WORDS…
WORDS…
WORDS…
RECOVERING THE BIBLICAL MEANING
OF CONTEMPORARY WORDS
BOB LIBBY
WORDS…
WORDS…
WORDS…
RECOVERING THE BIBLICAL MEANING
OF CONTEMPORARY WORDS
BOB LIBBY
FORWARD MOVEMENT
CINCINNATI, OHIO
Cover design by Rusty Kinnunen
© 2013 by Forward Movement
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-88028-366-3
Printed in USA
The Psalms quoted in this book are from the Psalter in The Book
of Common Prayer. All other scripture quotations are from the
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States
of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Forward Movement
412 Sycamore Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
+1 800 543 1813
www.forwardmovement.org
Introduction
W
ords matter. They have value and meaning
and power. Words like “right” or “left” can
change the direction of your car or describe your
political leanings. A word like “bad” can change a
toddler’s behavior or become a label of hipness for
a teenager.
A word’s meaning depends on context, usage,
and audience. This is especially true with biblical
or spiritual words that have lost their original
meaning in contemporary speech.
The reflections in this booklet explore some of
the great themes of scripture by tracing modern
words to their biblical roots. Discussion questions
are included to encourage personal reflection
and meditation and/or for use in small-group
discussion. This process gives us an opportunity
to reclaim the original biblical meaning of these
words and to be more intentional in reflecting the
Word of God in our own daily language.
—v—
Words…Words…Words…
Although each chapter stands on its own,
the order of the words takes the reader through
scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
During a sermon on the opening passages of
John, a distinguished bishop once preached: “In
the beginning was the Word…And there were
too many of them.” While scripture—and our
modern language—may have more words than we
can readily understand or explore, we can begin by
looking to the words in this book to give meaning
and direction for our lives.
— Bob Libby
— vi —
CONTENTS
Icon ...................................................... 1
Human ................................................. 5
Covenant ............................................ 10
Gleaning ............................................. 17
Hail Mary ........................................... 21
Epiphany ............................................ 26
Prodigal Son ....................................... 31
Friend ................................................. 35
Kumbayah .......................................... 40
Scapegoat ............................................ 45
Spiritual .............................................. 51
Armageddon ....................................... 57
— vii —
ICON
I
f I ask my granddaughter the meaning of the
word icon, she will point to a little image on
her computer. If I look to pop culture, magazines
and blogs will tout the latest celebrity as a fashion
icon. If I ask my daughter the meaning of the word
icon, she will present me with a slightly distorted
painting of a religious figure.
But if we go to the Greek root of the word, we
find that icon means image.
The Bible explores the meaning of image from
the first chapter. In Genesis, we learn that human
beings are created “in the image of God” (1:27).
Being made in the image of God is the foundation
for the first prohibition of murder: “Whoever
sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall
—1—
Words…Words…Words…
that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image
God made humankind” (Genesis 9:6). In the Ten
Commandments, we are forbidden to make graven
images.
God is telling us that an image has power and
strength and should be regarded with care.
To this day, Judaism has no statues, mosaics,
or stained glass windows depicting images of
Abraham or Moses or any of the biblical figures
or heroes of Jewish history. Stained glass windows
in temples or synagogues have grapes and gardens,
but no animals or angels. The closest Judaism
comes to biblical symbols is the menorah and the
Star of David.
Islam, which dates back to the prophet
Muhammad in the 600s, takes the Ten Commandments’ prohibition against graven images
quite literally. Their story is told only in graceful
calligraphy.
In Christianity, the commandment against
graven images spurred two iconoclastic controversies, which together lasted more than one
hundred years. A faction within the Eastern
churches rejected statues and images of any kind.
Out of this arose a style of icons with a distorted
—2—
Words…Words…Words…
two-dimensional figure painted in a way so as not
to be confused with reality and worshipped on its
own. Instead the icon points beyond itself to the
reality of God.
Most contemporary Christians do not see
the worship of graven images such as statues or
paintings as a threat to our relationship with God.
Graven images today might refer to idols more
metaphorically, such as the worship of money or
possessions.
With Genesis’ understanding of icon as image,
we might think of the word in a new way. Instead
of using it as pop-culture praise or a word for a
computer image, we might think of ourselves as
icons, made with great love in the image of God.
k
—3—
Words…Words…Words…
Read: Genesis 1:27-28
So God created humankind in his image, in the
image of God he created them; male and female
he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue
it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the air and over every living thing
that moves upon the earth.”
k
Reflect:
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say about who and what you are?
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other people?
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image affect how you interact with people of
other cultures or religions?
t 8IPPSXIBUBSFUIFJEPMTJOZPVSMJGF —4—