Friends,

Here is Common Christianity #819, “What’s the Word? Part 3.” It can be difficult to read Shakespeare’s Elizabethan English, and misdirecting to read a modern Bible translation.  The word is the thing, and meanings matter.  See the column below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media. To see Parts 1 & 2 (and #816, “Greek, You Say?”), simply scroll down the blog. Have a great week! – Bob

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Spirituality Column #819

July 16, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s the Word? Part 3

By Bob Walters

“Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” – Juliet from the balcony, Act II, Scene 2

In this famed scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is Juliet gazing out into the lonely night garden wondering where is her beloved and longed-for Romeo?

No.  She’s asking, “Why” are you Romeo? Why she, a Capulet, fell in love with him whom she cannot properly have.  Why is he the one?  He’s a Montague!  Curses!

“Wherefore” looks like it begs a location.  It doesn’t.  It begs an explanation: Why?

In our brief look at common English Bible words that many folks think mean one thing but really mean something else, why bring up Shakespeare?  Because 1) He is the king of the English language (though nowadays he’s hard to understand).  2) Almost everyone knows this line.  3) Few people (including me) understood this line.  And 4) Shakespeare wrote in the same era that the King James Bible was published (1611).

The lesson is … knowing correct word meanings enriches our Bible and faith understanding. Here are some Bible beauties. If you think of others, send them my way.

Prophecy: receiving, discerning, and sharing the will of God, not telling the future.

Repent: change your thinking, not expressing regret and changing behavior.

Eternity: the quality of God’s life, not a measurement of time.

Apocalypse: the ultimate and final revealing – the revelation – of God’s plan and goodness, not when everything “blows up” because of man’s evil and God’s wrath.

It’s no wonder folks are confused.  Look up these four words in any reputable English dictionary and you’ll see that they are first defined in popular terms of what they actually are not.  “Prophesy” is the dark art of a “seer.”  “Repent” is a response of regret to sin.  “Eternity” is a long, long time.  “Apocalypse” is the movie, teen literature, and video game metaphor for universal destruction, disaster, catastrophe, or Armageddon.

No, no, no, and no.

The Apocalypse is God’s revealing epilogue; it’s not Armageddon. “Apokalypsis,” or “unveiling,” as my erudite Roman Catholic friend (and high school buddy, now retired general counsel of Monsanto) Dave Snively pointed out, is the Greek title of the Bible’s final book: Revelation.  It’s where we “see” what God is going to do, because He does it.

“Apologetics” means “explaining or defending one’s faith,” not apologizing for it. The Hebrew “Shalom” means peace, but in the big way of relational wholeness, fullness, and well-being, not merely absence of conflict.  The Christian Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12) is a positive directive to “Do” good unto others, not just avoid meanness.

Our secular lexicon and often errant Christian doctrinal emphasis on poorly defined Bible words diminish the great gift we have in the precision of God’s Word.

Yes, the population at large and many Christians want to know the future, focus on sin rather than their thought life, think they will need a watch in heaven/eternity, and confuse God’s ultimate revelation of His good plan with humanity’s imagination of ruin.

But, while we’ve spared readers Greek linguistics and specifics, we here assert that Christian joy is listening for God’s voice, thinking with God’s intellect, joining God’s life, and praising God’s ultimate, glorious plan. 

No apologies necessary.  Shalom.

Walters’ (rlwcom@aol.com) English-teacher and Shakespeare-nerd wife Pam (she truly is) notes that several Shakespeare plays, notably including Macbeth, Pam asserts, were written and first performed at the court of King James to patronize the Bard’s generous personal patron King James’ fascination with witches.