let there be light: the power of words

Toby Lowther

In the world around us, words are everywhere. From billboards flashing by on the motorway to every tweet or post we read, language pervades our lives. It is how we express our needs and desires, how we translate our thoughts to others, and at times even the means by which we think. Although we rarely stop to think about it, our ability to freely and effortlessly process and understand language is something even our best supercomputers can only partially replicate. Yet despite the all-pervasive nature of language and its fundamentality to human nature, we often treat it with very little regard. How many times have you heard, “it’s just words”, or words to that effect?

The same is true in Christianity. Words are all-pervasive in Scripture as much as in life. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty … And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1–3 NIV) So the Bible begins, and with it, God’s great love-story with humanity. God begins His redemption plan for all creation by “saying” to a wandering nomad in ancient Palestine (Gen 17), and He concludes His plan in the incarnation, sacrifice, resurrection and ascension of His Son, who is called “the Word” (John 1:1). Scripture tells us of the power of our words spoken to our Father (James 5:16) and the importance of our words spoken over others (Gen 12:3; Luke 10:6; Rom 12:14). Whatever our creed or confession, Scripture is full of the power and importance of words. Yet Christians, as much as non-Christians, so often reduce words to a disregarded tool. “It’s just words.”

The power of words is born out in the sciences. Consider the case of Speech Act Theory in linguistics: propounded by J. L. Austin, this theory argues that, in certain circumstances, we can perform actions that bring about ontologically significant changes in the world by merely speaking.1 Thus, for example, if a priest in a wedding ceremony says the words, “I now pronounce you man and wife,” he has married the couple by saying; it is the saying of the words that is the act of marrying. In the same way, if I say the words, “I promise…” to you, I establish a new relationship that holds between us, whereby I am bound by a promise. Nothing is required, save the speaking of the right words, in the right context, by the right person.

To those with a background in Christian thought, it should come as no surprise that language is important, in Scripture or the secular world. As a Christian and having spent my degree studying the structures and functions of language, it is my firm belief that there is no aspect of human nature that so truly reflects the fact that humanity is made “in the image of God” (Gen 1:26) as language. God is creator, and language is creative; yet God is not a God of disorder, and likewise the creativity of language, while boundless in expression, is brought into order by regular rules that govern its structure and use. To see the parallels, one need only look to the field of syntax, a branch of linguistic science devoted to understanding the rules that mean that sentences such as “A purple thought caressed the lemon” are language, even as they are meaningless, while “dog fish the bite” fails to be really language at all. The capacity to substitute one element for another—the paradigmatic element—allows language infinite creativity, while the rules of structures and relations—the syntagmatic— gives it a fundamental order, so that it is a creativity of structure, not of chaos. Further, God is not a silent God; He expresses Himself to us through Scripture, nature, and revelations of the Spirit. Language means that we too are not silent, but can express ourselves back to God. Communication is the basis of any good relationship; likewise, language, the ultimate communicative tool, is an expression of the relational nature of God in humanity.

Language is also an expression of the power of God in humanity. Yet we know that all that is the image and power of God in humanity can be turned to wickedness. The same creativity which creates radiology for healing and the music of Bach and Mozart, has also given us the atomic bomb and the death camps of the Holocaust. The same relational nature that allows us to fall in love, also allows us to be taken in by abuse. Those who slaughtered innocents to establish what would only become violent dictators in revolutions from France to Russia did so in part is because they were driven by the same desire for justice which has given us the labour movement, civil rights movement, and feminism. All that is good and of God in humanity can be turned to wickedness, and the same is true of language.

It is for this reason that James warns us, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.” (James 3:6) The language here is harsh, but not without grounds or reason. While there have been some studies on the harm caused by hate speech,2 the exact potential that language has to cause emotional and psychological damage remains largely unquantified, with little to judge save the word of those who have lived to tell the tale, and the marks and deeds of those who have not. This much, though, we can say for sure: it is never “just words”. Words have the capacity to implant thoughts into the very minds of others. The right words, strung together by syntax and repeated sufficiently, warp our understanding of the world and ourselves. As our understanding of the world is replaced by much-repeated lies, we are led to violence and a society which harms us all. As our understanding of ourselves is replaced by lies and untruths spoken over us, we lose sight of the truth that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14), and we undervalue and oppress ourselves.

I cannot number the friends and family members I have known who have told me they are worthless, useless, ugly, all because that is what they have been told by others. Perhaps, dear reader, that is your experience as well. Nor can I number through history the times when a slogan or lie, repeated often enough, has led humanity to its greatest acts of evil and violence.

This is the power of the political lie, the power of advertising, and the power of insult and degradation. It is the power of words: to influence the minds of others. This is a power that is always active, whether we intend it or otherwise. This is why, in linguistic theory, we draw the line between illocution, what is intended to be conveyed by an utterance, and perlocution, what the utterance actually conveys to the hearer. While lies and insult may be unintentional, with an innocent illocution, words poorly chosen can inflict as much harm as words maliciously chosen, for they have the same power: to influence the mind and warp the world.

This is one of those (in my opinion many) areas where the Bible has a fair jot of wisdom to give. One of the authors of the Bible, James, teaches us that “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19). Words have power, and words chosen poorly can turn that power into deep and lasting harm; so we should be quick to listen, never assuming that what we first heard is what was meant; and we should be slow to speak, so that we never in rash words bring harm and pain into the world. That’s what James is telling us. Language is a mirror of the same power by which God speaks creation into existence, but as a mirror darkened by sin, it can be used to destroy those who listen just as easily as to create. If we speak first, think later, we can’t always be sure which one we’re doing.

This is true of everyone but, dare I say, even more so of Christians. For if we are to be “Christ’s ambassadors” (2 Cor 5:20) and if we are to “Live such good lives … they may see [our] good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us” (1 Pet 2:12), then is it not all the more important that, God willing, we do the impossible and “tame the tongue” (James 3)? Christ spoke with gentle words to those who were weak and suffering, and He spoke boldly before those who abused their power and tried to treat God as a means to their own ends. So must we be. If we are to bless God with our lips, we should probably use it gently with those who are made in His image. James says the same: “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” (James 3:9–10) If I may go further, I would say that staying silent and failing to speak when faced with injustice is as much a misuse of the mouth that would praise the God who is perfect Justice, as using that mouth for cursing.

When people assume that what they say are “only words”, they risk causing suffering and lasting scars. And when Christians do the same, God is degraded and insulted, as the same tongue which gives Him praise is used to abuse those made in His image.

For this reason, let us never forget that God spoke creation, and that we are made in His image. Our tongues have the power to create, and to destroy; to build up and tear down. Let us remember, that even if we do not know this God, the power of words is scientific fact, not some fancy of a different world view. And let us remember that if we do know this God, the power of words is His image in us.

Language is powerful, but with that power comes a responsibility. While we, in democratic societies, enjoy the freedom to speak as we please without risk of reprimand or punishment, it is vital not forget that this right is so that we can use those words to challenge the powerful and build up those who are broken and suffering in our world, not so that we can become part of the system of oppression. If we are not Christians, we need to know that our words have consequences, that our words can make a difference in the world, and leave lasting scars. And if we are Christians, we must know that when we recklessly utter hurtful words, we insult God and spout salt water from springs that should be pure.

In the very first chapter of the Bible, God says to creation, “Let there be light!” Just as our words can bring darkness, so too they can bring light. I am sure that every one of you, dear readers, has been on the end of harsh words that have left you feeling broken and torn, but I hope that each of you has also known the healing and restoration that can come from the well-placed and gentle words of a friend. Whenever we speak, we have a choice to make—whether to be darkness, or to be light. I know that I far too often speak rashly and hurt others, even those I care most about. There are far too many words I have said and still wish I could take back, but now never can. But I know too that I want to do better—that I want to speak gentle words that will be a light in the world to those in dark places. I hope that you, dear reader, now feel something of the same.

If you take only one thing away from all this, I hope that it is that our words matter. Whether we are Christian or otherwise, I reckon we should all strive to be quick to listen, slow to speak. We don’t want to simply repeat what we have heard, but weigh it carefully, and see if it is good. When the rest of the world joins with others who shout insults from the sidelines, perhaps we can be people of gentle voices, a blessing to those who suffer and a challenge to those who would abuse their power. Only when we understand the power of words, can we begin to use that power to make the world that little bit kinder. < >

Toby is doing an MPhil in Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics at Balliol. If you manage to get him to shut up once he starts on languages, justice theology, politics, Functionalism, scientific theory, feminism, Just Love, Dungeons & Dragons, or his latest vague idea for a novel, you have done far better than most.

1 J. L. Austin, How to Do Things with Words (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962).

2 See for example R. J. Boeckmann & C. Turpin-Petrosino, “Understanding the harm of hate crime.” Journal of Social Issues, 58, no. 2 (2002): 207–225; L. Leets & H. Giles, “Harmful speech in intergroup encounters: An organizational framework for communication research.” Annals of the International Communication Association, 22, no. 1 (1999): 91–137; L. Leets, “Experiencing hate speech: Perceptions and responses to anti-Semitism and antigay speech.” Journal of Social Issues, 58, no. 2 (2002): 341–361.