, unfortunately.

 

Re: The things you find on the 'Net

You mean the "H" acually does stand for something? Amazing.

 

Oh, that. That's in SW Ontario and in Detroit, too.

Herschel? Tabernac'!

 

Or "Heretic."

 

Re: The things you find on the 'Net

 

An interesting question, how did this cultural idea develop in Latin America and Africa that naming your kid Jesus would be a sign of honor and hopefully help them to grow up to be a better person. This seems very similar to the Moslem tradition of naming males Mohammad. On the other hand it would be considered sacrilege to do the same in many other cultures.

 

Bill Grover: majuscule sigma looking identical to C is very common. It is similar to final minuscule sigma, but w/o the tail. I have also seen (more rarely) minuscule initial or medial sigma as c. Atkinson's "Greek Language" (in the languages series put out by Faber in the 50's) prolly has a discussion of this. The C sigma may even play a part in the origins of the "soft" c in English orthography, but that is speculation on my part.

 

No, calice!

Anyway, kiddies, there is a technical term for the no-name-brand type of prayers y'all have been discussing here: civil religion.. Do an engine search on this term, and you'll find a trove of information.

I have it directly from the Great Architect.

 

I've always thought of American "civil religion" in terms of symbols like the flag, in terms of hagiography like Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, in terms of ritual like the pledge of allegance, in terms of a festival calendar of observances like the 4th of July, and most importantly in terms of the sense of being called apart for a special purpose, mission and destiny.

To me, 'civil religion' is something secular, even though it's conceptualized in thought-forms derived from the Christian tradition.

I'm not sure that objections to incorporating explicitly Christian content into civic functions is a manifestation of civil religion in the sense I'm using the term (which is close to Robert Bellah's, I believe). It certainly isn't for me.

The issue for me is an objection to expressing community observances in terms of a belief system that those of us who aren't Christian don't share. We feel threatened by suggestions that normative American identity is Christian identity. The point isn't to express religiosity in generic terms, it is to express group soidarity and sentiment in a way that as many Americans as possible can relate to and make their own.

Civil and revealed religion aren't necessarily exclusive. Many Christians have no trouble at all in combining them. They argue that America is especially blessed by their God or that it uniquely stands for the best in the Judeo-Christian tradition. In fact, it is precisely the desire to collapse the distinction between civil and religious identity that motivates the desire of some activist clergy to officiate at community functions in explicitly sectarian ways.

 

And it's not only non-Christians who share the misgivings and sense of threat from generic-Christianity (or generic religiosity exploiting Christian symbolism/verbiage) intruding into civic functions...or disliking the reproach of not being "community-minded" for refusing on conscientious grounds to participate.

 

In regard to your last comment (GAOTU), it is accurate in terms of the Masons having perfected this form of generic religiosity.

It is also practiced within the US Chaplaincy. They respect individual differences but when together expect neutral prayers, chapels are neutralized, etc. Even the US Army Chaplaincy crest is generic. One of the happiest about a Muslim Chaplain coming on board was an Orthodox Rabbi I knew. He felt this would cause the Christian dominated Chaplaincy to have to take more account of other groups rather than patronizing them. Truly, the Chaplaincy changed. We had everyone from Muslims to Christian Scientist Chaplains. I am not sure if a Buddhist has been accessed yet or not.

North

 

I understand that besides the generic crest, chaplains from different faiths have different insignia that they wear. Christians have little crosses, Rabbis have little tablets, Muslims have a crescent moon and Buddhists have a dharma wheel.

My understanding is that the Buddhist Church of America (BCA/Jodo Shinshu), was recognized in 1987. I believe that the actual number of Buddhist chaplains remains very small.

What is more common here in the states is a military base inviting civilian Buddhists from off-base to provide religious services to those desiring them. Obviously that wouldn't work on combat deployments.

Buddhism is kind of a problem case since traditionally the closest thing Buddhism has had to clergymen are monks. The life of a military chaplain would conflict with any number of monastic vows.

But some forms of Japanese Buddhism have downplayed the traditional Buddhist sangha and have evolved roles more closely resembling priests. Jodo Shinshu is one of those, so it is unusual in having clergymen that can fill the chaplain role.

The BCA raises an issue that's relevant to Degreeinfo. As I understand it, there are educational requirements for chaplains, which include graduation from a properly accredited seminary.

The Buddhist Church of America does have a Christian-style seminary, the Institute of Buddhist Studies in California, but it's CA-approved.

Luckily for the Buddhists, Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union took the IBS under its wing in a British-style validation arrangement and grants GTU masters degrees (RA and ATS) for work done at IBS. So the military apparently is satisfied.