What I Mean When I Say, “Word of God”
It occurred to me recently that I routinely refer to something that is for me the most concrete thing that exists, but that, for others, may seem hopelessly abstract. I understand that feeling because, for much of my life, whenever I heard someone refer to this thing, it caused an automatic eye-roll. The mere reference put me on guard; I became alert for efforts to manipulate. And — true confession — I immediately assessed negatively the intellectual capacities of the speaker.
The thing to which I now routinely refer is “the Word of God.”
As I sipped my java this morning, it occurred to me that there are least two groups who’d experience a similar eye-roll when I use that phrase. It seems right to clarify my meaning.
The first group might describe themselves as atheist or agnostic, and the name, God, or the noun, god, may present an immediate obstacle. The second group may be less allergic to churchy language simply because it’s part of their inheritance from family and friends they trust, though they struggle mightily to embrace language like “Word of God.”
If you’re in the first group, let me say simply that my experience as a priest has taught me that, were we to discuss this obstacle over coffee, we’d quickly discover that I don’t believe in the god you don’t believe in, either. Nor does the Church. So your questions are a healthy thing as long as you manifest an openness to new ideas as you journey. Let’s continue our conversation. If this is not the right time for that, I’m confident our paths will intersect later down the trail. Cheers!
For a long part of my journey, I was in the second group. One of the obstacles for me was that different folks use similar language with apparently different meanings. It was hard for me to grab hold of concepts like “Word of God” that others took for granted, hard to make them my own. And, sometimes, the problem was the opposite: I thoroughly comprehended their usage, but their conceptions made no sense in the world as I know it. Especially given my scientific bent.
My purpose now is to name what I do and do not denote when I say, “Word of God.” I’d prefer to say “clarify” but I’ve learned that “Word of God” is one of those phrases that defies simple definition. We grasp it only by walking alongside someone for a long time, observing how the concept functions in her daily life. So, for now, just a sketch so my usage will eventually become less abstract for you.
First, what do I not mean? This will be a surprise for some. In my usage, “Word of God” is not a synonym for Scripture. Or, put another way, the Word of God can not be reduced to English text published by us with gold trim in a book, even if we make the font red and bind it in leather.
This can be a surprise because many traditions, including mine, elevate the printed Bible daily and celebrate it as “The Word of God.” But perhaps, like me, you’ve failed to notice we’re using a shorthand. It is NOT that divine revelation is exhaustively expressed in magical words on a page. Rather, it is that God addresses us most clearly through the fellowship of communities when they faithfully carry on the story they receive in Scripture.
To paraphrase Martin Luther, God shapes us through our reading of Scripture, but the Word of God is not identical to Scripture. It is above it, below it, on every side of it, and within it, but cannot be reduced to it. Indeed, we cannot even know what the words in Scripture mean apart from observing concrete lives shaped by it. For words like ‘faith’ to have meaning, we have to seem them enfleshed.
Second, what do I mean? I’ve given a hint above: “Word of God” denotes something that shapes us so that we become fully human. History shows we can be less. But how can we become more?
I use “Word of God” to name the answer we observe in nature. How is it that a seed becomes a tasty apple? What will give life to the goldendoodle puppy my family will someday love, and govern her so that she ultimately will manifest not just dog-ness but recognizable goldendoodle-ness? In short, what is it that both creates and governs created things so that they become what God imagines them to be?
In my usage, God’s Word is never some abstract law or ‘first cause’ or mere words on a page, but something we humans experience ONLY in concrete ways. Whether mediated through the wondrous works of nature, received laws and customs, religious practices, or your loving hands carrying out the story received in Scripture, God’s Word creates, sustains, governs, and when necessary, re-creates us (John 1:1–5).
As my eldest brother, a nature photographer, regularly attests, all the world is a symphony singing the Word’s revelation of the good. The symphony addresses us like the wind, sometimes a gale force, sometimes a gentle pressure, but always personally and always leading us to the fulness we seek.
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