Life After Death by Terence Penelhum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Life After Death by Terence Penelhum - Essay Example The article opens with a brief history of the belief in immortality. Immortality of the soul predates Christianity, and therefore Christianity’s belief in life after death. Plato first describes the immortal soul in Phaedo, which details the death of Socrates. Before Socrates dies, he contemplates whether or not the soul can live without the body and if death is something to be feared. Socrates arrives to the conclusion that not only does the soul live on, but death should be embraced as it means that the soul is released from the prison of the body. Through moral reflection, people are able to tend to their soul, gradually releasing it from its physical form, but death ultimately completes this release. The aforementioned belief of death being embraced is what separates Plato’s belief of immortality with Christianity’s belief. Plato believes that death should be embraced, but Christianity, when using Jesus’ agonizing death as an example, suggests that death should be feared. Christianity perceives death as the most horrifying experience that someone can face because it is the destruction of a person. This goes against Plato’s theory that death is a release; Socrates did not fear death, but Jesus did. This concept is elaborated further when the Christian belief of resurrection is considered, which also goes against Plato’s theory of the immortal soul. Christians hope that God will completely re-create what he has permitted death to destroy. Penelhum focuses less attention on the soul and resurrection. He points out the fact that if the new body is drastically transformed from the original body, the concept of survival is defeated. The soul may be th e same, but if the new body is significantly different from the old body, resurrection is not as much of a success as people are led to believe. One’s soul cannot be identified by someone else, and if a transformed body cannot be recognized, the person did not necessarily survive. The soul living on without a body has sparked more controversy and speculation. Human intelligence, such as seeing, hearing, and being emotionally expressive, are all physical aspects and cannot be accessed with a body. If this is the case, survival is pointless and the soul would just simply exist. It is considered that disembodied survivors might have mental lives, that their thoughts can materialize in the world, but they would still lack the ability to perceive, which further points to a pointless existence. A disembodied soul may not even know if there are others nearby, nor would it be able to perceive a living human being. Self-identity of a disembodied soul is an even more difficult concept to grasp. Without physical characteristics, it becomes almost impossible to recognize a disembodied soul. There would have to be substitute for the feature that establishes an identity. We would have to use mental features instead of physical to identify someone, which may or may not be a possibility. Hume believes that humans retain some form of identity in terms of mental factors, as opposed to physical factors, which would be useful in the possibility of resurrection. He looks to memory as a method to identify a soul. Unfortunately, unless a person has concrete memories, nobody could survive a disembodied form. People are capable of remembering events that they were never part of or witnessed, which makes memory as a means of identity an uncertain method. For it to work, there would have to be something more stable beneath the thoughts, images, and feelings. Penelhum concludes that all of the theories of life

Types of Inflation, Causes and how Inflation is Measured Essay

Types of Inflation, Causes and how Inflation is Measured - Essay Example It is important to note that, the higher demand will in turn pull up prices of commodities thus resulting to too much money circulating in an economy. This can be attributed in times of war, or rather political crisis in a country's economy. Pricing Power Inflation This also referred to as profit-push inflation. This is a type of inflation, which result from a situation whereby, individuals in business intentionally and administratively decide to increase the prices of commodities and services. This intentional move aims at increasing the profit margins. The makers exercise their market influence by increasing the prices of product and services to suit their expectations. It occurs in monopolies and oligopolies market. They do this due to their concentration in the market. Cost- Push Inflation This occurs when the price of goods or service increase due to the rising cost of its production or when the maintenance cost rises. It is apparent that the resultant excess demand created by t he rising cost of production causes prices to increase. An example is whereby price of an agricultural product such as maize rises due to an increase in the cost of fertilizer production. Wage-push inflation This normally occurs when wages or labor costs rises due the influence from the labor union’s demand for the increase in wages. In addition, as it happens, the productivity remains constant. The resultant cost and effect will drift to the consumers. The increase in the cost of labor will cause the business to cut down the number of laborers hence consequently resulting to the low productivity. On the other hand, the fall in productivity level, which is low supply, will cause prices to rise due to the constant consistency of the demand. This inflation causes unemployment since higher price level means that, no more laborers are needed. In this scenario, most institutions lay off some of the employees. Unless demand for the wage stops, there will be continuous, high price l evel coupled with higher unemployment and low output. Sectoral Inflation This kind of inflation occurs on the relationship between related or unrelated product and or services. This occurs when change in the price of a product influences the price of another. For example, a stationery user, a case, or a situation whereby the price of timber price rises, the stationery dealer will in turn increase the price of stationery items such as books to suit their profit margin thus causing a general increase in prices occurring in every unit of product or service. Supply shock inflation This arises under unpredictable circumstances in an economy, for example, when there is unpredictable drought occurrence, the price of the agricultural products will rise rapidly and especially when there is no enough stock to curb and fix the situation. Hyper inflation It is a form of inflation that occurs when country involved is in economic backdrop thus in dire need of monetary valuables and funding. It is where prices rise at a higher rate, and when the rate of inflation exceeds four digits. Creeping inflation It occurs where price level rises normally between 1 and 7%. Imported inflation It deals with international trade. The prices of imported goods normally have an effect in domestic prices. Causes of inflation It is worth noting that inflation occurs under various circumstances for instance when there are changes in the price of foreign goods. This will have an impact on the overall payment made to the outsiders.

Government and Non-governmental Organizations Essay

Government and Non-governmental Organizations - Essay Example Many a times the international community does not even protest against such atrocities and it is only after the levels of atrocities exceed all levels of human degradation that corrective measures are to some extent enforced. Non-governmental organizations meanwhile are allowed to act only when the governments where such atrocities happen allow them to operate effectively in a non-biased manner. However, non-governmental organizations fortunately are the first ones to report, condemn and to request world community to intervene to stop the wrong doings. In their limited ways they do try to help as much as they can, but most of the times their efforts cover only a small percentage of the assistance that is overall required. In these essay, while we shall be comparing and contrasting the roles of governments and non-governmental organizations we shall without intention also be critical of these two important functionary bodies. In this context, we shall be referring to the major genocidal events in our last century in each of which people in their tens of thousands were the victims of mass killings. These are the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the freely allowed blood baths in Rwanda. When we compare some of these atrocities, the main similarities we observe is they happened because of the state government policies of these countries which encouraged ethnic cleansing as a method of subduing the minorities or completely wipe them out from as a people. While we shall not touch upon the subject of political killings that occurred in Argentine, Chile, Guatemala and continues to happen in Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Palestine and other countries, the role s of governments and non-governmental organizations here too are significantly important if they are freely and fairly implemented. The Holocaust happened because Germany as a state with a parliamentary type of democracy under Hitler was allowed to degenerate into a totalitarian Nazi state that controlled every segment of the German society. Its public policies developed because the German population remained silent towards the racial and genocidal policies towards the Jews and other minority groups because of Hitler's philosophical views that were elaborated in his Mein Kampf that led to the Nazi government's policy of murder and extermination. Policies that were on similar extreme lines in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda were allowed and the international governments intervened only when their national interests involved. While the Holocaust was enforced by a economically and militarily very strong and dominating Germany during World War II, the other genocides could have been prevented had international gov

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics Assignment

Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics - Assignment Example The following paper will inquest and scrutinize the factors which are responsible for the volatile behavior of commodity process in the agricultural sector. Agricultural commodities are the hub of the world economy as every thing is dependent on the agricultural products especially in third world (Goodman, 1997). Different data sources and analysis techniques will be deployed in order to depict the exact factors responsible for the fluctuations in the agricultural commodities. Discussion The first and foremost factor in the fluctuations in the commodity prices of the agricultural sector is the increasing gap between the demand and the supply. The demand has been increasing every day in third world countries, many parts of Asia and China whereas there has been no emphasis on the production part which is basically focused on the first world countries (Johnston & Mellor, 1961). Similarly, numerous macroeconomic and financial factors are censurable for the metamorphosis of the prices of commodities in the agricultural sector. In the similar fashion, high novelty and revision in the dollar prices due to the global shifts in the political and financial crisis is also responsible for these rate changes and imbalance in the prices. ... There are many other factors on which the experts have a split. For example, Gilbert and Morgan (2010) and De Schutter (2010) said that the fluctuations in the local agricultural commodities and food items are caused by irresponsible speculations and bad rumors culture which can bring the market up and down within no time. The stock market example has been used by them as an analogy but there is a difference o opinion in this theory and many experts like Irwin and Sanders (2010), do not consider this theory conforming the practical approach. According to a study, the extent of fluctuations in the prices o agricultural commodities have been recorded as the highest in past nineteen years and this is a very alarming measure indeed because of these high ate o fluctuations, the global economies are taking new turns. Other minute factors include climate changes, unintended wars, disasters and cultural collapses throughout the world. Another very important factor behind the dramatic rise of agricultural commodities is the integration initiatives of the energy and agricultural markets in many production based countries. For example, in America, the prices for the paramount and importunate agricultural commodities like soybean, corn and wheat rose up with a rate of around 148, 123, and 154 percent respectively. According to experts in America, around 70 to 75 percent of increase in the agricultural commodities is due the engendering and production of bio fuel and diesel based materials. The periodic abatements in the hedging efficiency is also a very conspicuous and considerable factor in the changes of prices agricultural commodities. For example, the hedging

Personal Statement and Additional Information Essay

Personal Statement and Additional Information - Essay Example My inquisitive mind, I believe, is the reason for my inclination towards sciences, especially engineering and research in particular, which has immensely shaped my career. I have been involved directly with chemical engineering over the last four years and have been greatly motivated to pursue a career in chemical engineering research. The chemical engineering coursework which I did for my undergraduate studies gave impetus to my strong desire in me towards research in engineering. The core courses in chemical engineering such as Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Chemical Reaction Engineering and transport phenomena along with the course on Unit Operations have given me a basic foundation of knowledge in chemical engineering. I have worked on various research projects and have come to conclude that the effort and resources spent in conducting research on product development is worthwhile only if there is benefit to the consumers. It is against this background that I seek to embark on studies to improve my research skills in a bid to contribute meaningfully to the society and economy. I therefore decided to integrate my research in chemical engineering with many business related courses as much as possible especially with a bias towards economics to develop a sound understanding of economic impacts on conducting research on product development. Thus, I was motivated to complete courses like Economics, Managerial Economics as well as Financing Economic Development. I have experience in conducting research and my first major project was at Unilever Research India Limited, one of India’s most respected companies in the FMCG sector. I was among one of the privileged top five students in the chemical engineering department selected to participate in the project. Their Department of Corporate Research focuses on developing existing commercial products currently on the market or developing new ones. My

Using differentiation find the difference between maximum and minimum Speech or Presentation

Using differentiation find the difference between maximum and minimum heights for both the roller coasters - Speech or Presentation Example In the laboratory, one tries to establish cause and effect relationship of a phenomenon. Due to various objective difficulties, many relationships cannot be established through laboratory experiments. This is when the relationship is established through mathematical formulas that model a phenomenon or object. Then by changing the values of one or more variables one can get the answers needed in the real world problems. This assignment does not report either development of a mathematical model or present a mathematical model. It uses a mathematical model to derive certain cause and effect relationship. The assignment uses two different models that describe at what height from the ground a coaster will be located at a certain period. The model expressed by the equation h (t) = - 2 t3 + 34 t2 – 128 t + 96 describes the location of a coaster from the ground for 12 seconds after it comes out of the loop. The given equation is a third degree polynomial equation where the dependent variable is height and the independent variable is time. The scope is to determine maximum and minimum heights from the ground level. The maximum and minimum will be found through the derivatives of the equation. The condition for maximum is h’ (t) = 0, and h† (t) is negative. The condition of minimum is h’ (t) = 0, and h† (t) is positive (Lawrence Spector n.d.). Figure 1 shows the movement of the coaster for 12 seconds (Microsoft Corporation

General Translation Theories Essay Example for Free

General Translation Theories Essay While not everyone who drives an automobile needs to understand the theory behind the internal combustion engine, someone does need to know this theory. I may be able to drive my Pontiac without any knowledge of internal combustion engines, until the Pontiac breaks down. Then, I must find someone (presumably a mechanic) who does in fact know enough theory to get the Pontiac running again. The same is true of translation theory. It is not necessary for everyone to know translation theory, nor is it even necessary for pastors and teachers to know everything about translation theory. It is necessary for pastors and teachers in the American church at the end of the twentieth century to know something about translation theory, for two reasons. First, it will affect the way we interpret the Bible for our people. If we are completely unaware of translation theory, we may unwittingly mislead our brothers and sisters in our interpretation. Second, there are so many English translations available, that no contemporary pastor will be able to escape the inevitable questions about which translations are superior. It is not my intention to provide anything like an exhaustive approach to either translation theory or semantic theory (relax, Ill define this word later). Rather, I intend to discuss briefly the more important observations, which may be useful to the pastoral ministry. 1. Communication has three parties. Translation theory shares a number of concerns with what is commonly called communication theory. Perhaps the most important observation which the communication theorists have produced for translators is the recognition that every act of communication has three dimensions: Speaker (or author), Message, and Audience. The more we can know about the original author, the actual message produced by that author, and the original audience, the better acquainted we will be with that particular act of communication. An awareness of this tri-partite character of communication can be very useful for interpreters. Assuming that an act of communication is right now taking place, as you read what I wrote, there are three dimensions to this particular act of communication: myself, and what I am intending to communicate; the actual words which are on this page; and what you  understand me to be saying. When the three dimensions converge, the communication has been efficient. If we know, perhaps from another source, what an individual authors circumstances are, this may help us understand the actual message produced. Martin Luther King, Jr. s Letters from Prison are better understood by someone who knows the circumstances under which they were written rather than by someone who is oblivious to mid-20th century American history. If we know information about the authors audience, this may also help us to understand the message itself. John Kennedys famous, Ich bin ein Berliner speech is better understood if one understands the apprehensions which many West German citizens had about American foreign policy during the early 1960s (and, knowing the audience was German may help explain why he did not speak this sentence in English! ). Recognizing that in addition to the message itself, there are the two other components of author and audience, the interpreter attempts to uncover as much information as possible about the author and audience. This is why biblical scholars spend so much time attempting to locate the circumstances of a given epistle; they are trying to discover information about author and audience, which will help complete the understanding of the particular act of communication represented by the message. At this point, an important warning needs to be expressed. For students of literature whose original audience and author are not present (i. e. , dead), we only have direct access to one of the three parties in the communicative process: the message itself. Whereas we would be profited by having direct access to author and audience (Paul, what in the world did you mean about baptizing for the dead? ; or, How did it hit you Galatians when Paul said he wished his troublers would castrate themselves? ), it would be incorrect to suggest that we must have such access for any understanding to take place. Frequently one encounters the extravagant statement to the effect that one cannot understand a biblical book unless one understands the authors (or audiences) circumstances. The problem with such statements is that they imply that we can have no understanding without access to information which simply does not always exist. We havent any idea who wrote the epistle to the Hebrews, or why, other than what may be indicated in the letter itself. Does this mean that we cant understand it in any sense? I think not. We just have to recognize that information, which would assist the act of interpretation, is, in this case, missing. Related to this warning is a second. For Protestants, scripture itself is authoritative. Our reconstructions, often highly conjectural of the historical circumstances under which a given biblical work was written and read, are not authoritative, by my understanding of Protestant theology. Those reconstructions may assist our understanding of the biblical text, but they are not, in and of themselves, of any religious authority. Finally, we might add that the essential error of many exegetical theories is their exclusion of one or more of these three parties from consideration. While many important debates are continuing to influence interpretive theory, our evaluation of these debates would do well to retain a role for each of the three above-mentioned dimensions. 2. Formal and Dynamic Equivalence One of the ongoing debates about translations revolves around the question of whether, and in what degree, the translation should reflect the syntax, or form, of the original language. All translators agree that the translation should reflect faithfully the message of the original, but all are not agreed on whether the translation should adhere closely to the grammatical forms of the original language. Translations can be located on a spectrum, which would have, at one extreme, rigid adherence to the form of the original language (formal equivalence), and at the other extreme, complete disregard for the form (not the message) of the original language (dynamic equivalence). An interlinear would come the closest to the first extreme, followed by the NASB. At the other extreme would be the NEB and TEV. In between would be the RSV and NIV, with the RSV leaning more toward a formal equivalence, and the NIV leaning more toward a dynamic equivalence. It is probably fair to say that most contemporary linguists favor the dynamic equivalence approach in theory, though they might be disappointed in the various attempts at producing one. The reason for preferring to reproduce the thought of the original without attempting to conform to its form is that all languages have their own syntax. While the syntax of one language may be similar to the syntax of other languages, it is also dissimilar as well. Thus, if we attempt to adhere to the formal syntax of another language, we reproduce forms which are abnormal or confusing, if not downright distracting in the target language. For example, Greek tends to have very long sentences, whose various clauses are arranged in a logically hierarchical fashion. That is, there will be a number of dependent clauses connected to an independent clause. This type of sentence structure, perfectly normal in Greek, is called hypotactic (clauses are arranged logically under one another). English, by contrast, is not so comfortable with long sentences, and does not provide any easy way of indicating which clauses are dependent upon others. Our sentence structure is called paratactic (clauses are arranged logically alongside of one another). If we attempt to reproduce, in English, sentences of the same length as the Greek original, our audience will not be able to follow our translation. Ephesians 1:3-14, for instance, is one sentence in Greek, with well-defined subordinate clauses. If we attempt to reproduce a sentence of this length in English, the result will be so awkward that few, if any, English readers would be able to follow it. Consequently, translators must break the longer Greek sentences into shorter English sentences. For the pastor and teacher, it is important to be able to recognize the hypotactic structure of the original language, because it is frequently of theological and ethical significance. For instance, there is only one imperative (independent clause) in the Great Commission make disciples. All the other verbs are dependent. The other clauses help to describe what the commandment means. Most English translations, however, obscure this matter by translating the Great Commission as though it were a string of equivalent imperatives. Whats worse, they tend to treat one of the dependent clauses as though it were the major (independent) clause (Go). So the teacher or pastor needs to be able to understand what is going on in the structure of the original language, without necessarily trying to reproduce it in an English translation. There are other differences between the two languages. Greek typically uses passive verbs; English prefers active verbs. Greek typically makes nouns out of verbs (making redemption as common as redeem). Speakers of English are not as comfortable with these abstractions; we are happier with verbs. A dynamic equivalence translation will commonly reproduce the meaning of the Greek in a more natural manner in English. In 2 Thess 2:13, for instance, pistei aletheias, is translated belief in the truth (formal equivalence) by the RSV, but the truth that you believe (dynamic equivalence) by the NEB. The latter, while not any more accurate than the former, is a little more natural, and thus more easily understood. A classic example of the difference between English and Greek syntax is evidenced by the difference in their respective employment of the participle. First, the Greek participle is much more common than the English. But the Greek participle is also used differently than the English participle. Greek commonly employs the participle in an attributive fashion, as a verbal adjective. This is very rare in English. James Taylor does sing about the The Walking Man, but this is rare outside of artistic expression. We would normally produce a relative clause, the man who walks. Because of the differences in the way the two languages use their respective participles, we simply cannot translate a Greek participle with an English participle in many cases, without being obscure or ambiguous. Dikaiothentes in Romans 5:1 should not be translated, having been justified (NASB: formal equivalence), but, since we are justified (RSV: dynamic equivalence). There are problems, however, with dynamic equivalence translations. Since the translator is freer from the grammatical forms of the original language he is more likely to exceed the bounds of an accurate translation, in an effort to speak naturally in the native language. That is, the dynamic equivalence translations are capable of being more natural and more precise than are formal equivalence translations, but they are also more capable of being precisely wrong. For instance, in Romans 8:3, Paul uses the phrase: dia tes sarkos. A formal equivalent translation, the RSV, renders this by the flesh, which is faithful to the original but somewhat ambiguous in English. The NIV renders this much more precisely, by the phrase, by the sinful nature. Unfortunately, the NIV is precisely wrong here, because Paul is not talking about a lower nature, or a sinful nature at all. In fact, he is not speaking anthropologically, but redemptive-historically. In this particular case, I believe we would be better off with the ambiguous flesh, and have to ask what, flesh means for Paul, than to have the more precise but utterly un-Pauline sinful nature. Another problem associated with dynamic equivalence translations is related to their use as study Bibles. Since a given word may have a number of meanings, it is frequently impossible, and more frequently confusing, to attempt to translate a given Greek word with the same English word in every case. Consequently, the dynamic equivalence translation can give a more specific rendering in English, being unbound by an attempt to reproduce the same Greek word in the same English manner. This produces better understanding, frequently, of individual sentences or clauses. However, it does not permit the English reader to know when the same Greek word lay behind two different English words. Since the only way to know what a word means is by first examining its full range of uses, there is no way for the English reader to know what words are behind the English words found. For instance, when Paul says he could not address the Corinthians as pneumatikoi, but rather as sarkinoi (1 Cor 3), he employs the adjectival forms of what we normally translate Spirit and flesh. And, in Romans 8 (as well as elsewhere), it is clear that life in the Spirit is redeemed life; whereas life in the flesh is unredeemed life. If the adjectives in 1 Cor are translated spiritual, and fleshly, the reader can see the correspondence to other Pauline passages, and understand that Paul is saying, in effect, I could not address you as redeemed people, but as unredeemed people. But the NIV construes sarx as sinful nature in Rom 8, and sarkinos as worldly in 1 Cor 3, with the result that the reader of this translation is not aware that in the original the same root form was employed. The conclusion of this is that the dynamic equivalence translation, when done well, renders in more precise and more vivid English particular expressions. However, it makes it more difficult to compare individual passages with parallel passages elsewhere. In any given congregation, a variety of translations will be present. The teachers in the church must have the competence to discern which one represents the original most accurately in English in any circumstance. In my judgment, none of the contemporary translations is manifestly superior to the others. Each is a blend of strengths and weaknesses, due to the difficulty of the task. From the pulpit, of course, some versions can be excluded rather easily. Paraphrases, while useful to illustrate a point, should never be used as the basic sermon text, because they reflect so thoroughly the opinions of the paraphraser. Also, childrens Bibles, such as the Good News, and, to a lesser degree, the NIV should not be used as the basis of a sermon directed toward the entire congregation. The NASB should not be used, simply because its English is atrocious. Its rigid adherence to the formal equivalence principle, while making it highly useful in the study, renders it completely inappropriate in a setting where communication is important. The NIV should not be used from the pulpit, in my judgment, because it is a sectarian translation. It is a self-confessedly evangelical translation, which excluded non-evangelicals from the translation process. It is therefore ecclesiastically unacceptable (it excludes from the outset people who dont call themselves evangelical, just as the Kingdom Translation excludes people who dont call themselves Jehovahs Witnesses). In fact, even for study purposes, one will have to be cautious about the evangelical bias reflected in this translation, whereby the weaknesses, as well as the strengths, of evangelicalism have not been offset by a more inclusive committee. Specifically, the NIV shows many signs of being individualistic, experientialist, and revivalistic (I am speaking about the NIV New Testament; I havent evaluated the NIV Old Testament thoroughly yet). At the same time, the NIV ought to be in the ministers study because it is a good illustration of the demands of a dynamic equivalence translation, and it is also very successful at many points. The RSV, reflecting the breadth of the church, a high style of English, and a reasonably accurate representation of the original text, is perhaps the preferred text for pulpit use. 3.  Translation is a theological task It has become increasingly clear that translation cannot really be performed in a theological vacuum. When a variety of linguistic options present themselves, theological factors can influence the decision to choose one option over the other. In fact, such factors should influence the translation. The resolution of the translation question about how to translate telos in Romans 10:4 is resolved in large part by resolving larger questions about Pauls theology; how he understands the relation between the older testament and the Christ event, etc. Since theology is to be determined by the Bible, and since translating the Bible is determined, at least in part, by theological considerations, it is easy to see that there is something of a circle here. Fortunately, it is not a vicious cycle, because if one is willing to entertain sympathetically a variety of options, one can grow in the confidence with which one evaluates a given translation. One must never pretend, however, that translation is a step of pre-exegesis or pre-interpretation. The first step of interpretation is  translation. This step will influence all other steps, so it must be approached with the entire arsenal of theological tools. Semantic Theory It is appropriate now to move to some consideration of dealing with the meaning of individual words (commonly called lexical semantics). A lexicon in the hands of an over-imaginative preacher may be the deadliest of all human instruments. In terms of sheer percentages, more pulpit nonsense may be attributable to a misunderstanding of how words communicate meaning than any other interpretive error. Since the technical study of linguistics began in the early nineteenth century, a number of very valuable insights have been discovered by the linguists. What follows is an attempt at providing some of their most useful insights for those who want to teach and preach faithfully. 1. Semantic Field and Context Most words can mean a number of things. Take the English word, run. It can appear in the following (and many more) contexts: The athlete is running. Her nose is running. We scored a run in the sixth inning. I have a run in my stocking. Does your car run? My computer runs on Windows. For how long is the movie running? You want to run that by me again? His sermons seem to run on forever. Shes running the flag up the pole. Jackson is running for President. Who left the water running? Enough, already. It is obvious that most words can mean a number of different things. How do we know what a word means in a given circumstance? Well, we dont just choose the one we prefer. In fact there are two components to meaning: semantic field and semantic context. By semantic field, we mean the full range of ways the word has and can be used (an example is the above, partial semantic field for run). By examining the field of possible meanings, we begin to narrow the options. Normally, there are still too many options, so we have to take another step. The second step is to determine the semantic context. If run, for instance, can refer to rapid, bipedal locomotion in some contexts, we can eliminate that option in contexts where there are no legs or feet. If run can mean flow, or drip, it is a possible way of understanding it where noses and faucets appear, but not where liquids do not appear. In everyday speech, we do this kind of comparison to semantic context so rapidly and unreflectively that we are not normally aware of doing it. But we do it nevertheless, and normally with great accuracy. It is imperative that we do this with biblical literature as well. No word brings its full semantic field with it into any given context. Yet many fanciful pulpit statements are due to the attempt to do this very thing. 2. Root Meanings Many people speak of root meanings. Many people speak of ghosts. Neither exists. Apparently, when people speak of root meanings of words, they are attempting to find the distilled essence, or the common semantic range of the word in each of its contexts. This may, by dumb luck, work in some circumstances, but it wont work in most. What common root meaning is there in the word run which can account for the variety of uses listed above? Is it motion? Perhaps, for the athlete, the flag, even the nose (which doesnt move itself, but its contents do). But is there any motion involved in the statement that a person is running for an office? Is any motion taking place when a movie runs for six weeks? Is a run in a stocking a movement of some sort? I fail to see how there is, without redefining the word motion to include virtually everything. And if we do this, then we arent learning anything specific about the term in question (This is the practical deficiency of the Componential Analysis approach to Semantics; if one finds an element common enough to be related to all the various uses, it isnt specific enough to be any real help in any given context). In actual fact, we dont really know why people use terms in such a broad range of ways as they do. But the answer certainly doesnt lie in the fact of some alleged root meaning, common to all uses. Thus, for interpretations sake, it is better not to speak of root meanings at all. Just look at the entire semantic field, and then limit that field by the contextual considerations. This doesnt mean that there are no similarities in the variety of a terms uses. If we return to run, we can determine several sub-fields. We can see run used of liquids, to indicate they are flowing. We can see run used with machines to indicate that they are operating as they should. We can see it used in reference to putting one foot ahead of another repeatedly, in rapid succession, which would embrace the athlete, and, by extension, the runs in a baseball game (which are a short-hand reference to someone running around the bases). But these fields do not appear to be related to each other, and worse, these fields do not account for the stocking or the flag. Perhaps we ought to just bring root meanings out once a year, on October 31st, and then put them back for the rest of the year. 3. Etymologies and Semantic Change Etymology is a perfectly valid field of study. Etymology is the study of the history of a words usage. It has the historical benefit of demonstrating to us what a word might have meant in a given period. One thing etymologists have discovered, of course, is that words change over time. That is, people apparently use terms in an increasing variety of ways, extending known usages, and coining new usages. Thus, the history of a words usage is not necessarily any help in determining its meaning in a particular context. And certainly it is not the case that the earliest known meaning is the true, real, or, need I say it, root meaning. Gay, for instance, might well have meant happy or carefree in certain places in certain times. It most emphatically does not mean that today in San Francisco. Do not be misled; a happy hour at a gay bar may be a very miserable experience for a heterosexual teetotaler. The biblical interpreter is not particularly interested in what a term may have meant several centuries prior to the time in question. Rather, the biblical interpreter wants to know what range of meaning a term had in the period in question. Etymology is not particularly helpful as a guide to the meaning of a term in any given context. Semantic context is the more reliable guide. 4. Polyvalency You may run across (oops, another use of run) this term from time to time, so you may as well know what it means. Polyvalency refers to the ability of a given term to have a number of meanings in any given historical period. Run is polyvalent. It is important for the interpreter to be aware of the full range of possible meanings of a given word, before determining what it means in its given context. 5. Words and Concepts For the sake of clarity, it is helpful to distinguish between a word and a concept. Most words can be employed to denote a number of concepts, and most concepts can be addressed by using a range of terms. Thus, charis is a word; grace is a concept which can be labeled in a variety of ways. So, if you want to study, The Grace of God in the New Testament, you would certainly include not only a word study of charis, but also passages which refer to Gods gracious activity without employing that particular term. For instance, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard reflects Gods gracious character, as those who come along late in the day receive equal recompense with those who have labored all day. God graciously gives the kingdom not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles, who come on the scene a bit late, redemptive-historically speaking. 6. Semantic Minimalism One of the best axioms to apply when attempting to discover the meaning of any given word was first coined by Ferdinand de Saussure and his followers. The best meaning of a given term is the meaning which contributes the least to the overall meaning of the sentence. In most communication acts, we do not load up a given word with a lot of meaning. Rather, we speak in paragraphs and sentences the individual words have little meaning in and of themselves, but much meaning when tied to one another. Many seminarians and preachers seem to be unaware of this, for they frequently interpret the Bible as though its individual words were almost magical, possessing great truths and mysteries in six or seven letters. There are very few technical terms in any language, which are more heavily loaded than most words. Concluding Observations If one were to state briefly the results of linguistic study in the last few generations, one would certainly have to refer to the importance of context. Linguistics has made us repeatedly aware of the fact that the fundamental communicative unit is the sentence, not the word. Individual words, removed from the context of a sentence, rarely communicate effectively. Words strung together, mutually supporting and interpreting one another, can communicate very effectively. For biblical students, this means that we must look at the larger unites of communication (the sentence and paragraph) at least as seriously as we look at individual words. We must be aware of the fact that a given word can signify a number of different things in a number of different contexts. Personally, I would like to see more sermons on whole chapters of scripture, and even on entire books, and fewer sermons on a verse here or there. If a person can produce a single 20-minute distillation of Romans 1-11, he can certainly handle Romans 6:3 when it shows up. If the contextual emphasis of contemporary linguistics can help us see the forest of a biblical book, as opposed to merely the trees of individual words, it will have done us and Gods kingdom a great service. ________________________________________ Dr. T. David Gordon, a native of Richmond, VA, is currently Professor of Religion and Greek at Grove City College in Grove City, PA, where he has served since 1999. Previously, he had taught for thirteen years at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. ________________________________________ TRANSLATION METHODS WORD FOR WORD translation: The SL word order is preserved and the words translated by their most common meanings. Cultural words are translated literally. The main use of this method is either to understand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as pre-translation process. LITERAL translation: The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical items are again translated out of context. As pre-translation process, it indicates problems to be solved. FAITHFUL translation: It attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It transfers cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical deviation from SL norms. It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realisation of the SL writer. SEMANTIC translation: It differs from faithful translation only in as far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL text, compromising on meaning where appropriate so that no assonance, word play or repetition jars in the finished version. It does not rely on cultural equivalence and makes very small concessions to the readership. While `faithful translation is dogmatic, semantic translation is more flexible. COMMUNICATIVE translation: It attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both language and content are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. IDIOMATIC translation: It reproduces the message of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms. FREE translation: It reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much longer than the original. ADAPTATION: This is the freest form of translation mainly used for plays and poetry: themes, characters, plots preserved, SL culture converted to TL culture and text is rewritten. From A Textbook of Translation by P. Newmark