Friday 25 May 2007

When A Single Word Will Suffice

According to Philip Yancey, it was Jesus who is most likely to have coined the term "hypocrite" in it's modern sense, that of someone who claims to be one thing when they are another. Coming from the name of a Greek actor from around 500 BC, it's such a perfect encapsulation of a term that it's hard to find a synonym of equal weight and succinctness.
In the novel 1984, George Orwell places a high importance on the use and existence of words as a means of self-identification. If we had no word for freedom, he argues, would we really fully understand that we were not free? And even if someone were to grasp that concept, how would they communicate themselves to others? In this way, by eradicating words and restricting their meaning, the government are able to control a nation.
So I was thinking, if Jesus was indeed the first person to use the word hypocrite to mean someone with double-standards, what implications does this have? To have God himself invent a term may mean that the notion of hypocrisy was such an important one that he himself introduced the term. Should the words introduced by God have more weight, more significance, than others?
I think there may be a novel in this. Or at least a small cult following.

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