tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post114349452084982856..comments2024-03-10T10:54:59.776-07:00Comments on Ben Witherington: WORDSHAPEDBen Witheringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06017701050859255865noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1143586769671091652006-03-28T14:59:00.000-08:002006-03-28T14:59:00.000-08:00Hi Sandalstraps--- yes you are quite rightabout t...Hi Sandalstraps--- yes you are quite rightabout the spoken word, which is part of whatI was talking about.... texts were surrogates fororal communication.<BR/><BR/>Michael--- I do think early Christians had the same taboo as Jews about saying God's name if we are referring to the 2nd or 3rd persons of the Trinity. Jewish Christians may have had reservation about saying Yahweh, but in fact Jesus taught them to call him abba--- not really a divine personal name.<BR/><BR/>Nice to hear from the Long-Time Methodists.....<BR/><BR/>Blessings<BR/><BR/>BenBen Witheringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06017701050859255865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1143568185832767272006-03-28T09:49:00.000-08:002006-03-28T09:49:00.000-08:00A question: did the ancients abbreviate the name o...A question: did the ancients abbreviate the name of Jesus as they did with God to keep his name from being used in an inappropriate manner?<BR/>If this is the case, how early does this practice go back?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09103393636010425453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1143567198515203212006-03-28T09:33:00.000-08:002006-03-28T09:33:00.000-08:00Love those poems. Keep 'em coming.Love those poems. Keep 'em coming.Curthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13472292900273480350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11840313.post-1143564546231727372006-03-28T08:49:00.000-08:002006-03-28T08:49:00.000-08:00While this speaks (and rightly so) of the theologi...While this speaks (and rightly so) of the theological power of the <EM>written</EM> word, I am similarly impressed with the theological power of the <EM>spoken</EM> word.<BR/><BR/>As you well know, there is an intimate connection in many languages between variations of <EM>breath</EM> and <EM>spirit</EM>. There is also a physical connection between <EM>breath</EM> and <EM>speech</EM>. To speak is literally to use <EM>breath</EM> (and its connection with <EM>spirit</EM>) to call order out of chaos.<BR/><BR/>My son is 14 months old, and is slowly but surely learning the mystical distinction between <EM>speech</EM> and gibberish. He is starting to bring more order into the ways in which his <EM>breath</EM> produces sound. This impacts him profoundly, and the <EM>power</EM> of <EM>speech</EM> (with its connections to <EM>breath</EM> and <EM>spirit</EM>) is not lost in him, or us.<BR/><BR/>As he learns to shape <EM>breath</EM> into sound, and sound into <EM>speech</EM>, he learns to better share his experience of life with the intimate community around him. He then learns the distinction between random sounds and sounds which both describe and communicate experience. He begins to have some <EM>authority</EM> by <EM>authoring</EM> phrases which have some small power. Power to describe, and power to convey - even power to <EM>command</EM>.<BR/><BR/>Everyone knows that a baby can <EM>command</EM> a great deal of attention, but my son could not issue <EM>specific commands</EM> without having some <EM>command</EM> of <EM>speech</EM>.<BR/><BR/>This reminds me of some scriptural images:<BR/><BR/>God <EM>breathing</EM> life into that which was dead.<BR/><BR/>God <EM>speaking</EM> (with the connections between <EM>spirit</EM> and <EM>breath</EM>, <EM>breath</EM> and <EM>speech</EM>), and that which is <EM>spoken</EM> becomes real.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your meditation on the power of the written word, and for tolerating my mediation on the spoken word. Words do have theological significance and power.Sandalstrapshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16303641009581382217noreply@blogger.com