Evertt W. Huffard, The Honor of God: More about Character than Reputation or the Radiance of God

Abstract

Evertt Huffard’s book, The Honor of God, is about the glory and honor of God. Both English words have in fact become clichés and, as such, have lost much of their meaning and impact. Yet the word “glory” (kabod in Hebrew and doxa in Greek) is much used in Scripture. Both words are almost always translated in English as “glory” and only occasionally as “honor.” The Hebrew meaning of kabod is “weight, to be heavy,” and when the term refers to God it is normally understood to speak of God’s awesome (heavy) and radiant presence. The Septuagint uses the Greek word doxa for this Hebrew word. Huffard argues that both biblical terms, kabod and doxa, speak as much of the intrinsic nature of God, his goodness and his character, as they do of God’s extrinsic, radiant presence, his greatness. Huffard concludes that in many cases these two terms should be translated as the “honor” of God in English. The author briefly describes “honor,” not as receiving praise and esteem, but as the nature or character of a person. And in relation to God, honor means God is true to is own nature and character.