When Theological Language Becomes a Hinderance
Posted by: chris_layton in Theology, Uncategorized, church-edI have begun retiring certain theologically loaded terms from my vocabulary. I am sad to see them sitting on the bench, for they ought to take a central role an any theological discussion. But, it seems, some words lose their power from over-use. People use them without having a clear idea as to what is meant - or signified - by them. Or, alternatively, because these words can be used in different (and sometimes mutually exclusive) ways, people find themselves talking past each other - conversations never quite connect. Of course, since these words are central to any theological conversation, they have to be replaced with something.
Here are a couple words that I have temporarily retired from my speech, and the words I have exchanged for them:
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1. Faith: I am using the word “Fidelity,” or word “Allegiance” in the cases where faithfulness to God’s Kingdom is meant.
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2. Grace: I am mostly using “generosity,” or the adjective “graciously”
Are there other theological words that need temporary relief?
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August 6th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Chris,
Anytime someone opens up a conversation on language I have to join in, I just can’t help myself.
Let me tell a brief story I once heard (slightly modified):
There was once a factory run in a Communist country that had strict regulations of what could be brought in and taken out by the workers. This was done so as to prevent theft and the loss of company supplies. Therefore, at the end of each day there were guards who would search each person in order make sure that no was stealing items that belonged to the company.
Now there was one particular worker who at the end of each day would roll out his wheelbarrow full of his tools and several stuffed sacks. One day, the guard being suspicious of this worker, asked him at the end of the day, “What are you hiding?”
Answering back politely the worker said, “Nothing, I’m not stealing anything.”
“What’s in those sacks?” the guard barked.
“Only woodshavings for the stove at home. Please, I’m not stealing anything.”
“Open your sacks!” the guard ordered.
So the worker opened up the sacks and the guard emptied out the contents onto the floor, and sure enough it was only wood shavings. This same routine continued on for months: the worker would come up to guard with his wheelbarrow full of his tools and sacks, the guard would accuse the worker of stealing, forcing him to empty out his sacks only to find woodshavings. So the guard would throw the sacks back into the wheel barrow and be forced to let him go. However, this frustrated the guard immensely because he was convinced that this particular worker was stealing from the company. So one day the guard, fully befuddled, decided to ask the worker point blank, “What are you stealing?!? Look, I know you are stealing something. Just tell me what it is. I am not going to turn you in. I just need to know for myself what it is that you are stealing.”
So the worker replied, “Wheelbarrows.”
I am convinced that the nature of language (and the implications that follow) is one of the most fundamental issues that, at least among most Christians, goes unnoticed. While many Christians are fervently searching sacks, we are oblivious to wheelbarrows being rolled out right in front of us. Now, my only point with this story is this: that we are constantly criticizing moral issues of abortion, homosexuality, and maybe on a good day racism, but most of us seem to be oblivious to how any of this would apply to language. It seems that for most the thought of thinking critically about language never even crosses the mind. It is assumed that it is simply a neutral tool that describes reality but never constructs it; something we use, but not something that also uses us. Some of this unawareness can be understood given that “we live, and move, and have our being” in language. However, this can’t justify a perpetual ignorance, for the impact of language is too far reaching.
To your original question of what theological words could be revised I don’t have an answer for you. I am more interested in commenting on your endeavor itself. I’ve had the opportunity to have several enriching conversations on the nature of language with you and have greatly enjoyed them all. All that I really want to say about this blog entry is that I wholeheartedly support it. I have become fully convinced that we as Christian are called to be faithful linguistic stewards (i know that that term, and maybe its validity, needs explanation, but it will have to wait as I am currently short on time). Even more so, I have become fully convinced that part of what that looks like (given that language isn’t simply descriptive of reality, but even more so is constructive) is revising and creating new words. St. Paul seems to have taken up this endeavor in his creation of new words (more acurately, combining of old words to create new concepts - but the point still stands) which can be seen in a greek voc. of the NT. Shakespeare did the same thing in his writings. While I am not saying that either of them had this idea of “liguistic stewardship” in mind, what they did seem to have is mind was the necessity of finding a word or concept that appropriately conveyed the reality they were confronted with.
Well I think I might have gotten myself into trouble in getting to my main point without the time to really justify it. Sorry. I guess is short, language can become a hinderance, and often does. In light of this I truly believe that we should be creating new words.
…Oh brother. I hate to end here but I have to go to work. Anyway, thanks again Chris.