L
a
n
g
u
a
g
e

German Late Medieval (ca. 1370s) depiction of the construction of the tower of Babel.

The people of Shinar had, according to God, overstepped themselves and so, the story goes on to record -

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. (Genesis 11: 1-8)

This amusing aetiological story of the birth of languages - and the equally amazing depiction from the 14th century - is rather like a story from Aesop's Fables! Perhaps the wandering tribes of the time were frustrated at not being able to converse with their neighbours? Whatever the origin of this fable it speaks of a time when there was a belief in a god who controlled events and people. Doubtless this could be paralleled in other parts of the world other than the Fertile Crescent - Africa, the Americas, the Far East. Religion of this kind lies behind all later revelations experienced by the Hebrew peoples. And language always had some part in the practice of whatever religious rites were being followed.

One has only to write about these origins to be aware of the gulf between then and the 21st century. We have indeed done what, even a century ago, seemed impossible for humans. And the agnostics and atheists are dismissive at the continuation, as they see it, of a religious understanding of the universe. Well, let us admit it, revelation as an intelligent concept is difficult to understand. Dreams might be acceptable as intimations of something other than the human - as Carl Jung suggested - and are well documented. But how can we understand that God has a language to be in touch with us? As the gospel of John states, 'God is spirit ...'

Christian experience throughout the centuries has built on human language as our mode of contact with God. And apart from the witness of monastic communities and our own silent upholding of others which we mentioned in the last article, speech, whether in corporate worship or personal prayer, has remained the 'language' par excellence. It has formed our mind and understanding of God - perhaps too much? We need to ask how it is that God can be 'in touch' with us all - as well as we can be in touch with him?

From the Christian point of view, God is not in control of us as human beings. Rather, he is in touch, positively, in the 'language' of our lives - who and what we are and do and think. Whatever you may think about the miracles of the gospel accounts, (Jesus' authority lay rather in the approval of him by the Father - 'This is my beloved son ...'), the overwhelming picture of the God expressed in Jesus' own life was of the 'yearning' father of the prodigal son, concerned in all our affairs, good and bad, with empathy. So perhaps it is in all we do in our expertise of whatever kind, in our daily experiences and our hopes that this God has an 'interest' of such a nature that we are able to find within our own experience the 'language' of the God who speaks to the hearts of all - whether we hear or cannot hear. He speaks to each differently. As someone has said - 'God speaks to us differently, in a way we each understand. Perhaps he somehow speaks to me through dancing because it is a language that I understand?'

So in terms of the language in which God can be understood by each of us, in and through our work and play, the Christian church has not got the monopoly wavelength! If he is the God of Jesus then he, like Jesus, is 'in touch' with all humanity. That's an impossible bit of data to comprehend on our minuscule, human level. However, from the Christian point of faith it enables us to be positively engaged with others knowing that everyone has this possibility of knowing the One who is positively engaged with them in daily life. There are great questions too, of course - of how God 'deals' with the evil that some give themselves over to be and do. But there is a sense that just because of the problems of this intimate relationship which God has with everyone, in the 21st century Christians are being pressed to see the ecclesiastical basis of historic Christianity not as the ark of salvation but as the spearhead of that love which passes understanding. Something like that can be found in the letter to the Ephesians ...

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things ... (Ephesians 3: 8-9)