“Say It Ain't 'Saint'”

Monday, February 29, 2016

I'm not Catholic.  But a lot of places are named after Catholics.  Mount Saint Helens, Santa Barbara, Saint Louis, the Saint Lawrence River... is it okay for me to say the 'saint' part of their titles?  I feel weird about it; I'm pretty sure they weren't Biblical saints.

Signed,
Sounds Like ‘Paint’

Dear Sounds Like ‘Paint’,

Recognizing the names of certain places in America and abroad (foreign countries also have scores of places with religious labels) doesn’t mean you are agreeing with the religion that those places find their origins from.  Calling the St. Lawrence River (named after Saint Lawrence of Rome… a Catholic saint) after it’s given name simply means that you recognize that location’s existence; it is not a statement of your own personal beliefs.

The christian Luke was divinely inspired by God to write the book of Acts.  In that book, he talks about Paul visiting the Areopagus (Acts 17:22).  ‘Areopagus’ literally means the ‘rock of Ares’.  Ares was a Greek false god.  This was the name used by the society to describe that location.  Yes, the name had pagan origins, but nobody would accuse Luke of being an idolater because he used the word ‘Areopagus’.  Likewise, no one will consider you Catholic when you say, “St. Louis, Missouri”… and even if someone did bring it up, it would give you an opportunity to tell them how all christians are saints (Rom 1:7).

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