I am going to be using this blog over the next several weeks as a method of gathering my thoughts on a subject that I am interested in exploring and discovering the true implications of: language.
I am no linguist, myself. For the purpose of this study, I wish I were. My focus will be specifically on what the Bible has to say on the subject of language, its origin and its purpose.
I believe this study is necessary because of some of the current philosophies that are being popularized by the post-modern movement.
The main tenant of Postmodernism is that truth is determined by the individual, that we each make our own realities by our beliefs and ideas. While this may seem very empowering at first, it actually has the effect of isolating each person from the other. If everyone you meet is living in their own self-constructed universe that is alien to your own, then any connection you make will be superficial at best.
As it regards language, the Postmodern ideal is 'deconstructionsim.' Rather than interpreting texts in the traditional way, deconstructionism assumes that each person uses language uniquely according to their own personal experiences. The purpose of deconstructionism is to determine what the meaning behind a text is based on what we know of the author of the text.
The other thing that postmodernism does to language is to say that every person will interpret a text as to what it means to them. So that what YOU get out of the Bible and what I get out of the Bible when we read it are two separate messages, and I have no right to tell you what it actually means.
Finally, Postmodernism leads us to the conclusion that our individual universes are constructed from language. For this reason, whoever controls the language controls the universe. The practical result that we see from this is a focus on controlling the language that you and I use in the everyday. Certain commonly used words and phrases suddenly become taboo as our language is subjected to 'political correctness.' Businesses adopt and frequently update their mission statements, which they make their employees memorize and carry around with them.
Now you may have noticed that the first two postmodern ideas regarding language contradict the third. Furthermore, the first two ideas render language practically useless for the purposes of communication. However contradictions do not greatly bother a postmodernist. Because truth is determined by my say-so, if I say that two contradictory ideas can co-exist, then they can.
Hopefully, you can see how this devaluing of language impacts the Christian Faith. Our knowledge of God comes through the word of God as delivered by the Holy Spirit. God does not speak to us in an audible voice, as He did to people prior to Moses. He does not speak to us through prophets as He did to Israel. He is no longer physically present in the person of Christ Jesus. Our whole knowledge of God comes from the Scriptures. This, by the way, is no bad thing. When God spoke audibly, very few people were privileged to hear him. The prophets were only good for as far as their voice projected. In the flesh, Jesus could not be everywhere. And in all these epochs, only a portion of God's plan was revealed. We are privileged in our day to have ready access to a written statement that details God's plan from the very beginning to the very end. But if truth is what you make it, and language is unstable at best, then the Scriptures become a novelty to be made what we wish them to be.
In order to address this issue, I wish to examine what the Bible has to say on the subject of language. If we know that, then we will know how the medium through which God speaks should be addressed.
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