Jargon? In religion

We are all guilty, you and me. Guilty as sin! What of? Many things I suspect but in this case it’s of using jargon. We hate it when we see someone else’s use of it because we feel locked out, pushed aside, excluded even. So ‘jargon’ is an accusation that tends to be used when we dislike or do not understand someone else’s use of language.

Take computers; ram, rom, boot and configure! Well, you figure that out because it locks me out. Mind you HI-FI was just as bad: tweeter, woofer and rms mean squared! I’ve tried, and tired of, them all – believe me. Then again, why, oh why did Doctor Otto speak of induction, compression, ignition and exhaust when he meant suck, squeeze bang and blow? It’s beyond me!

And yet - when we use it, it’s fine! Religion, ours and others, is full of jargon and some of it we love. No, not the Authorised Version, that’s archaic language not jargon. Things like the difference between con and trans-substantiation. A delicate little distinction that caused wars in its day and added fuel to the flames of theological dispute all over Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Add a little predestination, or even double it and we have the makings of a jargon-fest, which really sparks into spiteful life. To really get the jargon blaze flaming, work out how many angels you could get on the head of a pin and watch the jargonizing illuminati gather.

The pity is, of course, that little of the jargon of theological dispute matters but when it matters it really matters! The one essential is that we believe in and have faith in the fundamental, all encompassing, forgiving nature of God. Most of the rest is the jargon of tradition dressed up as history and, as James Joyce reminded us, ‘History … is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake’.

So, to make sense of this religion of ours, go to the jargon of religion, have a little Augustinian faith and, to make that more accessible, distinguish between kerygma and dogma. All three are fine pieces of jargon but, instead of turning away, study them. That study will repay the effort by giving you a greater understanding of individual belief. Do that and you get closer to the fundamentals of a belief that says, ‘The proper study of mankind is man’. And there’s more to that than might appear! Malcolm Talbot

[Many readers will recognise Malcolm’s wonderful use of the English language, honed during his years as a lecturer at university! Thank you Malcolm. Ed.]