“The Trinitarian character of God is the deepest starting point for understanding language,” says Vern Poythress (In the Beginning was the Word, 17) We’ve just been analyzing the ways in which language evidences, or points back, to its originator through both its concreteness and its depth. Language communicates real truth, but it does so in a rich and diverse way. This points us to the reality of God, who is a real ontological being, and yet, because of his Triune nature, also possesses a diversity that is deep and rich. This realization about language can aid our interpretation of the Scriptures.
The fact that language bears the marks of its creator means that we can be neither reductionist nor foundationless in our interpretations of Scripture. A good example would be to ask questions about the Bible’s use of the word “gods.” The Bible clearly teaches a form of monotheism. There is one God (Psalm 86:10; Psalm 96:4-5; Jer. 10:6; Deut. 4:35, 39; among other passages). A problem arises, however, when we read through both the Old and New Testaments and see references to “other gods”. A few citations will evidence this:
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours (Ps. 86:8)
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Ps. 95:3)
These verse clearly mention other gods. It could be conceivable that someone would read these passages and find reason to claim inconsistency in the Scriptures. After all, how can we claim an inerrant Bible when one of its major themes, monotheism, is undermined in it? The New Testament too speaks this way. So Paul writes to the Corinthians about the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). So what are we to make of this language? Understanding the concreteness and depth of language helps us avoid the quick trigger response of crying “contradiction.”
First, we must understand that words derive meaning from their contexts. So when we consider a passage like Psalm 86:8 we have to view it within the larger context of the whole Psalm, which paints a picture of God’s uniqueness. Verse 10 declares that “you alone are God”. Furthermore the Psalm should be read within the whole canon. The Psalms alone do not present us a comprehensive theology of God or of the world, they are part of a whole canon. So where we find tension in the Scriptures we must ask if it is resolved by any other teaching of the Bible. In this case we find that it is.
The Bible repeatedly makes mention of the fact that people create “gods” for themselves, that they worship other gods, but, it points out, those things are not really gods. Paul tells the Corinthians that it is permissible to eat food sacrificed to idols because “an idol has no real existence,” reaffirming that “there is no God but one”. He refers to the idols as “so-called gods” (see 1 Cor. 8:4-6).These idols are not “gods” though they are treated that way, they are “silver and gold, the work of human hands” (Psalm 135:15). And they do not have ears to hear the prayers of their worshippers, nor mouths to speak back, nor hands to act on their behalf (Ps 135:15-18). There may be real power behind these idols, as Paul mentions the power of the demonic in idol worship (1 Cor. 10:19-21; 2 Thess. 2:9-12), but they are not gods. Context helps us draw the right conclusion about these passages.
Second, because language is rich and deep and complex, a word may have different meanings in different contexts. It may be important to draw a distinction between words and concepts. So a word is what you find when you open up a dictionary, but a concept has a rich set of associations. So Vern Poythress notes that’s “the word god could fit a spectrum of possible beings, including demons” (Inerrancy and Worldview, 75). Every individual idol worshipper will have a unique understanding of the concept of “god,” based on their experiences in worshipping that idol. The word and the concept, then, are not the same thing, though the word may be used to describe the concept at times. Poythress adds:
Yes, word meanings are relatively stable, and we can access them. But meaning has depth. Meanings of words typically have a range. The word gods can cover a variety of so-called gods, with different powers, and even a variety of concepts as to what counts as god. (75)
Stability and flexibility in language can change the way we critique and study the Scriptures.
Language reflects God’s nature and as we study Scripture we need to ask questions about our assumptions. If we assume a certain worldview about language we may find that it creates unnecessary conflict in our reading of Scripture. But when we understand start from the worldview of the Bible, and we see the nature of language reflecting the character of God, we may yet be able to retain belief in inerrancy while we wrestle with linguistics.
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