James Boice on theological language

Great comments here and here.

The question is, to what extent do Reformed pastors have to go through a process of “translation” in order to preach this way? Can it possibly be helpful to add this mental process to a theologian’s task? Why not just do and write theology in this language from the beginning?

Should teaching theology be akin to taking a lecture written in Latin and reading it in English?

One thought on “James Boice on theological language

  1. Jim

    This is one of the best bits of advice in Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style”: prefer Anglo-Saxon verbs. They soften it a bit, but they shouldn’t. (And it is a corollary to “avoid Latinate prose.”)

    That, and avoiding use of the verb “to be” as muc as you can, and people will commend your writing style.

    Saying that Anglo-Saxon verbs are “Germanic” is a bit weird, though. In my experience, Germanic prose has long, convoluted verbs, mounting up at the end of sentences.

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