Names of the Apostles and Saints
We have spoken about the Church as a community of believers and its attributes: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. We have also spoken about the building of the Church. Today, we would like to speak about naming the Church after the Apostles and Saints.
Churches are built in the names of saints, in honor of them and as a means of intercession through them, as the Lord said about them: “He who honors Me, I will honor,” and He also said: “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me” (Luke 10:16), (Matthew 19:28).
Some Protestants object to building churches in the names of saints, saying that they are the Churches of God, not of saints.
We do not deny that they are Churches of God, but in distinguishing one from another, they are sometimes named after cities and sometimes after a saint.
Many things that belong to God have been attributed by God Himself to His saints — such as the Law and the Holy Scriptures, for example.
You often read in the Bible, and even from the mouth of Christ Himself, about “the Law of Moses,” while it is the Law of God — the divine Law — yet God attributed it to Moses out of love for him.
Likewise, we attribute the Psalms to David, though they are the words of God spoken through David. The same applies to all the divine books: we say the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Ezekiel, the Book of Daniel — all of which are the Word of God, not the words of Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Daniel.
The same situation applies to the Temple:
The Bible calls it the Temple of Solomon, though it is the Temple of God, not of Solomon. Yet God attributed it to Solomon, and likewise attributed the later Temple to Zerubbabel, who built it.
And not only did God attribute His Law or His Temple to His saints, but He also named Himself after them:
He said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” while He is the God of all creation. Yet He called Himself by the names of His saints, out of love and honor for them.
Even Protestants themselves sometimes name their churches after saints, such as the Episcopal Church called “The Cathedral of All Saints.”
Moreover, God placed the names of the twelve apostles on the foundations of the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21:14).
He also placed the names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates of Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12), though Jerusalem is the City of God — “the City of the Great King.”
Therefore, there is no objection to the Church being the House of God while bearing the name of the Virgin, or the Archangel Michael, or Saint Mark, or Saint George, or any of the saints.
And the first Church in the world was “the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark” (Acts 12:12).
Because the Church was founded on the faith of the Apostles, it is built upon twelve pillars, symbolizing the twelve Apostles, so that our faith may be like theirs — like the rock on which the Lord said: “I will build My Church.” As the Apostle said (Ephesians 2:20),
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
It is strange that God honors His children, yet we do not honor our fathers, His children.
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year – Issue No. 5, 30-1-1976
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