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Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part I, God speaks into being
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Christians have a language that they have developed over the past 2000 years: Christianese. It is an insider's language, a mystery to those outside the Christian faith, and a secret to be unraveled. The good stuff should always be available to everyone. The "cookies," the good stuff, should be placed on the bottom shelf for everyone to be able to get to. Over the course of this series, we hope to remove the cloud of Christianese, and expose what those terms really mean, and to put the cookies back on the bottom shelf.
Let's start with the term "Word of God." This is a Christianese term that can be extremely confusing, as any time it is used it can mean a number of different things. Context will have to be your guide in understanding it.
NOTE: You will notice that the term "Word of God" has a capital "W" and "G." This is important in understanding this Christianese term, as Christians revere all of the different forms of the Word of God as exceedingly important.
Word of God Christianese Definition 1: "speaking something into being"
The first definition that the Bible portrays of the Word of God involves the moment that the world was created. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Moses wrote, "And God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." (Genesis 1:3). Genesis 1:24 shows him "speaking" the animals into existence. Toward the middle of the Bible, in the book of Psalms, the writer says that "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth" (Psalm 33:6).
This version of the Word of God is entirely focused on God's existence as a creator. He makes things by speaking them into being, and those things are, according to what the Bible says, "good."
Christianese on the bottom shelf: God said it, and that's what happened. Whatever he talks about becomes real. It would be like you saying "I have a piece of chocolate cake on the table in front of me," and magically a piece of yummy, delicious chocolate cake appears before your eyes. Only...you can't, because you're not an omnipotent being.
For more in this series on the "Word of God:"
Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part I, God speaks into being
Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part II, God speaks to people
Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part III, God speaks through people
Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part IV, God speaks through Jesus
Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part V, God speaks through the Bible
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