Wise Words On Wednesday: Language
“We can only cope with the dangers of language if we recognize that language is by nature magical and therefore highly dangerous.”
Owen Barfield, History in English Words
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
“We can only cope with the dangers of language if we recognize that language is by nature magical and therefore highly dangerous.”
Owen Barfield, History in English Words
I’ve recently been involved in a number of conversations about Christianity and swearing.
This week, a Catholic friend whom I very much respect suggested the possibility that it might be okay to “swear intentionally in the proper context”. I took some time to write a substantial reply on social media, so I thought I’d share it here as well, as I think it sums up my main thoughts on the subject…
The first objection I see to swearing is the clear motif from Scripture concerning Christian speech. To begin with, we are told that the words of our mouth are important:
Read moreLet the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14
This is why saying “It’s not a child, it’s just a fetus” doesn’t make much sense…
Nothing about Faith today…I just wanted to share a rather amusing podcast I found from an Englishman living in the United States:
Some brothers came to a holy hermit who lived in the desert and outside the hermitage they found a boy tending the sheep and using uncouth words.
After they had told the hermit their thoughts and profited from his reply, they said, “Abba, why do you allow those boys to be here, and why don’t you order them to stop hurling abuse at each other?”
He said “Indeed, my brothers, there are days when I want to order them to stop it, but I hold myself back, saying, if I can’t put up with this little thing, how shall I put up with a serious temptation, if God ever lets me be so tempted? So I say nothing to them, and try to get into the habit of bearing whatever happens.”.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
“Your language indicates, and limits, what you think.” ― Jonathan Price
In honour of the Patron Saint of England, here’s a video giving the history of the English language (in ten minutes):