Can an Evangelical Enjoy Meaningful Communication

With An Atheist? Or vice versa?

Christian author Dr. Elizabeth Youmans thinks so… at least that what she writes. Dr. Youmans is an advocate for Christian Education, which she believes should be based entirely on the bible, but we’ll get to that in a later blog.

She writes…

Language reveals the character and love of God to us as He communicates with us and makes it possible for us to enjoy meaningful communication with our fellow man.

Although Dr. Youmans believes that evangelicals can have meaningful communication with non-christians, it’s not what I’ve found to be true. The reality is that the more someone is communicating with their god, the less likely they will be able to have meaningful communication with anyone who does not hold the same beliefs.

I discovered Dr. Youmans while doing some internet research for a project I was working on. I googled the phrase “whoever controls language, controls the culture” and was surprised to discover that there are many christian websites that address the topic. It seems that as a result of an increasing number of young people labeling themselves as “nones”, christians are rather nervous that they are losing their grip (strangle hold) on the culture.

Dr. Youmans in particular caught my attention because her article was so laced with christianese that it was difficult for me to decipher what she was actually saying. It was very much like that evangelical mission statement we examined last November. They both say things that only a christians would accept. Maybe they don’t understand what’s being said, but they certainly would never question it. To do so would be apostasy and  that is not allowed in evangelical circles. Trust me, I know.

Dr. Youmans

This is a paragraph from her writings.

“Therefore, is it surprising that the enemy would target language to dumb it down and rob and pillage us of a biblical vocabulary? Language reveals the character and love of God to us as He communicates with us and makes it possible for us to enjoy meaningful communication with our fellow man. When words are defined biblically, they help us think and reason with the revelation of God’s Word, freeing us from secularism. This enables us to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” and appropriate “the mind of Christ” in teaching and learning.”

As a non-believer I found many issues with what she wrote. I had so many questions and decided that if I wanted to know what she meant, I should just ask her. So, I sent her the following email.

Dear Dr. Youmans,

I’m an independent filmmaker/blogger and am currently working on a project about the phrase, “Whoever controls language, controls culture.” When I googled that phrase, a website came up on which you were quoted. I am not a believer and don’t always understand Christian lingo, so I was wondering if you would be willing to help me better understand your quote.

Here are my questions:

• Who exactly is the enemy, and why are they dangerous?
• What is meant by a “biblical vocabulary” and how can it be robbed and pillaged?
• What does it mean to define words biblically?

I understand that perhaps I’m one of the enemies you mentioned in your quote, but I’m also a fellow human being that is looking for meaningful communication. Any clarification you could send my way would certainly be appreciated.

Sincerely,

And I signed my name.

To my great surprise she actually responded to my email.

Coming next:

Next year we’ll dive deeper into the writings of Dr. Youmans and explore her reply to see if it qualifies as “meaningful communication” with a fellow human.

After thought from the previous blog:

I got to thinking more about Luke’s nativity story. Many christians see the birth of Jesus as arguably the most important event in the history of mankind because God became man and was now living amongst us. With that in mind, it seems very curious to me that the angelic announcement of Jesus’ birth would be given to just a handful of illiterate shepherds.  I can just imagine that the glorious choir of angels, (something really special to behold), would be a bit disappointed to perform to such a small, insignificant audience. Just a thought!

 

 

From Where I Stand

Dale Crum

mt.toll@comcast.net