Linguistics and Scripture
By DR. GEORGE COWAN
CHAPTER ONE Have not you found it true that many portions of Scripture take on new meaning for us when we are confronted with special needs? As we consider some of the many differ ent languages men speak, it is especi ally interesting to see God’s dealings with them as well as with us. Our Lord often presented profound spir itual teaching from some very prac tical experiences of those to whom He spoke. In Genesis 11 we have the account of how languages began. The whole earth at one time was of one vocab ulary and speech. Think of what it would mean to have no hindrance to communication such as we know it today. Then, a plan was devised to build a monument to man, eclips ing any need for God. This has been the consuming passion of the human race ever since. God brought judg ment upon such folly. The result was a confounding of the languages and a scattering of the people. The place was appropriately called Babel. The Lord is the One who confounded the languages. Humanity had a tremen dous potential had it not been for sinful pride. Such will always be the result when one acts in disobed ience to God’s will. God is not unaware of the lan guage complexities of our modem world. If we have a tendency to for get we have but to leave our shores Page 7
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