Terms Mean Different Things to Each of Us

In 1684 Christopher Wren laid a foundation stone for St. Paul's Cathedral. It took him thirty-five years to complete the task, and when it was done he waited for the reaction of her majesty, Queen Anne. After being carefully shown through the structure, she summed up her feelings for the architecture in three words:

It is awful;
It is amusing;
It is artificial.

Imagine how you would feel if words like these were used to describe the work of your life! But if you read the biography of Sir Christopher Wren you would learn that upon hearing them from his Queen he heaved a sigh of relief and bowed gratefully before his sovereign with thanks.

In 1710 these words had quite different meanings:

awful meant "awe-inspiring,"
amusing meant "amazing," and
artificial meant "artistic."

Awe inspires, energizes, impels, motivates and satisfies while shock drains, drives us away and destroys relationships. St Paul’s Cathedral was designed to be aweful, amusing and artificial. Sir Christopher Wren wanted that house for God to inspire awe, amaze those who entered and show God’s creative, artificial–artistic-nature. St Paul’s cathedral does not shock but it does cause awe.

Glen and I had several opportunities to discuss the current state of theology among many of our friends. It seems to me that many of our battles are over using the same words to mean quite different things. Before we attack others' ideas and approaches to theology we need to make sure we really understand the meanings of their terms.