Coram Deo

One of the things that I love, that came out of the Reformation, is the simple Latin phrases that impart Biblical truth. So during this week, I want to write a little about some of these phrases, the importance of them, and why they are helpful and truthful. Today I want to work through the Latin phrase, Coram deo.

Coram Deo
This is a two word Latin phrase that when it is translated into English, is understood in a five word sentence. Each of these Latin words means something specific, but the Reformers turned these two words into a slogan or writing phraseology that meant more than the sum of the parts. The word coram in Latin means "in physical presence of". This word in Latin was used to describe a setting where a person or thing was in the physical or visible presence of someone or something else. Coram could be used in multiple ways. For example, the horse is in the coram of the barn or the soldier was in the coram of the fort or I am in the coram of the King. This word brought with it a physical and very visibly real presence of something. The word deo (which you sing in a few hymns) is the Latin word for sovereign God. Latin only has really 2 words for God, and the word deo is the word that brings power, glory, and ultimate, to the term of God. So a person would use the word deo to describe the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior of all life. So to combine these two words together, it would read in a strait translation, in the presence of God.

But the Reformers took this simple translated thought and turned it into the phrase that brought with it, "before the face of God". Now, yes this is not a direct translation, but think for a moment of the truth of what the Reformers meant. If a person is in the presence of God, then they would also be before God, like standing before His throne. And if a person was standing before the throne of God, then they would also be visible to God through His eyes and face. So to use these two Latin words to indicate the theological truth that someone is before the face of God, is not a stretch at all. And to bring the weight of the truth that someone is before the very face of God, means that God is not only seeing everything that is happening before Him, but He is also hearing it, smelling it, tasting it, and is able to talk back to the person. And this point, is the first important aspect the Reformers wanted to establish.

But the Reformers also used Coram Deo to drive home the point that everything a person does, says, thinks, and feels, is before the very face of God continuously. Coram Deo was used to bring the weight of the theological truth that God sees all, hears all, smells all, and is always able and always is talking to us (we will discover later this week how God is always talking to us). So when this simple two word Latin phrase was used it was being used to stress a life that was always being lived before the face of God and God was always in the know if everything of this life. And that is why I love this phrase. The Bible makes this phrase true. Every single person has, is, and will always be living their lives and every second of their lives, in the very real presence of God. Because He is God and we are not!