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Trapped · 10-21-2018, 08:55 PM

Okay, so I am not confused by the definition of "sovereign" nor by the truth of it as applies to God. God is sovereign, there is no doubt. My question is really how the LCs use it in their "vernacular".

(For example, a decade or two back, the co-working brothers started using the word "wrought" wrongly by saying (IIRC) "He has wrought Himself into us" when they meant, and had always said before that, "He has WORKED Himself into us". Our eyes all twitched when they first started using "wrought" wrong, but there wasn't anything we could do and it just kept getting used over and over again.)

I have no problem with "the Lord is sovereign" or "He is a sovereign ruler" or "it is His sovereign right". Those are standard uses. My issue is saying "something is sovereign of the Lord".

For example: "The earthquake in Japan was sovereign of the Lord." Is that a correct usage? I am fine with "The Lord is sovereign over everything, including the earthquake". I am fine with "Even in this tragedy, God is still sovereign." I just don't get "The earthquake is sovereign OF Him".

I googled the phrase "sovereign of" and what results is uses like this:

-"sovereign of the seas" - like the name of a large ship, in this sense sovereign is a noun, like "monarch"
-"the sovereign of our lives" - again, a noun, like monarch/king
-"reigning sovereign of Egypt" - same
-and on and on like that

Nothing comes up in the grammatical form of "[some event/action] is SOVEREIGN OF [some ruler]".

My point is, if this is a grammatically incorrect usage, but is common in the LC vernacular (which it is), it just hit me a couple days ago that this simple incorrect usage caused a lot of problems in me about who God is in times of trouble and setback. Even "sovereign over" (which never gets said in the LCs) is totally fine with me, but "sovereign of" causes huge issues. "Sovereign of" came across to me for decades that bad things that happen often have their source from God. "Sovereign over" would have meant that the Lord is still powerful and in control no matter what happens. The first is embittering, the second is reassuring. So I'm just trying to figure out if the LC's use this phrase correctly.

10-21-2018, 08:55 PM	#3
Trapped Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 1,523	Re: "sovereign of" Okay, so I am not confused by the definition of "sovereign" nor by the truth of it as applies to God. God is sovereign, there is no doubt. My question is really how the LCs use it in their "vernacular". (For example, a decade or two back, the co-working brothers started using the word "wrought" wrongly by saying (IIRC) "He has wrought Himself into us" when they meant, and had always said before that, "He has WORKED Himself into us". Our eyes all twitched when they first started using "wrought" wrong, but there wasn't anything we could do and it just kept getting used over and over again.) I have no problem with "the Lord is sovereign" or "He is a sovereign ruler" or "it is His sovereign right". Those are standard uses. My issue is saying "something is sovereign of the Lord". For example: "The earthquake in Japan was sovereign of the Lord." Is that a correct usage? I am fine with "The Lord is sovereign over everything, including the earthquake". I am fine with "Even in this tragedy, God is still sovereign." I just don't get "The earthquake is sovereign OF Him". I googled the phrase "sovereign of" and what results is uses like this: -"sovereign of the seas" - like the name of a large ship, in this sense sovereign is a noun, like "monarch" -"the sovereign of our lives" - again, a noun, like monarch/king -"reigning sovereign of Egypt" - same -and on and on like that Nothing comes up in the grammatical form of "[some event/action] is SOVEREIGN OF [some ruler]". My point is, if this is a grammatically incorrect usage, but is common in the LC vernacular (which it is), it just hit me a couple days ago that this simple incorrect usage caused a lot of problems in me about who God is in times of trouble and setback. Even "sovereign over" (which never gets said in the LCs) is totally fine with me, but "sovereign of" causes huge issues. "Sovereign of" came across to me for decades that bad things that happen often have their source from God. "Sovereign over" would have meant that the Lord is still powerful and in control no matter what happens. The first is embittering, the second is reassuring. So I'm just trying to figure out if the LC's use this phrase correctly.