That's a bit of dogmatic teaching that isn't really supported by the bible. Or at least, not directly. I mean, heck we have a bunch of verses where we have God telling people to use his name and invoke it. Why wouldn't his name be meant to be pronounced?
However, lest we derail this thread, can we agree to disagree preemptively and simply let it be known that there are different schools of thought in the matter?
The Catholic position is that His name is the sacred Tetragrammaton and should not be invoked in vain. The pronunciation matters little outside of theological debates. Father, Lord, God and several others are acceptable titles to address him by.
Of course, He always knows when you're talking to Him or about Him, but His Name has Power. Comes back to old Roman religious practices, that a god which is nameless or whose name is kept secret cannot be invoked by your enemies.
The "use His Name and invoke it" is mostly in reference to the proper authorities, i.e. Priests, divinely appointed Kings, Prophets, etc. doing so in the proper moments. In matters of great importance, such as the survival of the nation, important battles or major religious events, invoke God's Name, but otherwise don't do so for petty reasons.
Which, in part, is why the cult of the Saints is so favoured by the Catholic Church. Calling upon the Saints to intercede in your favour with God is much less theologically problematic than invoking His Name at every opportunity. Those touched by His Grace are obvious intermediaries between men and God.
The Catholic position is that His name is the sacred Tetragrammaton and should not be invoked in vain. The pronunciation matters little outside of theological debates. Father, Lord, God and several others are acceptable titles to address him by.
Of course, He always knows when you're talking to Him or about Him, but His Name has Power. Comes back to old Roman religious practices, that a god which is nameless or whose name is kept secret cannot be invoked by your enemies.
The "use His Name and invoke it" is mostly in reference to the proper authorities, i.e. Priests, divinely appointed Kings, Prophets, etc. doing so in the proper moments. In matters of great importance, such as the survival of the nation, important battles or major religious events, invoke God's Name, but otherwise don't do so for petty reasons.
Which, in part, is why the cult of the Saints is so favoured by the Catholic Church. Calling upon the Saints to intercede in your favour with God is much less theologically problematic than invoking His Name at every opportunity. Those touched by His Grace are obvious intermediaries between men and God.
"So," you say after a moment, "everythin' under control here? Anythin' I can do to help out?"
"Thank you for the offer, Father. My supplies are in fairly good shape, but if you find some extra Blood Vials on your journey, I would certainly appreciate them. Also, when you leave, would you mind checking the incense outside? If it's gone out, there's some extra on the shelves downstairs. The smell keeps the beasts away. Or at least it should."
She doesn't sound terribly confident of that, and for good reason. Speaking of...
"What about the beastie? Any way t'deal with it that doesn't involve burning the whole place down?"
"Oh, I don't expect it to be too much of an issue. I have some cleaning solutions in here to take care of the blood; the Church tends to take rather dramatic measures, but they shouldn't be necessary for a single beast. If you wouldn't mind taking the body outside, though, I would appreciate it. Did it happen to...kill anyone before you slew it, Father?"
"It was eatin' some chap in a wheelchair when I found it."
"That would be the blood minister the Church insisted on sending to 'oversee' my work. I warned them about the stairs, but they wouldn't listen."
Not big on ramps, these Yharnamites.
She seems to have things under control after that scare; you figure this isn't her first...does "rodeo" work as an idiom here? You can't really think of a better one at the moment but you don't want to think like some American hick.
"You sure you're safe in here, though? That thing did manage to get in, y'know."
"I am well-prepared, Father. This door is extremely thick and barred on this side. I have also worked to increase the potency of the incense; I can only imagine my lantern got damaged somehow, otherwise the beast would have given it a wide berth. The clinic ought to be more than safe."
Well, if she's sure.
Something occurs to you before you turn to leave.
"Before I go, Doctor, would ye mind openin' the door a wee bit? Can't say we've been properly introduced if we don't even know what the other one looks like."
You hear her fiddle with the lock for a moment, hesitating, before finally opening the door and peering out from the crack. She's quite lovely, gray hair done up in a bun and tired-looking eyes widening at your size. You hold up your hands.
"Not gonna hurtcha, lass."
Still watching you, she opens it further, revealing her surprisingly-clean white coat and gloves. You can see the clutter of hastily-moved supplies behind her as she appraises you.
She bows in greeting and you do the same before reaching into your coat and producing a Bible and cross, which you offer to her. She accepts them with some confusion.
"The Word and the cross where our LORD's son died for our sins. They've carried me through the worst of times and I hope they can do the same for you."
"Thank you," she says with a smile. She puts them down for a moment and reaches into her own coat, retrieving a bottle of what looks almost like cider. She hands it to you carefully.
"This is a blood vial I've designed; if you're injured, it should be able to heal you much more efficiently than a standard vial. I'm sorry this is all I can offer."
"No need for apologies. Thank ye, Doctor Iosefka." You smile and pocket the vial before turning to leave, waving as she closes the door once more.
Damn, that thing really is thick. Even you'd have trouble cracking it with just your hands.
You make your way to the entrance, picking up the helpfully-labeled container of incense along the way. With it in one hand and the corpse of the werewolf in the other, you step into the Yharnam afternoon for the first time. And then you remember that you forgot the minister and go get his corpse, too. Wouldn't want to make Iosefka's cleaning any harder than it already is.
With the bodies disposed of (hurled a reasonable distance from the front door towards a tree), you take a look at the incense lantern, which had indeed fallen to the cobblestones below. It looks like it's just bent, certainly not beyond repair. You straighten it as best you can before inserting a fresh batch of incense and, with some sparks from your bayonets, lighting it.
It is, indeed, terribly pungent. The idea of cutting off your own nose comes to mind before you realize it would just grow back.
The area near the entrance is populated by cobblestone, trees, and graves, the latter of which gives you some questions about the efficacy of Yharnam's medical technology. There's a corpse sitting by the grave nearest the gate; either somebody didn't know you were supposed to bury them or the situation in the city is as bad as you'd expected.
Time to hit the town.
[] Advance carefully, avoiding conflict where you can
[] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street
[X] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street.
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
[X] Advance carefully, avoiding conflict where you can -[X] Save the stabbing for egregious evils.
Eh, I like Anderson on a rampage as much as the next guy but I'd prefer his first 'Anderson Unleashed' moment is on a big threat or in defense of an innocent against a vast horde.
God, I wish we had the rest of the Hellsing cast roaming about, can you imagine if Seras ran into Eileen? Walter in Cainhurst?
[X] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street.
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
There's a whole load of heathens, mutants and abominations against God on these streets.
Let's clean them. But first, a word from our Divine Sponsor.
[X] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street.
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
[X] Advance carefully, avoiding conflict where you can
Anderson doesn't have a grasp of what's going on yet; while he's always willing to kill heretics and the damned, he's probably wanting to be certain of who is in the latter category first.
Plus, well, a lot of the guys on the street are equipped with makeshift weaponry and are clearly frightened people trying to hunt down these 'beasts' (remember their lines when they attack the Hunter); he's got no quarrel with them and let's be honest... they're no threat to him.
Beasts, on the other hand... well, they're pretty obvious. At least at this point of the game.
[X] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street.
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
Isnt Andersson capable of using bible pages as supernatural seals/christian magic bullshit? Why not throw a few on the clinics outside nailed into place with a few spare bayonets?
[X] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street.
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
[x] See if you can't communicate with any of the people you meet on the street
-[X] If not, go for the tried and true, BAYONET TO THE FACE! HALELUJIA!
--[X] But first take a round around the clinic and errect a barrier using the Word of GOD to protect a potential convert to the true faith.
Credit to leoric for the barrier
