Meditations on John

(from Wikipedia) Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of sign processes (semiosis), or signification and communication, signs and symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems. It includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood. Let's talk about a few terms that come up in semiotics: signifier and signified.

Hang in there; it's not as painful as it sounds.

First, consider John 1:1-14 NKJV:

"IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

In studying language, the relationship between the signifier and that which is signified is examined. A realization about language quickly comes to light: it is hopelessly flawed.

We have a thought that we want to express. Once we attempt to communicate that thought, our words (signifier) are already one step removed from the thought (signified) that prompted them. The pure essence of the thought is already degraded by the limitations of language. How many times have you struggled to find the right words to express something? How many times have you been misunderstood by someone else? In fact, how many problems in the world would be resolved instantly if we could just communicate perfectly?

But with human language it cannot happen. That degradation or loss that occurs from thought to expression is even further complicated by the challenge of interpretation. I'm not referring to the tower of Babel, I'm talking about two people simply trying to understand each other. The challenge isn't just hearing expressed words as they are intended, but it's also the baggage we bring to the interpretation. In fact, both the speaker and the hearer are flawed from the start.

A quasi-practical example: a woman asks her husband if a pair of pants make her look fat. He is distracted about something else and his answer isn't convincing (this has never happened to me). He may really believe she looks great, but it wasn't communicated well to her. Further, the insecurity she brought to the exchange wouldn't be satisfied by a simple no in the first place.

Now some technical examples: We have one word for snow. The Inuit have over 30 I'm told. Does that mean we don't know what snow really is? Probably not to an Inuit. Some cultures have a few broad words that cover what we would consider to be several different colors. They don't care - red, purple, whatever, it's close enough. Actually most women have many more words for colors than I will ever understand. Did you know that butter and lemon can actually be different colors? That in itself is a little depressing, but think of all the ways language falls short for us.

Now let's shift to scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16 says all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, etc. But is it the perfect expression of God to humanity? It certainly points us to him as his authoritative written word, but is it enough? Well, I think the same challenges of signifier and signified exist. In fact, we work from a translation that struggles to even capture the essence of the original languages of the texts, much less the true essence of the signified they attempt to convey. Don't panic, I'm not about to say that scripture is useless. But I am about to say that scripture is not God's perfect expression of himself.

Have you ever wondered about Jesus as the Word incarnate? It sounds cool, but it's also extremely profound in light of this problem we have with language. Jesus is the perfect expression of God's Word. He is the Word made flesh and that means he expresses perfectly the thought, intent, the signified that is from God. He became perfect language, so to speak. And he didn't stop there, because God in his wisdom placed his Word inside us though the filling of his Holy Spirit. So he bridges the communication gap that exists between speaker and listener, between thought, speech, and interpretation. His Holy Spirit is fused into the believer in a way that overcomes the flaws of communication. All we have to do is abide in this state and obey.