tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9901815.post116106933870300163..comments2023-06-04T14:47:02.324+01:00Comments on a sideways glance: More on languagesimonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13470335172330595542noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9901815.post-1161084681553905672006-10-17T12:31:00.000+01:002006-10-17T12:31:00.000+01:00A small spanner in the works - was Paul a master o...A small spanner in the works - was Paul a master of writing in a way that people could easily understand?<BR/><BR/>Peter (2 Peter 3:15-16) wrote:<BR/><BR/>"... just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, <B>in which are some things hard to understand</B>, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."<BR/><BR/>Paul's congregations were made up of well-schooled Jews, converts from paganism s and doubtless many shades in between. Borrowing from different pools of vocabulary may have confused as much as it soothed. "Infuriatingly fluid" as you say; wrestling with expressions that don't fit our natural vocabulary is part of the discipline we must go through in order to grow in our understanding of the good news of God's victorious grace towards us.<BR/><BR/>Following on that train of thought, I wonder if it is sometimes appropriate to use language that deliberately breaks people out of their comfort zone (especially including those who have come to speak fluent Christianese)?Wulfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14122559314286527166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9901815.post-1161083279920597532006-10-17T12:07:00.000+01:002006-10-17T12:07:00.000+01:00enjoyed this discussion on membership and the use ...enjoyed this discussion on membership and the use of language. In most occassions I guess words were used in those days so that folks could understand them. I suppose another example of this is Greek word euangelion which was used before to speak about an event which changed history. The new Testament uses it to talk about the Gospel. <BR/>It comes back to the question How we use terminology that folks can understand but in light of what Scripture says.Philip Mageehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17212616603223942515noreply@blogger.com