Language and Theology
1.
THE GIFT OF LANGUAGE
And yet we have a language which
enables us to ask why, to dream, to despair (would suicide as a deliberately
chosen act be possible without language?).
Language is gratuitous. It is a gift.
Without language we can share ourselves with another. With language we can
share our souls.
a. God uses a word to bring that which is not, into being
Genesis 1:3
‘And
God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light’
Hebrews 11:3
‘By
faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that
what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’
b. God uses language to speak to us:
to declare his laws, wisdom, promises
Psalm 119:9,105
How can a young man keep his way
pure?
By guarding it according to your
word.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
c. We use language to enable
relationship, and to communicate with each other the wonders of God’s truth.
1 Corinthians 14:5,19
Now I want you all to speak in
tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than
the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church
may be built up .. Nevertheless,
in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct
others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, with
thankfulness in your hearts to God.
d. We must speak in the language of the people whom we are
addressing
Not just Latin versus English, or KJV versus ESV
Cross cultural communication: Wycliffe bible translators
The language we use can reinforce barriers (the language of
Zion), open up new possibilities; closed or open.
e. There must be a deep integrity
about how we use language
Ephesians 5:4
Let there be no filthiness nor
foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out
of place, but instead let there be
thanksgiving.
Matthew 5:33-37
"Again you have heard
that it was said to those of old, "You
shall not swear falsely, but shall perform
to the Lord what you have sworn." But I say to
you, Do not take an oath at all,
either by heaven, for it is the
throne of God, or by the
earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of
the great King. And do not
take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you
say be simply "Yes" or "No"; anything more
than this comes from evil.
(cf James 3:5-10)
The ‘faithfulness of God’ is primarily
displayed in his keeping his promises:
(eg.Zechariah’s prophecy, Luke
1:67-79)
f. The end of language is to acclaim
God in worship
Revelation 5:13 ‘And I heard every
creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all
that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be
blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever’.
2.
THE LIMITS OF LANGUAGE
The limits of human language:
Language unites, but language also
divides.
The confusion of language - Genesis
11:1,7 ‘Now the whole earth had one
language and the same words .. Come let us go down and there confuse their
language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech’
The limits of angelic languages (the
tongues of angels):
- personal relationship with God (1
Corinthians 14:2, ‘For the one who speaks to you in a tongue speaks not to men
but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit’)
- sign for unbelievers, to show how far
they are alienated from God (1 Corinthians 14:23)
note: prophecies, tongues, knowledge
will cease (1 Corinthians 13:8)
3.
REALITY AND LANGUAGE
Philosophical debates about language
a)
Realism: Universals exist out there, which
are different to the words we use, but as our knowledge and language develop,
so we capture that reality in our words.
b)
Nominalism: The variety of objects to which a
single word applies (eg. ‘dog’) have nothing in common apart from the word. We
will never be able to know a reality beyond our words
Alice through the Looking Glass:
`I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. `Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
`But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.
`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'
`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
However, we work with a realist
assumption: words describe things out there.
a)
Literal language
(in the Bible there is historical, legal,
scientific – explanatory - language)
What is it? It is black, it has two wheels, it comes up
to just over my waist, it has a fold over lid
If I say, ‘we have a brown wheely bin and
a blue wheely bin’, you know exactly what I mean.
Much of the language in the bible is
used in this way: it is law, history, wisdom, the gospels
But because of the limits of language,
we recognise that language is not able to describe everything in this sort of
way
i) Reality is too big
Language describing events pre-fall
and post return of the Lord Jesus
How do we describe love, personality
ii) God is too big
But how do you describe the one who
created all things, including time and space – when we can only think in terms
of time and space?
Tom and Jerry discussing who drew Walt Disney.
b)
Metaphorical language
(in the Bible there is poetic,
apocalyptic, ‘saga’ language. Jesus spoke in parables)
John Masefield: Sea-fever
I
must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
It is trying to convey a reality that is too big for us to imagine. It is about imagination – about feeling.
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
It is trying to convey a reality that is too big for us to imagine. It is about imagination – about feeling.
This is language which points us to a reality
beyond language.
And how do we describe One who is
beyond all concept, all definition?
1 Timothy 6:15-16
‘.. which God
will bring about in his own time - God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is
immortal and who
lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.’
God reveals himself to us in language
which points us beyond language
Revelation 1:12-16
‘I turned around to see
the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp
stands, and among the lamp stands was someone like a son of
man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash
around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool,
as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze
glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of
rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his
mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its
brilliance.’
Oddly, to even turn this into an image, somehow limits what
is being said.
An image is always going to be an image of something that is
created. How do we depict the uncreated in an image?
c) Going beyond
language
The impossibility of describing God
Is God up there?
Does God have hands or eyes?
Is God angry or jealous or loving?
Is God angry or jealous or loving?
Is God good and faithful?
We want to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’
The creed:
We believe in one God, the
Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and
unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus
Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from
God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one
Being with the Father; through him all
things were made.
In God-talk there have been two ways of speaking about God
a) Positive language: increasing knowledge about God, about the ways of God and
the promises of God.
There are things that can be known about God
Romans 1:19-20
.. since what may be known about God is plain to
them, because God has made it plain to them. For
since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and
divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that people are without excuse.
John 14:9
Jesus said to him, "Have I
been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?
b) Negative language: the stripping away of idols that we build around words.
The place of silence
Rev 8:1 ‘When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in
heaven for about half an hour.’
The silence of presence and not of absence
4. THE PURPOSE OF LANGUAGE
a) to lead us into faith/obedience
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret
things belong to the Lord our God, but
the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we
may do all the words of this law.
b) to lead us into relationship and encounter with Jesus Christ
John 5:39-40
You search the Scriptures
because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they
that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to
come to me that you may have life.
c) to enable us to speak to others about God
Psalm 78:1-3
Give ear, O my people, to my
teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my
mouth!
I will open my mouth in a
parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of
old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their
children,
but tell to the coming
generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has
done.
d) to enable us to worship
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called
you out of
darkness into his marvellous
light.
Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi (the rule of prayer is the rule of belief is
the rule of life)
Wisdom of Cranmer introducing a book of common prayer.
We do theology in:
- The words we use
- The songs we sing
- The prayers we pray (eg. Lord’s prayer)
The difference between knowing about God and knowing God.
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