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Translating Christianese: the 'Word of God' Part II, God speaks to people
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We put Christianese on the bottom shelf so everyone can reach it.
This is a continuation from Translating Christianese Terms: the 'Word of God' on the bottom shelf Part I
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.
Word of God Christianese Definition 2: "speaking directly to people"
There are a few places in the Bible where the Lord speaks directly to people. At these times, the Word of God is actually coming to his intended audience without any person or writing in between.
A few examples: In Genesis 2:16-17, he speaks directly to Adam and tells Adam not to eat the fruit from a specific tree. In Genesis 3:16, he speaks to Adam, Eve, and a serpent who tricked Eve (the Bible later refers to that serpent as the devil) after they ate that fruit. Also, he speaks to the Jews when he gives them the Ten Commandments, and to those who are watching Jesus be baptized in Matthew 3:17, saying "this is my son, in whom I am well pleased." These communiqués from God were limited, and took place at specific points in history.
This version of the Word of God is entirely focused on God's communication with people.
Christianese on the bottom shelf: God likes people, so he interacted with them. It doesn't happen all the time, though, especially these days. Most of the time he uses other ways to talk to the people who believe in him (and some who don't...look up the story of Balaam). He likes to do this to make a big, and I mean BIG, impact in history.
Places this Christianese term is found in the Bible: Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3:16-19, Exodus 20:1-3, Matthew 3:17 (among others).
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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