The language we speak is changing all the time. That’s why we need dictionaries. They tell us where each word comes from, what it originally meant, how it used to be used, what it means now.
Geoffrey Chaucer, born around 1340 in London, is called the father of English literature. His famous work is The Canterbury Tales. You think you know English? Try reading it exactly as he wrote it.
You may more or less understand it, but you’ll find yourself often stumped by unfamiliar words or words spelt differently and/or that have a different meaning now than they did when Chaucer wrote them.
You think you know English? Try visiting different English speaking countries and different neighborhoods within them. I once was in a train to Liverpool near a group of teenagers returning home. I couldn’t understand their conversation at all!
You think you know English? Spoken Indian English is rapid and can be hard to understand for an American. Once in India, I asked a friend if he had a similar difficulty with my (New York style, American) English. Yes, he said, you speak with such a drawl!
You know where and when we still use a lot of old, outdated English words? In our religious language and traditional prayers.
For example, the Our Father. We still use some outdated words, but, hopefully, not with their outdated meanings.
We refer to God as in the sky (heaven). We pray that his name be hallowed (made, be regarded as holy), but the main way we use that word now-a-days is for Halloween.
We ask that his kingdom be established, but how familiar are we really with ancient Middle East kings and kingdoms?
Do we really want to be led away from all temptation? If we avoid every place and situation of temptation, we’d be rather shut in. But, we do want the strength to resist the daily temptations in our lives.
When we ask for forgiveness of trespasses, we don’t mean unlawfully entering upon someone else’s private property.
Another obvious example, the Hail Mary. We know about hailstorms, we may hail a cab, and we know about ship to ship encounters, but now to attract someone’s attention we’re more likely to “hey”.
We say she is full of grace, but we don’t mean elegance or beauty, rather that she was favored by God or in a state of holiness.
When we say she is blessed, we don’t mean that she’s lucky or a winner; we mean she bespeaks God, that the love and mercy of God shows forth through her life.
“Mother of God” doesn’t mean that she has begotten the creator of the universe nor that God’s genetic makeup is from her. It refers to the divinity of Jesus, her son.
I’m not knocking anything, just reminding that in religious talk we comfortably use many words whose meaning has shifted.
A few more examples:
Church—do we mean a consecrated building or an assembly of believers?
Altar—do we mean a place where offerings are burnt or a dining table?
Mass—do we mean a holy sacrifice or a remembrance of Jesus’ life and death and a communal act of thanksgiving (eucharist)?
Priest—do we mean an ordained official or an elder (presbyter) in a community of believers?
Confess—do we mean to plead guilty to a sin or crime or to proclaim one’s belief or allegiance?
Communion—do we mean the consecrated host or a shared fellowship?
It’s okay to use outdated language, but it’s important to be clear about what we mean!
14 November 2021