Christian religions often favor different names for the founder of their faith.
Catholics tend to use “Christ.” Protestants lean toward the name “Jesus.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say “the Savior” quite a bit. It has a softer feel and — like the titles “the Adversary,” “the Father” and “the Comforter” — the name describes the role Jesus takes in the plan of salvation.
My mother always liked using the term “the Lord.” I’m sure my grandfather used it quite a bit when she was growing up — and not always in solemn tones. I think Mom liked the way the name could be both regal, as in “King of King, Lord of Lords,” and intimate, as in “The Lord Is My Shepherd.”
I bring all this up today because every name I mention above has a place in the new volume by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Witness for His Names,” a handsome little book that discusses the dozens of names and titles given to Jesus Christ, ranging from Adam and Adonai to The Way and The Word.
For me, this is not a book to be read from front to back, but a book to be sampled and savored. Recently I’ve been letting the book fall open and then reading whatever is before me.
For anyone going through the book, it will soon become apparent that the names of Jesus, like the person himself, are present in every human endeavor. His name is stamped on the light we see, the bread we taste and the stones we walk upon. He’s in the animals (Lamb), plants (Vine) and even the elements (Fire).
For leaders like Elder Holland, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Jesus is not only the “first responder” in a crisis, but he’s also the “first response” when the topic turns to the gospel.
Who will soon forget his opening talk from the last general conference where he said, “... those blessed with sight will recognize that, in spite of everything else this conference tradition may offer us, it will mean little or nothing unless we find Jesus at the center of it all.”
It is a focus that Elder Holland has spent a lifetime cultivating, in books like “Christ and the New Covenant” and “Trusting Jesus” and also in talk after talk after talk.
He knows it’s a theme that never becomes threadbare, never loses its freshness. Say aloud any one of the names listed by Elder Holland and the senses quicken and the attention perks up.
For such reasons, I suppose, the Latter-day Saint authors who touch my heart most deeply always touch on Jesus.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell, also of the Quorum of the Twelve, didn’t see himself as an authority. He saw himself as a disciple of the Lord.
Sister Chieko Okazaki, who served in the Relief Society general presidency, not only wrote a book called “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” but she once told me she kept a picture of the Savior beside her front door. She wanted to be sure he’d be in her thoughts whenever she left the house.
And Emma Lou Thayne gave us the penetrating, Christ-centered hymn “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”
As for Elder Holland, he’s another spiritual physician who knows exactly what medicine is called for. And this latest book is brimming with it.
“Witness for His Names” is a book that will never grow dated, never become stale. Pick it up in 20 years and it will still feel freshly minted.
In short, it’s a wonderful new edition — and addition — to Elder Holland’s opus.
Email: jerjohn@deseretnews.com