Apologetics

Augustus Wow

by Terry Barlow
03/25/14
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Early Christians refrained from using the title "Augustus" referring to any human being, emperor or not. The closest English equivalent to that word other than "august" which means to inspire awe is probably the currently popular "awesome." So from the perspective of the early Christians it is safe to say that a human being could be "awesome" only by virtue of the fact of being created in the image of the One who is truly awesome, and that the works of human beings could only be awesome by virtue of the fact of being inspired and enabled by the Spirit of that truly Awesome One. But that was then and this is now, someone may say. What could antiquity possibly have to teach us here and now with all our knowledge experience, and expertise in post-modernity!? Well, for one thing, the early church, whose disciples devoutly recited the Lord's Prayer at least three times daily, can teach us a lot as contemporary believers about how to put and keep the "wow" in our relationship with God, the One who deserves all our awe.